It’s been a year of ups and downs for us (seems true for every person, every year, no?). We started off with a wonderful visit from Tom’s youngest sister and her family. They were here for a conference and we were happy they took the time to come hang out with us in the afternoons! Seeing their two youngsters always makes me smile. I enjoyed lunch with a highschool friend who was also here for a conference with her family. Nice to catch up after MANY years.
Over the Mardi Gras “holiday” (only in New Orleans!) we again headed to Big Bend National Park. This time my parents joined us for the train trip and hiking. Later in the year than 2010 was, so it was quite a bit warmer but not yet hot. We enjoyed 3 strenuous days of hiking, super dinners at the lodge, and a relaxing ride back home.
We all enjoyed a visit from our second au pair and her daughter this spring. Aina lived with us for over 2 years in Holland and is currently living in Ireland. Her daughter is 2 and we enjoyed showing them around the area and how crazy the life of a suburban “mom” can be in the US.
Spent Easter in Houston with Tom’s family, also celebrating his dad’s 75th birthday in style. Tom and I returned 2 weeks later to attend a friend’s wedding for a pretty quick day-trip. It was a traditional Indian wedding and what a wonderful experience for us!
Maggie spent a week in Los Angeles at the beginning of the summer with Tom’s sister and her family and had a GREAT time. She then worked as a CIT at the JCC summer camp and loved it. I enjoyed seeing her at work while I was there exercising in the morning!
Abby participated in a theater camp and performed in “Peter Pan”. She’s participating in the same program’s Christmas Play (“A Christmas Cinderella”) this coming weekend. She then took the opportunity to head to North Carolina and spend a week alone with my parents. Maggie and I joined and the three of us spent another week there.
We closed out the summer sadly with the passing of Tom’s dad. While his death wasn’t unexpected, it is a felt loss. Tom and his siblings had all been in Houston and the rest of the family gathered for the funeral and to be together.
Back to school was quickly upon us. Maggie is now half-way through her freshman year, her second at the high school. Abby is in the sixth grade. Maggie continues to participate in Cross Country (the team was state champs this fall!) and Abby is keeping up with her violin, adding on participation in an ensemble group as well.
We returned to Houston again for Thanksgiving with the Webbs. Ray’s absence was definitely felt, but it was a true blessing to be together again. We’re home this year for Christmas. Maggie is taking driver’s ed the weeks after the holiday and Abby will take babysitter’s training on 2 January. Babies are growing up!
May you find God’s blessing every day of this coming year.
Sunday, December 25, 2011
Thursday, December 1, 2011
Let's Talk Turkey
As in we just celebrated Thanksgiving, so let's catch up! We had a fun holiday. We headed toward Texas on Wednesday (Maggie had school Tuesday, so that was the earliest for us to go) and met up with almost all of Tom's family. We all missed Ray, but were thankful of the blessing to be together for the holiday. Wednesday night we (20 of us!) headed to a local restaurant for some dinner which was quite yummy. Back to the house to break into all the dessert. I managed to make a cherry pie (from scratch - including the crust!) and the surprising hit of pumpkin brownies. I'd seen the recipe and thought it looked good to me, but was really surprised at how much everyone seemed to like them (even Abby who tends to be a bit picky!). Pumpkin, buttermilk, and chocolate/pecan/bourbon rounded out the choices. What's not to like?
Thursday morning dawned and we gathered again at Kay's house for all the various preparations. Dinner was served most promptly at noon and we certainly feasted -- smoked turkey, salad, fruit salad, green bean casserole, sweet potatoes, and my personal favorite -- the butternut squash soup my sister-in-law made. We waddled into the living room to watch football and be entertained by the youngest members of the family (ages 2 and almost-4). Later in the afternoon we had our annual gift exchange. Always fun to see what people are interested in! Kay made the older girls all cute bags and once again has little ones to make nightgowns/pajamas for. She's amazing with her seamstress ability!
