Life in the fast lane - in a slow car...

If I worked for NASA...

2011-12-22T01:52:00.002-06:00

....I'd have been fired by now.

I'm not good with deadlines. I usually MEET them, but the toll to my person and psyche can be murder. And Christmas this year is no exception. As I joked to my friends recently, "I'm having blessing management issues!"

It is T-minus 1 day till our first family of company arrives. Not one single wrapped gift under the tree yet. Not one. T-minus 2 days till second family arrives. Bunk beds aren't made up in the "Boy's Room" nor the trundle for Kennedy in Mirai's room. T-minus 2-1/2 days till youngest son arrives. And his bed is filled with outgrown Mirai clothing I want Jennifer to go through before he arrives. T-minus 3 days till we open gifts. Did I mention none are wrapped yet??

I got over-ambitious with a plan to overhaul Mike's garage while he was away in Angola. We were delayed 2 days by Ikea fibbing about the original cabinet delivery date. Then delayed twice more when parts were either missing or missmarked necessitating runs back to Ikea before progress could be made. Meanwhile, Mike finds out he will need to be in Angola till the 20th but will come home for 5 days in the middle of the month so he can actually BE with the family some leading up to Christmas Day and ends up arriving on Day 2 of installation. Surprise! Even though it wasn't finished, I assure you he WAS pleasantly surprised to find that his garage had been gutted, cabinets were being assembled, walls repainted, peg board installed, new electrical outlets where needed and a special cubby for garbage can storage were either in place or planned for execution within the week. He left for Angola last Friday coming home today to a completely finished, painted, electrified and completely unrecognizable double garage. Tomorrow he and Martin and JR, my "husbands-for-hire" handymen, will start moving things back and putting them in the cabinets and drawers that are empty and begging for occupants.

While Operation Christmas Surprise for Mike was underway and he was out of the country, I had two major drawbacks that sidelined me even further. On Sunday, my back of my right knee 'popped' as I slid into the pew at church. Excruciating pain shot down my leg to the foot and up to the thigh. During the final song before the sermon, while everyone was standing, Mirai and I beat as hasty a retreat as my now crippled leg would allow. I was in agony by the time we got home and, in tears, I called Mike in Luanda and poured out my tale of woe. I wanted both sympathy AND a solution! We decided I'd better get it checked out at the ER in case it was a torn ligament or tendon. I called Mom and she came and too me in. Fortunately, it was a sprained knee and 2 xrays, four hours, one knee immobilizer, 2 crutches and a mighty powerful shot of something that left me very floaty and "happy" later, I was home with instructions to see an ortho doc within 2 days and an arsenal of pain relievers and muscle relaxers. Mom decided to move in for the duration of Mike's absence since there was no way I could navigate stairs to Mirai's room. I could be 5 years old again (except my mom brought me peanut butter toast and hot coffee this time!) I'm not sure what I would have done if she hadn't moved in.

No Christmas prep accomplished of course. Other than consumption of sticky toffee pudding to ease my woes. I was couch or bed-bound. But being on pain medication with Codeine as a main ingredient dulled me to this fact. Sigh.

Monday I got into the doc and it was determined that I probably had a small tear in the meniscus of my knee and physical therapy for about six weeks would be preferable to any surgery. If it got worse within the six weeks, a revisit would be in order to re-evaluate. But by nightfall, I really didn't need the crutches anymore nor the painkillers and I've just had to be careful to not overextend the knee joint and not walk too quickly, easing myself up or down the occasional step.

Tuesday I was wheezing like an old accordian. Called my PA and got in to see her. Bronchitis. Wheeze in the lungs. Steroid taper and antibiotic. I'm officially feeling like the poster child for Overmedicated Moms of America (OMA!) And I didn't get the RX till about 6pm. And if you've even had a steroid taper, you take ALL the tablets for the day up to the time of day you receive the script. Well, it was night so that meant taking all SIX tablets at once. I could have consumed a pot of coffee and the result would have been the same. To say I was "revved up" would be an understatement. By 2:30pm I finally drifted off to sleep to be awakened by Mike's arrival the next morning at 7:30.

Today we got some much needed shopping taken care of. Mirai spent the day with Amanda at Miss Julie's (two of her FAVORITE people I might add!) while Mike and I attempted to get lots done. We did manage to get the piles of unwapped gifts sorted into new pile by name of recipient. So at least I have an organized set of mountains waiting for me to go into a wrapping-frenzy on Thursday.

It will get done. It always seems to. But I sincerely hope that my vow to be better prepared NEXT year actually comes to fruition. I'm getting to old to cut it this close. But you KNOW why I do it...

May your shopping be done. May your house be clean enough to be healthy and dirty enough to be happy. May you smile through the wee hours of the a.m. while hastening to finish up the final details. And may you be infinitely better prepared than me!

Halloween...

2011-10-31T06:00:00.001-05:00

Does anyone know who this is supposed to be? I haven't carved a pumpkin in YEARS so this was quite the experience for me. Just curious to know if anyone can figure out who it is.

Here's a hint - it's a character from Mirai's favorite movie right now. Not mainstream. And the pumpkin really isn't shaped well for depicting this character but we do what we can with what we've got.

Figure it out? Leave me a comment and I'll let you know later on in the evening.

Hmmm, should have put some acorns around as well...

All things Mirai - an update...

2011-10-30T10:08:00.008-05:00

I remember the days when I thought blogging every day was a great idea. Then weekly seemed a suitable pace. Now, if I can blog once a month, I feel like I've really accomplished something and am waiting for a Presidential hopeful who will campaign for annual blog posts - okay, just kidding on the last one, but, at the rate I'm going, annual posting may be the most realistic frequency. It's not that there's not much going on, there is. I just don't seem to have the energy to get it down anymore. Probably need more exercise and could probably make a buck touting a new program "Pilates for Bloggers" or some such nonsense. But like anything else in this world, if it's worth doing, make time for it. And today, seeing as how I'm home sick from church with a sinus infection and a four year old who has had the good sense to sleep in, I might as well wade in.

First day of school at Yellow Brick Road Preschool

School has been in full swing for Mirai for two months now. And this is Pre-K, the "go three days a week and no nap" kind of school that readies a child for the 7 hours/day, 5 days/week marathon that is coming next school year. And I think she may well be ready come Fall 2012 - oh that feels weird to type - 2012 - but it's just around the corner!

Ah, foiled again! Guess who just got up...to be continued after breakfast...

Okay, girlfriend is fed and watching "Olivia" on Tivo. To continue...

At our congregation, we tied in the annual Kary Rice Harvest Festival with our Good News Series, providing parking and restroom facilities to the public while providing information about the church, a petting zoo, live entertainment, refreshments and lots of fellowship. There was a ton of preparation and Mirai spent several days after school with me in the Office workroom cutting out letters for signs and doing other prep work. She was a trooper! She also made a LOT of new friends with the teenagers who were also there working hard. It was a good experience for everyone but it was especially good for Mirai in my opinion.

In between the start of school and the Good News Series, we celebrated two cousin's birthdays - Ben's, up in Keller, in mid-September and Kennedy's, in Pflugerville, in early October. Can you believe I didn't take a single photo? (the two below were taken by Megan) Again, falling down on the Gramma job. Both turned seven years old. Ben had a Ninjago (Lego Ninjas) party and Kennedy had a Princess party.

This makes me laugh - the three "2007 Cousins" strike a Ninja pose

I was looking for a particular DVD yesterday and found the DVD that Megan made for Ben and Kennedy's joint 1st Birthday party back in 2005 (when we still lived in England) and I watched it, tearing up several times. Those chunky monkey babies have no more baby fat whatsoever, both are in First Grade and can READ now - a far cry from those days when we thrilled at their rolling over and eating pureed vegetables. I'm so glad they made so many home videos (put to great music) so I can play "remember when?" and they can continue to pull at my heart strings "on demand".

Ben and Kennedy (known as Ken and Bennedy when they were babies)

Princess Ariel before her school Debut for the Halloween Party

Last week, Mirai had her Halloween party at school. As she had her Bibbity Bobbity Boutique experience in Disneyland this past summer, she was Princess Ariel. I think she may well get a year or two out of that dress so the price they charge for the BBB doesn't seem so bad if stretched out over a year and several dress-up occasions! She also wore it at Kennedy's Princess party - glad she never tires of it! They take their costuming VERY seriously at Yellow Brick Road School!

Tomorrow is Halloween and, if I feel better, hope to take her Trick-or-Treating. It will our first as last year we were at Walt Disney World. I haven't taken a child T-or-T in decades - should be interesting! I do know to check her candy when we get home, removing any suspicious items and all the candy bars I like. That's how it works, right?!?

I carved our pumpkin and all I can say is, either knives are better made today or I can afford better knives than I had back when Jen, Tim and Chris were little - and I didn't cut myself! I'll wait and post a photo of it tomorrow but I'm fairly pleased with the outcome. Now, we'll just have to see if anyone can recognize who it is.

Now a few things for my own reference in the future. Mirai has progressed (sniff...) from her Knuffle Bunny and Amanda and Her Alligator series. Rarely will she let us read those anymore. She prefers four or five Bible stories followed by something along the lines of Ree Drummond's "Charlie, the Ranch Dog". She's been looking through her library picking out new material and I know this is a good thing even though I miss her having solitary favorites. Her entourage at bedtime has grown from Big and Little Knuffle and Blue to her Olivia, two small baby dolls, an Eeyore, a Winnie-the-Pooh pillow and a large Snoopy I got at the Build-a-Bear store for ME, not her (yes, we "share" which means I "own" it but she has it almost all the time). Changing the bed reminds me of Peter's vision in the Bible - a large sheet with all kinds of animals on it. Some clean, some not-so-clean. :) Let's just say it takes a bit longer with all her "friends".

Her artwork is usually freehand. Colorbooks with "borders" are passe in her world. She loves to draw freehand and do elaborate colors - very Picasso. It's a contradiction in some ways - she doesn't appear to like being limited to borders but then, creates her own borders and stays inside them. As a teen, this could be good or bad, depending on her chosen borders. There's an allegory in there somewhere I think.

She has begun to take piano lessons. So far, this has consisted mainly of hand and finger exercises, learning the difference between loud (forte) and soft (piano), high notes and low notes. She has Mozart Mouse and Beethoven Bear to help - they are stars of the cute book that helps her understand this since she doesn't read yet. Her musicality called for some sort of enrichment so we decided to try this. She loves singing but I see no value in formal voice lessons until she's much older - just let her sing her heart out, listen to classical music and her beloved Laurie Berkner CDs as well as the Disneyland and Walt Disney World attractions soundtracks. If you want to teach her anything, put it into a song and retention is 98% guaranteed!

Her taste in television entertainment has changed from a steady diet of "Blue's Clues" to "Olivia" and the movie "Totoro". I like Olivia - and am happy she hasn't cottoned onto the likes of Dora or Diego. Those two drive me nutty. Olivia seems more "real" (behavior and personality-wise before you point out this is about a PIG who TALKS!) She saw her first cinema movie this summer when we took her to see the new Winnie-the-Pooh movie. We have it on DVD and I'm struggling to keep it for Christmas as I want to watch it again. Must. show. restraint.

So there you have it - a Reader's Digest version of Mirai's life for the past couple of months. I'll post a photo of our pumpkin tomorrow as I'm sure you are on photo overload right now. See you anon!

I know the (maybe) Rich and (certainly) Famous...

2011-09-29T22:33:00.004-05:00

...bloggers who become book authors!

First there was Ree Drummond of Pioneer Woman and her book which quickly became my most purchased book for Christmas gifts the year it was published. Okie girl makes good on the range/ranch after marrying hunky rancher - and Oklahoma is just north of Texas so, yahoo, that's close enough for me! Then came Lisa Fain who authors the blog Homesick Texan who just published her cookbook - of course I lost NO time getting my copy and copies for my "nearest and dearest" because a) I'm a Texan and b) I'm inordinately proud of both Texans and their cooking abilities. Obviously, living in New York City hasn't gone to her head (or ruined her kitchen prowess). And today I read that Melanie of Big Mama has a contract for a book! ANOTHER TEXAN! This gal is Mary Tyler Moore meets Erma Bombeck. Do I know how to pick 'em or WHAT?!?

Now another long time blog author favorite I've read for YEARS, Liz Owen of Mabel's House, is being published. Liz reminds me of Anne Shirley in "Anne of Green Gables". I believe she attempted writing fiction before, something along the lines of the story by Anne in "Averil's Atonement", which did not catch the publisher's eye. Someone in her life MUST have been her own real life Gilbert Blythe who gently set her down and said, "Well, if you want my opinion, I'd write about places I knew something of and people that spoke everyday English." Because she did exactly that and DING, DING, DING - I think we have a winner!

"My (not so) Storybook Life" will be published in October (I've already pre-ordered my copy!) and I'm so excited I could pop a cork! She included an excerpt from her book today in her blog and I am copying it here for your reading pleasure. And I hope you'll enjoy her blog as well. If you're a female from Planet Earth, you'll find more than one chronicled situation akin to something YOU'VE experienced in life! Because that's why we read blogs, right? To know "we are not alone".

Thanks, Liz. And may the (book buying public) Force be with you.

***

Once one has breathed in the deep pungent aroma of sewage, you never again forget the nose-hair singeing, eye clawing, throat gagging experience. It comes over you slowly. You begin to feel like a character in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest as your muscles involuntarily jerk and you run screaming and blowing raspberries. Anything to get away from the mind-numbing stench.

But let me explain.

It was 6:30 a.m. I was standing in my retro pink tiled bathroom trying to open my bleary eyes and ready myself for work. As I stood there, peering into the mirror and wondering what demented nighttime fairy had planted four new wrinkles on my face, I paused and sniffed.

“Matt… what’s that smell?”

Matt staggered from the bedroom in his underwear, eyes half shut. “I don’t smell anything.”

I pointed my nose into the air like a hunting dog. “Seriously? You can’t smell that? Did you go to the bathroom in here earlier? I told you to use the room spray when you do things like that.”

Matt puffed out his bare chest and gathered his pride as best a man can with sleep in his eyes and a small hole in the side of his underwear. “I just woke up!”

I frowned, catching a glimpse of my makeup-less hot-rollers-in-hair state and tried not to think about the fact that I looked fifty instead of twenty-nine. “Well, help me figure this out. Because something smells ripe.”

We sniffed the sink drain and ruled it out as a suspect.

“Is it coming from the toilet?” Matt asked, examining it from top to bottom.

“No, that’s not it,” I snapped. I’m not known for my milk of human kindness in a disaster. Don’t get me wrong. I’m a survivor. I plan on eating my radish like Scarlet and clawing my way out of the nuclear dust while dragging my loved ones with me. But I won’t be doing it with positive phrases and a smile.

“Hon, I just don’t know. We’ll call a plumber after work, maybe it’s coming from under the house.” Matt staggered a little, trying to get past me and out of our tiny bathroom.

“Well, that’s just great,” I moved aside and pulled the shower curtain back so I could perch on the side of the tub and give Matt room to move out the door.

That’s when the full brunt of nastiness filled the air around us, a swirling mix of excrement and acrid stench that would have brought the sewer dwelling Ninja Turtles to their knees. Where the normally slightly-clean-with-a-hint-of-soap-scum bottom of the tub should have been, there sloshed gallons and gallons of brown sewage.

I clutched the front of my sweatshirt and held my breath. Matt began to dry heave.

“Get out and shut the door!” I screamed as we bumbled into the hallway.

“I’ll deal with this,” Matt grabbed my shoulders, trying to talk and hold his breath at the same time.

I could feel my eyes glaze over, the horrors of typhoid and hepatitis in our bathtub filling my mind. But more importantly, I could envision our evaporated savings account. In my mind’s eye I could see the long, gray hallway at the bank. A worker shrouded in a black suit pulled a set of keys from his pocket and unlatched a small locker labeled “Owen Bank Account.” Inside were two small stacks of quarters and a few crumpled dollar bills. It was bleak, not only because the banker with an unimaginative wardrobe gazed at me with an expression that could only be interpreted as “You’re a Big Fat Loser,” but also there was a very definite possibility we wouldn’t be able to pay for a plumber.

I wasn’t necessarily a spend thrift. In fact, I was downright frugal when it came to decorating with thrift store furniture and rewired vintage lamps. But the fact was, we were poor. We were starting out at starter jobs with starter salaries. We were starter adults with a starter bank account.

“Okay,” I nodded numbly, thankful that Matt was taking the lead on such a disastrous biohazard. “But make sure the plumber is super cheap. We don’t have much money!”

I left for work like a wino stumbling through a fog, not really remembering my commute, not really doing any work as I sipped my coffee and stared blankly at the computer screen. A disaster of such gargantuan proportions had previously been unthinkable in my life, and now I found myself attempting to push the image of a vast sea of bathtub poop from my mind. But I was sure of one thing: Anne Shirley never had to get ready for work while breathing raw sewage.

If our home is our castle...

2011-09-09T06:00:00.000-05:00

Mirai

...then let's see where the princess lives.

Let me premise this posting by saying that I'm not into the typical "Princess" mentality as currently defined by our contemporary culture. Too often, being a "Princess" means one or more of the following:

"It's all about me". A huge NO-NO in my book. A TRUE princess puts others feelings and well being before her own.

"I always get my way." This isn't being a princess - this is creating a selfish person! The child who is allowed to "pimp her cuteness" to gain what she wants is the victim of a grave injustice by her parents. What a recipe for disaster! And heaven help the parents and the next door neighbors when this kid becomes a teenager.

"I'm better than you - or at least my mommy wants you to think so which means I'll think it too". A true princess knows humility and doesn't brag about what she has or does or where she goes. Self confidence is a totally different fish than self importance. Huge difference.

"I get special treatment". Again, nope. A true princess doesn't expect others to "part the waters" for her but works to get what she wants and seeks fairness whenever, wherever she can. And learns to say "Please", "Thank you", "May I.." and wants to help.

Ben, Mirai, Kennedy and Lleyton

Having said that, I do believe that children who are being trained to emulate the correct values being taught by their parents are true princes and princesses. The idea that children INHERIT something of great value by those who raise them equates to being "royalty" in that wisdom, graciousness and good manners are true family treasures to be "passed down" from one generation to the next.

Mirai is our "resident" princess. She loves to play being Princess Aurora following her Bibbity Bobbity Boutique experience at Disneyland. And she loves her books of princess stories. We've created a "Royal Bedchamber" for her where she feels cocooned and "at home". Her treasures are displayed on her note boards - notes from friends, party invitations, pieces of artwork that are "firsts" (first face drawn, first face with body, first face with eyelashes and nose - you get the picture - pardon the pun) and even several tail feathers from a macaw owned by a friend of ours.

Lleyton, Kennedy, Emery, Ben and Mirai

There is a reading corner with a big reading chair with good lighting behind it - we use that chair every single night we're home to read, first, the Bible and then story books. The bookcases hold more books than toys. And her stuffed animals are replicas of her reading favorites - Knuffle Bunny (from the Mo Willems books), Winnie-the-Pooh and the Hundred Acre Wood gang (A.A. Milne of course), Timmy (from the Shaun the Sheep series; okay, technically this is a show but Timmy is loved none-the-less) to name but a few.

Emery and her mama, Jennifer

Jennifer and Emery

Lleyton and Mirai

Emery

There is a mini-princess sized dressing table that Santa brought last year where she keeps her Little Kitty bangles and bracelets, her Super Power pink cape and mask and her brush and comb. A big fishbowl is the perfect holder for her hair bows - we can "fish around" to find the one we need without the bows getting flattened or wrinkles. We like our big bows and Mirai won't leave home without one. Think of it as the pre-school version of lipstick.

Emery admiring how Mommy did her hair

Her room is cozy enough for just her but large enough to accommodate cousins when they visit. This was borne out when we had Cousin's Week last month. All six of the grandchildren were "in residence" (no, we didn't fly our Royal Standard from the chimney to let everyone know) and Kennedy (6) shared Mirai's room with her. But during the waking hours, all six of them would be in her room playing, reading, pestering each other, plotting and having a good old time. When Emery (1) is old enough, she will also share Mirai's room during visits. The boys (Ben - 6, Luke - 4 and Lleyton - 4) all stay in the game room which is the next room and also the official "Playroom". That room contains a bunk bed as well as two love-seats that make out into twin beds. Plus the bulk of the toys!

