Letters and Movies

Andy is off to work and finally leaving the laptop with me again.

I have a list of things to do that I thought I would try to tackle. As there was nothing on TV and I wasn't in the mood for a particular movie or soundtrack, I thought I would put something on Netflix as I worked to clean the kitchen. I looked at our watch instantly queue and decided on 84 Charing Cross Road. I added that to the queue a week ago without really knowing anything about it. I unloaded and loaded the dishwasher as the movie buffered and started. I was so quickly drawn into the story and characters that I'm afraid I didn't make it past the dishes; as a matter of fact, there are a few that are left to be washed by hand. The water running and brush scrubbing would have been too loud to hear the movie over. I love when you unexpectedly find a gem. This one had some sweet and some acid, my favorite combination! While this wasn't a film for the ages or a big Oscar contender, it was a beautiful reminder of friendship, generosity, and correspondence (primarily, letter writing).

I think there is something so romantic about letter writing. In these times of texts, emails, and instant messages, no one, me included, writes letters apart from the obligatory thank you note or Christmas letter. I think there is something really special about beautiful scripts, crossed out sections from misspelled words, and more words and care than fit in abbreviated, unpunctuated mass of letters and numbers that form our modern day correspondence. I wish I could say that my feelings would inspire me to send you all hand written letters, but the chance of that happening is slim as I bow to the power of convenience.

May you all encounter a gem in some aspect of your day.

Yea rain...nevermind, rain, rain, go away; come again some other day

What an interesting day we've had!! Once again my sleep patterns are off - I wake up before Andy gets home, stay awake all night, wake Andy up, see him off to work, and then go to sleep. It's been great though to help Andy in the morning; he's a little grumpy and a slow mover in the morning. We also have a pretty clean house, and Andy has had lots of really good food to eat!

Here the story begins.

This morning I made fresh bread so that we could have warm bread to put strawberry jelly on for breakfast. We have several kinds of cheese in our refrigerator that are growing mold - apparently, it is the good kind. To me, mold means that I need cut that off and hurry to use what is left; Andy later said to leave some of the mold and let the cheese age...I raised an eyebrow to that... So, I wanted to try to use the havarti cheese that we have in the refrigerator. I decided that he could have a sandwich for dinner with havarti and gouda (yep, we have that one open as well...no mold though). In my search for something to do with all of the cheeses (yep, there are more). I ran across something that said that Edam cheese pairs well with melons. I perked up and thought we have honeydew melon. So, as the bread rose, I got the melon baller (thanks Correy; Cici and Mary Beth I knew you'd appreciate this) out and went after the slice of honeydew melon. Then, I sliced off some Edam cheese. I put these back in the refrigerator and baked the bread. I pulled the bread out of the oven intending to let it rest and cool for thirty minutes before waking Andy at 5:30.

I start the dishwasher and listen to an audio book while I rest on the couch for a little while. I hear some thunder which upsets the dog and notice a few minutes later that it has started to rain lightly. I suddenly hear some sort of tapping sound that is not from raindrops. When I look around for the source, I see that the cat is walking around the dining room table; he's probably batting at a milk cap. Several minutes later, I still hear the sound; wow, the cat is really going to town with that cap (they are toys for him). Then, I spot the cat, and he isn't playing with anything.

I looked around and quickly spotted water dripping from the ceiling....this is definitely not good! I grabbed a bowl and put it under the leak to collect the water. It was about 5:25 so I went to wake Andy up. I charge in to the bedroom, and tell him that he needs to get up because we have a leak in the ceiling. He jumps out of bed thinking that there is water all over the place and that the ceiling is collapsing in.

He investigated by among other things looking in the attic and turning the water off. While he was in the attic, I was able to hear two different sets of dripping only one of which was the water dripping from our ceiling. Our guess is then that water is coming through the roof. Nothing really seemed to help or explain the situation or that theory. I called and left a message for our landlords. Unfortunately, they only start answering their phones at 9 am. Knowing there was nothing more we could do (especially since the ceiling wasn't dripping anymore), we set about eating our breakfasts at 6:30. To my annoyance, the extra hour of cooling the bread meant it was a little warm but not much. I then headed off to bed while Andy worked on school stuff and waited to hear back from the landlord.

Some men come to check out the situation around lunch time. They see some little holes in the room that they try to patch. They told us that we would have to wait for it to rain again to see if that fixed the problem.

And here the story should end....

During the time that I've been writing this, it started to rain again. While no water has dropped from the ceiling. I could still hear tapping...it sounded rather like a metronome. I guess I was hearing water dripping in the attic from the roof to the ceiling. Oh boy! At least the water hasn't been dripping from the ceiling to the floor! But I'm guessing that the patch either didn't have enough time to set or just didn't work. It should be a fun night since there is a cool front moving through with lots of rain north of us headed southeast.

Sorry for all of the verb tense changes; the post is too long for me to fix them all....

Our Trip to Corpus and the TAMU-CC Summer 2009 Graduation

For several months, we've been planning to go to Corpus Christi to see one of Andy's high school friends, George Mayfield, graduate. I was thrilled to have the opportunity to head back down to my alma matter. I haven't been down in a handful of years. I drove us down through the middle of the night while Andy slept. This allowed us to pick up a frame for my diploma, me to give Andy a mini tour of campus, and us to see some of my friends who now work for the school. I had hoped that we might make it down early enough that we would watch the sun rise on the beach, but we were on 37 just outside of San Antonio for that. So, we headed straight to campus. It was amazing how stagnant the air was when we got out of the car; it was supper hot! For our mini tour, I tried to keep us going from one air conditioned building to another. We didn't see all of the new buildings, but it was amazing how many there were and how they changed the landscape and feel of the campus. In one building, the CI, I even got to help a woman find the building she needed to be in; it did my heart good to jump into Island Ambassador mode all of these years later.

We stopped off at the Round Building and saw several of my IA buddies. We talked for quite a while, but made plans to try to see each other sometime after graduation the next day. I found out while there that one of my friends, Bryan Davis, was receiving his Master's Degree.

Then we headed over the bridge to Bob Hall Pier in Port A. I needed to sleep! We had to figure out a way to set me up so that I wouldn't be too hot. Here is the Walker Beachmobile that we came up with.

We had the car angled so that the breeze blew right through the back seat where I laid out. Unfortunately, I still couldn't get cool enough. So, we called up George and Lauren, who we stayed with. They set up their air mattress, we pulled in to their apartment complex, the guys picked up some pizza from B&J's (I love their pizza; they were one of my spots when I was working on my degree in Corpus.), and then we took a well deserved nap. That evening we headed to Snoopy's (a good seafood place in Port A) for dinner. I was really surprised how long the line was; they told us the wait would be an hour. I don't think it was that long though. The food was good, and it was great to sit out on the porch looking over the water as the sun went down. We hung out with the George, Lauren, and their daughters Samantha (3) and Evelyn (2) for the rest of the evening. When I was falling asleep, Andy decided we needed to head to bed again.