Friday Tom dropped the girls and I off at the mall to meet the other females. Not as crowded as any of us had anticipated. We managed to get a lot of shopping done and gathered for lunch and then divided into two groups for movies. Half enjoyed "Tower Heist" and the rest of us enjoyed "The Muppets" (I'm a muppet girl myself!). Everyone gathered back at the house for some left-over dinner and farewells for those of us leaving Saturday.
Our trip back Saturday was a bit more crowded on the freeway than Wednesday's had been, particularly once we got back in Louisiana. Always nice to be home.
This week is Maggie's busy one -- Friday is her winter formal and Saturday night is a friend's quince anos party. Tom and I will join in with the other parents for dinner Friday which will be nice -- many of them I haven't met yet. Next week starts Abby's crazy schedule. She's going to be in a play the weekend starting 16 December with the same group she did Peter Pan with this summer. Practices are every weekday from 3:30 - 6:30 and the one Saturday from 9:00 - 4:00. In recognition that most of these kids are involved with other activities, we were asked for any conflicts up front, so Abby will be able to attend her violin and ensemble practices as necessary. Tom's winding down the year as well and will have the last couple weeks off. Meanwhile I've begun physical therapy for my hip. The xray showed nothing wrong with the bones, so it's some sort of soft tissue damage/inflammation. Our insurance company deemed and MRI at this point not warranted (until several weeks of PT with no effect), so this is the road I'm on for now. Keep praying for a fix!
In any event, have a wonderful fall/onset of winter. The days are definitely shorter and it's already getting dark here at 5pm.
Thursday morning dawned and we gathered again at Kay's house for all the various preparations. Dinner was served most promptly at noon and we certainly feasted -- smoked turkey, salad, fruit salad, green bean casserole, sweet potatoes, and my personal favorite -- the butternut squash soup my sister-in-law made. We waddled into the living room to watch football and be entertained by the youngest members of the family (ages 2 and almost-4). Later in the afternoon we had our annual gift exchange. Always fun to see what people are interested in! Kay made the older girls all cute bags and once again has little ones to make nightgowns/pajamas for. She's amazing with her seamstress ability!
Friday Tom dropped the girls and I off at the mall to meet the other females. Not as crowded as any of us had anticipated. We managed to get a lot of shopping done and gathered for lunch and then divided into two groups for movies. Half enjoyed "Tower Heist" and the rest of us enjoyed "The Muppets" (I'm a muppet girl myself!). Everyone gathered back at the house for some left-over dinner and farewells for those of us leaving Saturday.
Our trip back Saturday was a bit more crowded on the freeway than Wednesday's had been, particularly once we got back in Louisiana. Always nice to be home.
This week is Maggie's busy one -- Friday is her winter formal and Saturday night is a friend's quince anos party. Tom and I will join in with the other parents for dinner Friday which will be nice -- many of them I haven't met yet. Next week starts Abby's crazy schedule. She's going to be in a play the weekend starting 16 December with the same group she did Peter Pan with this summer. Practices are every weekday from 3:30 - 6:30 and the one Saturday from 9:00 - 4:00. In recognition that most of these kids are involved with other activities, we were asked for any conflicts up front, so Abby will be able to attend her violin and ensemble practices as necessary. Tom's winding down the year as well and will have the last couple weeks off. Meanwhile I've begun physical therapy for my hip. The xray showed nothing wrong with the bones, so it's some sort of soft tissue damage/inflammation. Our insurance company deemed and MRI at this point not warranted (until several weeks of PT with no effect), so this is the road I'm on for now. Keep praying for a fix!
In any event, have a wonderful fall/onset of winter. The days are definitely shorter and it's already getting dark here at 5pm.
Saturday, November 26, 2011
5 fall photos
More words to come!
First up -- two of Maggie the Cowgirl for Halloween.......
Followed by Abby the Candy Corn Queen.......
And concluding with Ginger who doesn't seem to mind her holiday outfit AT ALL! I'm so surprise.......