Mirai and Lleyton having Tea with their friends

While some of the items in her room were bought recently (the chair and dresser), most of the furniture is several years old and was used in other rooms before they came to live in Mirai's room. The sage green toybox was bought years ago when I found out I was going to be a grandmother for the first time. The lamps on the dressing table were in a condo we owned in the DFW area for a "Texas base" when we lived overseas and visited home. Winnie-the-Pooh and all his friends were a collection I started when we lived in the UK. But all in all, the room was designed to grow with her to adulthood and I bought pieces I felt would stand the test of time. One thing I've learned living all over the world and making numerous moves: buy classic, buy quality and it will work anywhere with minor "tweaking".

All our granddaughters are princesses in the best possible way, being raised to be kind, responsible and accountable. And all our grandsons are Brave Knights, being raised to be gallant, honest and true. I'm very honored to be the Queen Mother of this lovely family of "Great People in Training"!

Mirai - a happy girl!

Ode to a New School Year

2011-09-06T22:49:00.002-05:00

Today was the first day of pre-kindergarten for Mirai. And we were on time. ON TIME. This is key because I am one of those people whose ancestors came over on the Juneflower because they missed the Mayflower. I will be late to my own funeral (and it was MY idea first, regardless of what the press and Elizabeth Taylor had to do with it). But she was in her room at 9:28am this morning for a 9:30am start. And she wasn't the last one there - there was one more boy who came in after. I'm seriously surprised this wasn't on the news tonight because this is HUGE! If you doubt me, there are two teachers from last year who, for a fee, will fill you in on my world record for "most successive days late" for the 2010-11 school year. And now I suspect that, precedent having been set, they'll always expect her to be on time.

Perhaps I didn't think this through all the way.

But Mirai had a Grand and Glorious first day of school. She took the opportunity to tell me, not once, but several times, just how much fun school was today! And, she solemnly announced that she had ALSO gone 'tee-tee' at school. Hey, I have realistic expectations of what goals are to be met for pre-k which include:

1) Waiting patiently in line for water fountain, playground equipment, lunch
2) Not eating any Crayola product nor autographing any walls, desks or clothing items
3) Going potty (both "big" and "small") in the appropriate restrooms
4) Not interrupting the teacher(s) with "You know what? (fill in the blank)" while they are attempting to impart knowledge to the class

And if she knows how to write the entire alphabet and her numbers by the year's end, BONUS!

Seriously, the difference between her abilities this year and last are huge. She has a much larger vocabulary and isn't shy about using it (see #4 above). She knows many of the children in her class because they were either in her class last year or attend Bible class and Bible Hour with her now (or both!) She has more confidence in herself and is very social and outgoing. And she's pretty much potty-trained now (okay, working on Big Potty, but we're on it...yes, this blog may have Too Much Information but get over it).

After I picked her up from school, we celebrated by going to Dairy Queen (yes! they still have one here in Katy) and got ice cream which is a big treat. She insisted on having her backpack on her lap on the drive home, took out her 'take-home folder' and proceeded to 'read' the papers inside. It was obvious to me that this was Important Big Stuff. I told her to just be sure and keep it all together so I could read it too when we got home.

I'm finding her tastes in literature have broadened greatly. We've graduated from Knuffle Bunny (although Big Knuffle and Baby Knuffle are still bedtime companions along with Blue and Eeyore) to the volumes by A.A. Milne and the Glorious tales of Winnie-the-Pooh. She also wants princess stories now that we've returned from Disneyland and the-oh-too-numerous-to-count rides through The Little Mermaid in the California Adventure. It helps that moi is able to mimic the voices from the movie (I do a mean Ursula and can do the singing of Ariel - hey, don't hate me; it's a talent!) And she's starting to do Bible story 'requests'. We have a children's Bible that we've read out of "like forever", having gone in order the first couple of times through and now try to reinforce whatever is being taught on Wed and Sun Bible class by reading those stories. Tonight I picked it up and started to read and she put her hand on it and said, "I think I want...Moses tonight". Bible On Demand - got one over on you, Comcast! :)

The combination of first days and cooler weather puts me in a fine mood. One that recalls Pumpkin Spice Lattes and zucchini bread. One that sends me to the Home Goods store looking for Halloween decorations (and finding them - oh, did I ever find them...) Even gets me thinking about perhaps cleaning out closets and Christmas decorating. Okay, I squelched the "cleaning out closets" idea pretty quickly. And the 'cooler temp' was mid-80's. But when you've lived through triple-digit temps for the I-don't-remember-how-many-months summer, mid-80's is almost arctic in comparison.

So here's to the New School Year. Here's to new backpacks and lunchboxes. To the smell of new Crayons. To new clothes and matching hair bows. To "Look, Gramma, I did it all by myself!" artwork. To leaps and bounds of learning. To the teachers who make the Magic for the children.

And, lest we forget, to a few hours to get much-needed-maintenance (read "mani-pedi" here), browsing the shops a little and regaining a little sanity.

Because frankly, if you're gonna be late, you might as well look as good as you can doing it!

Family plagiarism...

2011-09-03T12:20:00.009-05:00

...is what you resort to when you keep meaning to blog about something but never get to it. Megan took the photos and posted the following on HER blog today. Cousin's Week is something we've done for many years. The house is full of laughter, screaming, whining, tattling, cuddling, secret telling, whisperings at bedtime...you know, all the wonderful chaos that ensues when you put six children, aged six and younger, under the same roof for any length of time! :)

One of my favorite memories was swimming the first night. Tim and Megan's family and Mirai and I had just returned from Disneyland and our California vacation just the Monday before. We were swimming that first night and it got dark so I turned on the lights to the pool and spa which I've rarely done before as we don't usually swim after dark. I have several pool toys including small water cannons. Megan and I were in the big pool and the kids were entranced by the LED lights that cycle to different colors in the spa. All of the sudden Megan says, "Cheri!! Look at the kids!!!" They were in the spa, using the water cannons to make water designs in the air and singing, "The World of Color" from our recent California Adventure "World of Color" show! I wish we'd had video to capture it!

The scorching temps here in Texas also provided challenges to our usual trips to playgrounds or other outside activities so we became more creative with indoor spaces and pool use. We achieved the goal of multiple fun activities by going to:

-- Stomping Grounds in Sugar Land (an indoor "agility course" for kids with a cafe and tables for the mom-ladies)

-- Build-a-Bear where we "built" everything except a bear! I believe we had two cats and four dogs, multiple outfits and accessories

-- In house "incarceration" upstairs with a babysitter for the six (and a brave Amanda who kept them all in line and managed to keep the house intact as well!) while the mamas went to see "The Help" movie

-- Lupe Tortillas who wins the 'kid friendly premises' award for having large fans on their patios so we could sit outside to eat while the kids played in the massive and well-stocked sandbox playground

-- Marble Slab Creamery where we attempted to get everyone ice cream and have them eat it before it totally melted - limited success but great fun none-the-less

-- Swimming every single day (except Sunday). And with it being so hot, we "assembly lined" showers for all the kids afterwards outside on the patio. Really made the bathing process very streamlined and convenient!

-- Aqua-toys on the back patio - canals, waterfalls, water pumps, great fun with the different configurations

We ate out a lot and got in a Gymboree shopping spree for the moms as well. It was an exhausting week for the adults but oh, OH, so much fun for everyone!

The remainder of this post is written by Megan who also took all the fantastic photos!

Cousin week in Katy was extra special this year because ALL 6 of the cousins got to be there. We had two 6 year olds, three 4 year olds, one 1 year old, 2 Mommas and 1 Gramma or should I say GrandMomma. :) It was a full, loud, and chaotic house and the kids loved it.

There was alot of this...

a little bit of this...

a little bit of that...

Some of this...

A few of these...

But mostly these...

Farewell, Shelby...

2011-07-28T12:01:00.003-05:00

...I hope all dogs go do heaven. You were a good dog and you will be missed sorely. From the moment we brought you home as an 11 week old pup, you won over our hearts (and won 'intelligence points' from Mike who was shocked to find you as an addition to our family when he came back from on overseas trip - "Surprise!")

You were in quarantine in Trinidad at the young age of seven months and "served your time" well. I joked that, since Shelby was up to date on her rabies shots, couldn't we put the boys (then teenagers) in quarantine and the dog come home with us? They were not amused - neither the boys or the "Powers That Be" in Animal Control.

You gained a following in Trinidad - especially with the Kramer's. Colleen would keep you often when we went to Texas and they treated you like royalty. You patrolled the grounds like one of the guards that were always outside our homes there. You had an innate desire to protect those whom you loved. You loved staying with the Littlefield's as well when we were in Port of Spain. You and Darcy, their Westie, were great pals. And you loved having young children to pay with in Joey and Kelsey. And Edie let you sleep at the foot of their bed, just like at home.

Three and a-half years later, you flew again across the Atlantic to England, where, once again you entered quarantine for six months. This was before the Pet Passport Program. You and Patches, the Bryant's Cavalier, stayed in the same kennel, and Cynthia and I would come out together to spend time petting you, telling you what a good girl you were and "it won't be much longer". I do admit you wormed your way into the heart of the owner as you got preferential treatment - they were quite sad to see you go. But we'd board there so they got to spoil you again. Once, when you were very sick, one of the quarantine attendants took several buses at night to come and sit with you and feed you boiled chicken and pasta and make sure it stayed down because he was so worried about you. That was love.

Once home, you thoroughly enjoyed having a HUGE yard to romp and play in. You'd "point" when the occasional deer or fox would race through the yard and bark to be let out. Everybody loved you (except perhaps the Bryant's one time when they kept you and you barked, and barked and barked again every time someone came to the door...you wore out your welcome that time, tootsie!) But you "liberated" Patches from the utility room where she slept since you slept at the foot of the bed! I believe Whitney felt it wasn't fair that Shelby got to sleep with her or Paige but Patches had to sleep downstairs - alone.

You got your Pet Passport a couple of years later and traveled back and forth between the UK and Texas until you developed pancreatitis and your globe-trotting days were over. You lived alternately with Jennifer's family and then Tim's the months until we repatriate to Texas and could have you live with us again. You took in it your usual stride.

Even where you boarded, Waggin' Tails, you quickly became the "Teacher's Pet" with Denise taking you with her when she ran errands - you have been to the Fulshear Post Office but I've never been! You were even in the Houston Chronicle when they ran a feature article about the kennel - you were one of four "guests" photographed with Denise. She's going to miss you something fierce too.

You were a quick learner with house training. You loved to play with squeaky toys as long as they had plush on them! You loved playing tug-of-war with toys. And you were my shadow. You barked away strangers when I was alone in England and "Daddy" was in Africa. You scared off street vagrants in Trinidad where dogs are bred for security. Even though you weren't, you had a bark that meant business! But those you loved, you loved with an unselfish devotion.

We will miss you, Shelby. You were the dog we got when the kids still lived at home. You were the dog who made it 15-1/2 years in our household despite quarantines, moves, different homes, different vets, different continents. You were a good Expat dog. You were my companion when "Daddy" was away on business trips. You were the dog who met every grandchild and endeared yourself to them as you allowed them to play with you (sometimes not very gently either) and put up with pulled ears, fierce hugs and sloppy kisses. You were our fourth, albeit hirsute, child.

Rest in peace, dear one. And know you were loved.

And I do hope "All Good Dogs go to Heaven"...

Shelbourne Lynne Drennon (aka Shelby)
1996-2011

Tell me it ain't so!

2011-07-25T11:03:00.003-05:00

I swear I think I've seen this wallpaper before (and I can hear in my mind my mom saying, "Cheri! Don't swear!") I believe it was in the downstairs bathroom of the house we bought in Naperville, Illinois, back in 1981. I was pregnant up to my eyeballs when we transferred from Houston to Chicago for Mike's job. I was six weeks away from delivery and there I was, perched precariously on a ladder, removing a wallpaper very similar to this in that bathroom right after we'd closed on the house. Everything about it screamed "SEVENTIES!!" in loud, punctuated, tenacious tones. Metallic gold accents...shudder!

So when I saw this online today - ON SALE for $59.95 per roll down from $89.95 - I was aghast! There are just some historical (and I use that term loosely since it was only 30 years ago - that makes it more "vintage" than historical) trends that do not bear repeating. They should be buried and forgotten.

But I am sure there are others who beg to differ. And most of those others, I'd wager (and NOW I can here my mom saying, "Cheri! Don't gamble!") are in their 20's and 30's, passionately in love with all things '70s. I say that because there are so many people who have embraced "mid-century" furniture. the stuff I grew up with - in the '60s because it was hand-me-downs that my folks had been able to procure on their lean budget. Blond woods, sharp edges, lots of aluminum banding (I'm thinking of our kitchen table now), Formica laminate tops (tables, counters, bathrooms), modular looking upholstered pieces. My mom hates it to this day - and so do I frankly. I'm not sure why exactly but it wasn't "comforting" design and we both crave an environment that says, "Come in, sit down, put your feet up, be comfortable". And most of our 50s stuff was the antithesis of that.

To each his own. And ones interiors should speak to them personally. Which is why, when I saw this, it said to me, "Na-na-nanana!" And I shuddered.

I don't like being taunted by wallpaper.

Remember the Quilt Giveaway!

2011-07-23T13:06:00.005-05:00

Okay, maybe not so impressive/important as "Remember the Alamo!" but, if you win, you WILL get this gorgeous quilt, made by my friend Sherri. Those of you who were overseas in Trinidad and England with us (Amoco/BP days) probably even know her. All those years I knew her, working to make a better international school, breaking leases on bad properties, collecting Polish Pottery, drinking Starbucks at Sainsbury's, keeping each other sane - I never knew her secret talent! Only in the last year or so do I discover, after we moved to different parts of the globe, that the woman has mad sewing skills! (or is that "skilz"? Nope, I'm too old for that...) Anyway, go to her daughter's blog and be sure to leave a comment as your entry.

Now, on to MY news! (Drumroll please...) Without help from me or copying it from already being written, Mirai can write her name!! I gave her a card yesterday that came in an order I'd received, thinking she would like to color it. I was working in the study a short time later when she says, "Gramma, look what I did!" And this is what I saw:

And she not only wrote it once but TWICE (and a cute picture to go with it)! Okay, so we need to work on "lower case" vs "upper case". Should I get the university apps ready? Probably premature, but I'm so pleased just the same. And I love how her pictures of people always have a nose and big SMILES on their faces! She starts pre-kindergarten in September with three days a week instead of the two last year. I can tell her brain is really clicking as she thinks things through now. She'll get this furrow in her brow, look away into the distance for a minute in concentration, then her face clears, she makes eye contact and, with a big old smile on her face, she imparts her new knowledge to you! Big doin's happening this year, folks; BIG doin's.

Meanwhile, I'm working on my "preschoolers wardrobe" acquisition addiction. More on that in another blog. Let's just say a girl can never have too many shoes (or the outfits to go with them) or hair bows, right?

RIGHT?? (insert validation here)

A quilt giveaway!

2011-07-22T09:58:00.003-05:00

A dear friend of mine from our overseas days, Sherri, quilts like nobody's business. I have several of her creations and I like to call their style "Contemporary Classic" as they are contemporary colors and fabric prints but traditional style blocking and composition. She uses only high quality long-staple cotton fabrics. I own, let's see - 4 baby, 1 twin and 1 throw quilt plus a toddler sized bed quilt that she's made and sold on Etsy.

Well, (drum roll please!) THIS weekend, she is giving one away through her daughter's blog, "My Two Red Shoes". And it's a BEAUT! Lavender, blues and soft greens. If it were mine, I'd be tempted to call it Lavender Blue (Dilly Dilly) but, knowing Sherri, she's probably already named it and will have a sewn in embroidered tag with the name on it.

You can read the entry rules on Kathleen's blog but basically, you can enter once a day from today through Sunday plus a bonus entry if you mention the giveaway in YOUR blog, referencing it back to her and leaving a comment with a link to YOUR blog!

I'm trying not to covet this but it's hard - this is a DILLY of a quilt and my wishing vibes are going all out right now! On second thought, maybe you SHOULDN'T enter as that leaves more chances for me! Nope, you gotta enter and tell your blog friends about it. I can attest to the supreme quality of this quilt - they wash up beautifully in the washer and dryer (I've never had shrinkage issues) and they end up very soft and "drape-y" (I hate a stiff quilt that doesn't mold to you when under it - these are GREAT "drapers").

Well, what are waiting around here for? Go ENTER!

Thank you. That is all.

In which I learn a lesson about pork chops...

2011-06-10T13:41:00.003-05:00

...and relationships.

I (occasionally) blog and enjoy reading blogs. My yardstick for "blog consideration" in my must-read list measures content by several criteria. I love Texas bloggers for one - pride of State and South. I love food bloggers - love of belly? Perhaps. :) I love bloggers who "keep it real", journal-ing their observations on life and their interactions within their own lives, not embellishing it for pride purposes, laying out their truths warts and all - especially young mother bloggers who are navigating the rivers of their life and attempting to circumvent the dangerous undertows which threaten to pull them under at times. There is a sense of community withing the blogosphere - a combination of "been there-done that" and "oh, WOW!" that I find appealing. And, as a "back from retirement" full time caregiver to one of our grandchildren, reaching out and being reached creates a sense of "I am not alone".

Yes, I do "have a life" lest you think I am an online lurker, seeking validation in a world of strangers whose moral fiber I know not of. :) But I believe there is value in blogging and reading blogs - nuggets of wisdom to squirrel away, loud signals of "WARNING!" when digesting the unfortunate consequences detailed, and a lifting of spirits when victories and/or hilarious happenings are sometimes regaled.

One of the blogs I follow in Google Reader had a great nugget today. I am taking the liberty of quoting from her post today. The blog is called Homesick Texan, written by Liz, and I've been a reader for several years now. I find this blog engaging on two levels - the aforementioned "Pride of State" (she's from Texas although living in New York) and "love of belly" (lots of recipes, true Texan recipes - often with a new twist). Having lived overseas many years while hailing from the Great State of Texas, I completely understand what it is like to live somewhere besides Texas yet attempt to find the ingredients to recreate the dishes I love and crave so much. I believe her blog was born of a desire to find/recreate/educate herself (and thus her readers) to that end. And, I am happy to report, she is in the process of writing her own cookbook and has a publisher lined up! (Liz writes, "And I'm excited to announce that The Homesick Texan Cookbook will be published by Hyperion in September 2011.") Guess who will be ordering copies for Christmas gifts this year?

Now that the introductions have been made, I (finally) come to the point of MY post today. Her recent post had a title involving pork chops. Not being a big pork fan, I almost skipped reading it. But the first paragraph, the very first sentence, intrigued me. "'Are you familiar with the pork chop theory?' asked food writer Virginia Willis." Hm, a pork chop theory? Okay, I'll bite (no pun intended, believe it or not).

Reading to the end, I got to the last paragraph where she elaborates and shares this wonderful truth:

"Willis, a veteran author, was giving me tips about what to expect when my book is published, emphasizing how all authors can help each other. To illustrate her point, she quoted Nathalie Dupree who came up with the pork chop premise."

"According to Dupree, if you cook one pork chop in a pan on high heat it will burn. But if you cook two pork chops in a pan, the chops will cook evenly as each chop’s fat will feed the other. As Willis has written, “It’s the ultimate in giving, sharing, and developing mutually beneficial partnerships and relationships. It’s not about competition, it’s about sharing the fat, sharing the love.”

So, pork chops aside, this "universal truth" is one that really spoke to me! Trying to do big tasks "on my own", whether for pride, reluctance to ask for assistance or just plain old stubbornness, have often resulted in my "being burned". But having a team, sharing the load - as well as sharing the credit - almost always ends in a sense of accomplishment and camaraderie. The Bible speaks of this as well when it says, "Two are better than one because they have a good return for their labor." (Eccl. 4:9) But how often I forget this as I strive and yet do not succeed. I have often been the author of my own discontent by insisting on either doing it MY way, doing it alone or, worse, wearing the sackcloth and ashes of the "Woe is me!" personae that infers that she has it rough, "it's tough to be me" and becomes hostile to (dare I say) my husband for not reading my mind. Judge Judy would have a hey day with me on those days.

Anyway, that's my two-cents for the day. My "nugget of wisdom" to share. Take it for what it's worth. And I hope you'll meander over to Liz's blog, Homesick Texan, and enjoy the photos, recipes and insights she shares.

I still don't like pork chops. But I do like universal truths. Food for thought, the best meal of all?

In which both Lleyton and Timothy have birthdays...