Saturday morning was relaxed. We got ready and headed off to graduation. It didn't start until 1:30, but George had to be there at 12. We knew that we would need to be there early for good seating anyway so we went all together. The girls were both raring to go and were not thrilled that they were being asked to sit! So, I suggested that Andy take Samantha for a walk. After 30 minutes or so, I called him requesting that he switch girls. Evelyn then got her chance to run around. Andy was great about helping the girls use up their excess energy!! The girls were then able to survive the 2 hour long graduation ceremony.

I was thrilled to find out that I knew several people who were graduating! The woman in charge of the Equestrian Team & Club, Catherine Swift, received her Doctorate in Education. As I said earlier, my friend Bryan received his Master's in English. George got his Bachelor's in Business. In the craziness after graduation was over, I ran into someone else who knew me. We talked, but I couldn't for the life of me recognize her. I felt so bad! She even remembered my name, and I couldn't even recognize her face! It wasn't until several days later that I could figure out who she was. Lisa was one of the other flute players in the school band. She was receiving her Master's in Counseling.

We headed back to George and Lauren's apartment for the party that they threw. Several of George's fraternity brother's came to congratulate him. It was lots of fun meeting and talking with these guys.

We packed up our stuff, loaded the car, and met several of my friends for dinner. I got to see Brenda, Bryan, Leigh Ann, Sara (Huerta), and Chris. I didn't get to talk that much with some of them, but maybe we'll see them again in the future. I had a fabulous time seeing everyone!!

We drove that night to San Antonio where we stayed with Cici & Logan. Unfortunately, we got there so late that we didn't actually get to spend time with them. We'll catch up over the Labor Day weekend.

Sunday morning, we met my father for breakfast. He showed us the house that he and his fiance, Margaret, just bought. It's a 1917 house that has some beautiful architectural details. They are cleaning the place up and working to bring the house up to the place they want. As with any old home, there are plenty of things on the honey do lists. They will have a wonderful time showing off the place at any stage though. Then we went over to Stacey (my college roommate) and Einar Phillips's house. We hadn't talked with them in quite a while so it was wonderful to hear all of their news. They have an adorable little puppy who would sit and wag his tail causing him to slide all over the wood floors; it was hilarious! Then, we were off to Austin to stop by Amy & Ricardo's to meet their new baby, Ricardo IV. He's so cute! After a very short stop with them (we stayed long enough for little Richy to fall asleep in my arms), we headed home.

What a whirlwind trip it was!! It was great to see all of these old friends!

Sickly Kitty

At the beginning of the August, the cat stopped eating his food. We've had that happen before when he was sick. The vet advised us that wet food is easier for them to smell and therefore more appetizing. So, we assumed that the cat had a cold or stuffy nose and wasn't interested in the dry food. Off I went to the store to buy some wet food. Cappuccino was very excited when I opened the tin and added it to his bowl. He gobbled the stuff right up. After about two days of this progress, the cat started to throw up. We had noticed the nasty kitty litter but attributed that to him being sick and the change in diet. After the throwing up though, we made an appointment with the vet.

I dropped him off at the vet's office for them to observe him. He stayed there all day. When I arrived to pick him up, the people at the office told me what a cool cat he is. They always compliment our pets a lot. I'm sure that they do this to everyone, but I let myself believe that they really mean it with our pets.

By the time that I walked out of the office with the cat, I spent $240 and had 4 liquid medicines that the cat needed to take. So, no one was thrilled at our house. The cat hates liquid meds, and each of his meds was 1-3cc's. One of the medications was going to be twice a day too. When he had to take liquid medication before, he would foam at the mouth, end up with pink froth all over his mouth and chin, and shake the froth off so that it landed on the floor, walls, doors, etc. Lucky us; this time we had white, pink, orange, and yellow medications. I thought it would have been perfect if we had a canvas; we could come out of this experience with an interesting piece of artwork.

Thankfully, Andy was able to handle the medication administration better this time around. Only occasionally would the froth appear, but once it did, it was hard to stop it from getting worse. Here's a great shot of the outcome of frothing from the yellow medication. Unfortunately, you can't see his beautiful, plaintive blue eyes.

Now, the cat is back to normal and up to his usual mischief!!

Sheesh I'm tired

Once again I became fixated on something...unfortunately, Andy did too.  (sounds ominous doesn't it)

Andy has begun a new workout routine and diet.  The diet calls for him to eat a ton of protein every day.  So, we got a whole bunch of things that would provide that protein and not have him eat the same thing every day.  Translation: lots of cooking and therefore lots of cleaning.  

And somehow I ended up with several soup recipes to make too.  Well, we bought the ingredients for these recipes.  Now I need to make the soups before the fresh ingredients go bad.  I'm happy to make food for Andy, especially since I know he really enjoys them.  But why oh why did I set myself up for so much work...not smart Mary!  I'm a few days into the work and have a few days left.

Here's what I've made so far:

Black Bean Soup

15 Bean Soup

Many Bean Soup

Blueberry Soup

Peach Soup

Cucumber Soup

Cucumber Fresca

Cucumber Yogurt Dip

+ food for our daily consumption (aka dinner)

Here's what is still on my list to make:

Creamy Bell Pepper Soup

Watercress Potato Soup

Minestrone Soup

Mashed Potato Casserole

Peach Tomato Gazpacho

Italian Spinach Soup

Spicy Tomato Sauce for a breakfast dish

Crazy, I know!  I told you it was a lot of work.  Are you thinking "where is she going to put all of this food"?  I realized after the first soup or two that I really have to work on our freezer so that I can fit them all in there.  Yeah, that's a looming task too....  By the time I'm all finished, I imagine that one of our two freezers will be completely full of these soups.  I don't think that I'll have to make much else for his snacks.  I'll only have to worry about lunch and dinner; that's two out of his six meals...

I Love Lucy moment

I was making pizza dough the other day using a new recipe and method.  It sounded easy enough to do; the recipe gave me the option of using a food processor or mixer.  I thought that I'd use my fabulous food processor since it keeps everything contained; I always seem to make a bigger mess with my mixer which is also fabulous.  

So, I combine the hot/warm water, yeast, and sugar in the food processor; it sits for a few minutes.  I throw all of the other ingredients into the food processor too and start mixing.  It seemed to be too wet still so I added small increments of additional flour and mixed.  I was surprised how much extra flour I needed to add but kept going.  After a little while of this process, I notice that there is dough seeping out of the bottom of the clear part that locks into the base.  I promptly turned the food processor off and unplugged it.  I was proud of myself that I thought to unplug the thing!  After that self congratulatory moment, I thought great, this does not look good.  I grab hold of the handle to unlock the clear container from the base.  It normally is a little stiff but this time the clear container isn't moving.  I thought great, I'm not able to unlock the two parts.  I figured that if I wasn't going to be able to use it, I might as well use some elbow grease to try to unlock this and if it breaks I already wasn't going to be able to use it.  But my strength prevailed; I heard this crack sound.  Again, I'm thinking this is not good; I've broken it for good now.  As I try to lift the clear container away from the base, I see that the base is covered in dough.  Apparently, the dough managed to go up inside of the blade and down the hole in the center of the clear container.  Since I couldn't see the middle of the base, I wasn't able to view the dough until it had coated the base and spread all of the way to the outside.  So, I go through the process of cleaning up this HUGE mess from the clear container and base.  I even make sure to thoroughly clean around the center peg of the base that actually rotates the blade.