First up -- two of Maggie the Cowgirl for Halloween.......
Followed by Abby the Candy Corn Queen.......
And concluding with Ginger who doesn't seem to mind her holiday outfit AT ALL! I'm so surprise.......
Sunday, October 30, 2011
Where did October go?
Better yet, where did this year go? We had a GREAT month! Maggie completed the JV Cross Country Season, Kay came over from Houston for Grandparent's Day for Maggie, Abby was selected to participate in an ensemble group with her violin AND Abby made the cutest penguin pumpkin ever for her fall party craft.
As for me, I continue to fight an injury to my hip (key word being FIGHT). Something happened back in July and every since I've had aches and intermittent pains in the hip. 2 visits to the doctor, one round of x-rays, a visit to the orthopedist, and a steroid shot don't seem to have "fixed" it and I continue to be frustrated. Lots of talk and prayer time with friends has helped my attitude toward this issue, but I am far from the apostle Paul's attitude with regards to the thorn in his side.
Maggie is continuing her nutrition and exercise regime despite the end of this sport's season (track will start late January). She's been going to the gym after school almost all days (skipping last Thursday as it was her school's open house). Abby wanted to go to the open house, so we invited her friend and mom and headed over there and were blessed to have Maggie as our tour guide (actually coordinated this so I could take her home afterwards!). She's also maintaining a pretty full social calendar but, thankfully, prioritizing her school work.
Abby finished her first quarter of 6th grade strongly and is working hard this quarter as well. I'm very amazed at her continued progress on the violin. Tom almost always takes her to her lesson, so I "only" get to hear the practicing. I was able to take her to the first ensemble practice and enjoyed listening to them playing together. It's a different dynamic having to coordinate playing with others and she enjoyed the first session.
Tom's taken a couple business trips and is heading into a busy couple weeks at work. He enjoyed some cool weather in Minneapolis while it was still quite hot here and was thankful to be the last person on the flight (not sure how a work-related reservation had him on stand-by, but nonetheless thankful he made it home).
All three of us enjoyed a visit with Kay when she came for Grandparent's Day. Not only did she get to spend time with Maggie and school, but the same day was able to join me for Abby's pumpkin decorating. We're looking forward to seeing her again over the holidays.
Hope you are enjoying the fall!
As for me, I continue to fight an injury to my hip (key word being FIGHT). Something happened back in July and every since I've had aches and intermittent pains in the hip. 2 visits to the doctor, one round of x-rays, a visit to the orthopedist, and a steroid shot don't seem to have "fixed" it and I continue to be frustrated. Lots of talk and prayer time with friends has helped my attitude toward this issue, but I am far from the apostle Paul's attitude with regards to the thorn in his side.
Maggie is continuing her nutrition and exercise regime despite the end of this sport's season (track will start late January). She's been going to the gym after school almost all days (skipping last Thursday as it was her school's open house). Abby wanted to go to the open house, so we invited her friend and mom and headed over there and were blessed to have Maggie as our tour guide (actually coordinated this so I could take her home afterwards!). She's also maintaining a pretty full social calendar but, thankfully, prioritizing her school work.
Abby finished her first quarter of 6th grade strongly and is working hard this quarter as well. I'm very amazed at her continued progress on the violin. Tom almost always takes her to her lesson, so I "only" get to hear the practicing. I was able to take her to the first ensemble practice and enjoyed listening to them playing together. It's a different dynamic having to coordinate playing with others and she enjoyed the first session.
Tom's taken a couple business trips and is heading into a busy couple weeks at work. He enjoyed some cool weather in Minneapolis while it was still quite hot here and was thankful to be the last person on the flight (not sure how a work-related reservation had him on stand-by, but nonetheless thankful he made it home).
All three of us enjoyed a visit with Kay when she came for Grandparent's Day. Not only did she get to spend time with Maggie and school, but the same day was able to join me for Abby's pumpkin decorating. We're looking forward to seeing her again over the holidays.