2011-05-25T14:59:00.004-05:00

...and I didn't even mention it. Actually, there have been LOTS of birthdays and in my "I'll get to it later after all a blog is for life, not just for Christmas" stupor, I rationalized I'd get it done sooner or later.

Welcome to "later". I swear, I'll be late to my own funeral. And no, I didn't get that idea from Liz Taylor. I had it first and if she was alive, I'd take her to task for getting the credit for the idea. At least I'M married to my FIRST husband.

So, missed birthdays include:

My mom. On tax day. Which is an easy way to remember it, except for THIS year when, for some reason, tax deadline was the 18th instead of the 15th. But I more than made up for it with several days of surprises, pieces of coconut cream pie and eating out. So either I'm good for the next few years or maybe, just maybe, I've made up for the past. Only my hairdresser knows for sure. And she ain't telling. (I'm a GREAT tipper!)

Timothy. 30 years old on 5/15. He's finally "all growed up!" Actually, he's been grown up for some time but between turning 30 and the realization that my middle child is NOW THIRTY, the fact hit me smack on the head. He's like a fine, sharp cheddar - mellow with a nice bite, best at room temperature and goes with a LOT of good things.

Jenjer. 28 years old on 5/17. Probably a strange birthday for her since it's the first "single" birthday in many years and Mirai is down here. She'll get to see her soon when we go down for a long weekend soon. Two years from thirty - or should I say, ONE year from her FIRST 29th birthday??

Lleyton. 4 years old on 4/30. We had intended to join the entire Tim Drennon clan at the San Antonio Zoo on his birthday but some family medical emergencies with Mike's mom came up and we headed north instead of west that weekend. We did get to San Antonio in time to meet at Pei Wei and have dinner and present our gifts to him so not all was lost. But I hate that we missed it. As a rule, I have tried religiously to be present at every single grandchild's birthday for as long as I can (and they'll let me and not roll their eyes - those days be comin' soon!) so missing the bulk of this one was an "ouchy".

Kati. My sister, on 4/26. Now, she lives in Canada. And I've lived (insert name of one of 12 different locations throughout the world the past 34 years since I left Lubbock) so it's obvious we don't see each other very often. But, as we get older, more and more I remember our childhood days, when we all lived in Lubbock, and wish we could see each other more often. I'll protect her dignity by NOT saying what her age is or that she is older than me by two years and that my age has been previously mentioned in other blog posts (as well as listed below). I have standards, you know.

Luke. His birthday is tomorrow. He will be four. The Class of 07 is turning 4 right now. First Lleyton, then Luke. Mirai will round out the trio on 7/2 with her birthday. We won't get to see him on his actual day but will be able to go to his party on another day. He's our not-so-little future quarterback/soccer player/fill-in-the-name sports enthusiast. He's built for sports. He's a natural. And I may finally have to learn the rules of some of those games if I'm going to keep up.

And then there was MY birthday back in March. March 12th. Put it on your calendars folks so you will know it's time to humiliate me, send me cards about how old I am and generally make me glad when it's over. I turned 54. I am not afraid of the number. It's just a number. Like my weight. Oh wait, I AM afraid of THAT number...

But it was a greater birthday in that all my children and grands and Mike were up in Keller to help me celebrate, complete with a big dinner out and a cake with a few token candles (didn't want to break any fire codes in a public place you know). Mike actually. did. shopping. On his own. Without any input. At a DAVID YURMAN STORE!! After I came to, I thanked him profusely in the hopes of giving positive reinforcement since I've heard that THAT can cause a person to repeat a desired behavior. Yes, putting those great parenting skills to work in my marriage as well! Not that I'm treating Mike like a child - far from it! I'm treating him like a responsible adult who GOES TO A DAVID YURMAN STORE TO BUY BIRTHDAY GIFTS ON HIS OWN!! That's all.

So enough of the fun and frivolity in our household. After a drought of no writing, the keys are fairly flying with two posts on one day. Anymore and my computer might start smoking or something (finally got it off drugs...) so I won't push my luck.

Take care peeps and I'll see if I can do another post before another month has passed. I can't very well get onto people whose blogs I read to keep posting if I'm not willing to share too. The blogger's mantra: "I'll post mine if you'll post yours".

I can hear my mom sighing...

Untitled...but still the dot, dot, dot...

2011-05-25T14:39:00.002-05:00

Noticed it's been a month and a day since my last post. This could be for one of two reasons: (1) either nothing is going on her or (2) there is SO MUCH going on that I don't have a) time, b) energy, c) brain power and d) enough hours in the day to check in and update.

I'll go with Option 2. Doing otherwise would make me sound like a total loser and a lazy slob. Must salvage what little reputation I still have.

So, we have been in Katy an unprecedented eight, count 'em, E-I-G-H-T weeks! Mike had one trip (a shorty - one week) during that time and one blessedly cancelled trip. I'm in my own personal Nirvana. I had decided to stay home the month of May anyway so Mirai could be present for all the remaining days of school. We almost achieved that - we missed the LAST most FUNNEST day of school (Splash Party! Treats!! Seeing friends before the summer!!!) - thanks, strep. Yup, the girl woke up the day before the last school day with a 103 temp UNDER HER ARM. Now, if I was a first time mommy instead of a 54 "back in the trenches-mighty experienced-not prone to hysterics unless a flying roach is involved" (grand)mom, I would have made haste to my local ER and demanded immediate attention. But I dosed her with Motrin and patted myself on the back for my calm, cool, collected, informed approach to fevers in a three year old. She didn't want to eat but she did drink - a lot. By afternoon, when two doses of Motrin hadn't even dented the fever, I decided a trip to the pediatrician was in order - just to be on the safe side. They had an appointment (yeah!) and we got in the car.

By the time we got there, she was pretty listless and wanted me to hold her. This has never happened at the doctor. Even they noticed it and got her in right away. Tests for flu and strep were done in short order with strep being the culprit. So a Tylenol/Motrin rotation, every 3 hours, started once we got home (after a massive, hair-curling-scream-induced penicillin shot was administered at the doc's) and we spent the next 6 days in "fever land". It took that long for her to finally get the fever below 100, feel like eating and have any enthusiasm for anything besides watching Blues Clues, sleeping and (thankfully) drinking lots of fluids. We even had to cancel our trip to Pflugerville we had on the books so we wouldn't chance infecting Kennedy and Lleyton. (It was Tim's call but I'm glad he made it because Saturday and Sunday BOTH were fever days after a low-fever Friday.) I was about to take her back to the doc a week later when, lo, and behold, the girl woke up without a fever, demanded her breakfast and, quick as you can say "Strep be GONE", she was back to her old self. Albeit 2 lbs lighter self - which, when you started out at only 32 lbs to begin with is a HUGE weight loss! She's put it all back on now as her appetite has returned.

But Episode Strep left us with several days of an unwanted side effect that I shall call "Little Princess Syndrome". Little Miss Thang got used to being waited on hand and foot and did NOT understand why SHE should put her shoes on/put her trash away/eat at the table/put her own clothes on/etc. It took about 4 days and lots of tears for her to realize that her perceived New World Order had only been a figment of her fever-induced delirium. Hard life lessons. Yup, that's what we're all about folks. Kill you with kindness then put you back on the road to reality.

She lived. And so did we. Fortunately, strep did not...

Hoppy Easter to All...

2011-04-24T15:24:00.006-05:00

Knuffle Bunny is on the left while NEW Mrs. Knuffle is on the right

The Easter Bunny made his (her?) way to our house last night for the first time in a L-O-N-G time! I think the last time he graced us with his presence was quite possibly 1999. I'm glad he found us as we've only moved twice since then! But then, bunnies have a way of finding sweet children, especially cute little girls, on Easter morning. I think they share a GPS and Global Interface system with Santa Claus. I believe I've heard a rumor that the Tooth Fairy is outsourcing her Direction Acquisitions Department to this same sourcing, but it's going to be a few years before she needs to find us, I hope!

Mirai was very surprised and excited to see the basket of goodies left for her once she was dressed and ready for church this morning. We didn't have a lot of time for her to see what goodies there were but she was pretty quick, though thorough, going through the contents before we headed to the car.

After Bible class and worship service, we went to Perry's Steakhouse for our (first annual?? ;) Easter lunch. Mirai was good as gold which is quite a feat considering it is a very nice restaurant that takes approximately two hours to complete an entire dinner service. But she had Knuffle Bunny as well as Mrs. Knuffle Bunny (whom the aforementioned EASTER bunny - my what a lot of bunnies today! - had brought her) so she had lots with which to occupy herself. Those bunnies "ate" lunch and "drank" water just like we did!

She is now down for an afternoon siesta to recover from all the excitement - I plan to follow suit immediately after posting this! She has her two bunnies with her, of course. Mrs. Knuffle became an instant favorite much to my surprise given how enamored she is of Knuffle Bunny.

Happy Easter to all! May your chocolates be many, your weight gain be none, your nap uninterrupted and your family time be fun!

P.S. For those unfamiliar with Knuffle Bunny, I'll have to do a post later on extolling the virtues of this wonderful leporidae.

An Easter egg in the basket...

2011-04-23T11:28:00.009-05:00

...is worth none in the bush. This week has brought Mirai the wonderful concept of candy hidden inside eggs which are hidden in "plain sight", bushes and trees. There were two Easter Egg hunts - one at school and one at a friend's home for the younger children and their families from church.

Picnic supper before the Relay Race and Egg Hunt

I'd been talking to Mirai about the Easter Bunny and how she will put her basket out Saturday night and sometime during the night or early morning, a (I assume 'large') bunny would quietly visit and leave surprises in her basket. She looked at me as if to say, "Um, sure. Okay. Out of respect I'll listen, but you are NUTS, woman!" Well, after the first Easter Egg hunt at Yellow Brick Road School on Thursday, she was a believer. How can you argue with a basket full of petrochemicals shaped into the form of eggs and filled with various forms of chocolate and jelly beans??

Fernanda Cannon and Mirai

Getting ready to do the Relay Race

Last night we went to the home of friends from church, the Brockmans, and had another egg hunt as well as a relay race. Seeing a group of mainly preschoolers attempting to hold a plastic egg on a spoon and walk it across (without dropping it - right...) to the other side of the lawn was hilarious! Mirai did pretty good if I do say so - she dropped it only once coming and once going. Her concentration was intense as she cautiously walked and balanced her egg in that spoon.

Major concentration

Steady now!

Oops! Try again!!

I don't know if it was her first egg hunt but it was certainly OUR first egg hunt with HER! If her reaction to the festivities is anything to go by, Sunday morning is going to be a blast!

Mrs. Palmer and Mirai after the Egg Hunt

Mrs. Palmer is one of Mirai's favorites (she's the mother of Beth Brockman). They have a mutual admiration society that is very sweet to watch.

Altogether a VERY fine day!

Thanks to Mac and Beth for hosting the Egg Hunt at their home - we truly enjoyed it!

From a Southern Lady...

2011-03-07T19:26:00.001-06:00

A facebook friend posted this today and I love it.

"I am proud to be from the South - where tea is sweet and accents are sweeter; summer starts in April; front porches are wide and words are long; macaroni and cheese is a vegetable; pecan pie is a staple; Y’all is the only proper pronoun; chicken is fried and biscuits come w/ gravy; everything is darling and someone is always getting their heart blessed. Have a good day y'all!"

My only exception to that is my aversion to sweet tea.

But I blame my northern parents for that.

Words from wise men...

2011-03-07T12:37:00.000-06:00

Words from wise men, that never seem to fade too far from reality.

1. In my many years I have come to a conclusion that one useless man is
a shame, two is a law firm, and three or more is a Congress.
-- John Adams

2. If you don't read the newspaper you are uninformed. If you do read the
newspaper you are misinformed.
-- Mark Twain

3. Suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of Congress.
But then I repeat myself.
-- Mark Twain

4. I contend that for a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a man
standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle.
-- Winston Churchill

5. A government which robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the
support of Paul.
-- George Bernard Shaw

6. A liberal is someone who feels a great debt to his fellow man, which
debt he proposes to pay off with your money.
-- G. Gordon Liddy

7. Democracy must be something more than two wolves and a sheep
voting on what to have for dinner.
-- James Bovard, Civil Libertarian (1994)

8. Foreign aid might be defined as a transfer of money from poor people
in rich countries to rich people in poor countries.
-- Douglas Casey,
Classmate of Bill Clinton at Georgetown University

9. Giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car
keys to teenage boys.
-- P.J. O'Rourke,
Civil Libertarian

10. Government is the great fiction, through which everybody endeavors
to live at the expense of everybody else.
-- Frederic Bastiat, French Economist (1801-1850)

11. Government's view of the economy could be summed up in a few short
phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it.
And if it stops moving, subsidize it.
-- Ronald Reagan (1986)

12. I don't make jokes. I just watch the government and report the facts.
-- Will Rogers

13. If you think health care is expensive now, wait until you see what it costs
when it's free!
-- P.J. O'Rourke

14. In general, the art of government consists of taking as much money as
possible from one party of the citizens to give to the other.
-- Voltaire (1764)

15. Just because you do not take an interest in politics doesn't mean
politics won't take an interest in you!
-- Pericles (430 B.C.)

16. No man's life, liberty, or property is safe while the legislature is in session.
-- Mark Twain (1866)

17. Talk is cheap...except when Congress does it.
-- Anonymous

18. The government is like a baby's alimentary canal, with a happy appetite
at one end and no responsibility at the other.
-- Ronald Reagan

19. The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of the blessings.
The inherent blessing of socialism is the equal sharing of misery.
-- Winston Churchill

20. The only difference between a tax man and a taxidermist is that the
taxidermist leaves the skin.
-- Mark Twain

21. The ultimate result of shielding men from the effects of folly is to fill
the world with fools.
-- Herbert Spencer, English Philosopher (1820-1903)

22. There is no distinctly native American criminal class...save Congress.
-- Mark Twain

23. What this country needs are more unemployed politicians.
-- Edward Langley, Artist (1928-1995)

24. A government big enough to give you everything you want, is strong
enough to take everything you have.
-- Thomas Jefferson

The New Spectator Sport...

2011-02-01T19:10:00.002-06:00

...is HGTV's "House Hunters". I've been a fan of this show for a long time but I realized today, as I was watching yet another episode as I'm recovering from a particularly nasty bout of 'flu on a Snow Day, that my motivation for watching has changed COMPLETELY from what it originally was.

I've always loved looking at houses. When we would be transferred, yet again, with an oil company, the hunt to find a home was always the carrot for me, motivating me to get with the program of moving to a new city or even a new country. Almost every single time I had unrealistic expectations of what we could afford but still I found it a fun adventure.

So when we moved back to the States five years ago, and yet another house search which I enjoyed more than all the rest put together, I was excited to discover this show. Mike thought I was nuts. I don't know how many times he'd walk in while I was watching and say, "WHAT do you see in this show??" I would just look at him and say, "I guess the same thing YOU see in sports?" He'd shake his head and walk away.

But today, after watching a couple who were particularly obnoxious, I realized that I no longer watch the show to see what the houses look like. I watch it because the people are often a train wreck. The dysfunction of the relationships has eclipsed the home features and prices. You know, where you watch in abject horror but yet can't turn away? Even with all the flashing lights and emergency vehicles??

You can tell which couples you'd like to actually know and the ones you fear might move in next door to you. The good ones are those who know what they want and are united in price. The ones who ask each other what their opinion is of a property/style/location. The ones who find things in a property to tell their spouse about because they know it's something that is important to the spouse. The ones who seem happy and obviously care for each other.

The latter seem to make up a lot of them. The ones where one spouse (in couples) is always talking about what THEY want (THEIR style, THEIR room, THEIR pool, THEIR kitchen). The wives who "give" their husbands 1/5th of the closet space. The husbands who demand their "man cave" over functioning kitchens and secondary family baths (and I HATE that term, "man cave" - like they are bears or something). The young professionals who make it abundantly clear they expect and can afford the very best and display an elitist attitude that dares anyone to tell them otherwise. The couples who belittle each other in an ill fated attempt to make themselves look more knowledgeable or "well-heeled". The wives who pout and just say, "I WANT this house. Get me THIS house." The ones who refuse to budge over a low-ball figure and then wonder why they don't get the house. The ones who give their realtor grief because they can't find the perfect castle in the best neighborhood for $150,000 or less.

And the show "Selling New York"? House Hunters on steroids?? Oh my, don't even get me started. Househunters International? The ones where the family are moving from the US to a foreign country for a job? I often wish for a "follow-up" episode to see if the family made it. Having been part of a group who helped soon-t0-be expatriates prepare for overseas assignments, I sometimes see the handwriting on the wall that THIS particular family has NO business moving overseas.

Having purchased eleven properties and leased seven in our marriage, I've often wondered how I've come across to the realtors/estate agents of the past, both home and abroad, who helped us find our homes. I hope I never treated them with the disdain some of these people exhibit. And I know I've made the "here's your little bit of closet" joke more than once (sorry, Mike). It has to be a study in patience as well as family relationships to be a really good realtor I've often thought. They have to have worse hours than a doctor sometimes when people come into town and have one week or less to find a house. I know we've looked at 40-50 houses sometimes in really high dollar cities (Chicagoland) where we'd try to find SOMETHING similar to what we left in the cheaper city (Houston) that would work for the extra $100,000 this new location was going to cost us to get half of what we had before (at least we always DID buy something eventually, even when the first contracts fell through - as they ALWAYS did in Naperville).

I remember Mike and I being torn between two houses when we first moved back to Houston in the early '90s. His boss took us out to dinner during the house hunting trip and asked us how the search was going. Mike told him we'd found a couple of houses we really liked but I liked one and he liked the other. His boss looked him in the eye and said, "Michael, buy the woman the house she wants. She's the one who's going to be living there." He did and I did. And I loved his boss, the dear, dear man.

So for me, House Hunters has become more of a study in relationships than home buying. The variety of homes one sees is of interest for sure but nothing beats the people who are the "home predators".

And some days I just feel sorry for the house.

The Invisible Mom

2011-01-27T09:28:00.002-06:00

This was sent to me today by a dear friend in England. I just had to share it. Thanks Kathleen for sharing it with me.

Invisible Mother.....

It all began to make sense, the blank stares, the lack of response, the way one of the kids will walk into the room while I'm on the phone and ask to be taken to the store. Inside I'm thinking, 'Can't you see I'm on the phone?'

Obviously not; no one can see if I'm on the phone, or cooking, or sweeping the floor, or even standing on my head in the corner, because no one can see me at all. I'm invisible.. The invisible Mom. Some days I am only a pair of hands, nothing more! Can you fix this? Can you tie this? Can you open this??

Some days I'm not a pair of hands; I'm not even a human being. I'm a clock to ask, 'What time is it?' I'm a satellite guide to answer, 'What number is the Disney Channel?' I'm a car to order, 'Right around 5:30, please.'

Some days I'm a crystal ball; 'Where's my other sock?, Where's my phone?, What's for dinner?'

I was certain that these were the hands that once held books and the eyes that studied history, music and literature -but now, they had disappeared into the peanut butter, never to be seen again. She's going, she's going, she's gone!?

One night, a group of us were having dinner, celebrating the return of a friend from England. She had just gotten back from a fabulous trip, and she was going on and on about the hotel she stayed in. I was sitting there, looking around at the others all put together so well. It was hard not to compare and feel sorry for myself. I was feeling pretty pathetic, when she turned to me with a beautifully wrapped package, and said, 'I brought you this.' It was a book on the greatcathedrals of Europe.

I wasn't exactly sure why she'd given it to me until I read her inscription: 'With admiration for the greatness of what you are building when no one sees.'

In the days ahead I would read - no, devoured - the book. And I would discover what would become for me, four life-changing truths, after which I could pattern my work: 1) No one can say who built the great cathedrals - we have no record of their names. 2) These builders gave their whole lives for a work they would never see finished. 3) They made great sacrifices and expected no credit. 4) The passion of their building was fueled by their faith that the eyes of God saw everything.

A story of legend in the book told of a rich man who came to visit the cathedral while it was being built, and he saw a workman carving a tiny bird on the inside of a beam. He was puzzled and asked the man, 'Why are you spending so much time carving that bird into a beam that will be covered by the roof, No one will ever see it And the workman replied, 'Because God sees.'

I closed the book, feeling the missing piece fall into place. It was almost as if I heard God whispering to me, 'I see you. I see the sacrifices you make every day, even when no one around you does.