Since this last round was done with what I thought was the dough blade, I said forget that I'm trying it with the normal blade.  Everything starts well.  The dough needs a little more flour again.  After adding it, I start mixing it, and it almost forms a ball (like it is supposed to).  I notice that the speed has dramatically slowed down in the past five seconds.  I quickly turn the food processor off and unplug it.  Does anyone feel like they've heard this before?  We most definitely were singing the same song, second verse.  I unlock the thing and lift the clear container up with bated breath.  And there wasn't dough all over the place...YEA!  But why would the speed have changed so much, so quickly?  I investigate and find that there is some dough that has dried at the bottom of that center peg of the base.  Could the dough have gone down into the motor?  I don't know, but I am starting to smell something weird.  After looking around, I notice that smell is strongest at the bottom of the base.  Again, I'm thinking uh oh, I've broken my fabulous food processor.  I waited to find out how bad this is; Andy didn't call me back for several hours.  After explaining the like five ways that I might have broken the food processor, he said that this didn't sound good...  When he got home, he pronounced that he thinks it's okay.  I've not tested this theory yet.

I swore off electronics for the rest of that day since I had an earlier incident with another electronic/computerized device.  I was able to make the dough the next day with my fabulous mixer and dough hook.  It turned out very well!

Every time that I think about the process of making dough with my food processor, I think of the I Love Lucy episode where she bakes bread but put cups of yeast into the dough.  Everything is fine until the dough has been in the oven for a few minutes.  Unbeknownst to Lucy, the dough has grown.  It suddenly starts trying to foam out the edges of the oven; then, it starts pushing the oven door open.  Lucy attempts to keep the door closed, but eventually, the dough takes over the kitchen.  I know that my experience pales in comparison, but I'll remember it as my mini Lucy moment.

Doing Dishes rather than Playing with Pictures

After watching Cari do all kinds of cool tricks on Photoshop, I was excited to try it out on some of the pictures that we have.  If you've been reading you understand that there might not be many of those, but I was going to pull some out of the archive.  I knew that we had Photoshop on our laptop; I had looked at it a handful of times without really using it.  Feeling so inspired, I even read some other blog postings about more cool stuff you can do with the software.  While neat, I felt overwhelmed with all of the things that I was reading.  I figured that I needed to get my hands dirty with it; that's really the only way to learn any new software in my opinion.  So, I pull up a picture that I want to play with, right click to chose which program to open it in, and select Photoshop Create.  The only problem with this was that it wasn't Photoshop but Photosmart Create - TOTALLY not the same thing!  Now, I'm bummed that I can't so some of the cool basic stuff.  I was always realistic that I probably wouldn't be making these mind blowing pictures (my pictures are better than they use to be but don't have the potential for mind blowing).  So, there is the part of me that says oh well, you didn't really have any pictures to work on anyway.  But dang I hate the teasing; I have to drop too much from the anticipation.  On the upside, I won't waste hours tonight playing with Photoshop...haha...I guess I will finish washing the dishes before going to bed.

Maddy's 1st Birthday Party

Logan and Cici's daughter, Maddy, turned one last week.  They drove up from San Antonio to celebrate with family and friends at the ranch.

Cici and Maddy are checking to make sure that all of the food is out for the party.  The girl is being trained early to help throw parties.
Maddy was not happy that we were trying to put a hat on her.  It took three or four people to get this cute picture.  Cari, you took a great shot and showed us all some of the cute tricks that you've learned in photoshop.  So, this is shows how cute she was before the cake.
This is the after.  Cici was really smart and had two cakes for the party.  One was a small round one that we put the candle on; this was Maddy's cake - the one that is now all over her hands and face.  The other rectangular one was for all of the guests.

Everyone had a great time!  There were tons of pictures taken because we had at least 5 cameras.  We were really fortunate that several people had there USB cords; Cici and Mary Beth got all of the pictures from several of those cameras before people left the party.  I didn't get them, so the last two pictures on the post are stolen from Cari's blog.  Thanks Cari for always putting good pictures up!

The photobook of Jimmy & Mary Beth's party

Nicole Hager took wonderful pictures at Jimmy & Mary Beth's 30th anniversary and vow renewal party.  Cici and I had decided before the party that we wanted to make them a book with these pictures.  After scanning and trying to restore color to all of their wedding photos, I decided to incorporate them into the book for a bit of a "now and then" theme.  I started with Shutterfly but wanted more artistic choices.  Then, Cari recommended Mixbook.  It really let me make an art book rather than just a scrapbook.  Yes, it took me several days and many, many hours to get the book where I wanted it.  (FYI: like all software, it does take a while to feel comfortable with the program)  I think that it turned out really well!  Sorry it doesn't show the full layout all at once; I didn't figure out how to do that.

| View Sample Photo Books | Create your own Photo Book

Andy started the Clothes Swap Party early

When Andy got home from work, I showed him the clothes and accessories that I set aside for the swap. He was able to find two pairs of my jeans that fit him. He loves being able to take jeans of mine. He already has one pair of my old jeans that I didn't love the way they fit. He would love to have my Lucky jeans that are too small for me right now. There is no way that I am letting go of those. He does look good in them, but so did I. And he has the habit of messing clothes up...I can't take that chance with my Lucky jeans; they are the best pair of jeans that I've ever owned!! Anyway, he found some clothes from my closet; he just missed the "Swap". No worries ladies, I still have another pair in my stack...  Start making your own stack!!

So You Think You Can Dance

We love So You Think You Can Dance (SYTYCD) on Fox. I was checking the website for a couple of months before it started for the summer. I was so excited to see the premier; life got better when they announced that the show will be on in the fall as well...woo hooo!!! It's been on now for a couple of weeks, and I'm excited every Wednesday night when the dancers perform. Next week, it will be the top 10 performing. They are fabulous! If you enjoy watching dancing and haven't seen the show, you should check it out. There are all kinds of styles of music and dance. You get to see some of the best choreographers work with the dancers in practice as well as the performance by the contestants. Some nights there are a lot of good dances and one or two great dances. Other nights are really special with a lot of great dances. There are some dances that stay with you because they were beyond great - they were special. Here are some of my favorites from the past and present.  I'm sure that I've missed a few so feel free to post any others as a comment.  Some of these are so good that when I hear the song played I remember the dance; the two are forever tied together in my mind.

