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.

Mortifying Milk Moments

On Friday, we had Doug & Correy over for dinner.  They had just flown in from New York, and called us to confirm when they were catching a taxi home to Arlington.  

Thankfully, Andy had cleaned the kitchen the day before.  We had cooked and run on so many occasions over the previous two weeks that there was a huge pile of dishes.  I had simply not felt up to standing for the time it would take to clean everything.  So, my wonderful husband spent what he claims was 6 or 7 hours washing, drying, and putting away every dish that we own; this was only a slight exaggeration.

So, I made a grocery list, Andy went to the grocery store, and I quickly picked up the living and dining room.  On the grocery list, I had specified which items were buy one get one free.  When Andy got home, he had only bought one of these without getting the one free.  He thought that he would get the one at half price; there is a reason for this thinking.  On a previous trip, he bought three of something when there was a 3/$5 sale; I made him return two of them explaining that he would get one for $1.66.  This information and discussion got mixed up with the buy one get one free sale.  After griping at him (I simply couldn't believe that my husband who is working on his Master's degree did this) and internally berating myself for having not specified to buy 2 of each, I finally shut up and was able to let it go.  Oh well, we had plenty of all necessary ingredients for that night's meal.  It turned out just fine once I chilled out.

We made a white bean dip, cheddar cheese balls, chicken, tortellini salad, bread, mashed potatoes, and an apple dessert.  Everyone else was drinking a glass of milk with dinner because they had already had some alcoholic drinks with the appetizers.  On Doug's second glass, someone said something about the milk having a strange taste.  After assuring them that the milk was fresh because we had just bought a new gallon the other day, we looked at the gallon which said best by Dec 25...oops!  Apparently, we had two jugs in the fridge while we were working at the ranch and didn't realize that one had gone bad while we were gone.  So, with some of our good friends who were exhausted from their travels, they drank expired milk and ate mashed potatoes that had the same expired milk mixed in them.  I was so embarrassed that we had served them bad milk; you would have thought we gave them food poisoning.  I hope that their tummies didn't give them any trouble the next day.  

I promise to check the expiration date on the milk for any future guests; it will probably become another one of my OCD things!

2009 New Year Letter-a look back at 2008

Every year we write a New Year letter to send to family and friends; it tells the stories from the past year.  We mailed the letters but are posting it as well for our technologically advanced family and friends, not to mention those for whom we don't have an updated address.

So that our two page letter doesn't take up a huge chunk of space on our blog, I am going to post the letter as a comment.  To view it, click on the title of the post (see above where it says 2009 New Year Letter-a look back at 2008).  Feel free to comment on the letter or year!

Extreme Walker Garage Makeover-The Reveal

Andy rocks!  As I told you earlier, Andy began organizing the garage earlier in his holiday break.  He finished this weekend, and it looks wonderful!

Every time that we open the door to walk into the garage, we ooh and aah over how much space there is.  He would have loved to mount the ladders, hoses, and certain lawn equipment on the walls, but as renters, we don't want to do any damage or have to remove equipment and patch holes when we leave.  I'm not too worried; we weren't trying to fit both vehicles in the garage.  I'm happy with how much room there is for the car!

Party Time

I saved all of the information from holiday parties for one post.  Of course we didn't get any good pictures of us at any we attended together; we always forget!!  So, if anyone has any good pictures of us, please send us or post a copy.

The weekend before Christmas was a very busy time!! 

On Friday for lunch, Andy went to his company Christmas party at the Reata.  There was wonderful Tex-Mex food and a white elephant gift exchange.  Then, he picked me up, and we headed to the ranch to do Christmas with the Walkers and Fritts (we already blogged about this).  

Saturday afternoon, we came home, changed, and went to Andy's UTA lab Christmas party in Arlington.  His thesis professor and wife, Bernd & Andrea Chudoba, had invited all of the students working in the Aerospace Vehicle Design Lab to their house for this party.  It was wonderful finally meeting the people Andy has been talking about for a year and a half.  Andrea out-did herself with the wonderful dishes that she offered us!  Andy & I were also really impressed with the bookshelf that they have because we have talked many times in the past about having one very similar to the one they have.  It is an extremely tall bookcase made from several bookshelves with a sliding ladder that is necessary to reach the items at the top.  It was AWESOME!!  Andrea has also used many different painting techniques and embellishments to make their home more unique and elegant.  (I know that nooo one catches on to theme of home improvement whether ours or others.)  We spent that evening at our house.  

Sunday, we went to Mineral Wells for church with Mama Joyce and then had her party.  After the party, many went out to the ranch for dinner; Cari and Mary Beth had made soups ahead of time for the weary party going souls.  After everyone left, we made the project and to-do list with Jimmy and Mary Beth.  Once again, we headed home to sleep in our bed.

Then, the projects began in earnest at the ranch, and we celebrated Christmas in the middle of the work.