No act of kindness you've done, no sequin you've sewn on, no cupcake you've baked, no Cub Scout meeting, no last minute errand is too small for me to notice and smile over. You are building a great cathedral, but you can't see right now what it will become.

I keep the right perspective when I see myself as a great builder. As one of the people who show up at a job that they will never see finished, to work on something that their name will never be on. The writer of the book went so far as to say that no cathedrals could ever be built in our lifetime because there are so few people willing to sacrifice to that degree.

When I really think about it, I don't want my son to tell the friend he's bringing home from college for Thanksgiving, 'My Mom gets up at 4 in the morning and bakes homemade pies, and then she hand bastes a
turkey for 3 hours and presses all the linens for the table.' That would mean I'd built a monument to myself. I just want him to want to come home. And then, if there is anything more to say to his friend, he'd say, 'You're gonna love it there...'

As mothers, we are building great cathedrals. We cannot be seen if we're doing it right. And one day, it is very possible that the world will marvel, not only at what we have built, but at the beauty that has been added to the world by the sacrifices of invisible mothers.

Share this with all the Invisible Moms you know... I just did.

The Will of God will never take you where the Grace of God will not protect you.

To all the wonderful mothers out there!!
May God give you...
For every storm, a rainbow,
For every tear, a smile,
For every care, a promise,
And a blessing in each trial.
For every problem life sends,
A faithful friend to share,
For every sigh, a sweet song,
And an answer for each prayer.

Cheri and Jennifer's REALLY. BIG. ADVENTURE.

2010-11-17T22:17:00.005-06:00

I used to try to blog once a day. That lasted about, oh, a day. Then I went for once a week. Then once a month. You can just FEEL the commitment oozing out of me, right? Well, in a fit of guilt, I've decided to throw a curve ball and actually jot down a few words for posterity. Because I have been literally surrounded by 'posterity' all week! Tim and Megan have been in Boston and NYC this week; between Megan's "other mother" (first shift) and Jennifer and me (second shift), we've held down the fort in north Austin. The 'fort' of which we speak is Kennedy and Lleyton - along with Mirai, Ben, Luke and Emery. Yes, we do love our fun and frivolity (and muscle creams, ibuprofen, take-out food and Starbucks...LOTS of Starbucks...)

For some crazy reason, Jen and I thought it would be really fun to bring all the cousins together for a few days. What we obviously forgot was that it would be just the TWO of us 'token adults' taking care of the wee darlings. We also forgot that the average three year old has more energy than two adults. And we had THREE three year olds. And two adults. In my limited math ability, I figure that's a 3-to-1 ratio, three year olds winning. Add in two six-year olds and a baby and you have a classic 'Lions, tigers and bears, oh my!!' The name "Duggar" came up several times in conversation.

We had no single vehicle large enough to accommodate six children (with resultant car seats) and two adults. So we took Jen's minivan and my SUV which in and of itself was a source of "discussion" as we leave. The whom-is-going-with-whom-and-no-I-didn't-ask-you-you'll-go-with-whom-you-are-told discussion ensued on several occasions. All in all the transport divisions worked out very well and most of the time said posterity was pleased with their assigned seating. Now, getting them to put their trays in an upright and locked position as well as pay attention to the special safety presentation was another matter...

Bedtime was like herding cats - you'd get one in line and then one would wander off causing the others to follow to make sure they weren't doing anything more exciting than they were doing! And the tussling that just feeds extra energy - it's amazing how that is so absent in the mornings when we were trying to wake the kids up so we could get Kennedy and Lleyton out the door for school but was SO ever present just before bedtime. I have a new respect for
- parents of multiples
- preschool teachers
- calm people
- vehicles that are able to accommodate six car seats and two adults
- nannies
- the fast food industry
- PBS
- paper towels

Last night I presented the Christmas jammies for this year and attempted to get a photo. In preparation for this, I brought the children's stockings we have for our house along with me. I also brought their stocking hangers so we could put them on the fireplace mantles. Neither Jennifer or I anticipated their reaction to that. They really thought it was Christmas Eve and that the stockings would be FULL in the morning. Never mind that there was no tree up, no gifts wrapped let along, oh, the total absence of most of their parents!? :) Jen said she felt terrible when she tucked Luke in and he said, "I'm excited to get my Buzz in my stocking tomorrow!" necessitating another discussion of WHY the stockings were out in the first place.

FAIL.

Tomorrow will be tears since Jen and her three will be returning to Keller. Kennedy will miss Ben like crazy. And Lleyton has developed an affinity for Luke. Mirai and I will stay through Friday morning hopefully giving me time between Jen's departure and Tim/Megan's flight arrival to find the floor, put things back in place and generally compose myself to remark with practiced casualness, "Everything went really well! We all did GREAT!"

SUCCESS.

In the mail today...

2010-10-16T22:30:00.002-05:00

...we received a box with this inside it:

Tim and Megan (and Kennedy and Lleyton) had sent it as a 'Thank you' to us.

I went to wash it and discovered that the paper curls inside weren't just filler. INSIDE the (I've wanted for a long time but never have bought) thermal, double-walled Starbucks cup was this:

How cool is that? This may well be the most unique 'thank you note' I've ever seen.

And, Austin Drennons, you are certainly welcome! We love you too!!

An actual conversation...

2010-09-29T22:28:00.004-05:00

In the car.
On the way to dinner.

Me: I'm going to J's house tomorrow after their closing.

Mike: That should be fun.

Me: Yes, I'm excited to see their house.

Mike: Are you going to give decorating ideas?

Me: Only if she asks for them. But if she does I'm going to prefer them.

Mike: Don't you mean "proffer" them?

Me: No, I always prefer MY ideas.

Mike (holding back laughter): Well, I think the word is still "proffer".

Me: Humph.

And now we are Six...

2010-09-19T08:00:00.000-05:00

...and another generation embraces the Star Wars phenomenon. Ben will be six years old tomorrow but his party was today. Jennifer made a dinner of his requests and MOI brought the cake. I did not BAKE the cake but I did "gussy it up" with the requisite Star Wars paraphernalia.

I do believe the cake was acceptable...if Ben's reaction to it is anything to go by.

The irony of his new found interest in Star Wars? I was pregnant with his mother when Mike and I, living in Bay City, traveled to Houston in September of 1977, to wait in line for 90 minutes to see the said film at the Alameda Mall. So perhaps all those symphonies I listened to during those months will pay off as well. :)

And, of course, nothing says loving like a line up of manly "action figures" arranged around a cake, being careful not to disturb the candles, looking for all the world like they're about to bust out in a dance routine of, "YMCA". Seriously, I think that Storm Trooper has his groove on.

But I digress from the purpose of this missive, which is to point out that Ben is now six. Six. SIX!!

Did I mention he is now six? I'm seriously trying to wrap my brain around it so I can then move on to trying to wrap my brain around Kennedy turning six in 17 more days. I won't wax all slobbery and nostalgic about the day he was born because frankly I did it all before you can just read it again here.

Happy Birthday, Ben. We love you heaps and heaps. Oh, and may the Force be with you...

(For those who caught it, yes, the "title" today is taken from A. A. Milne's last Pooh Bear book, "Now We Are Six".)

Who won the Emmy...

2010-09-19T00:28:00.001-05:00

We did, of course! Emery (now known as Emmy a lot of the time) has grown into herself. But I'd say her hair continues to outpace her - I mean, seriously, when's the last time you saw a baby with hair so long you could tuck it behind her ears?

Luke was doing a little song and dance to make her smile in the photo above. Ben had the monopoly on making Emery laugh, but Luke has invented his own brand of stand-up comedy that gets a great result from her. It's all in the delivery, folks, all in the delivery. Oh, and keep your material fresh. Em knows.

It's that hair again - it's to her shoulders for goodness sake. She has her own bow and band collection started and while some folks buy them for aesthetic reasons, Em NEEDS them to keep her hair out of her face.

And she has a very serious side now - she reserves her gleeful smiles for special occasions (like when I visit). She can give you a leveling gaze that is beyond her years it and totally puts you in your place. Yes, her Papa Mike can do that too. It's a gift I tell ya!

We could also call her our tumbling tumbleweed - not sitting up on her own (she'll "hold the pose" for a bit if you put her there but watch out...whoops!...there she goes over). But she does this rollover thing to get where she wants to go that is fun to watch. I guess that makes her a literal lateral thinker. :)

And now, watch out brothers, I'm onto you and your toys. They will be mine, MINE I tell you!

But who on EARTH can resist that precocious face? Not this Gramma! One week shy of seven months - I'll blink and it will be HER sixth birthday. But, "I won't think about that today. I'll think about it tomorrow. Because tomorrow IS anutha' day!"

So true, Scarlett. So true.

Nobody puts Baby in the corner...

2010-09-09T13:30:00.000-05:00

...just in the high chair. Jennifer sent me this photo of Emery enjoying her first solid food - oatmeal. I know this is a big deal for Jen - the 3rd child, starting on solid food after nursing solely until now. It has to be bittersweet. But how cute is THAT??? I love her long, dark hair which is atypical for a baby of any age. Anyway, had to shamelessly show off Miss Thang. How sweet, oatmeal beauty treatment and all.

Taking a "sick day"...

2010-09-09T11:31:00.004-05:00

Checking her wings "pre-flight"

...has its advantages. Mirai had to stay home from school today since she had a low-grade fever yesterday. Nothing to worry about, Mommy and Daddy. Probably a virus/late summer cold. But she's taking advantage of the "couch, pabi and cable" day to enjoy her dress-up clothes. Right now, she's channeling her inner ladybug (or "doodlebug" as she calls them).

And she's OFF!!

Wait - photo op!

Charming. Absolutely charming.

But then I'm a bit prejudiced.

Something tells me she's feeling a lot better already.

The first of many firsts...

2010-09-07T20:54:00.006-05:00

...was the first day of school for Mirai. Well, preschool anyway. She's three years old and, as today bore out, more than ready for the experience. We had our "Meet and Greet" last Thursday evening when we "met" her teacher (whom we already know but it's all part of the experience) and took her to see her new classroom. And, more importantly, she was shown her seat at the classroom table, complete with a nameplate!

Papa and Mirai before the school meeting

Gramma Cheri after the meeting taking Mirai to her classroom

"This is MY spot!"

At home already

Last night was pre-school-pre-prep (okay, not a real word, but it SHOULD be). Early bath and shampoo - check. Fingernails trimmed and ears thoroughly cleaned - check. Clothing laid out for the next morning - check. Lots of bedtime stories and hugs and kisses before prayers and bedtime - check. Backpack ready with required school items - check.

Lunch made and put in the fridge - check.

A really good night's sleep and very hard to wake up this morning despite going to bed early - check. :)

Still sleepy but she's ready to go with handbag in place...

The realization that, no, she could NOT take her babies with her to school

After a breakfast of bagels (aka "cookie? COOKIE!" - who am I to argue about the exact name of carbs?) and milk, we were off to school. It went without a hitch. She was so excited to have her backpack and lunchbox. She marched into the school, put her backpack and lunchbox on her hook in the hall and went to her seat without a backward glance. So I left (after snapping a photo or two).

Her teacher, Miss Lela, said she did well and I could tell that, although she was tired, she'd had a good day.

Miss Lela brings her out and puts her in her car seat - this
Gramma is learning the pick-up routine...again! ;)

After we got home following the end of the school day, I noticed she was singing the Happy Birthday song - evidently there was a birthday celebration at school. I continue to be amazed and pleased at her ability to hear and repeat songs. All in all, it was a BIG day for a special LITTLE girl who continues to delight and amaze us. God bless you, Mirai. We're so proud of you.

What's the story...

2010-08-06T22:17:00.003-05:00

...behind the pretty photos in catalogs? Is there one? Have you ever wondered just WHY a particular object has been placed in the room or if REAL people really do that? Then this blog by a California humorist is for you! My daughter clued me in on the blog and I've been laughing hysterically ever since. Enjoy the dialogue of 'Elaine' and 'Gary' as they live their life in the pages of West Elm, Pottery Barn, Pottery Barn Kids and Restoration Hardware. Even Ethan Allen is skewered in the most delightful dialogue. It's called "Catalog Living" and it's a hoot-and-a-half-on-steroids.

Really. You must read it. And weep. From laughing so hard. Really.

Seriously.

We are family…

Secretly, Gary had always wondered if all these children were indeed his.

Chivalry...

2010-08-05T22:41:00.004-05:00

...is not dead.

Today was no different than any other this summer - it was hot, then it was hotter followed by some more hot. It's Texas. On steroids.

Which means you can't let the kids out to play until the bats are flying out of the caverns to find dinner. Yet, unlike bats, kids don't hang upside down, sleeping, until the "witching hour". Poor kids. Poor mama. Poor grammas.

So after 7pm, we decided to go to one of our local frozen yogurt establishments, which have sprung up all over the great state of Texas like Chesapeake Energy drilling rigs. Thank goodness. The temp was down to, oh, the mid-to-upper 90s by this time, a virtual freezer locker for this time of year. We filled up the kids with frozen yogurt and then as we were leaving, they seized their opportunity and made a run for it. All the way down the length of the sidewalk of the shopping center. It was J.O.Y. So we stuck around for awhile and let them run, play, scream, yell, rinse, repeat.

Mirai wants to do everything her cousins do so when Ben and Luke started jumping off the retaining wall of the landscaping, Mirai wanted to try. But it was a leap she wasn't overly confident making. So she held her hand out to Luke who GALLANTLY took it like a gentleman, stood and helped her jump. The next time they were both up there, they held hands and took the plunge together.

And my heart melted. Life is good.

All things bright and beautiful...

2010-07-15T23:11:00.004-05:00

Like, Kennedy, Mirai, Ben and Lleyton

Emery, "The Rookie"

...the Lord God made them all!

Thank you, Lord.

Who looks like...

2010-07-15T22:49:00.007-05:00

Kennedy at age 2-1/2 (she is five years old)

...her cousin, Kennedy? Mirai, that's who.

Mirai - age three years

I've noticed more and more how similar they look at times.

Mirai again - taken this week

Two beautiful girls. Not that I'm prejudiced or anything. Nah...never.

Kennedy - five years

But I can certainly tell they're related!

How to warm a heart...

2010-07-11T23:05:00.005-05:00

...isn't so hard. All you have to have is a Baby Emery who LOVES her brothers. Then add said brothers, sit back and watch the show.

It never fails.

Who can resist that??? Not me.

If you have one of these....

2010-07-11T17:30:00.005-05:00

Granddaughter Mirai

who likes Cheerios for breakfast, and three schnauzers, who would LOVE to have Cheerios, then you usually get this:

Sophie "Please, please, PLEASE!!"

You should have seen the light in their eyes, WILLING Mirai to drop some more Cheerios. What a symbiotic relationship.

Izzie, the "Patient One"

Who needs a vacuum when you have a dog? I've often thought I should rename my three to Dyson, Hoover and Decker.

Photomania....

2010-06-12T11:50:00.005-05:00

My Mom, Dad, Sister (Kati) and me (clapping my hands) - 1960 or 1961

...has taken over my house! The advent of digital SLR cameras has heralded in a new generation of "amateur professionals" who can take wonderful photos, email them, print them, etc. And having six grandchildren, I now have a photo glut. But do I want to pare them down? Absolutely NOT! And I don't have them out for others to "oooo-and-ahhh" over. They are for me. While we all live in the same state, we do not live in the same town. I do get regular doses of my children and grands for which I am thankful but when I'm back in my regular domicile, I do miss them all. And photos help ease the ache that absence brings. So, other than replacing some baby photos of the now almost-six-year-olds with current pics, they aren't going to go anywhere.

Tim and Megan's Bridal Shower - 2003

Jenjer and Chris - Mirai's birth - 2007

Which leads me to my dilemma - how to harness the emotional power of my photos without reverting to wallpapering my house in them and ending up on one of those "hoarder" reality shows? I'm sure my house cleaners were very happy to find this week that I'd removed approximately 10 of the framed photos from our master bedroom (anyone who is willing to come into my house and DUST with all the "stuff" I have, having to pick it up and put it back, is almost a saint!) but the photos need to be removed from the frames and put elsewhere.

Mike and I after our wedding - 1976

Jennifer and Jason with Emma - 2000

I've thought about doing old-fashioned scrapbooks for each of the grands, putting in the photos from frames when they are replaced with newer offerings. But there are many photos with multiple children in them as well as having six grands - that would be six books going at one time. I've also considered scanning them all and putting them into photobooks by year - which really seems to be the most practical way to go. But it also requires a TON of scanning, cataloging and then making the books. In the long run, I do plan to do this but that will require a chunk of time which I do not have right now.

Uncle Charlie and me - 1957

My Grandpa Crawford - whom Timothy favors greatly! 1926

Jennifer and Megan are good about making annual books with their photos - kind of a Family Yearbook. And I've been the recipient of several of these and LOVE THEM! I seriously need to get into the habit of keeping the jpgs all organized and do a little each month on them. I also need to update Quicken so getting to photos is going to take some serious discipline on my part. :)

Kennedy and Ben - "Kissing Cousins" 2006

So, for now, I've about decided to purchase large linen covered note boards or framed cork boards (like this one at Pottery Barn) and put one on either side of my computer desk in my study. And I also have a French note board in my dressing area with photos on it. I noticed some large framed pin boards at Home Goods a few weeks ago for $49 which is about half of what Pottery Barn wants so I should go back and see if they still have them.

Mike and Shelby, England - 2003

It's funny ("peculiar", not "ha-ha") the power of a photograph. Almost like the memory triggered by smell, photos can take you back in time in an instant. And for those of us fortunate enough to have had great childhoods, loving families and, in comparison with a lot of the world, a GOOD life, photos help cement us to our past and give encouragement to "soldier on" in the future. I mean, who can dwell on bad thoughts with a photo of beloved grandparents smiling down on you? As with most things, a balance is called for or we'll spend our time, thoughts and days dwelling on "what was" and not on "what is". But for me, photos help make me feel connected to those with whom I'm, at least for today, separated from. And give me encouragement until we are reunited again, whether it be in heaven one day or in Fort Worth next week (cue "Circle of Life" in background....)

Disney Vacation - 2006

I'm having a Mac attack...

2010-06-09T17:17:00.004-05:00

...and I'm not at McDonald's! I recently received my custom ordered MacBook Pro which my lovely husband gifted me for Mother's Day. And let me tell you, having over triple the hard drive space and a faster processor is bliss! It's like the lunchtime drive through line at our local Chick-fil-a; fast, functional and friendly! Even the transfer of data and applications from the Time Capsule was very fast - only 8 hours wirelessly. (The Apple Store said it would be about 24 hours.) The main thing I'm excited about is having the ability to keep more photos stored rather than having to dump them onto an external drive asap so as to not bog down the system. I guess you could say I'm lovin' it?

So, enough emoting about my new toy.

Summer is upon us and with that brings the humidity and heat for which Houston is infamous. Even the dogs, who normally love a "sit in the sun" time, are quick to get out, do their business and trot back into the cooler, drier house. And the texture of my hair is competing with the Wicked Witch of the West's broom for "most hideous texture". I'm winning.

But with summer also comes visits from the grands, pool time and lots of Chick-fil-a iced tea runs. Even though I have no "at home" children anymore, it still seems like life slows down a bit as schedules are relaxed, speed limits for school zones are on vacation as well and, gross though it may seem, I get a kick out of watching the frogs swim in the pool after dark as if to proclaim, "Hey guys! Check THIS one out!" I guess some folks swim with the dolphins but we're stuck swimming with the frogs.

I will soon be bringing you photos, glorious photos, right after I figure out how Aperture works (hey, I got it loaded...that was enough for one day). Grandchild #6, Lady Emery, is a sight to behold with all her long locks at the tender age of 3-1/2 months. Kennedy graduated from preschool last month. Luke and Ben are playing t-ball. Lleyton started preschool last month. And I hope to see Mirai next week. So lots of grands catching up to do - a picture is worth a thousand words so perhaps you'll get off lightly on the novella part.

Following Kennedy's ballet recital - yes, we support the arts. I'm not sure the arts will return the favor.

Have a great summer! May your a/c not conk out, your mosquitoes be few and your watermelons thumping good! (No jokes about the watermelons folks. This is a family website...)

It's Shaun the Sheep!