Bleeding Love

Sweet Dreams aka The Table Dance or The Boadroom

The Garden

Chairman's Waltz aka The Hummingbird and Flower (you can skip the first minute)

Calling You aka The Bench

Imagine

Waiting for You

Felt Mountain aka Crash Test Dummies

Mercy aka The Door (you can skip the first minute and a half)

Travis and Benji Finale (two white boys; there are lots of jokes that you get if you watched the whole season)

Black Mambo

Argentine Tango

Ruby Blue aka Jewel Thieves

Clothes Swap Party

I've decide that I want to do a Clothes Swap Party.  I've been thinking about it for a few weeks and get more excited about the possibility the more I think about it.  I know that I have lots of clothes that I don't wear but are in good condition.  I have a hard time donating everything that doesn't fit because I feel like I wasted money.  Well, if exchange clothes or accessories with other women, then it wasn't a total waste of money.  So, this is a heads up to all of the ladies out there who are in the area or will be in the area, that I am planning to have a party to swap out clothes and accessories sometime in September.  I'll be asking that everyone bring at least ten items; more would be welcome, and probably, easy to find in every woman's closet.  I've been going through my closet and have found about 50 items (clothes, shoes, jewelry, purses, wallets).  There are some items that I don't really wear because I lack the occasion or the extra 10 pounds don't quite fit in them (I'll be fixing this before long...the rest of the summer should be less hectic).  My plan right now is to donate any remaining items to charity - women finding jobs (they need work clothes for interviews and the weeks before the first paycheck) and battered women's shelters (they probably left with little so as not to arouse suspicion; their first priority would be children's safety).  We'll have food, drinks, music, clothes, and accessories.  I also will be asking for any leftover or unused perfumes; it would be great if everyone got to leave with a new scent that they like rather than keeping one that they are tired of or don't care for.  If anyone is interested in attending or donating items, please let me know.  I also welcome any ideas.  I hope that others are as excited about free "clothes" as I am, and that this will go as I envision it.  I see this also as a time of fun and fellowship because I will be inviting guests to bring along a friend with their items.  The more people and items that walk in the door, the more possibilities there are for us to choose from.

Stayin Busy

I'm back again!  With all of the things that have been going on, I get ready for an event/gathering, have it, and then recover.  This means that I've neglected the house, laundry, food, etc.  I can't seem to catch up with all of this personal stuff before it is time to get ready for another event/gathering.  I will try to be better about put up some short little updates.  In the mean time, here is a quick run down of what we've been up to.  Please forgive me if I forget some things.

At the end of May, we had Jimmy & Mary Beth's 30 anniversary and vow renewal party (they are my in-laws).  Aside from the rain throughout the BACKYARD party, we had a fabulous time.  I'll put up pictures when we have them.  I love party planning!!!  I was also able to make several cakes for people to enjoy; at our house, they don't get eaten entirely.  Jimmy & Mary Beth did a ton of work on the landscaping at the ranch; it looked great!  Thanks to everyone who helped setup, bring food, let us borrow things, gave ideas, listened to me go on and on and on (okay, obsess) about the party (primarily my partners in crime, Cici and Andy).

My cousin, James, got married in Colorado the last weekend of May.  Unfortunately, we couldn't be there for the celebration.  We send our love to James and Amanda!!  I can't wait to get to know Amanda even better!!

My sister's family flew in for a quick trip at the beginning of June.  Greg was home (North Carolina) on leave for about two weeks.  They wanted to be able to see Mother, and getting to Texas from North Carolina with three kids is no small feat.  So, Meg and Greg brought William, Teresa, and Peter to Texas for three days.  They stayed at the Great Wolf Lodge in Grapevine, TX.  What a great place to stay with several kids!!  There is a water park, restaurants, and other activities.  Apparently, there are several of these hotels throughout the nation.  I would highly recommend it to anybody traveling with kids.  I would love to put a picture of us up, but the pictures are all on Meg's camera.

I immediately began organizing the tubs of stuff that we have out in our garage so that we have easy access to them when we go to North Carolina for Thanksgiving.  Andy was able to bring in a few tubs at a time so that I could sort through them in the living room.  Thankfully, I can send pictures of some of the larger items for Meg to think about so that maybe we don't have to take everything.  Once we saw how much stuff there really is, Andy said there was no way that it would all fit in our little Civic; I had hoped that we might be able to consolidate enough.  Mary Beth has kindly offered to let us use her vehicle for our trip.

The second week of June brought the heat; we moved into the high 90s and low 100s.  I had been managing fine with the high 80s, but that week I could feel the change in my energy level and physical capability.  On the other hand, I am so thankful that I am able to do things; I remember last summer and shudder.

The last weekend in June brought a gathering out at the ranch.  That Saturday several people came out to work cattle.  Doug and Correy joined us out there Friday night.  Because Mary Beth is working full-time at TCU and taking classes for her PhD, see wasn't going to be at the ranch on Saturday.  (She is taking two or three classes this summer.  It's no wonder where Andy gets it!)  So, I got to plan the menu; it was a little mini party planning.  MMM...I made some great dishes including Creamy Basil Pesto Party Squares (appetizer) and Vanilla-Champagne Soaked Fruit (breakfast or dessert) and Peanut Butter Brownies with Strawberries (dessert).

This past weekend was the Fourth of July.  My aunt, Janice/Meme, with the help of everyone in the family threw my grandmother, Charline/Nanny, a party for her 80th birthday.  There was so much wonderful food, and everything was displayed really nicely!  It was a great success!!  Meme had so much that was already ready so that it wasn't crazy hectic.  Johnny & Teresa brought lots of fabulous food!  Some cousins from Louisiana surprised Nanny by coming the day before the party.  They put together a great fruit dish and did tons of behind the scenes work during the party.  I can't tell you how many dishes they washed when we were running low.  I ran around doing all kinds of things like replenishing food, gathering dishes, cutting cake, and taking pictures.  I took some really nice pictures (I hope) of the food, decorations, and displays on Meme's camera.  Is anyone seeing a theme here with me not having the pictures...haha...  Then, I spent some time with family up at Nanny's lake house.   It was wonderful being able to spend time with them.  This is about the only time of the year that I get to see them.

Oh, yeah, the 4th was also our nephew's 1st birthday as well; this is Greg and Meg's youngest son, Peter.  With everything that was going on, I forgot to wish him a happy birthday; I know I'm a bad aunt.  However, in my defense, I sent all three kids' presents earlier this summer so that they could have them for the summer.  Happy Birthday Peter!!

So, this week I've been in recovery mode and am trying to make some progress on the house.  So far, the progress has been very little.  And rather than being up doing things, here I sit updating y'all on our lives.  Saturday, we are going to the ranch for our niece's 1st birthday; this is Logan and Cici's daughter, Maddy.  Happy Birthday Maddy!

We also have Teresa (our niece, not my aunt), William (our nephew), and Andy's birthdays in the next few weeks.  I've already given Andy his birthday presents.  I was at Target the other day shopping for who knows what, when I happened to look at the men's clothing.  They actually had small shirts in both athletic and fitted cuts.  This is one of the few stores that we've found that carries true smalls.  Knowing that we rarely find them, I grabbed everything that fit this description for Andy to be able to try.  So, when he got home he was able to try all of these on and pick what he wanted.  It was wonderful for him to have so many choices; this is not usually the case.  He looks so cute in some of his new shirts!  We also discovered this week that he might even be able to wear Target's pants.  I'm hopeful!!  Ohhh, and I've even found a few great pieces to add to my wardrobe that were on sale!!  I can't wait to wear my new purple walking coat!!

Update on Andy

Andy survived the fall semester with a B in each of his two classes.  I consider that quite a feat for the schedule that he was dealing with for work, both classes, and research.  He ended up using a ton of his vacation trying to keep up with the schedule so now he's trying to make up some of that time.  He's already made up about 40 hours worth of time.  Since we have a few trips and events planned throughout the rest of the year and of course there will be more UTA classes, he wants to continue to build his vacation time back up this summer.  He's also taking Gasdynamics as an independent study class for the duration of the summer.  So, although these two major time commitments mean that he still doesn't have much free time, he gets to sleep at home each night, and it's an improvement on the spring semester.  All of his hard work last and this semester means that he has cut a year off from his degree plan...good job, good job!