For New Year's Eve, we were invited to Andrew and Jessica Koebbe's house for a party.  We were able to see and catch up with some of our friends from Fort Worth Presbyterian Church (we attended this church when we lived in Burleson area).  It was a funny coincidence that all of the men who were guests at the party work for Lockheed Martin.  We snacked, drank, talked, and Andy even got to play some Dutch Blitz (I watched and coached the new players).  We celebrated the EST midnight so that we could head home before too many people were on the roads.  As we drove home, we were able to see many fireworks displays along both sides of the interstate.  They were wonderful to watch!

Christmas Day

I got so excited about all of the organizing that we did at the ranch and our house that I completely forgot to say anything about Christmas.  We had already exchanged or received many of our presents so on Christmas morning we had our Christmas stockings from Jimmy and Mary Beth to open.  We also got to watch Jimmy and Mary Beth open their presents to each other.  Mary Beth had purchased an ipod and all kinds of fun accessories for Jimmy.  During Christmas Eve day, Andy set up the ipod and put the music from Mama Joyce's birthday party as well as multiple podcasts on it so that it would be ready for Jimmy to use immediately.  Everyone was really excited as Jimmy opened and played with his new toys.  Jimmy gave Mary Beth a coffee and cappuccino maker.  Later, he even got her an exercise bike; they can now workout together in the blue room.  This is a picture of the two of them trying to figure out how to work all of their new technological toys.

That afternoon, we had an early dinner at Jim & Norma Walker's (Andy's paternal grandparents) house with much of his family.  Everyone contributed to the bounty of food and enjoyed eating it.  There was even leftover cake from Joyce's party for dessert.  Then, presents were handed out and opened.  We also shared many stories of Christmas morning.  Afterwards, we headed home, grabbed another change of clothes, and headed back to the ranch to finish the Extreme Walker Home Makeover.

Extreme Walker Garage Makeover

So, after all of our work out at the ranch, we came home to a wreck of a house!  Since the cleaning and organizing juices were flowing, Andy acquiesced to my request that he organize the garage so that the car fits on all sides without touching any boxes.  On a temperate morning/afternoon, he started working in the garage while Quasimodo (aka sick Mary) laid on the couch.  Because I like to be able to talk to him while he's working and couldn't do that while I was inside and he was outside, he was really sweet and set up the hammock in the garage for me.  So, after a few hours of being by myself, I headed out with my blanket to lay in the hammock and talk to him.  He had made wonderful progress organizing the tubs.  Unfortunately, he wasn't able to finish that night but is going to continue working on it this extended holiday weekend.  Not only will it be great to have a garage that looks nice and comfortably fits our car, we will know that everything is protected from the mice that go from the attic, into the walls, and out to the garage.  We put out lots of traps and mice poison out but have only seen one dead mouse; on the up side, we don't hear them as often!!

Extreme Walker Home Makeover

We spent much of the week of Christmas at Andy's parent's ranch.  As part of our Christmas present to them, we worked on projects on their to-do list.  We started out the week prior sitting down with them and developing an extensive to-do list (we went room by room in the house and then included some outside projects as well).  OCD Mary brought that list home, typed it up, and color coordinated it according to priority (yes Cari, I thought you'd appreciate that!!).  While at the ranch, we helped them move furniture, organize, and clean.  They changed one of their guest bedrooms (the blue room) into an office, craft room, and exercise room; with a blow-up air mattress, it can still function as a guest room when necessary.  With Mary Beth's work in her closet several months ago, she has been able to fit and organize all of their clothing in their closet.  So, we helped them move some furniture out of their bedroom which allowed us to move some of the remaining furniture around.  Andy and I also worked in the guest bedroom (the red room), breakfast room, and laundry room.  Meanwhile, Mary Beth was baking dozens of cakes (yes, the Sherry cake they give as Christmas presents), and Jimmy was at work or doing ranch work.  Once the cakes were finished and Jimmy was home for the weekend, they worked on sorting through many large mounds of paper.  In the end, there was a large donation made to the Mineral Wells Dunbar Neighborhood Association (United Way), many bags of trash thrown away, and several trips made up to the attic.  We were all very pleased with the progress we made but know that there are still many more projects left on the to-do list; we hope to work on those over 2009.  I'd love to put pictures that show all of our work, but none do it justice.  We hope that all of you enjoy looking for the changes when you visit them and that Jimmy & Mary Beth can find everything!

Quasimodo has left the building

My cold or allergies are finally subsiding, and my eyelid has returned to normal size and location.  However, I'm still full of drainage, and my body is pretty worn out from all of the work and exertion I've required of it over the last two weeks.  Thankfully, I have had a few opportunities to allow myself some random days for mini-recoveries.  But, I imagine I'll be spending a lot of time over the next few days on the couch resting.  So, this will be a perfect opportunity for us to update you on our cavortings.