Hope you are enjoying the fall!
Friday, September 30, 2011
sigh.....
Over a month and I'm finally catching up. Busy as always! I'll start with today. Abby and a friend of hers are spending the day at Maggie's high school to see what it's like. I believe Maggie was MUCH more excited about having them there than the younger girls, though they were both up bright and early and energetic to go! Or maybe that was just the donuts they had for breakfast. In any event, I hope they both enjoy their day. I'll be leaving in about an hour to pick them up and get to hear about it.
Abby is doing very well in 6th grade. She's got all the same teachers she had last year, so that familiarity helps, I'm sure. LOTS of math homework every day, but she's keeping up quite well. She chose not to participate in intramural sports this fall, but continues with her weekly violin lessons. I'm amazed at her ability and what she's playing. Tom's been taking her to her lessons, so I get to hear the practicing in the evening. She's up to a 3/4 size violin and is moving into the 4th suzuki book. Now if I could convince her to cut her own fingernails.....
Maggie is also doing well in her freshman year. Hard to believe it's her second year at the high school, but she really likes it. She's running cross country again this fall and has gotten into a great groove with it. Her times steadily increase and last week she was one of the top 10 finishers in her category (female JV) and won a t-shirt. This week we're back to Baton Rouge for a HUGE meet (we were there a couple weeks ago for a smaller meet). The bad part about this is the EARLY wake up call (5am) in order to leave the house 5:30. Thankfully cross country doesn't require parents to look amazing at the events.
Tom has been doing a lot of refinishing on some furniture. He's completely redone an end table that either my grandfather or great grandfather made. Sanded down and revarnished and it’s holding a place of honor next to “my” chair in the dining room/piano area. Earlier this fall the girls painted an unfinished dresser to match Abby’s room and serve as a night stand for her TALL bed. Gave Tom the idea to take the second unfinished dresser and do it up. He’s stained it a beautiful color, added some molding and door pulls and will complete it soon. The earlier plan was for it to replace the cheap dresser in the “guest” room upstairs, but it’s become so lovely I may have to intervene and find a better home!
I’m still doing all the usual. Our Bible study has resumed for the school year and we’re studying Matthew’s gospel. Yoga class still beckons and I really enjoy my time at the gym. I’m also doing a bit of volunteering in various areas and finding my days quite filled. All is well and I am so thankful for that.
Abby is doing very well in 6th grade. She's got all the same teachers she had last year, so that familiarity helps, I'm sure. LOTS of math homework every day, but she's keeping up quite well. She chose not to participate in intramural sports this fall, but continues with her weekly violin lessons. I'm amazed at her ability and what she's playing. Tom's been taking her to her lessons, so I get to hear the practicing in the evening. She's up to a 3/4 size violin and is moving into the 4th suzuki book. Now if I could convince her to cut her own fingernails.....
Maggie is also doing well in her freshman year. Hard to believe it's her second year at the high school, but she really likes it. She's running cross country again this fall and has gotten into a great groove with it. Her times steadily increase and last week she was one of the top 10 finishers in her category (female JV) and won a t-shirt. This week we're back to Baton Rouge for a HUGE meet (we were there a couple weeks ago for a smaller meet). The bad part about this is the EARLY wake up call (5am) in order to leave the house 5:30. Thankfully cross country doesn't require parents to look amazing at the events.
Tom has been doing a lot of refinishing on some furniture. He's completely redone an end table that either my grandfather or great grandfather made. Sanded down and revarnished and it’s holding a place of honor next to “my” chair in the dining room/piano area. Earlier this fall the girls painted an unfinished dresser to match Abby’s room and serve as a night stand for her TALL bed. Gave Tom the idea to take the second unfinished dresser and do it up. He’s stained it a beautiful color, added some molding and door pulls and will complete it soon. The earlier plan was for it to replace the cheap dresser in the “guest” room upstairs, but it’s become so lovely I may have to intervene and find a better home!