He did have a weekend where he had to tackle the jungle that was our backyard.  It wasn't a big deal that he didn't mow during the winter, but since he didn't have time to mow during the spring, the weeds continued to grow as we watered them.  The picture below gives you the idea that the weeds were above his knees throughout the whole yard.

But some of the weeds were drastically larger.  One of the largest was near the back door and close to my height, maybe a little taller.  I had the camera perfectly horizontal when I took this picture of it.

In some places, the undergrowth of weeds was so thick that there wasn't much live grass.  Andy did a great job weed eating everything down so that he was actually able to use the lawn mower.

Foodie Friday

Basil Pesto Pasta, Steamed Carrots with Mint, & Pan Seared Asparagus with Thyme

I was quite proud of myself when I made this meal for Andy.  Nope, I didn't eat any of it, but he assured me that it was wonderful.  I forgot to take a picture the day I made it; this is when he reheated it (please excuse the slightly dry carrots).

I'd never made any kind of pesto, but I needed basil pesto for a different recipe.  Since there was plenty left over, I added additional olive oil to it and put it on some cooked pasta.  This is the website that has the recipe I used.  I appreciated the recipes that they included.  My sister told me that her Italian father-in-law freezes his basil pesto even with the cheese.  I'm excited to try this when I make more.  FYI - you can freeze different sauces in ice cube trays and pop them into a bag to use whenever you need a small amount.

http://www.pickyourown.org/pesto.php

I also had never attempted to make asparagus before.  You don't even need to ask if I tried it...  Andy's never ordered it or requested it.  It turns out that he doesn't like the canned stuff but wasn't sure how he would feel about the fresh asparagus.  So, I went out on a limb when it was on sale at Albertson's.  This was a really easy recipe to make; I substituted dried rather than fresh thyme since that's what we had.  Andy really enjoyed the asparagus!  He ate it multiple times until it was all gone.

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Pan-Roasted-Asparagus-with-Thyme-241893

I've made plenty of carrot dishes but had seen this recipe when flipping through Bon Appetit.  When I had a little bit of fresh mint left from a different recipe, I decided to give it a try.  Again, according to Andy it was scrumptious.

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Steamed-Carrots-and-Mint-241908

BENT BUT NOT BROKEN

I read a blog that written by a woman with dystonia.  She is involved in fundraising and awareness of dystonia.  She had an artist who wanted to make something for her and her efforts.  The slogan is BENT BUT NOT BROKEN.  It brought tears to my eyes as I read it.  I have so much to be thankful for.  My case is so mild compared to most.  I have been feeling better with the change in my medications.  I know that each of us has our own burdens whether physical, mental, or emotional.  Remember to be BENT BUT NOT BROKEN!

Just as a heads up, I've added to the right side of this blog a section with links to websites and blogs where you can learn more about the medical issues I am dealing with.  Many of the cases that are discussed are very extreme (mine are mild) and are the result of multiple problems (not necessarily ones that I have).

Thrifty Thursday

I've been meaning to put this up for several weeks but kept forgetting when I had the laptop.  We have always tried to be more eco-friendly and save more money when we buy our printer ink.  We would buy the off brands and the ones where the cartridges had been recycled.  The last time we needed to buy ink, I saw in an Office Depot ad that you could take your ink cartridge to them to be refilled for about $10 (I think).  I was really excited about this even more eco and budget friendly.  So, I told Andy that we needed to do this the next time we were going to be close to one of these stores.  We didn't ever make it there though.  A few weeks later, Andy looked at the ink cartridges at Wal-Mart.  He bought for under $10 a refill kit.  When he looked at how much ink could go in the cartridge, he figured out that this one refill kit should fill up the cartridge about three times!!  They have these refill kits for black and color cartridges.  I don't know if Wal-Mart carries Nukote refill kits at all of their stores, but hopefully this will help someone else save the kind of money that we are.

Guerrilla Gardeners & Loan Sharks

I was watching Charlie Gibson just a little bit ago but wasn't very engaged in the stories.  I know that we need to know about the Swine Flu, but I'm already sick of the perpetual news coverage.  I guess today we did get a little variety hearing about Chrysler.  So, I was doing other things in the house with his show on as white noise.  I happened to hear something about criminals with shovels and hoes; that caught my interest some.  By the time the commercial was over though, I had already forgotten that I was slightly interested.  Thankfully, I happened to walk back into the living room as the story started.  It was about these citizens who go into the community to beautify particular locations by cleaning, weeding, and planting low maintenance plants.  These people call themselves Guerrilla Gardeners.  They don't go through the red tape of asking the city government for permission.  They simply choose a location, plan a meeting, and go to work.  What a fabulous idea!!

Oh, and the other item that was worthy of note in the news was that Congress FINALLY passed some laws regarding credit card companies.  It is disgusting to me that these companies have been allowed to change interest rates retroactively!  I don't know if and when Congress will get around to limiting the rates that these cards can charge.  There used to be laws regarding this, where anything over a certain rate was considered usury because the people would never be able to pay all of the interest.  This is no longer the case though; I've heard that President Obama wants to put something like this back on the books.  I think that for a lot of people who have had these rate changes because they're charging more on their credit cards due to hard circumstances these credit card companies are essentially legal loan sharks.  I could stay on my soap box for a long time, but I hope that Congress will continue to draft more and better legislation regarding these companies and their practices.  Then I can put this soap box in the closet.

A Busy Couple of Weeks

About two weeks ago, I got an email from Cici, my sister-in-law, that her parents want to renew their vows in a ceremony and reception at their ranch at the end of May.  So, Jimmy & Mary Beth are working on their home and landscaping around the house; Cici & I are the party planners.  Since there is so much going on in other people's lives and I enjoy party planning so much, I've tried to do a lot of research online (thank the Lord for the internet; I can't imagine having to walk around, talk on the phone, look the books, etc. for that many hours).  I've seen so many cool ideas; it amazes me how creative some people are.

I spent two days looking at different stores to find the items to make our plans come to life.  Now, I've been feeling a lot better physically so I didn't think this would be a real problem.  And it wasn't; I mean I was tired and in pain, but not that debilitating pain.  I found a lot of the stuff I was looking for for the "wedding" and even managed to find a great lightweight pair of blue jeans.  I was feeling so proud of my body, but later after taking a shower, I noticed that there was some swelling in my lower legs, ankles, and feet.  I was a little annoyed, but since my body has problems when I take a shower, I'm used to things like that happening.  But the swelling didn't go away!!  It's gotten better over the past couple of days so at least that's something.  I guess I'll have to learn my body's limits - it sure would be great if they would not constantly change (not that I'm complaining that my body can do more!!)

Thursday, we took the dog out to the Ranch so that he could stay with Jimmy and Mary Beth while we were gone.  Once we got home, I suddenly felt like I had a ton of work that I had to do and that I wanted to house to be perfectly clean for when I came home...ha ha!  Combine this with Andy having a 7:30 am flight Friday morning, and the result is a 1-2 hour nap.  He was flying to South Dakota for some training and certification for work.  We ran a little late getting to the airport, but he had 30-45 minutes with few people around.  I gave a kiss goodbye, told him to hurry, and not to miss his flight...  Do you see where this might be headed?