2010-04-26T11:39:00.002-05:00

I want to give more information about my aforementioned "must see tv" about Shaun the Sheep series. If you've ever seen any of the Wallace & Grommit movies or shorts, or "Chicken Run" (the movie came out years ago), then you're familiar with the original "clay-mation" of Aardman Animations Ltd. The stories are hilarious for both adults and children, making it the perfect win-win viewing scenario! I bought one DVD last month at Target and Ben, Luke and I promptly fell in love with Shaun, Shirley (the BIG sheep whose coat is so thick things get lost in it), Bitzer the dog who basically runs the farm for the farmer, the Pigs - oh, the Pigs!

I went to amazon.com and found even more of them seeing as how we are now addicted. If you've ever read "Click-Clack-Moo, Cows That Type", then this is a live animation series similar to that but only with sheep on a farm in Britain. SO much fun!

Shaun the Sheep Lyrics

He’s Shaun the sheep
He’s Shaun the sheep
He even mucks about with those who cannot bleat

Keep it in mind, He’s one of a kind
Oh...Life’s a treat with Shaun the Sheep

He’s Shaun the sheep
He’s Shaun the sheep
He doesn’t miss a trick or ever lose a beat

Perhaps one day, You’ll find a way
To...Come and meet with Shaun the sheep
Oh...Come and bleat with Shaun the Sheep!

And time rolls on...

2010-04-26T11:16:00.003-05:00

I got a sweet phone call early this morning. The phone rang and I saw it was from my eldest daughter's cellphone. I answer with my usual (probably overly loud), "Oh, hey!" only to be met for a moment of silence. I say "Hi!" one more time and then hear Ben, eldest grandchild, start singing the theme from the Shaun the Sheep series (which, frankly, if you've never seen - you have to beg/borrow-but-not-steal/buy a copy - more about that later). Anyway, he finishes the chorus, giggles and then says, "Gramma, I lost my tooth!"

Oh. Wow. Oh. My.

Am I actually old enough to have a grandson who is old enough to start losing teeth? Which means, of course, that Kennedy, Number Two grandchild, who is only days behind Ben in age, will be loosing them too soon. Not that I'm the type to get all maudlin about age, brown spots, crow's feet, etc. We all age - some better than others - it's inevitable and the sooner we come to grips with that (like, in your TWENTIES folks), the better for ALL concerned! But what struck me is that we are moving into New Next Generational territory. I've basked in the glow of babies in the house once again with the births of my (now six) grandchildren. I've enjoyed dressing real live dolls vs. the ones I used to buy (for those who've known me that long). I've become known by sight and name at Gymboree stores and Janie and Jack too. I can rattle off the top ten things to buy for a new mom today that are trendy, fun and functional - actually TESTED in the homes of my own children! I'm a Hot Gramma Commodity!

But losing teeth. That's way beyond babies and toddler-hood. It's school, first crushes, the LITTLE Lego bricks, reading. So much more. And, like every parent/grandparent before me, I ask myself, "Am I ready for this?" He obviously is. And I'd better get on board. I have much to offer my grandchildren (and I don't mean just in the Visa or Amex arena). I need to be thinking, planning, executing how I can help enrich their minds, their morals, their values. I want to be a gramma who gets a call from a crying teenagers who spills out, "Why are (mom, dad, fill-in-the-blank) doing this to me?" and will listen to what I say. And that starts now, has started when they were born actually.

One of the best investments Mike and I can make is not in the financial markets but in the future of our grandchildren. And just like a financial plan, we need to be focused, know the risks, weigh the outcomes and MAKE THAT INVESTMENT! They are precious children. And we want to do our part to help them succeed in their spiritual life, their personal relationships, their careers whether they be in the world's marketplace or in their own home. We all have influence and we need to be aware of how we wield that influence. It is so utterly important.

So I've been really dwelling on this this morning as I bask in the glow of that phone call from Benjamin. God my have the "whole world in His hands" but WE have the "whole world" in our hands too when that world is our family. And like that corny ad for All State Insurance, we ask ourselves, "Are WE in good hands?" With focus on God's word and His will for us, I would say, "Yes indeed."

It's a whole new world now. :) Love you, Ben, and hope the "tooth fairy" is accounting for inflation; your Mother got $1.00 - $1.50 for HER teeth back in the 80s...I'm just sayin'...

The many flavors of Costco stores...

2010-04-02T23:33:00.003-05:00

Mike's old Dell laptop died. Actually, he literally pulled the plug on it seeing as how the plug was part of the problem. The laptop itself had been degenerating at an alarming rate for the past several months but like most things in life, we just limped along with it hoping it would hold out just that much longer. Well, HE did. If it had been MY laptop, I'd have launched a huge and full-blown campaign to replace it at the first sign of trouble. But then, I'm a Mac. And I fear he may be a PC. So I don't really have trouble with my laptop. And he always has trouble with his so probably didn't see the writing on the wall - until he really couldn't see the writing, not on the wall, but on the screen.

But my intent with this missive was not to extol the obvious virtues of Macs over PCs but to say we went to Costco today to buy him a new one (contrary to my pleas to get him to consider the One True Laptop, a MacBook Pro). And as we were going to Morton's Steakhouse for a celebratory dinner this evening, decided to go to the new (well, to us anyway) Costco on Richmond near the Galleria. On a Friday evening. On a holiday.

It was crowded, but laid out pretty much like every other Costco we've ever been in. But other than the very nice gentleman who helped Mike decide between the various laptops on offer, I noticed that this Costco, for wont of a better term, was "frosty". I usually shop at the Costco in Southlake, TX - near Keller where, those of you who know anything about me know, I am half the time. Lovely store, friendly people work there, even the customers are nice. and if you want the full scale "howdy-may-I-help-you" treatment, go to the one in Fort Worth. Usually we go to the one on I-10 here in Houston - they're okay. Not overly warm but not "frosty".

But this one in the Galleria area? F-R-O-S-T-Y! Even the customers were "don't get in my way". I honestly don't know what the problem was - couldn't put my finger on it. But I felt it was a shame. And I also think it's a stinkin' shame that there are TWO Costco's in Houston relatively close to each other when all of us out here in the west Houston area, the Energy Corridor for Pete's sake, could really use one out this side of town (we have two Sam's Clubs, but not one Costco). I have a sneaking suspicion that if we had a Katy Costco it would rival the Fort Worth store in friendliness on both fronts - clientele and employees. So, if any of you Costco execs out there run blog searches on customer satisfaction, I hope you find this and (a) tell the Galleria Costco to loosen up a bit and smile every once in a while and (b) open a store in west Houston asap!

Oh, and a Central Market would be nice too (although I doubt Costco could do anything about that....)

As for Mike's new laptop, he got a great deal on an HP - and - when we went to get it from Customer Service, the box was huge causing me to question if it was the right product. Turns out we got a free printer as well. But I'd rather have a friendlier store environment personally. Yeah, I'm weird like that.

I still think he should have bought a Mac, however. Sigh...

Breaking the silence...

2010-03-31T22:32:00.003-05:00

I know I've been silent on this blog for such a long time with the exception being Emery's birth in February. I have been totally preoccupied by a few things not the least of which a possible career change by Mike. He was approached in January, the very day we set out for our Disney World trip, with a job offer that was intriguing. It was out of the blue, totally unexpected and we were alternately scared and honored by the prospect.

And of course it all had to be "hush hush". And you know me. Motor Mouth. She Who Does Not Have a Volume Button. Mrs. Overkill on Info. So I've stayed under the radar, kept "radio silence" and attempted to look nonchalant. We went back and forth on it, played "Devil's Advocate" with each other about the pros and cons. And we prayed. Oh, how we prayed. I don't believe that God throws down bolts out of the blue and in a booming voice indicates directly what He wants you to do. But when you are praying, and praying specifically, your eyes are opened to many details, many scenarios, many implications. More clarity.

We finally came to a conclusion just week before last. He would accept the new position with the new company. Today was "technically" his last day at his former employment. Tomorrow morning he has a meeting to go through handover notes with his (now former) boss. And in the afternoon he reports for what I will call "Mike's Excellent Adventure" - aka his new job. (I was even tempted to get him a shiny new lunchbox, a fresh notebook, pencils and box of Crayolas.) In between we will meet for lunch and try to absorb finally all that has occurred the past three months.

For me, this is the first time we have had a major job change that did NOT involve packing up a household, looking for new digs in a different city (let alone a new COUNTRY), arranging pet care and transport. No change of doctors. No new dentists to find. No forwarding of mail nor endless "Change of Address" cards to send out. The new office is even relatively close to his former corporate address. So I've had more time to think about this and the implications for our family - the new job will entail more international travel for the first few years, we are good friends with "the Boss" and his wife so will this impact that friendship - stuff like that. But now that it is happening, we are beginning to feel a calm. Whether it's because it's just "done" or because we made the correct decision I don't know. But we are moving forward and that's a lot better that wondering "what if?"

So I hope to be back on the nets again with much more regularity (no digestive jokes please), more reporting of the antics of the most adorable grands in the world, incisive observations of life in general and my life specifically, snappy repartee and the usual quality drivel you have come to expect from this reliable source.

After lunch I will kiss Mike goodbye and send him off to his first day and admonish him to play nicely with the other executives.

Perhaps I should have cookies and milk ready when he gets home.

Look out nets, I'm BAAAACK!

Lady Emery Elizabeth

2010-02-24T23:51:00.005-06:00

Our sixth grandchild - and third granddaughter - was born this morning. Jennifer and Jason are the proud parents of Emery Elizabeth Brewton, born at 7:32 a.m., 8 lbs. 13 oz and 21 inches long. And talk about hair - the girl has that in spades, just like her mama before her. When Mike brings up the album with Jen's baby photos in it, I'll scan and post a photo of her - they look so much like each other in my mind. Labor was mercifully short (about 4 hours), delivered by a midwife at a birthing center and, joy of joy for this gramma, home 4 hours later! Today ended up being a marathon with a scheduled granite countertop install for Jen and Jason (which was completed under my watch while they were gone), a first-time clean with a new company at our place, keeping the boys while mom and dad were away and the birth of the baby! We were laughing about it this evening after Luke and Ben were in Ben and we were all watching the Olympics and enjoying Emory - who knew that today would be one of the most hectic yet productive days for us all? Jen's tiptop - the afterbirth pains aren't fun but other than that, it was a textbook delivery. Emery is "so chill" as her folks say - very calm, pooping like crazy, nursing like a pro. It's been an amazing day!

Home again...

2010-01-07T23:14:00.002-06:00

at Walt Disney World! Got in about 3pm this afternoon. After unloading and scaring a poor bellman with all out "stuff" (hey, we're staying two weeks!), we headed to Target to get the groceries. Got back and went to the Dolphin Hotel to Shula's Steakhouse and had one of the best filets we've ever had! We came one day before the kids to get things set up and ready to go.

The half-marathon is Saturday and it's going to be COLD! That's when Mike's running. Then Sunday is the marathon (make that Marathon with a capital M) when Tim runs - and they expect the temps to be in the 20s - oh. my. word. I don't know if he's ever run in such frigid temps let along 26 miles! It's gonna be interesting. And both races start at 5:30am.

After midnight now - our car has turned back into a pumpkin I'm sure, but I'm not going to go out and check. Instead, I'm going to bed. And pray that all the kids have safe journeys here.

'Nite, all.

Christmas - Part 1

2010-01-03T18:11:00.006-06:00

We had the requisite multiple Christmases this year. Our "first" Christmas was on Christmas Eve with Jennifer, Jason, Ben and Luke coming over that evening for stockings, dinner and gifts. I made up a huge batch of Beef Stroganoff, fresh fruit salad, broccoli and hot rolls. My friend, Marilyn, had come over to the house in Katy the previous week and given me a much appreciated tutorial on how to make her DELICIOUS yeast rolls - oh my, they were good. Earlier on Christmas Eve I made a double batch so we'd have cinnamon rolls for Christmas morning and rolls for both Christmas Eve and Christmas Dinner. She "done good" because I was able to remember and they were super delicious if I do say so myself.

I am nothing if not humble.

So back to the recap. We'd started the day with overcast skies and mid-to-upper 30's temps. I was in the shower getting ready when Mike comes in and says, "You're not going to believe it but it's snowing outside. Not much but the flurries are nice." We still needed to run a few more errands so we loaded up the car with Jen, Ben and Luke tagging along and headed out. The flurries by now had turned into bonafide snowfall and it was started to get thick and heavy but with a very gusty wind causing it to sting our faces when facing the wind. Visibility was beginning to be low and we decided to get some lunch, meeting Jason there on his way home early from work, and then get home. Good thing we did as it really got hard to travel by mid-afternoon. Pools of water iced over fairly soon after dusk making it dangerous to go very far. Fortunately, Jen and Jason's home is just around the corner from our place so they slipped and slid over. I had forgotten a grocery item so Jason went to get some from their house. He was gone a LONG time we finally called to find out it had taken him 20 minutes to get the car into the garage without sliding back into the street. He finally got it in and decided to get the food item I needed and WALK over. That was some serious weather and just the day before it was in the 60s! And did I get a photo of it? Of course not!

We ate dinner and then got down to the serious business of opening gifts. Ben was able, for the first time, to read some of the tags making him the perfect elf. I'll let the photos tell the rest of the story. Next post I'll try to do Part II - Christmas Day with Tim's family and Chris' family.

It's always darkest before the dawn...

2010-01-03T14:55:00.004-06:00

...or so I've been told. And I hope that it's true as our New Year's holiday long weekend was spent on the couch, basically, with Mike and I both sick. Yesterday I was beginning to think our upcoming trip was going to be tainted as I felt the worst I've felt. Bad enough to decide to get the "emergency" RX for steroids filled. So out we trouped yesterday evening to the almighty Walgreens to get me some hard-hitting meds. And hard-hit they did - I slept really well last night and have felt measurably better day.

Yeah, drugs!

So I have renewed hope that I might actually be in the Land of the Living by the time we start. Mike seems to be better but you know men - stoic. I gather either he is feeling better but not 100% or he's mad at me. :) You know what I mean? I'm banking on the feeling better part.

I am now officially getting excited, I mean EXCITED, about the Disney trip. Laundry is being done. Reservations are made. I'm gathering stuff to be packed. Shopping lists are being compiled. And the Post-It note mountain is taking on gargantuan proportions. Sounds like a vacation to me.

Mom's not going. She went with us in 2007 and, in her words, "I went once and I'm glad I went. But I'm not really interested in going again." So she is taking care of the house in our absence (take that all you lurkers finding folks who'll be gone).

In other earth shattering news, I took down the Christmas wreaths. Nothing says "I'm away and possibly since Christmas" like Christmas decor up throughout January. Mike has to get the swags down; that's not in my job description. Anything requiring a step ladder falls under his purview. So we currently have a nice eclectic street look - spring/summer wreaths with pine swags. HGtv better come and film now - the new trend is coming. I can FEEL it!

Christmas photos coming soon. My public awaits. And waits. And waits. Sorry.

And no, that's not my house. But the one on the right would be mine. If only my neighbors would do me the honors. I like this photo. It amuses me.

What's the point?

2010-01-02T22:09:00.006-06:00

Working on booking "rest for the weary"

If they are from Marriott stays, frequent flier miles or other business related traveling, then the point is "frequent travel pays"! I spent last night and today figuring out a contemporary Sudoku puzzle of how to incorporate all the points from our various programs to the best advantage, finding the right hotels in the correct en-route cities, for three of our four families traveling by car to and from Disney. It was harder than I thought. But then success is so much the sweeter when the mission is accomplished.Starting off, the task reminded me of the dreaded (and much hated to this day) math questions from school, "If a train leaves New York going 60 mph towards Chicago and one leaves Chicago..." Well, you know the one. Only THIS time it was "If you have "x" points total and "y" rooms on different days in "z" cities, how many hours will it take to accomplish successful reservations?" (The question was a trick one because it takes more Advil than hours to do this.)

But the bottom line is, if we'd had to BUY these rooms, we'd have paid out close to $1000 whereas, thanks to Mike's traveling for business, hated though it may be by me, we paid ZERO. Nada. Nothing. Makes me tempted to do one of those MasterCard "Priceless" thingies but I'll spare you.

Especially since I used American Express.

So Operation: Get-as-Much-as-Possible-for-the-Least-Price is proving to be successful. Hey, I love a shopping challenge as much as the next red-blooded American girl. It's my calling. It's what I DO!

We have lift-off, Houston. And I think breakfast may just be included.

I do love a deal.

A Belated Happy New Year

2010-01-02T00:57:00.004-06:00

It is now two days into the new year (technically...since it's 12:58am on Saturday now). I've been derelict in my blogging this past year I realize. I can't really pinpoint why - it just happened that way. And yesterday, a day when it would have been most convenient to start the New Year off with a Christmas recap with photos (because we ALL know how much the public at large LOVES photos of one's grandchildren), I spent the day basically on the couch, watching Season One of "The Mentalist" and trying to keep from coughing my guts up. Yes, the joy of being ill...

I admit that I can become mentally paralyzed when thinking about things that need to be done to the point where nothing (or little) is actually accomplished. Add in feeling "puny" and you have a perfect storm of apathy and procrastination.

I don't believe they have any drugs for that one. Yet.

You see, we leave VERY SOON for another trip to Disney with the kids/grands. And we are driving for the first time since 1996 when we went for Christmas following the pack-out of our household goods pending our transfer to the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. It was financially necessary to drive then. Now it seems like a rare treat vs. flying. It will be just Mike and I, taking our time to "mosey-on-over" to Florida, audio books and snacks on board, hauling golf clubs and strollers and extra car seats for those that ARE flying. However said you can't take it with you obviously has never traveled with me. But for us, there will be no security lines to go through. No weighing our luggage ahead of time hoping we don't exceed the limits resulting in even MORE costs to check luggage. No timetables. No airport food. Just us and I-10 and free hotels using Marriott rewards. Bliss.

But no matter how we end up arriving in Florida, the preparations to begin the journey are still in progress. And that's why I need to "unparalyze" and get on with it. But once the work is done, the car is packed and we've pulled out of the driveway, it's "aaahhhhhhhh!!" time when what's done is done, what isn't won't be and, heck, I'm on vacation, so I'm not going to worry about it.

So for tonight, I'll run on empty, hoping I can sleep with a croupy chest, a nose that could win marathons and dream of The Mouse.

Not exactly Magical, but that will come my friends. That. WILL. Come!

Happy New Year! And stay tuned as I bring updates from The Happiest Place on Earth (no, it's not the Half-Yearly Sale at Nordstrom's - although that might be a close second...)

Oh, and above is a little "before" photo. This was taken the LAST time we went in January 2008.

Catching Haley's Comet...

2009-12-10T18:20:00.003-06:00

...is what last Friday felt like. In the deep South, snow is something that is read about in stories, seen in newspaper photos from "up north". We know it exists. We occasionally travel to places where it is a regular occurrence. But rarely do we get an "up close and personal" experience with it - in our own backyard.

Last Friday, the Houston metroplex received a rare (dare I say "magical"?) treat in the form of this frozen fluff from the sky - the bane of many a northerner. And I would suppose that if we received in it huge quantities for extended periods of time, our fascination with the stuff would wear thin. But we don't so it was worthy of awe and excitement as well as school and office closures (and no, I don't want to hear your stories about "wow, we get several feet all winter long and we don't close tbings!" - you have snow plows - we don't because they'd be used once a decade perhaps.)

We felt like we'd caught Haley's Comet. After all, snow comes to Houston just about as often.

Which of course calls for much of this:

I kept pulling the pillow away from the screen because I thought it was too hot. But they kept pushing it back...but I did draw the line at their request for hot chocolate.

And a happy birthday...

2009-11-15T23:14:00.003-06:00

...to MEGAN! Happy, happy birthday to you. It's your first 29th birthday! Wish we could have been there to give you the "royal treatment" - hope you are well soon.

Love,
The Queen Mother

A conversation...

2009-11-07T21:14:00.002-06:00

Saturday morning. Heading out to do a HUGE list of errands.

Cheri: Don't you want to check locally for new running shoes before we head into Houston in case you need to look while we're there?

Mike: No, shoes aren't a critical path item today.

Cheri: (amidst laughter at response) Well, you enrolled me on the concept of needing new shoes so I made it an action item for me. So I was just following through.

Mike: (with a smile) I admire your due diligence.

Girls, if you want to be able to talk to your man, ya gotta learn the language.

It's official...