I’m still doing all the usual. Our Bible study has resumed for the school year and we’re studying Matthew’s gospel. Yoga class still beckons and I really enjoy my time at the gym. I’m also doing a bit of volunteering in various areas and finding my days quite filled. All is well and I am so thankful for that.
Saturday, August 27, 2011
back to school!
August 27 and Maggie's survived her first 2 weeks as a freshman and Abby's survived her first full week (plus two days) as a 6th grader. And I seem to still be alive as well, though I certainly haven't gotten back in the groove yet.
Maggie is running cross country again this year, practice every day after school from 3:45-5:15. They run at City Park (for the most part) and she enjoys it although it's so HOT at that time a day! She's taking a slew of honors classes this year and so far is managing her time well. Tom and I were both able to attend the parent's night and meet all her teachers (last year it conflicted with Abby's and he went there and I went to Maggie's). I was "fired" from directing us around the school when we arrived late to the first class (in my defense, the numbering system is strange, especially as both even AND odd numbered classrooms are on the same side, somewhat willy-nilly in my opinion!). And last night was their big "back to school" dance. Every year the Student Council chooses a "theme" and assigns specifics to each grade level. This year it's something like "Dominican Dresses It Up" and each grade has a different salad dressing assigned (get it?). The Freshmen are "French". And they dress up for the dance. Her group of friends decided to be French Artists. We went to Michael's last week and purchased supplies -- foam board for pallettes, t-shirts, duct tape (in green, the "color" for the freshmen), and bandanas to wear around their necks. Yesterday afternoon I picked up 4 of them from cross country practice to come here and shower and get ready. Another 5 then came over and had pizza and got all prepared (including painted on mustaches). Another set of parents came to help transport them all to the dance. And then she went home with the 4 cross country girls for a sleep over (so at least I didn't have to make the 11pm run!). I'd forgotten how LOUD girls that age are.....This morning I went to pick her up at practice for 8:30 and deliver the school books for the other cross country girls. Found an extra pair of shoes in the kitchen -- whoops! And then learned another had left hers in the car as well. We went with one of the girls and her dad for coffee and made our way home.....
Meanwhile Abby had 3 days off after Maggie started school. On the Wednesday before school started they had their teacher visitation and we met her friend Ashley and her mom there, then headed to Starbucks for some drinks. On to the mall (thought about a movie, but nothing we wanted to see and hadn't seen was playing). The girls spent almost 2 hours at Sephora, trying on everything while Lisa and I talked. Got some ice cream and headed home. Abby's taking the 2 available accelerated classes at her school. She has all the same teachers she had last year, but is very happy that Ashley is in all her classes this year. Tom and I were both able to go to her open house as well. It'll be an exciting year for her! She and Ashley are going to spend a day at Maggie's school September 30 to get a taste for what that will be like. And Abby was able to miss all the noise yesterday by going home and spending the night with Ashley (big surprise!).
And while I'm not quite back into the school schedule, I am enjoying myself. Was able to treat myself to a day off Thursday and saw a movie with Lisa -- "One Day" with Anne Hathaway and Jim Sturgess. And now I'm reading the book (hope to finish today). Tomorrow after church Maggie and I are going to a picnic for the cross country team and then it'll be back in the swing again.....
Enjoy the rest of summer!
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
9 August 2011 Update
It's been a whirlwind month here. Summer is often about relaxing, but it seems ours has been full of activity and stress, although we have managed to have some fun as well!
My mom came down for a couple days a few weeks ago. She was dragged to my yoga class and managed to do very well -- since she's VERY fit, I wasn't surprised! She took Abby back to North Carolina with her for a week alone. While Abby was there by herself they went to Carowinds Amusement Park with my sister and her kids and rode lots of rides. They also enjoyed boating and swimming and she got to spend the night at my sisters' with my niece who is 2 years younger than Abby. The girls get along really well and always have fun playing together!