After dropping him off I head to Austin to visit my friend, Amy, and her family.  After about two and a half hours of driving south, I get a phone call from Andy...he missed his flight...I should probably mention here that he was supposed to have a connecting flight (on another carrier) to a regional airport.  You can imagine how much of a fiasco this could turn into.  So, I'm sure that you are wondering how he missed his flight, or maybe you think there must have been a long line at the security checkpoint.  Wrong!  He forgot that he had a little Swiss Army Knife and his LEATHERMAN in his bag.  Yeah, they ran that through the X-ray machine, and promptly detained him.  So, an hour later he makes it through security minus the 2 offending articles which he had to mail home for $20!  He was PISSED!

After about 45 minutes of brooding and stewing, he called me to tell me the situation.  We made a game plan for how he should proceed to get to South Dakota before Monday.  He was able to do Standby for the next AA flight to Minneapolis; he left DFW at 10 instead of 7:30 am.  Thankfully, there was a later flight from Minneapolis to the airport in South Dakota.  He arrived at 4:30ish with the luggage he had checked.

So far, the training is going well.  He gets to sleep until about 7 am, doesn't have to drive all over the place because the training is at his hotel, is able to work on UTA homework or research in the evenings, and not have to worry about animals, wife, chores, etc.  It's like a vacation; he even is able to go to sleep relatively early!!  I told him I expect him to come home rested, relaxed, and with lots of school work done...

I had a wonderful time with Ricardo & Amy and their kids, Eliana and un-born Richy.  Unfortunately for the family, Eliana had been sick for several days and Amy has a sinus infection.  So, they weren't feeling very well and worked at at a much slower pace than usual.  That worked fine for me and my swollen, unhappy legs!  I still had a wonderful time visiting with them.  We had pretty much all of Sunday, and since Amy took a sick day on Monday, we had the whole day then too!

M.I.A.

For those of you who check our blog to find out what is going on in our world, I'm sorry that I haven't been giving you any information for the past two months.  Life has been rather unexciting during that time.  Andy is gone or working; I am trying to cook and clean without completely wearing myself out.  Also, Andy is taking and using the laptop most days.  I could go into the office  and use our slow desktop, but that makes it a lonely activity.  Writing is not my favorite thing, nor does it come naturally to me.  It usually takes me quite a while to post; I try to figure out exactly what I want to say and how best to say it.  So, basically, I was following the mantra I was raised with "If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all."  I also didn't really have anything interesting or appropriate to say.  As you can tell from all of the posts from yesterday and today, we've had several busy days over the past week!  I'll let you know if and when there is more news that fits the categories of nice, interesting, and appropriate.

Update on Andy

Andy is still crazy busy with school and work.  I've told him that for this semester he's a full time employee, full time student (not with the hours, but he isn't getting credit for his research time this semester...he'll get it later), no time husband...on good days I can laugh about that.  I think that the hardest part of that is that even when he comes home we both know that he has a lot of work that he needs to do.  So, we don't usually get anytime together without that pressure.  I try to place as few demand as possible on him right now.  I have been really spoiled this week; for three days in a row I've spent time with him!  I got a massage on Thursday, ate dinner with his family on Friday, and visited my mother on Saturday.

Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company is sending Andy to South Dakota for some training at the end of April.  This will be another certification to add to his resume.  He's hoping to continue to further his education.

He's going to take a class over the summer and one class in the fall.  He'll get to be a full time employee, part time student, part time husband for a few months....yea!!  We're hoping that all of his research work this semester will mean that he won't have to go to UTA very often.  His classes will be online, and he can do a lot of research at home.  I'm sure that it is wishful thinking, but I'm hoping that he will only have to actually travel to UTA once a month.  That would cut off a lot of travel time!!  It would also mean that he would be home almost every night!

Medical Update

I visited my Neurologist on Thursday for a follow up appointment.  I started a medication for Fibromyalgia in February; it has helped some.  So, she told me to start taking it three times a day rather than once.  

I mentioned that I still have a hard time taking showers.  If the water is warm, much less hot, or I take longer than 10 minutes, I start feeling really uncomfortable and know that I need to finish FAST and sit down.  The lower part of my legs always get splotchy, usually red but sometimes with a bit of purple in there.  Around my ankles and feet, they aren't really splotchy but solid red.  It always feels like that area is swelling but it isn't.  So, Dr. Cheng looked through my file and all of the tests that have been done.  She asked me if my nerves had been checked; I didn't remember any tests for that purpose.  Sooo, lucky me, I now have any appointment at the beginning of May for a Nerve Conductivity Test.  I know it doesn't sound good, but wait because it gets worse.  Apparently, they stick needles into you and then shock the area to see your nerve and muscle response.  Needles...Shocks...one is bad enough...in combination sounds like I'll be miserable.  I've had several people tell me that it really isn't that bad....I hope they're right!!

Good Children, Bad Parents!

Saturday afternoon, Andy & I went to Lewisville to see my mom for a while.  We had planned to go on Sunday, but all of the news stations were forecasting bad weather for that day.  Andy decided to switch his days this weekend - schoolwork and visit on Saturday; work on Sunday.  I drove while Andy watched his class videos.  Normally, he drives, and I navigate...it's a great plan!!  With the roles switched today, I got aggravated with our unnecessary (although short) detour...I eventually got over it though....  We had a really nice visit!

On our way home, Andy drove in this beautiful weather.  We could see the storm clouds off to the west but couldn't tell exactly where the rain was coming down.  As we got west of Fort Worth, somewhere around Willow Park, the sky got a little darker, and a few enormous rain drops landed on the windshield.  We were surprised how loud they were when making contact with the car.  As we commented on this to each other, Andy points out that it sounds so loud because it is rain mixed with hail.  Within a few seconds, we were driving through a serious hail storm.  The road was covered in hail; everyone was stepping on their breaks.  We couldn't tell how large the hail was because it was coming down so hard, but it sounded like the car was under assault.  We put our hands up to the roof and were amazed how much of the impact we could feel.  I HATE having dings or damage of any kind to My car (True, Andy drives it all of the time, but I still consider it mine and the truck his).  I've lived with this enormous dent at the back of the driver's side but always feel a little ghetto when I see it.  I don't particularly care when the car is dirty, but the dings and dents drive me crazy.  (Yep, I'm weird...who doesn't have their quarks though (please no physics comments)...I just happen to have a lot of them)

Anyway, back to the story.  We make it home, and promptly check the car for any damage from the hail.  Thankfully, there is none!!  To say the least I am very excited.  I even pet the car and told it what a good car it is.  When we open the door to go inside the house, the car is right there.  I hadn't thought about the animals, but they don't like the storms.  So, I loved on the cat some, and then I noticed that the dog wasn't on his bed.  I thought wow, that must have sounded awful for him to be hiding somewhere.  I was a little slow; the dog always greets us at the door.  I asked Andy where Bandit was...yep, he was outside the WHOLE time we were gone!!  There wasn't anywhere for him to take cover other than a small little table.  We don't know if it hailed at our house or not, but I felt like an awful pet owner!!  We dried him off, loved on him, and gave him some treats.  If he had to stay outside in a hail storm, we have a lot more to do to make up for the trauma.