2009-09-27T16:00:00.000-05:00

I had an appointment at the Apple Store this afternoon. Mission completed and we were heading out of Memorial City Mall to get to our movie. Being a Saturday, the mall was crowded necessitating our parking so far north of the mall it was almost Dallas. We walked down two hallways and then headed into Macy's. It's been AGES since I was in a department store and of course, the first thing that hits you when you walk in is all the conflicting fragrances in the 'Beauty' department. Mike started sneezing and my nose started twitching. Dashing past the bottles of scent, I tried to appear casual as we passed a makeup workshop in progress - Estee Lauder I think - complete with a makeup artist the likes of which I have NEVER seen in a mainstream department store.

She was dressed in black shirt with plunging neckline, black short shorts, black ankle boots with stiletto heels, black nail polish, and heavily black-kohled eyes. But that's not what caught my attention - she was wearing HUGE netting bow "hat". I mean, seriously, that thing had a span of at least 30"! Mike and I kept looking straight ahead and continued walking. Heads straight ahead, we cut our eyes to each other after we passed her and then burst out laughing.

"Did you see that?", I ask Mike. "All that black nail polish and makeup.", Mike replies. "That hat?? Did you see that HAT?", I say. "Is that what that was?", said Mike. We decided all that was missing was the silver dancing pole.

It's official. We are fuddy-duddies. We have joined the legions of "tutt-tutt"ers who walk through the mall and feel like we are on some sort of anthropological expedition. It might have been a foreign country for all we knew - who were these people and what were they doing? And WHY were they doing it? We start sentences with "I remember when....(fill in the blank)" or "In OUR day...(also fill in the blank)".

Furthermore, I notice that we now not only discuss lab results but congratulate ourselves, almost to the point of high-fives, when they come back "in normal range". We are excited when we catch a 6:15pm movie on a Saturday night, the WEEKEND no less, because we can be home by 8:30pm.

We have become domesticated. And it doesn't even bother us!

But please slap me if I start wearing "sensible shoes". There ARE limits.

We're not worried!

2009-09-27T00:01:00.001-05:00

Our burly, rough and tumble grandson, Luke, appears to have great potential as an athlete. He has been able to throw (accurately) a ball for over a year now. I may have some football games to attend in the future (something I didn't have with my own two boys).

But this past summer during visit to "Gramma Cheri's Keller House" as it is known, Luke spent the night. As this is the first time we've done this, it was significant. I didn't know if he'd be happy to actually STAY the entire night or decide to bail once it was bedtime. But we didn't have any issues whatsoever and he went to bed just like he did at home (and also woke up early - just like he did at home). I was getting ready the next morning while he was in and out of my room. I was drying my hair when I noticed he was very interested in my shoe hanger. Next thing I knew, he was off and "running".

I really like how he's really working it with that pacifier.

And the kick "off" was executed well.

At least he picked a sensible pump. :)

I hear VOICES!

2009-09-26T10:53:00.002-05:00

I went to a cooking demonstration at Brookwood Community yesterday with my friend Cynthia. They decided to channel Julia Child and had their chef, Laura Day, show us how to make the famous Boeuf Bourguignon (fancy title for roast beef stew with fancy veg). We also were served lunch consisting of the same and believe me, it was well worth it! I may have to gather up all these ingredients myself and try my hand at this ala "Julie and Julia" sans the profanity (as well as the "falling asleep and forgetting to take it out of the oven so it was ruined" scenario). Shoot, I might even have to go buy this lovely Ruffoni pan to make it in! (Forget high fashion - I go weak at the knees when I see stuff like this).

Anyway, during the demonstration, I received a phone call that I missed because it's just not good form to keep one's mobile ringer on during French Cooking Demonstrations (although NO ONE told that to the two men who attended because both of them received calls and wouldn't you know those guys, both in their 50s or 60s, had obnoxious song ringtones? isn't there some law against that if you are a male over the age of 14?). After I got to the car I turned my ringer back on and noticed I'd missed a call and had a voicemail waiting. I was glad then that I'd missed the call because now I have this message recorded to listen to over and over again (not to mention also sharing it with Mike later last night).

"Hello? Hey, Gramma?? This is Kennedy. I was hoping to have a princess cake for my birthday. So could you please make me that, please Gramma? I love you too. I love you, Gramma, Gramma Cheri. Bye!"

That's it, verbatim. I listened over and over to get it down word for word. You see, I'd phoned Megan earlier to ask what kind of cake Kennedy wanted. She wasn't sure if so said she'd ask her when she got home from school. I knew she was going to the San Antonio Zoo for her birthday and thought she might want a zoo themed cake. But given Kennedy's history, I figured Princesses could figure high up on the chart of Birthday Cake Interests. So Megan must have discussed it with Kennedy and Kennedy was calling to take care of business.

This is very significant to me because, well, it's my first "grandchild left" voicemail. The first of many I hope.

And, yes, Kennedy, I will be VERY happy to bake and make you a princess cake. Love you, sweetheart.

Labor Day Weekend

2009-09-26T09:00:00.000-05:00

Labor Day was weeks ago but it's been so busy I never got around to posting about it. I think I was in shock that Mike was actually IN the USA. Usually, he spends Public Holidays working in Kazakhstan or en-route coming or going overseas. So (shock!) he was actually at home which of course called for DOING SOMETHING! So we went to Pflugerville which is only 2-1/2 hours away.

We hadn't been in Pflugerville since the "Great Surgery Debacle of Summer 2009" (aka known as "Megan's Unbearable Lightness of Being...in Great Pain") so we definitely wanted to go back and once and for all demolish the bad hospital vibes. :) And everyone was doing great!

We kind of joined Tim and Megan in a "Stay cation" going out to eat or "ordering in". We discovered some great new places in Austin. One of these was the perfect marriage of fantastic and original hamburgers, homemade ice creams and a playground out front for the kids - score! One of my favorites was Phil's Ice House (the aforementioned ice cream/burger/playground winner). I even told them they needed to get one built in (preferably) west Houston in general; Katy, in particular. They CAN hold a candle to Beck's Prime!

We ate so much at lunch on Saturday that we had no appetite for our reservation at P.F. Chang's. So Megan called and rescheduled for Monday at lunch and we got Pei Wei takeout for Saturday night - MUCH later in the evening! (Note to those "not in the know" - if you register for online ordering at Pei Wei, you'll get 30% off your first take-out order).

Sunday after services was an old favorite - Houston's Restaurant. I always laugh about going to Houston's in another town - Houston's in Austin? How come we don't have an Austin's in Houston? Moving on...naps in the afternoon, bliss. Then headed to Freddy's Frozen Custard for supper. If you ever get a chance to go to one of these, be sure and get their Turtle Concrete - oh.my.word. And then we went back and let the kids play in the bounce house purely expecting to see dinner "revisited" but they didn't have any playground equipment induced nausea. :) Tim even got out the good old Whamo!Slip'n'Slid and he and the kids had a blast. I didn't get any photos as it was dusk (and the water was flying!).

We played 42 that night after the kids were in bed. This is historically a game fraught with tension since Mike plays for blood and I barely understand the game. But all went well that night and I evidently played fairly well - Mike and I won two sets!

"Who dealt this garbage?"...oh, it was me.

Monday we played with the kids and they did more bouncing in the bounce house (have I ever mentioned how that thing has been worth every penny??? Oh, I did? Sorry...) and then went to P.F. Chang's for lunch. That's when Lleyton decided to plant one right on Mike - just took his Papa's face between his hands and put on right on the kisser!! Too awfully cute - I was almost jealous but I got the the good picture so was happy. :)

We loaded the car and all three dogs and headed back to Katy that afternoon (us and about a million-kajillion other people). We were fine with traffic till we got to I-10 and then it was stop and go. So we cut off and went down to 90A, cut through Fulshear and avoided traffic while enjoying lovely country scenery.

All in all a VERY enjoyable long holiday weekend.

We just need to eat at home for a LONG time...

Out of the mouths of babes...

2009-09-25T00:01:00.002-05:00

Luke has graduated from baby crib to big boy bed. This transition happened awhile back but the first time I'd seen the new shared room of Ben and Luke was this past weekend when we went for Ben's birthday party.

Luke proudly showed me his bed (complete with cute little rail) and commenced jumping up and down on it. Kennedy got on too and started bouncing. Lleyton was getting a huge grin on HIS face with the anticipation of a good bounce as well. I told Luke I was going to get on his bed and bounce too. And y'all know me - I'm not going to win any supermodel-thin awards anytime in THIS lifetime! Luke stops jumping, looks at me, and solemnly announces, "You go bounce on Mama's bed".

Smart kid.

Snips, Snails and Puppy Dog Tails...

2009-09-24T09:42:00.010-05:00

Last Saturday we celebrated my eldest grandson and grandchild's 5th Birthday. When Benjamin was born, Mike and I still resided in London (well, maybe Mike was as I was spending an awful lot of time in Texas that year including 8 weeks when he was born...). One of the main reasons we decided to move back was the births of our first two grandchildren, Ben in September and Kennedy early the following month. The Atlantic became impossibly wide after that and within a year we'd make plans to repatriate. We just were NOT going to miss this adventure of grandparenthood!

I have been blessed to be a part of every single birthday Ben has had, party or not. As this was his 5th, I think perhaps my days are numbered for him actively wanting me there each year. I can see it now, 10 friends at the paint ball place and there is Gramma Cheri in full camo, zeroing in on his friends...or the year I break a hip when they go roller skating and I fall - somehow I don't think so. With Kennedy I can probably host mani-pedi parties and get away with it a lot longer! :)

And now a MasterCard moment:

2 Cake mixes - $2.16
1 Can Icing - $1.56
4 eggs, milk and oil - $1.50
7 bags of various candies - $17.58
1 Grandson happy with his birthday robot cake - PRICELESS!

All of his grandparents were there in force this year as well as some of the great-grands. And Ben had most of his cousins and a couple of friends in attendance. The bounce house got a good workout (I'll say it again - that thing was WORTH EVERY SINGLE PENNY!) and the weather was good for outdoor playing (always a boon for the harried mom and dad of such occasions!) I have been putting my cake baking skills back to use - Ben wanted a robot theme so a robot cake was in order (by the way, it is WAY easier to trim a cake with lots of candy instead of all the piped icing and cut prep time down by an hour at least - woot!)

I had bought semi-sparkler candles for the cake, thinking the effect would be nice, not knowing that they were also the "hard to blow out" kind of candles. Oops! Good thing Ben is 5 and has very healthy lungs (note to self, do not use said candles for any asthmatic or emphysemic honorees). As the photos below will tell, he had to really work at it to get them out and STAY out!

Then he was NOT happy to learn that the "still shot" of the "blowing out of the candles" had not been caught by mom and dad's camera and a staged reshoot was in order! His dismay was understandable but hilarious.

I had lots of leftover candy from the cake so put it all in a big plastic bag and brought it over. Luke, being the eagle eye that he is, spots it...

...checks to see if Mom is watching...

...is followed by his friend and...

...buys said friend's "silence" with payment in kind.

Then the gifts were opened. The Wall-E robot was a big hit!

Kennedy helping and taking away the wrapping paper trash.

A sure fire sign that these guys are getting older - they wait and let the honoree open the presents!

Checking out the new Wall-E robot toy - of course, Uncle Tim had to come check this one out!

And you can never go wrong with a huge old honkin' set of Crayola Crayons and art supplies!

So Happy Birthday, Benjamin. You are almost in kindergarten now - one more year. Soon you'll be a big brother to little Master/Miss Brewton when he/she is born. And you're a good big brother for mischievous brother Luke. We love you very much and have enjoyed seeing and helping you grow and mature into the sweet and smart young man that you are.

And thanks for still wanting us there. :)

Ben and I about a year ago - I've always loved this photo of my "Butter Bean" and his Gramma Cheri.

For the love...

2009-09-15T01:02:00.002-05:00

...of grandchildren! We went to P.F. Chang's in Austin with Tim and Megan's family on Labor Day and Lleyton evidently thought his Papa was something because all of the sudden, he grabs Mike's face with both hands and plants one on him!

Lucky guy!

A Literal "Sunday Afternoon Drive" in California

2009-09-03T00:35:00.006-05:00

Yes, that is indeed the OCEAN!

As promised, here are some photos of our Sunday afternoon drive down the coastal highway between Anaheim and Laguna Beach. We didn't park, get out and walk around - perhaps we should have. We did attempt to find a parking place at one point, but not finding one within any reasonable distance from the beach, we caved and just drove on seeing more beautiful scenery. We're not really what you'd call "beach people" anyway. I mean, we have a pool here at home and I'm the only one who uses it. I think Mike's been in it once or twice in the almost 4 years we've lived here. And coming from Lubbock, I just recently found out what "ocean" was! Okay, I kid - I found out about those when we moved to London the first time and we flew over one.

This drive really made me feel like I was on VACATION!
"Nuthin' like that round these here parts, buddy!"

I've never been a fan of palm trees and this just backs up that feeling - looks
like a bunch of matchsticks with tassels stuck around that house. Oh, sorry if
it's where you live...

Anyway, back to the point, we had promised Tim we would NOT leave California without seeing the ocean. So we did see it - and it did not disappoint. But the interior designer in me kicked in and I was all agog at the architecture of the homes and the gorgeous yards and what looked like fabulous shopping for antiques, designer studios and all that jazz. I know - I'm warped. And Mike, while happy to drive me wherever REALLY just wanted to go back to the hotel and watch "Bones Season 1" dvds. Yes, we live a riveting life. But just the fact that Mike didn't read any work emails or take conference calls was enough for me to officially label this a "true vacation to remember".

I hope you enjoy.

Even the gas stations were pretty!

Beachcombers - and they had clothes on!! :)

Beauty around every curve of the road

What a beautiful drive.

Two houses here - but they are HUGE!

I wonder when this house is going to slide down into the ocean? Eeek!

And now, the REST of the story!

2009-08-31T15:30:00.002-05:00

Entrance into the California Adventure

After a full night's sleep and a good breakfast, we ventured forth the next morning (Thursday) anticipating the long entry into what we now considered Mickey and Friends Gargantuan Garage of Massive Acreage. It actually only took 30 minutes on Friday to make the same jaunt so we were encouraged. Our plan was to explore virgin territory aka California Adventure. Perhaps it's because we had nothing to gauge it by but our experience started out more fun than the previous day! We headed straight for the Paradise Pier to see if we thought we could stomach the huge roller coaster, California Screamin', which is the focal point of the entire park. We looked at it, were uncertain about riding, got Fast Passes (just in case) and then went to ride the huge Ferris Wheel called Mickeys Fun Wheel - and it's not your typical Ferris Wheel. We got on one of the free floating cars, not one of the stationary, non-swinging ones. What a TRIP! Great fun!! Still undecided about Screamin' so went to ride Mulholland Madness, Soarin' (which is just like the one in WDW, one of my absolute favorite rides!), and the Monster's, Inc. Sulley and Mike to the Rescure Ride. We were still undecided about Screamin' so decided to run back over to Disneyland and go on some rides we'd missed the day before. Small World was fun (and a bit different with an outside loading dock and Disney story characters throughout). You cannot leave ANY Disney park without going on the Small World ride - it's traditional! We waited over 50 minutes for the Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin - okay, but not really worth the wait in our opinion. Then we walked back over to CA for our dinner reservation at the Wine Country Tratorria. We then waited about an hour to go on Toy Story 3-D Mania and it was worth every minute of waiting - what a FUN RIDE!! We would have gone on it again if the wait hadn't been so long, and, of course, they were one of the non-FastPass rides. Sigh...

Aladdin and Jasmine in Small World

Alice in Wonderland - Small World

Mulholland Madness

We decided neither of us was brave enough to go on Screamin' so scoped out the crowd and offered our FastPasses to two unsuspecting, but VERY grateful youngsters. Well, they were probably in their late 20s, early 30s, but when you're in your 50s, anything 40 and under is "youngsters" to us. We'd been in the Parks about 10 hours by now - our feet were beginning to protest so decided to do a bit of shopping in Downtown Disney before heading "home" to the Marriott.

"Mikey Mouse"

Saturday was very laid back with sleeping in, late breakfast, leisurely coffee drinking and massaging sore feet. :) We drove to an outdoor premiere shopping center called Fashion Island in Newport Beach after enjoying a FANTASTIC In-and-Out Burger lunch. I did a little bit of shopping and we got Mike's watchband repaired and then headed back to Anaheim as we had a dinner reservation at the Napa Rose restaurant at California Adventure's Grand Californian Resort (lots of "California" bandied about this place!). We've always enjoyed the California Grill at the top of the Contemporary Hotel at WDW and wondered if this would be as good.

Paradise Pier at California Adventure in daylight

Oh. My. Word. "Good" doesn't even begin to describe how fantastic the food was at this place! The food was an experience. The service was, in Mike's words, "impeccable". The ambiance was intimate and the decor stunning with huge picture windows with Arts & Crafts style stained glass overlooking a beautiful garden. The evening was PERFECT! They even wrote "Happy Anniversary" in chocolate on our dessert plates. Those fillets were so tender, they cut like butter. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED should you ever go to Disneyland! Afterwords, we walked back to Disneyland and rode Alice in Wonderland before doing a little shopping. We wanted to ride several of the long-term rides (Toad's Wild Ride, Peter Pan, Snow White, etc.) but they were either closed for some reason or the lines were over an hour (it WAS Friday night and the parks were jammed with locals). We then positioned ourselves to watch the Celebrate Disney fireworks display which began at 9:25pm. We found a spot to wait and then Cast Members roped off the area putting us front and center of a perfect viewing area without any obstruction. I got to visiting with a family from Liverpool who were there "on holiday" and had been to both the Florida and now California Disney Parks. They were very friendly and the time passed quickly before the spectacular fireworks display. A perfect ending to a perfect day!

Sunday we attended services at the Orange View church of Christ in Anaheim followed by another lunch at In-and-Out burgers. Oh I wish we had these restaurants in Texas!! Where else can you get two good old-fashioned cheeseburgers, fries, sodas and shakes for $13.98?? Then we drove up and down the coastal highway, looking at the architecture, houses, shopping, shoppers, beaches and the ocean (of course!). It really is a beautiful place from Newport Beach down to Laguna Beach. I can understand why people would want to live there from an aesthetic standpoint. Huge trees line the streets - and the streets were very clean and free from litter. I was in the mood for Mexican for dinner so we tried to get to the one in Downtown Disney but the queues for parking were enormous so we just started driving around the Anaheim area and found what looked like a chain restaurant called El Torito. It was very good! Everything was fresh, flavors were different from TexMex and the service very good. We shared a pineapple upside down cake for dessert - something I've never seen in any restaurant before let alone a Mexican one! It was light and perfect and made me want to go home and bake one.

Paradise Pier at Dusk - so very pretty and nostalgic

I'm not sure what we expected California to be like but I guess we had, in the back of our minds, a not-so-pretty picture probably based on the crime dramas we like to watch on TV. And I'm sure LA and other places are like that presupposition. But the areas we were in were gorgeous, well maintained, clean - and the people friendly. One thing that was VERY noticeable about the Disneyland Parks was the relatively modest dress compared to what is seen (or NOT seen, depending on how you, ahem, "look at it") in the Florida parks. You can get "quite an eyeful" in Florida as well as some questionable slogans/pictures on T-shirts. But other than a few low necklines, the California park attendees were relatively modest! Not to put the Europeans down, but we hypothesis that this observation might be due to the large numbers of Europeans that visit the Florida parks while the California parks had more Asian visitors - predominantly Japanese from what we could tell. Considering how "liberal" California is and all the hype with Hollywood and the "stars", we expected something different and were pleasingly surprised to find the parks more "family friendly" when it came to dressing.

Mike taking a business call

A Wife's Guide on "How to handle business calls when on vacation" - proven methods for sucess

We had a really wonderful time on our trip, getting away from "it all", getting time alone - Mike only took ONE call when he was there! No conference calls at 6am (which would have been 4am in California now that I think about it), no email syncing, only one "I need to take this call and then make one call" which was quite a feat for him! The only thing I would have changed about the vacation was our hotel - the Marriott was lovely and we had no complaints about it - it just wasn't "on property" at Disney which is something that definitely makes a difference to your stay if you're a Disneyphile like we are.

Happy Campers!

I hope to get some photos from our drive down the coastal highway this week so again, stay tuned.

So there you have it.

But I still keep hoping for a breakfast buffet to appear each morning. And the maid doesn't show up while I'm gone during the day. What's with that??