Someone worth watching on American Idol

I haven't been a real American Idol fan and serious watcher for many many seasons. It seems like so many of the singers fit into the pop category and sound like (if not worse than) those already on the radio. However, one day when there wasn't anything on our limited television stations I resorted to watching American Idol. And I was introduced to Adam Lambert. If you haven't seen or heard him, look at American Idol's website http://www.americanidol.com/videos/season_8/performances/. You can scroll down a bit to choose which performance you want to watch. I've enjoyed all of the ones that are available on there, although "Ring of Fire" is the least popular of his.

He's got a funky voice and style. You never know what to expect when he walks out to perform because each performance has a different twist to it. He is one of the few Idols who has been able to take a well known song and make it his own; you get lost in his version rather than thinking about what you are used to singing along with. He truly brings some artistry to his performances rather than a polished version of karaoke. I don't really understand why people are saying that he even has any competition. Personally, I'd be happy if they took his performances from the show and put them out as an album, and I look forward to hearing what he is going to do in the future.

Quick update

Yea, my fever finally broke.  We'll see how long it take for all of my symptoms to go away or if the fever comes back tomorrow.  Currently, I feel yucky but am hoping that I might be able to sleep for more than a few hours at a time tonight.

Andy's been busy working, researching, and doing schoolwork.  This past week had several late nights for him so he decided to sleep in this morning to try to catch up on those lost hours.  We are still hopeful that his schedule will slow down some after this month....

I've been finding more recipes to cook over the next few months.  I fill the other hours doing the actual cooking and cleaning up the kitchen (which is never ending), reading, and organizing.  Hopefully, I'll be better soon and have the energy to clean the other parts of the house in addition to the kitchen.  For all of those who haven't heard from me in a while, please forgive me.  My sleep cycle was messed up before I got sick.  I was staying up all night, making breakfast for Andy, sending him off to work, and then going to sleep.  Now I take multiple several hour naps each day.

I hope that all of you are enjoying this warm weather we've been having!  Enjoy this next week as your anticipation builds for Valentine's Day whether spending quality time with your significant other, your friends, or yourself; find a special way to show your love!!

A different kind of hair ball

Our kitty, Cappuccino, loves to pounce and attack things.  Most of the time this is a milk jug ring, twisty, balls, paper clips, and strings.  He also loves it when a ball of animal hair floats out from under one of the couches; this slides easily on our wood floors.  Part of the fun for him is that all of these slide easily on wood floors; they also flip.

Now, our cat is unique!  He likes to attack my hair.  It started a couple of months ago with him biting on my pony tail; he was very careful to not get any skin.  After doing this a handful of times, he left my hair alone.  Then, over the past week, he has started again!  One day I was working on the laptop.  The cat was perched next to me on the back of the couch.  And, the next thing I know, he is licking my hair and I'm not kidding, my eyebrow.  Now, I know that I needed a shower and my hair didn't look great but COME ON!!!  Later, we started playing a game with my hair; you can figure out how it went by the pictures.

Step 1 (ooohhhh)

Step 2 (I want it)

Step 3 (I want it all)

Step 4 (you can't get away from me)

Step 5 (a "handful")

Step 6 (happy kitty)

But tonight I have a loving kitty; he gets very jealous when we work on the computer.

I hope that all of you got such a warm, wonderful hug today!

Andy decided to come home on Fridays

This is a follow up to my last post.

After looking at his schedule and thinking about how much he would be gone from home, Andy decided to go to UTA 2 days a week and do work for the lab from home on Fridays.  YEA!!  So, now he'll only be staying with Doug and Correy 2 nights a week.  Thank you Sharkeys for putting him up!!  This makes his life slightly better.  According to the current schedule, each week he works 45 hours and does school stuff (class, homework, research, etc.) for 37 hours; this is without his drive time.  He starts every day at 4:30am and tries to be in bed before 9pm.  I know-it's awful!  I'll be happy for him when things calm down at the UTA lab so that he doesn't have to spend so much time on research and is able to have some real down time. 

My husband's mistress's name is UTA

So, we knew that this semester was going to stink (you can substitute a stronger word) since Andy's plate is so full.  He is taking two courses for the first time.  We talked a lot about the feasibility of this.  Thankfully, one is homework based, and one is project based.  Andy also knows his professors.  Our thinking was that if he didn't work on research this semester that he would be able to take the two classes, work full-time, and occasionally have time for a life.  What a great plan that was!!

His thesis advisor is the head of the lab at UTA that Andy has worked with for experience and research.  Well, this gentleman told Andy that he needs to come in to the lab to work this semester.  As most of you know, I love to make plans and don't always handle it well when they are changed.  So, being a little frustrated, I made alterations to Andy's schedule so that he could do lab work on Mondays when he had to be in Arlington for class.  Again, I thought this was a great plan because he could kill two birds with one stone.  The thesis advisor then let Andy know that he needed to be in the lab more, preferably at least 3 days a week.  Looking at Andy's schedule, I could fit in 2 days of research at UTA with options for doing research at home occasionally on the weekend.  Today, Andy spoke with his thesis advisor who requested that Andy at least try to come 3 days a week.

So, I'm pretty annoyed (again, you can substitute a much stronger word) with Andy's new schedule.  I'm trying to be supportive with his pursuit of his degree, but I am not sure that he will be able to do well everything that he is attempting.  He gets up at 4:30 so that he can be at work by 6 am (even on the weekends).  He will go to Lockheed Monday through Saturday.  Because he now needs to be at the UTA lab 3 days a week, he will spend the night at the house of some friends who live close by the campus so that he doesn't have to spend so much time on the road.  Since he has to watch one of his classes online and do homework for his two classes, he is left with a handful of hours on Sunday (if he doesn't have too much homework) that we can spend together or he can take care of anything not related to school or work.

Thankfully, Andy is thinking that the need for him to be at the lab so much will only last through the end of February or the beginning of March.  Hopefully, this will end before midterm time so that he has plenty of time and energy to prepare.  

And so I sit here at home on my first night alone.  Yes, I am fuming, but I am also trying to keep in mind that taking 2 classes allows him to finish his Master's earlier and this is for the good of Andy's career.  Eventually, I'll calm down and this insanity will end...oh, from my fingertips to God's ears....

Neurology appointment today

I went to the Neurologist today.  She has diagnosed me with Dystonia and Fibromyalgia.  Of course I can't have one muscle problem, I do things right-two where I think one exacerbates the other!  On the upside, I get to adjust some of my medications.  We are going to try to take me off of two current medications and add Lyrica for Fibromyalgia.  We're going to see what all is helping and continue that!  I'll go for a follow-up appointment in 3 months.

YEA!  I found some of the books on my list when I went to Half Price Books.  I look forward to finishing another book within Middlemarch so that I can choose one of these hopefully fun books!

The cloth bags at Half Price Books are AWESOME!!!

Oh, and totally forgot to include this in an earlier blog after making a trip to Half Price Books.  We didn't have any of the cloth grocery bags that people are using now and really wanted some; we'd been making do with small bags that I had received at different teaching conferences.  When we walked in the doors, there on display were the Half Price Books version of the cloth bags; I loved them.  Yes, they are narrow and long, but they fit a ton at the grocery store...oh, and they are the perfect size for those really large rectangular packages of chicken legs, thighs, and wings (the ones that they put on sale for $1/lb); they sit in the bottom without having to be titled in any way.  So, of course I love the practicality, but that is not what made me fall in love initially.  They have slogans or sayings on them; we bought two different ones.  I now proudly state that I am a "Wild-Eyed Bibliomaniac" and tell others to "Get a Spine".  I hope those statements bring you as much laughter as they have brought and continue to bring me (yes, I am laughing as I write this)!

More books as a reward for reading Middlemarch

Last night we visited Andy's uncle, Rob, who is in the hospital after having a mild heart attack; he is recovering just fine.  Yes, our family medical woes continue!  And appropriately, today, Friday, I once again head to the Neurologist, and next week, Andy & I both have doctor's appointments.

After my Neurology appointment, I'm headed to Half Price Books with a slightly less ambitious list of books I'd like to purchase with gift cards from Christmas.  While slowly battling my way through Middlemarch, I've decided to take some advice that Jessica Koebbe gave me.  She recommended reading simultaneously books that are lighter, easier, shorter, and basically anything that is different.  I'm going to use this with a rewards system.  Every time that I finish a book in Middlemarch (Yes!  Exactly!  Would you believe that it has 8 books within the book??) I will reward myself by reading a different book.  Currently, I'm almost finished with Book 2.  I do find the plot interesting and look forward to the "future", but I have to read for at least an hour to really be into the book.  In that hour, I tend to make little progress (very unlike my usual self) which leads to little inspiration and passion for hours of reading.  I'll try to limit any further complaints about this book.

Back to my original point (in case you've forgotten already like me, my Half Price Books trip with a new list).  My last list contained well renowned and classical works of literature; I felt like an intellectual snob with this large list of among others Plutarch, Aristotle, Plato, and Herodutus.  This list contains more contemporary works, most from the 90s and 2000s.  They have been bestsellers and/or I've heard great things about them from multiple people (btw, why don't we say persons anymore....).  Since they are more current, I've made a large list in hopes of finding a handfull of them.  I think that after exhausting those books I am able to find, I'll look at the library for some of the others.  If they are really good, maybe one day when they have been in print for many years, I'll be able to find them at Half Price Books or on Amazon.

Oprah's Best Life Series, Suze Orman's 2009 Action Plan, and my thoughts on both

Although not a die hard Oprah fan, I do enjoy some of her guests and topics; I'm a sporadic watcher.  I was really excited when I saw that she was going to be doing a series about how to live your best life; I recognized 3 guests I have previously enjoyed, Dr. Oz, Suze Orman, and Dr. Laura Berman.  So, I watched Oprah every day last week and have signed up for her follow-up evening broadcast with these 3 this week.  

Naturally, I am interested in what Dr. Oz might say about medical conditions; I go back to the neurologist Friday and the Cardiologist next week for follow-ups.  Yes, I did send an email to Dr. Oz with my medical difficulties, but I do not expect any sort of response.  I did find Oprah's medical problem and diagnosis regarding her thyroid interesting.  I'll annoy my neurologist with more questions about the possibility of that being the case...actually, my neurologist is always open to discussing any possible diagnoses I bring to her.

I don't always enjoy Suze Orman's style of delivery, but I do think that she makes a lot of really important points.  Of course, I've always been interested in financial matters and obsess about our personal finances; my obsession has become more intense since we have begun living on Andy's salary alone!  Thankfully, we are not in the kind of debt that many others are, but having used up a lot of our emergency savings over the last year, we are on a mission to try to bolster them.  Since we both worked, we were used to needing only about 3 months in emergency funds; now, we are trying to get to 8 months and are a long way from our goal.  We've known for several months that 2009 would be a challenge financially because we expect to pay off some loans, find out about my disability claim, and discover how a rent house affects our taxes.

Andy will also be taking more classes this year which means larger tuition payments; thankfully, at the end of the semester, his work does reimburse us.  So, with all of these major financial events, we are always looking to cut expenses so that we are able to save a little more.

I became very excited when Oprah announced that Suze Orman's 2009 Action Plan (her book with financial advice for 2009) was available for free download.  I would have downloaded it then, but I knew that the website would be inundated and moving very slowly; I waited until the next day to get it.  Its about 200 pages written in a Q & A style.  She has some incredibly important information and good ideas, but the book is also quite repetitive because she tries to fully answer every question.  It does lend itself to helping those who need answers fast.  Since I read it in order, there were many times that I was able to skim over answers in later chapters. (I can't complain too much since this was a break from reading Middlemarch.)

Dr. Laura Berman is the sex therapist who stars in Sexual Healing.  I won't give you details, but if you are interested in intimacy, sexuality, couples therapy, or other related topics, check out Oprah's website or look for one of Dr. Berman's books.

I hope that those of you who are also following along with Oprah's Best Life Series are gaining helpful information.  I don't know that I've had any life changing (Oprah calls them ah-ha) moments.  I do think that they are doing a great service to many women; we all need to be reminded to not only give to and love others but also ourselves!  All of you ladies are worthy of the time you give (or should give) to yourself.  It doesn't detract from your relationships; it strengthens them because you are strengthened by that time and able to share and inspire others with your soul and personality!  Maybe we should be asking each other is what have you done for yourself lately and what are you planning to do for yourself in the next week.  This would help us be accountable to each other; we all know that we get wrapped up in what we do for our loved ones, church, community, etc.

Cocky Current Civilization

We watched The History Channel's 2 disc series, Ancient Discoveries.  I know that we are two, cute little nerds, but this was awesome!!  They talked about Greeks and Romans who made significant advances such as water timers and clocks, water factories, indoor plumbing, machines, automatic solar system models and calendars, mobile theater staging, modern medical instruments, surgery, and many other advancements that were made by citizens of these empires.  Throughout the film, they kept saying things like "He was ahead of his time."  I got really annoyed by these phrases!  How could a man be ahead of his time scientifically when others before him laid the ground work for what this man does?  Not only that, we know of contemporaries and others before and after were also making great advances.  Also, so many of the great libraries were burned and many of the great works were lost; how do we know that those we think of as ahead of their times were right in step with others and the knowledge available?

It just makes me so angry that we believe we are the modern man and so much more advanced than previous generations!  How arrogant!  There were so many great civilizations that eventually fell and with that fall much of their knowledge and advancement was lost.  Because periods of greatness were typically followed by ones of darkness, we assume that we are more advanced than previous societies.  Another problem with our viewpoint is that we look at societies from a biased point of view-what we consider advanced (computerized systems) and ethical.

I'm not arguing that we are or aren't living in the most advanced age.  I'm simply saying that we are cocky to believe that this is obviously the most advanced society!  Try to leave some room in your minds that others might have discovered things that we are just re-discovering or have yet to discover again.  Watch some documentaries about the history and technology of ancient societies, not just the Greeks and Romans.  You might find that you need to leave a lot more room in your mind for future revelations of these societies.