The West Coast Mouse vs. the East Coast Mouse

2009-08-30T00:01:00.003-05:00

Thursday was our actual anniversary date. We were exhausted from the combination of a 2 hour time change and the late arrival but headed to Disneyland in our rental car early to supposedly beat the crowds. Now this is where I need to point out our long and loving history with Walt Disney World in Florida. From the first time we went, in 1980, when the only park was the Magic Kingdom, it's been love at first sight. From then on, we took the kids on a regular basis, first every 4 years, then every other year to annually when we lived in Trinidad. In May 2002 we bought into the Disney Vacation Club and thus cemented our relationship with The Mouse. Our children have honeymooned there, we've enjoyed "first visits" of grandchildren, special times all. There is just something totally thrilling to drive into the property, see the huge archways with "Welcome to Walt Disney World", drive to our resort and be welcomed by the staff as we check in. You just shed the outside world and let the magic roll over you as you drive in. And, staying "on property", that feeling just stays and with great sadness you bid it farewell when you have to finally return to the real world.

Driving to Disneyland - a wee bit different! First of all, Disneyland was built back in 1955 (hmm, so was Mike!) in city limits of Anaheim (not Mike - that would have had to be Sacramento). Then the addition of the California Adventure (taking over the original Disneyland parking lot) maximized the park size. Further additions to both parks puts the boundaries right to the surrounding city streets. So as you drive there, you literally see the BACK of the park and it's attractions - and that's just plain weird. And, now that the original lot is gone, where do all those park attendees, well, park?? In a HUGE 6 story garage (SO not-magical!) that is as big or bigger than a football field. It took 10 minutes to drive down Harbor Blvd to Ball Street following the signs to the "Mickey and Friends" garage. It took 30-40 minutes to ENTER the garage and park and another 15 minutes to walk to the escalators to the trams and be driven get to the parks. That's an hour folks. One. Solid. Hour. I wasn't feeling the magic...

Once you get to the unloading area, you are at a center point where "all roads lead to Rome" - Disneyland is on your left, California Adventure on your right, and Downtown Disney behind you. We opted for Disneyland for Day One. It was a little surreal to be there after so much history with Disney World - it was so similar to WDW but yet different. So mentally, the auto-pilots kept trying to kick in but the reality kept us checked. Little things like getting off of a ride that is also at WDW and wanting to go on another one that IS in WDW but NOT at Disneyland. So that was disorienting. The Haunted Mansion is about the same as far as the ride goes but the house exterior in Disneyland is a Creole Southern Plantation vs. the Gothic Mansion in WDW . Don't get me wrong, we had a really enjoyable time but coming off of the short night and the whole "it's the same but different" thing, we felt a bit off balance that first day.

After getting our bearings, we rode a lot of the rides including Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters (where I beat Mike by over 100,000 points, I might add), Finding Nemo, Haunted Mansion, Pirates of the Caribbean, Autopia, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and Storybook Land Canal Boats. We ate a wonderful evening meal at the Blue Bayou restaurant which is actually IN the Pirates of the Caribbean ride.

Mike at the Blue Bayou Restaurant - he's holding up the menu but I like looking at HIM more!

Oh, and Sleeping Beauty's castle is tee-nine-ie compared to Cinderella's Castle at WDW. But given the historical price of real estate in California, I'd wager Sleeping Beauty's California Castle costs tons more than Cinderella's - not that zillow.com is going to divulge THAT information! I'm just sayin'...although with the recent decline in housing prices overall in California, I do wonder! Location, location, location.

After our dinner, we opted to return to the hotel via Downtown Disney as our feet were killing us. We wandered about and enjoyed all the street musicians there - almost bought some CDs, they were so good. We walked all the way to the Grand Californian Resort and the other Disney "on property" hotels and, as mentioned before, the feet were trash talking about us at this point. So we got the "brilliant" idea to just walk to the garage since we could see it from where we were. Bad idea. We should have just turned around and walked back to the tram area and ridden back. But no, we decided to hoof it - after all, we could SEE the garage (but then so could anyone within miles since it's so tall and huge and all). Twenty minutes later we got to the garage and, rather than walking to the escalator that take you to your floor (there are three that service two floors each), I decide the stairs would be better (even though we were parked on the fourth floor and, oh, did I mention our feet were killing us??). Stupid me, I was wearing those FitFlop sandals (which have open toes). On the first flight of stairs, I get my footing wrong and ram my left foot onto the next step and cut it on the metal edging of the step. I just thought I'd bruised it but when I got to the hotel I saw it was bleeding and evidently I'd sliced it. OUCH! Lots of soap and water and Neosporin later, I was all fixed up and decided to heed the safety advice I've always given everyone else and wear closed toe shoes from then on.

Sorry for sounding like a "Debbie Downer" at times - the first day just caught us off guard. I think it was just like when we moved to London the first time - we thought it had to be like America since we spoke the same language, right? WRONG! So Disneyland had to be like Disney World because, shoot, they're both Disney, right? Wrong AGAIN! So our expectation was flawed due to our familiarity with the East Coast Mouse and incorrect assumptions. And not staying "on property" as we do in Florida impacted our experience as well. The West Coast Mouse is just fine - he's just, well, WEST!

The next day was MUCH better and I'll report all to you in due course! Stay tuned.

Oh, and my toe is healing nicely, thank you for asking.

Our "room with a view" - we could see the Disneyland fireworks from here.

Highlights

2009-08-29T15:21:00.005-05:00

Just a few more "teaser" photos of the highlights of both parks.
This was taken from the parking garage (details tomorrow!) before taking the escalators to the trams. I've never seen so many Italian Cypress trees as I did in Disneyland!

The entrance gates to Disneyland.

Just a step in the Park - literally!

A view from the center of the park entrances on the California Adventure side.

The Haunted Mansion

Casey's Circus Train

California Adventure at the Paradise Peir just past dusk.

Walt and Mickey - two classics!

Sleeping Beauty's Castle

My favorite Mousketeer, Mike.

Mickey's Fun Wheel car

Braver souls than I on the California Screamin'

Tomorrow I'll post the first two days of our trip spent at Disneyland and California Adventure. Stay tuned!

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words...

2009-08-29T12:21:00.006-05:00

...but THAT'S never stopped me! However, in this case, I will let the pictures do the talking. Well, some of it anyway.

These photos are from the Storybook Land Canal Boats. This ride isn't in Walt Disney World and I wish it was - it's really cool! We've been to two miniature cities before - one in Holland (Maduradam) and the other in Denmark's Legoland. I find miniature cities fascinating - all that detail, getting the landscaping to scale - kind of like dollhouses on steroids. From a decorator/designer point of view, they are studies in art! What makes these particular scenes so special is their tie-in to beloved Disney stories (which, DUH! makes sense seeing as how it IS Disneyland!).

The ride starts off as you enter, literally, the mouth of the whale from Pinocchio...which is a bit creepy in a fun sort of way. Then you start recognizing the different scenes from each story.

Whoa! Glad those teeth are clean - that would be some tartar buildup!

Looking out the whale's mouth tunnel to the other side.

Here's the scene from the boat of Aladdin's Agrabah...

and up close.

The home of the Three Pigs. Who knew they were English? Or at least like English Tudor with thatched roof? Classy pigs...

Alice's Village - I never thought about where she lived! I always thought about, you know, the "other side" of that looking glass. Evidently so did the writers for the new series on SyFy "Warehouse 13" if you're, ya know, into that sort of thing...which I am...but I digress.

Toad Hall. Quite impressive for a toad! I didn't notice any "torn up" countryside however.

Captain Hook's ship.

The Matterhorn Bobsled Ride mountain is in the background with the miniature village in the foreground. Cool juxtaposition, no?

And Cinderella's Castle - which, as I'm sure you already know, was inspired by Neuschwanstein Castle.

Neuschwanstein - the real deal, not a miniature. For all the trivia buffs out there...

33rd Anniversary Surprise

2009-08-29T00:49:00.008-05:00

Day One - Disneyland at the Main Gate

I surprised Mike with a trip to California for our 33rd anniversary. He didn't know where we were going until the Saturday night before we left (which was the following Wednesday night). I had "suggested" he take vacation on specific days (that should have been his FIRST clue!) and then liaised with his assistant at work to make sure he didn't have any meetings or calls scheduled the afternoon of our departure as we would have to be on the road to Houston Intercontinental during rush hour as it was. I was a bit nervous about making the plans by myself and also the destination. We go to Florida for our yearly to bi-annual Disney vacation with the kids and grands so figured it might be tough emotionally to go to Florida without our Entourage. Tim had gone to California for business back in May and Megan flew out for a long weekend to join him. They went to Disneyland and also explored the beach highways and thoroughly enjoyed it. So an idea was born...

While trying to figure out the logistics of the trip (frequent flier miles for flights? Marriott Rewards for accommodation?? Disneyland for 2 or 3 or 4 days???), Disney sent me an email offering "buy 3 days get 2 free" for park passes and hotel packages. That made up my mind and cinched the deal. I used Continental OnePass miles to get our flights free (yeah!) and bought the package from the Disney Travel Company for the rest. Win/win!! Flights booked, room/passes/rental car reserved well in advance.

Then came the UPS nightmare. I thought I'd get my travel documents from Disney via USPS. But they sent them UPS, with no advance notification, and a signature IN PERSON requirement. And I was out of town when they tried to deliver. Mom called me to tell me that a note had been left on the door claiming 3 attempts had been made to deliver this and it was being sent back. Well, as (a) there were no stickers for attempt 1 or 2 and (b) I had been home on the day of the supposed first attempt, this all sounded very suspicious to me. At this point, I didn't even know it was the Disneyland documents. I called UPS and told them I was out of town, needed to have a redelivery attempt when I got back and asked who the package was from. And all this was during the week Megan had her post-surgical complications and was in the hospital in Pflugerville - and I was with her. To make a long story short, promises were made, no follow through, notices given that "it was sent back-no it's on the truck out for delivery-no, we've LOST the parcel". I finally called Disney Travel and they calmly said, "You shouldn't have to worry about any of this! We'll take care of it!" And they did. The package was indeed lost so Disney sent a replacement via overnight shipping (and I knew to expect it!). Magical moments restored.

And I'm not talking to UPS for awhile.

We flew to John Wayne Airport on a late flight Wednesday night (8/19) arriving close to midnight. We stayed at the Anaheim Marriott Suites - our room was on the 7th floor, facing towards Disneyland, and were able to watch the fireworks every single night at 9:25 - how cool was THAT?? And having a rental car was a good idea as we wanted to explore the area as well.

More about our trip next post. And photos. Yes, lots of photos!

Marathon Summer

2009-08-28T14:08:00.003-05:00

Hey there - remember me? The one who USED to blog with regularity and then dropped completely off the radar? I'm BACK!

Talk about a marathon - I may not have physically RUN 26 miles (or whatever an actual marathon is) but I feel like I have this summer. Beginning with Lleyton's 2nd birthday party, the summer flew by. Some random (and I mean RANDOM) thoughts and summer highlights:

Hottest summer I can remember - in both DFW area and Katy. When a day was cooler than 100F, it actually felt good. I've never seen so many days with 100+ temps and I have the four digit July electric bill to prove it
Jennifer is pregnant with baby #3 and was sick as a dog for the first trimester which was bad for her but fun for ME as she, Ben and Luke practically lived with me in Katy for about a month of that time
Lleyton had his 2nd birthday (Cars, Trucks and Things That Go Party) in Pflugerville. And I got to make the cake!
Ben learned to swim - in my pool...sniff...I'm so proud!
Luke had his 2nd birthday (Cow Party - that's P-A-R-T-Y, not pattie, for all you smart alecks) in Keller. I got to make the cake - again!
Mirai had her 2nd birthday (Silly Monkey Party) in Keller at our vacation place. I got to make the cake(s) - cupcake tree and a layered cake with her own personal monkey!
Bounce Houses are great investments for grandparents. Well worth the money!
Carpeted stairs are better to fall down then wooden stairs if you are 2 years old - or any age for THAT matter (just ask Lleyton...and for the record, it was the CARPETED ones he took a dive on, not the wooden ones, probably saving a trip to the ER and possibly his life...shudder, shudder...)
All gallbladder surgeries are not created equal. Just ask Megan.
Two surgeries under general anesthetic within a week of each other are not a picnic. Again, just ask Megan.
Relatives with gardening expertise are much better than hiring total strangers. Our garden(s) - both of them - ROCK! (Thanks, Jason!)
Having two boys spend the night while their folks celebrate their anniversary isn't anymore work than having just one.
I never thought I'd have three, yes, THREE dogs. Sigh...
Mike can add NYC and D.C. to his repertoire of travel destinations besides his usual Kazakhstan. Discover America!
Working with UPS to redeliver an important package that then becomes lost was torture. They totally let me down. On my black list for now.
Icemakers that aren't cleaned every six months will land you a very expensive repair bill.
Wedding Anniversary #33 is the "Disneyland" anniversary. Hallmark begs to differ.
Fort Worth has a zoo worthy of obtaining an annual membership. I need to get one - Jen has one for her family. I think I've visited 3 or 4 times in the past 12 months.
Expatriate relationships last a LONG time! Reunion with three families from our Stavanger, Norway days this summer was fantastic - thanks ANN!
Neighborhood wading pools are fab if you have young grandchildren - 18" depth was perfect! And the pizza place delivers to the POOL!
Watching the Astros from the Diamond Club area is superfantabulously wonderful! Taking guests to enjoy it with you even more so.
Houston has a children's museum that is really cool - especially their Kidtropolis (new this year). Just hard to go in summer when every single (it seemed) daycare center was also visiting.
woot.com launched their site for kids at kids.woot.com - check it OUT!
Anyone needing any decomposed granite can get it FREE off my driveway in Katy. Still there. Still waiting to get a nasty letter from the HOA giving us 10 days to get rid of it. Don't know HOW to "get rid" of decomposed granite - can't put it in the trash, can't put it in the garden beds, sheesh - any ideas?? Friends took some of it; I swear the stuff grows at night.
Sweet potato vine is the best accessory for your garden - it's a great filler, literally, and adds a great dimension of color since it's lighter green against darker greens and seasonal color. Like the tacky bracelet described in "Bridget Jones' Diary" - "it's what I'd call an all-rounder - goes with anything, anywhere..."
If you're still reading this, you deserve a prize.

Well, that's it for today...the Reader's Digest version of my summer sans the Letters to the Editor or the "Life in Uniform" jokes. I will post photos from our recent Disney vacation soon - I've got to edit them a bit and pare them down to a dozen or so from the (large number) I actually took.

Mission Accomplished!

2009-08-07T08:19:00.002-05:00

Megan is out of her surgery and it was, thankfully, "textbook". They did find a leak, put in a stent, will keep her overnight but anticipate a MUCH easier ride from here on out!

Thank you for all your prayers and comments. We all appreciate it.

Update on Megan

2009-08-06T20:38:00.000-05:00

Megan had complications following her surgery last Friday. As most of you know, I took her to the ER on Tuesday when she started having severe pain. They admitted her and administered IV drugs (morphine based) and tried to wean her to oral meds. Today they did a HIDA test (Google it) and it looks like there is a small leak, probably from the bile duct. So at 7:15am they'll do another surgery to put a stent in. It will be done endoscopically through her mouth and will not require (shouldn't anyway) any incisions. They will inject dye to see where the leak is and then do the repair. Hopefully that will be the end of the matter and she might even be able to go home tomorrow night or Saturday morning. Then, if they put in a stent, she'll go back in 4-6 weeks for an outpatient procedure to remove the stent.

The kids are in George West with her folks. Mike will drive to Austin tomorrow sometime after having arrived back in the US tonight. I wish he could have come tonight but that's not a good idea after traveling 28 hours to get back home.

I'll keep you posted and let you know how things are going.

Megan. Poor baby...

2009-08-06T00:35:00.002-05:00

Most of you know Megan had her gallbladder out last Friday. What you might not know is that Tuesday she had a set-back in her recovery. I had come in on Sunday from a weekend in Keller to keep her company and watch the kids while Tim was away in California. She was feeling pretty good considering she'd been sliced and diced and cored just a couple of days earlier. Monday was fairly uneventful - lots of catching up on important things like watching all the DVDs we hadn't seen in ages or missed in the theaters. The kids were down in George West with their other grandmother, MoMo, who was going to drive them up here (Pflugerville) on Tuesday.

Tuesday morning, Megan started having a pain that quickly escalated into an 11 on a scale of 1 to 10.

Not good.

I called her surgeon's office and was told to take her to the ER (that's A&E to all you Brits out there). Dogs were thrown into the yard, water put out and I literally sped her to the hospital.

Three hours later, after a contrast CAT scan, blood work and other tests, the reason for her pain was inconclusive. However, the pain was very real. A very strong pain med was administered via IV which made it more manageable. Tim made the decision, after much texting back and forth, to come home from California, where he was on business from Sunday afternoon, as soon as possible. Her surgeon's partner came by late afternoon and decided to admit her so the pain could be managed via IV with "stronger stuff" and to observe her. Relief all around - literally and figuratively.

News Flashes from both Katy church of Christ and Brentwood church of Christ resulted in a huge prayer chain and my facebook notices received so many helpful and prayer-promise comments for which we are so grateful.

Bottom line, Megan was "shaken AND stirred" as Bond would not have said. She is still in the hospital and doing better, becoming more ambulatory - and has switched to oral pain meds instead of the stronger IV meds as of today. When the doctor comes to visit tomorrow, we have high hopes that she'll be released to come home.

And she has officially joined the ranks of people who have had gallbladder surgery and have a story to tell! Unfortunately, gallstones are now considered a "bio-hazard" so are not given to the patient anymore so there goes her chances of someday being a grandma who terrorizes and delights her grandchildren by showing them like MY grandma did. :) Instead they now photograph the procedure and give you about eight photos of the surgery and the stones they removed. Not exactly Christmas card stuff. :)

So hopefully she is on the downside of this and will go from strength to strength from now on.

Just thought ya ought to know! :)

Who are those masked men??

2009-08-03T05:00:00.000-05:00

I'm just coming up for air following my marathon "back in the saddle again" parenting experience - aka "Jennifer is sick as a dog with this pregnancy and spent the past three weeks in Katy with me so I could take care of the boys as well as her". So during the next few days (weeks?), I will start posting photos of some of the things we did during that time.

One thing we did on a fairly regular if not daily basis was swimming. We discovered that the subdivision pool facility had a wading pool, protected by a sun-filtering transparent tarp, so we often went there. So between our own pool and the community pool, we spent many mornings in the water. Ben even learned to swim and tread water but more on that one later.

For now, here is what the fashionable pre-school set is wearing to the beach these days. Some arm candy for this Gramma, eh?? :)

Happy Birthday, Mike, wherever you are!

2009-08-02T08:02:00.003-05:00

Mike - probably about 2 years old

My CF (Chief Friend) is turning 54 today, but he's out of the country. Boo! So I'll have to send him salutations via phone and the nets. SO impersonal! But I have big things planned for a celebration when he gets back to 'the land of his birth'. No, I'm NOT jumping out of a cake - we can't afford a cake THAT big!

In the "meanwhile", Happy Birthday, Babe! We all love you and wish you were here, instead of there..."there" being where we are not!

Mike's the one on the right - with his sister, Cindy, and brother, Pat

Kindergarten - ain't he the cutest thang!? I think he must have some "elfin" in him. No, wait, it has to be Vulcan. "Live long and prosper" kid!

From your beloved, Cheri, with love...

Shamlessly pimping from another's blog...

2009-07-15T14:51:00.003-05:00

Recently we were up at Keller (again - I know, "surprise, surprise!") to celebrate Mirai's 2nd birthday and also attended a July 3rd (yes, that's a three, not a four - not a typo) celebration in Roanoke. As I neither took photos nor have yet blogged about it, I'm going to direct you to Megan's blog for the scoop.

She takes better pictures anyway.

Is this plagiarism? Or just directing you to infinitely better photography and reporting??

Yeah, I thought the latter too.

...I have no shame...

(Thanks, Megan!)

Yup, behind again...

2009-07-08T23:49:00.003-05:00

Well, by now I should have had lovely posts, complete with photos, celebrating Timothy, Jenjer, Luke and Miria's birthdays. But I haven't. And I'm sorry (to Tim, Jenjer, Luke and Mirai) for not having done so. And it's not gonna happen anytime soon either as I'm getting a crash course in being a "mom" to two little boys. It's been 20 plus years since I've done this and I'm a bit rusty at it.

You see, Jennifer is pregnant with Baby No. 3. And Baby is making Jennifer sick. Literally. Sick. As. A. Dog. So she and the boys are down here in Katy with me while Jen tries to stay till, keep food down and think happy thoughts. And I am taking care of the boys. I'm getting into a bit of a rythm now and am actually watching a little tv (and, obviously, some blogging) before I head to bed instead of staggering to bed, falling flat on my face and falling into a deep sleep like I've done the previous two nights. :)

So bear with me as I "remediate" on parenting once again. And keep Jennifer and Baby No. 3 in your prayers please.

My secret garden...

2009-06-29T12:00:00.007-05:00

Welcome to our home! A view of the front door...

Looking into "The Grotto" onto the outdoor kitchen

Last May, Jennifer and Jason came to Katy to oversee the garden maintenance/overhaul that was long overdue here. I did a pretty decent job of overseeing the building and decoration of this house, planning interior spaces for use and making use of colors and our furniture to create a warm and inviting interior. But I dropped the ball on the exterior totally - due to both lack of time and ignorance. I know now that several things should have been done differently. First of all, I should not have had the pool company be involved with the landscaping at ALL! The pool company promised a landscape plan that their landscaper couldn't provide given the funds he was given by the pool company for this purpose. By then we were too close to closing to do much about it. I should have contacted various local landscaping companies to come and make suggestions based on what our use of the space would be, taking into account what we would be viewing from INSIDE the house and how well it continued style-wise into the outdoor spaces. Then I should have taken several bids from the companies whose ideas we liked and then made a decision.

But I didn't. And have lived to "rue the day". So we were working with a plan that wasn't ideal but one which was already "in" and "paid for". We were forced to work within certain parameters of the current scape and needed knowledgeable help to do that.

Sweet potato vine, roses and ixora, oh my!

That's where Jason comes into the picture. You see, he loves gardening. And he enjoys it. And he knows what he's doing. They all came down on a Tuesday night and for the next 5 days, we sweated, we tore out, we replanted...you name it...and we have a gorgeous garden with growth plans in place. We'd had some trees removed and some new ones installed, three of which are already victims of the Great Hot Texas Summer of 2009, but they have a warranty on them so come fall I'll have them replaced. A flagstone path with ledge stone edges was the biggest project. And it wasn't laying stone and putting down decomposed granite that was the biggest issue - it was getting the established thatch of turf to "budge" to remove it prior to installation that proved to be the real back-breaker! Even the tiller we rented had a hard time gnawing through it. Mike and Jason resorted to using pickaxes to cut through it all. But it turned out beautifully!

Lots of plants were bought at the Brookwood Community. I'd never even heard of this place until my hairdresser, Terri, told me about it. If you're in the west Houston area and have never been, you have to drive out there! We bought things like Butterfly Weed, Knock-out Roses, mosses, sweet potato vine, hibiscus to name but a FEW. I even got a lime tree to put in a container on the patio!

I'd like to add another crape myrtle in the front bed between the front door and the bay window to Mike's study next year as well as adding a play scape in the backyard. But those are projects for another day, another fiscal year. :) For now, I am happy to have a plan, a maintained garden and knowledge of how to do both. And I've also learned that removing a few weeds a day, as they pop up, is infinitely easier to deal with than trying to pull them out after a long while left unattended (not to mention how much BETTER and CLEANER it all looks!).

So thanks to Jason (and Jenny too) - I hope this can be an annual event! I have SUCH plans for NEXT year (run, run...flee while you can!!)

A new member of the family...

2009-06-29T11:35:00.003-05:00

Yup, we have a new dog. Call me crazy, but (hello, Crazy Butt!) we decided to take a "semi" rescue dog. She's not truly a rescue dog in that she was abused or abandoned or anything. She's just "made the rounds" of the family and has finally come back to her town of birth, Katy.

Sophie was bought as a pup for Jen and Jason back in 2002 while we were living overseas. I think I was living vicariously in my need for a puppy through them and they enjoyed her, spirited schnauzer that she is, until Ben was born. Sophie is a large miniature - she's more like a small standard really - and has a bark that can put hair on your chest! (so to speak - no gazing at mine next we meet please...) So when Ben was born, between Emma, the barking daschund and Sophie, the barking schnauzer, he was often awakened by the Doggy Chorus Cacophony numerous times a day. Christopher and Jenjer agreed to take Sophie (after all, they had "only" four QUIET ferrets to contend with).

Fast forward to 2007. Chris and Jenjer became the parents of Mirai. School, jobs, baby, tight budget...and a schnauzer. Sweet schnauzer but loud and barking when someone came to the door. I heard they were looking to rehome her in May and I decided the poor girl should just come back to me, return to the "land of her birth" (aka Katy) and took her on a trial basis. I've had her about a month now and think I can safely say she's home for good. Shelby and Izzie were none to pleased by another interloper but they've learned to get over themselves once they figured Sophie wasn't just visiting. Shelby likes to assert her authority and perceived "superiority" on occasion but for the most part, our "pack" is doing well. Izzie seems to vacillate between "you are at the bottom of the pack and have to bow to me as well" and "you are bigger than Shelby and can overtake her - and I'm here to help". It's funny to watch.

Jennifer said, before I took Sophie back to Katy the first time, "Well, Sophie-girl, you don't now it yet, but you're headed to Dog Heaven down there in Katy!" BIG yard to play in (Chris and Jen live in a condo) and other dogs to play with are just the starters. Sophie has turned out to be a VERY sweet and QUITE obedient lady and I think I've been able to somewhat break her of the "barkies" with a water bottle - she does NOT like getting "spritzed" when she barks! All THREE are much quieter now that I've instituted Operation Dreaded Water Bottle.

I told Megan I should just rename them Small, Medium and Large (Shelby, Izzie and Sophie). She laughed and suggested Tall, Venti and Grande. When I related this to Benjamin on the phone, he said, "Oh Gramma! You can't name those dogs those COFFEE names!" and I realized just how much we must go to Starbucks for a 4 year old to know what that meant. :)

(I thought I had a photo of her but I left my camera in Keller on Saturday so will have to post one later. Today she is having surgery - a teeth cleaning/descaling as well as a "mass removal" (lump on her side). Once she gets home and I have a camera, I'll share a photo our The Lady. When she is groomed, she is WHITE! Evidently her undercoat is white but her hard coat is silver. So more later!)

Mondays in Katy...

2009-06-29T11:19:00.002-05:00

I am briefly "home" - I say that loosely since, for most of May and the month of June anyway, I haven't been here much. Between keeping grandsons for parents celebrating a wedding anniversary, birthdays for two grandsons, a birthday upcoming for a granddaughter and Mike's business trips overseas, I've spent the lion's share of my time in Keller, Pflugerville and on the road, specifically in THAT order!

Mike flew into DFW on Friday (following a trip to Kazakhstan, home, then onto D.C.) and we drove back together on Saturday arriving in Katy in time to attend Sarah and Taylor's wedding at 3pm. A RARE dinner out at Houston's Restaurant, just the two of us, followed before a trip to the Galleria to pickup a watch repair that had been waiting for ages. Then it was onto Mike's office to collect his car where it had been left after being collected for his D.C. trip by a service.

We are trying to get caught up (ha! like that will ever happen) before turning around and leaving once again on Wednesday after work for Keller again. Mirai's birthday party is at our house on Saturday so we're getting a jump start so we can have the house ready for not only the party but Tim and Megan's visit from Friday on for said party. Monday we head back here and have a bit of a breather before a reunion with overseas friends back up in Colleyville leaving the 16th. Jen and the boys will be visiting us here in Katy the week leading up to the reunion and we'll all drive up together.

The very next weekend, Tim and Megan et al come to Katy for an Astro's game. Then Mike heads off to Kazakhstan for a couple of weeks and I head to Plugerville and Keller respectively again.

I relate all this NOT to make your head spin but to explain where I'm coming from lately with my non-blogging! Prior to all this has been two trips to Keller, two trips by Jen's family to Katy, two trips by moi to Pflugerville and a major garden renovation wedged in somewhere. We have NOT had any moss growing on us lately. And while it has been run, run, run seemingly, I find that I'd rather be running than sitting home bored (and alone!). I feel very fortunate to be able to be part of the children's lives as well as the grandchildren's lives on such a "grand scale". Nothing beats hearing, out of the blue, an unsolicited "Gamma, I dub ewe!" Be still my beating heart...

So today, Monday, I have my mega-list ready. Dog in for surgery - check. Package to mail. Party bags to find and buy. Cake supplies to purchase. Bills to pay (yuck...) and insurance claims to file. I'll try to get ahead of the game a bit today and tomorrow. So I can enjoy what is really the essence of life - life, liberty and the pursuit of loving on kids and grandkids!

Thursday Morning

2009-06-18T08:49:00.002-05:00

Yes, striking title, no? Really grabs your interest I'll bet. :)

The heat has been onerous and my hair is revolting (that's both a verb and an adjective in this sentence, in case you were wondering). So I'm soon heading into the bathroom to attempt to arrange my summer heat frizzled mane into some sort of semi-respectable coif before heading over to Jen's to get her, the boys and Madison (my surrogate granddaughter) for our "Really Big Adventure" to Cabela's and Toys'r'Us this morning.

No, I'm not turning into a Big Game hunter (although I DID buy the anniversary edition of Monopoly once - the one with the wooden base that spins - whoohoo!) - word on the street is Cabela's carry Keen shoes and I want to see what all the fuss is about them. Disney is looming in my future again and I do NOT want to do the tennis shoe thing again. And all the (taxidermist) stuffed animals at Cabela's sort of makes it like an air-conditioned zoo so the kids like it. Win/win! Cabela's is one of those "last bastions" of the Best of Texas where we are happy stick it to both PETA and the anti-gun lobbyists. I mean, where else can you see fine examples of hunting successes and pick up a fine firearm and ammo all under one roof??

Toys'r'Us however is a venture not for the faint-hearted when toting around 2-2 year olds and a 4 year old under the best of circumstances. "I want..." will be echoed in our ears ALL morning, noon and night following this expedition but Mirai's birthday is coming up soon and moi is hosting her party up here in Keller. A "bounce" vehicle of some sort is called for so we're in search for the "Birthday Girl plus 4 cousins" sized bounce house. And Toys'r'Us is usually filled with parents who have already abdicated any semblence of control on their children and are reduced to the bribing stage where they try to placate their restless (and leaderless) youngsters with material goods in a misguided attempt to buy both favor and silence. Doesn't work folks. Perhaps they should take the kids to Cabela's FIRST ("Yes, Johnny, that bear didn't obey his mother and look what happened to HIM!") before heading over to the Toy Heaven. Might be an effective tool...I'm just saying...

Wish us luck.

I have a feeling it's going to be a BIG Chick-fil-A iced tea day - that's what us Bible Belters drink when stressed instead of bourbon. With Mike in Kazakhstan, I wonder that my family isn't worried that I sit alone at night with my iced tea, drinking alone, adding more slices of lemon.

Better not tell them about the hot fudge sundaes. Don't want to worry them more than necessary.

Have a good one and keep the iced tea flowing!

To blog or not to blog? When to find TIME is the question!

2009-06-17T09:26:00.002-05:00

I wonder sometimes what Shakespeare would have done with the internet and blogging. Would he have been a daily blogger, throwing out ideas to his "public" about his next project? Or would he have shared the minutiae of daily life? And how would it have read?

"Anon, must gather unto myself provisions. Away to the Target whilst the day is long and the belly speaks!"

Or "While this vain glory doth take hold, my age belies me as I tread this path of life! Another wrinkle I beheld this day..."

Or would he have been so busy with his life that he would often neglect his blog (or would that be "Blogge"?) I wonder. Now I'm not in ANY way comparing myself to Shakespeare with all the themes and mysterious psychology embedded in his prose. But as a semi-avid blogger, I find that I have sadly lapsed in my blog entries of late.

I was quite gratified however to find that all FIVE of my faithful readers missed me and I got, within the space of 3 days last week, five emails from 'friends of the net' who wondered if I was okay as I had not blogged "in like, forEVER!"

Thank you, my gracious public. I am humbled and honored by your entreaties and have been convicted to rise from my bed of non-bloggiture and once again grace the net with my mundane observations on life, liberty and the pursuit of just about anything at the best possible price.

See you again soon, I promise.

The Case of the Missing Blogger...

2009-06-09T19:52:00.003-05:00

"So you want to know where my Gramma Cheri has been? I know!"

It has come to my notice (through emails, phone calls and facebook) that I have been absent from these pages for quite a long time.

Rumors of my demise have been wildly exaggerated. Thank goodness.

I have grandiose plans to enlighten my Blogging Public with news of my recent whereabouts and activities over the next few days (week?) so stay tuned.

It should be riveting.

If you like reading "The Farmer's Almanac" that is...

A teaser...or at the very least, a tranquil scene of great beauty...

Happy Birthday, Lleyton!

2009-04-30T09:41:00.003-05:00

Yup, the next "graduating class" of grands is turning two this year and Lleyton leads the pack. Today is his official 2nd birthday although, owing to his daddy being away on a "Training Mission" (fancy talk for "I guess they are going to keep him employed because they're a-sendin' him on a trip far away and at great expense to teach him something"), his actual party will be much later.

Our little man has made GREAT strides this past year and we are pleased as punch with him! And MOI gets to spend a week with him and his mama and sister in a couple of weeks (woohoo!) while his dad continues to train (man, them's gotta be some BIG "corporate abs" after three of the four weeks of training!)

So, for now, Happy Birthday, my man! Hope you and your mom and sis have a GREAT day of fun surprises and we'll see you soon. We'll be sure to "bring the goods" for ye!

We love you, LL!

Take me out to the ballgame...in STYLE, I might add...

2009-04-25T13:11:00.007-05:00

Those of you who know me well know I'm not a big sports person. Yes, I've been to the Men's Semi-Finals at Wimbledon...and had to have the game of tennis explained to me. So sad. And I watch golf on TV occasionally if Tiger is playing (which means I've watched very little the past year). Still trying to figure out why there are all these birds involved in it. And my idea of a Decathlon is a race through a shopping center to get in and out of 10 stores with a list and a credit card and finish FIRST. (Hey, don't knock it till you've tried it...)

So when Mike told me he could get 4 tickets to an Astros game, I was a bit "blech" about it. Then I thought, why not? I never go - when we get tickets, Tim, Megan and Kennedy usually go with Mike. But this was a Tuesday night, not a weekend. They weren't able to drive in from Pflugerille on a weeknight. So I decided to "give it a go" and we invited our friends Tim and Beth to join us. And off we went.

You've heard the term, "Diamonds are a girl's best friend"? Well, if you're not the world's biggest sports fan and you're headed to Minute Maid Park, that is a true saying indeed! Little did I know that said tickets were (gasp!) in the Diamond Club section!! Oh my - I didn't even know such a place existed. You know where George H and Barbara sit when when go to the Astros games? Just behind home plate? THAT is the Diamond section. But wait - that's not all! Parking was alongside the STADIUM! That's it - park, walk across the drive, show ticket and then enter a special entrance to go downstairs to the Diamond CLUB! Clean bathrooms. Long buffet. Unlimited "chow-down" until the 7th inning. Then out to the seats within "sweating distance" of the players. I mean, I could see which players had acne for goodness sakes - it was THAT close! And when the players came to bat, Beth would give me a brief history along the lines of, "That is so-and-so. He used to play for the Astros but went to the Dodgers last year. He's really tall and cute". All the "histories" had "he's tall and cute". Maybe I should look into this game more seriously?? Who knew? (reminded me of the little known "change shirts between sets" moments at Wimbledon - sorry guys, only at the men's matches...)

So we fill our bellies, trying to act like "yeah, we do this ALL the time" and not jump up and down screaming, "OH MY WORD! THIS IS THE MOST FANTASTIC THING!! WISH I'D TOLD THE KIDS WE'D BE HERE!!! WILL WE BE ON TV??? WHY DIDN'T I WEAR SOMETHING NICER??" (Limited success in that department - I'm sure I stuck out like a sore thumb; or more like a mule in with the Grand Champions...)

We finish eating and head out to our seats - did I mention that those seats are REALLY close? Oh yeah, guess I did. Let me tell you, when you sit where we did, you think twice about picking your nose. (I actually thought about it THREE times...) Anyway, we're sitting there taking it all in and here comes a lady with a tray asking if she can GET US ANYTHING! "Ice cream? Popcorn? Something to drink?" I felt like the chubby kid's first visit to an all-you-can-eat-Chinese Buffet. I DID show admirable restraint and tried to order only that which I would have ordered and PAID for under normal circumstances. Okay, I would not have had 4 diet Cokes with lime nor a plate of nachos with chili and queso. And probably not the popcorn either. We would have bought ONE diet Coke and split it truth be told.

I am so ashamed.

And you know the "fun" experience of trying to get to a ladies' room in the 'where normal people sit' part of the stadium? The waiting in very long lines for a toilet that is one cousin removed from a port-a-potty in cleanliness? Not a problem here - just walk down a hallway, pass by the STILL serving self-serve buffet line of many varieties of food and viola! there are the restrooms - marble and granite floors and walls. Clean stalls. No waiting. No suspicious "spills". Lots of paper towels available after washing of hands with SOAP (not the dregs left when it ran out during the first couple of innings). Depart to return to seat by passing by the dessert section and picking up a cookie or two while weighing the odds of also grabbing some cotton candy or Cracker Jacks. And here's the irony - most of the ladies in the Diamond Club obviously DON'T eat all these foods temptingly arrayed (either that or...well, I won't go there).

So thanks, Bobby (head of company Mike works for). We had a BLAST!! Enjoyed myself IMMENSELY!!! Our guests had a great time too! Thanks for a great evening!! And feel FREE to do it again sometime.

Oh, and I think they also played a game of baseball, but I'm not sure - I wasn't paying attention.

Taking a dive in the gene pool...

2009-04-22T23:07:00.006-05:00

This is my mother and her little brother, my Uncle Charlie.

This is Kennedy (2nd from the right), my granddaughter and Mom's great-granddaughter.

Is it just me or do they share a striking resemblance??

I never noticed before today how similar they look at the same ages. My uncle scanned a TON of family photos and copied them onto a hard drive for me. I noticed how they favor each other as I was loading them.

Perhaps I'll find more "genetic patterns" as I delve into the files further!

"Out of the Mouth of Babes" - Part Double Deaux

2009-04-16T10:47:00.002-05:00

During my recent stay in Pflugerville, since I was staying five nights, Kennedy gave me her bedroom to sleep in and she slept on a pallet in Lleyton's room. On Tuesday, she was trying to get some of her toys out of her play kitchen in her room and solemnly told me, "Your stuff makes it hard to get in there!" I had my suitcase right in front of said kitchen.

"Well, tomorrow you will have your room all to yourself and you'll get to sleep in your own bed again!" I told her. "Why?" she asked with a puzzled look on her face. I told her that I was leaving Wednesday night to return home and that my suitcase and other things would be gone. She looked down for a minute, thought about it and then slowly said, looking at me, "Why, Gramma, that's so sad!"

It warmed my heart to know that she was going to miss me.

Then she added, "But I do like it better when you sleep in the living room."

"Out of the mouths of babes.." Part Deaux

2009-04-16T10:26:00.002-05:00

Yesterday morning, as Megan, Kennedy, Lleyton and I sat at the table for my last breakfast in Pflugerville this trip, I was reading my emails (yes, Emily Post and Miss Manners - I DO read my emails on my laptop...at breakfast...at company's house...in my robe...cry me a river...). Suddenly Megan said, "CHERI! Pick up your computer NOW!"

As I whisked it up I noticed the river of water and ice coming my way from an overturned glass (the culprit will remain anonymous - but I will say it wasn't me!). I got my laptop up just as the water met the edge of the back so all was well. I wiped off the tiny bit of water and, in my best British accent, said, "Jolly good show!"

Kennedy frowned and said, "Why do you say THAT, Gramma?" I explained that I was relieved that my computer was okay and that her mom had warned me in time for me to take action. And that that was good!

Well, last night I had dinner with them at Pei Wei before heading back to Katy. I pushed my iced tea over so Megan could sit down and it started to spill when it caught on something. I quickly righted it, started mopping up the mess and laughingly told Megan I was trying to keep up with her. Suddenly we hear a very loud exclamation from Kennedy, "JOLLY GOOD SHOW!"

Megan and I looked at Kennedy, looked at each other and busted out laughing.

That kid is sharp!