Maggie and I were able to join them in North Carolina a week later. Unfortunately Tom wasn't able to join us. His dad's health has been failing for the past few months and after Tom took us to the airport he drove (once again) back to Houston as his dad had been admitted to the hospital again, this time with pneumonia. It was sad to see Tom go and know that I was heading to have fun while he was most likely heading to see the end of his dad's life. However, as we all know in our heads, life does go on. For the fun part, Maggie and I arrived in Charlotte without incident and mom, dad and Abby picked us up at the airport to head to my sisters'. We all went out for Japanese food and had a good time. Then the girls and my parents headed up to their house where we were staying. They all went swimming but I stayed in -- suffering a NASTY cough. On Sunday my cousin Amanda joined us at mom and dad's and we spent most of the day in the water. There was some boating involved as well. It's always fun to see Amanda! Monday my parents took us to enjoy a man-made white water rafting -- a GREAT way to see if you like it before travelling/paying to go on a "real" trip. The girls LOVED it. We did 2 rounds of rafting, each about an hour long. The place had good food as well. We tried to go on the zip line, but after over and hour in line we'd only moved a short bit forward. Sigh. Next time, perhaps. We were all really tired that evening!
On Tuesday my sister and her kiddos came up to mom's house. More time in the water, followed by a photo session for the 4 kids. Mom and Kris took them (I was kindly asked by my girls to stay home!) and then dad and I met them all for dinner. Kristin and I then headed to her house and mom and dad took the 4 kids home. Wednesday Kris and I went shopping at the outlet mall. We were there over 6 hours and completely exhausted (and broke!) afterwards. Back to mom and dad's for a bit. Kristin took Mackenzie home that evening for a dental appointment in the morning. They came back Thursday and we were all again in the water. We had BBQ for supper and all spent the night. Friday morning Kris and her kids went home. The rest of us went for movies -- dad and the girls saw Harry Potter and mom and I went for Crazy, Stupid Love. Met up at Starbucks afterwards and back home for a Chinese dinner. And then Saturday the girls and I flew home.
Meanwhile, Tom and all his siblings gathered in Houston. On Sunday his dad and Kay met with the hospice folks and Ray decided it was time for him to enter hospice care. He'd been suffering from chronic leukemia for several years and the past 6 months has been a series of transfusions and repeated infections and hospitalizations. His courage in choosing his fate is amazing and the bravery with which the whole family faced his death is admirable. They brought him home from the hospital and set him up there. Ray maintained his personality until he became too fatigued to do so -- Tom indicated that the hospice company was called "Compassionate Care" -- in typical Ray Webb fashion, when they showed up he announced to the nurse that he was "ready for some compassionate care". He quickly became more and more fatigued, but all were comforted by each other's presence. Ray died Thursday evening with his wife and 5 children by his side, quietly and peacefully. The entire family are gifted by the knowledge of his bravery and the peace with which he faced death. One of my mother-in-law's brothers remarked at the wake that Ray "had his bags packed and was ready to go" to heaven. Would that we could all face death so bravely and peacefully.
After the girls and I returned Saturday, we repacked to go to Houston on Sunday. Saturday evening Maggie and I had tickets to join a friend of hers and her mom to see "Rent" at a local theater. It was a great production and we enjoyed both the show and each other's company. Plan to joint them in the future for other shows! Abby stayed home and I checked in with her at intermission and as we were heading home after the show. I think she's more comfortable at home than I am leaving her at night alone!
The three of us left for Houston Sunday morning. We made good time and arrived at the hotel about 3pm. Tom called and planned to join us at the hotel and we'd go to the wake together. As we were getting ready we realized that Maggie's dresses had been left at home. Whoops! We called Tom and communicated a change in plans -- necessity to find a store to buy two new dresses. I managed to not only find a store, but the mall (with my rusty knowledge of Houston and complete unfamiliarity with the Lake Jackson area)! Went to Penney's as we'd had recent success there and power shopped. Within 20 minutes we'd found 2 dresses. AND they were one sale! AND one is appropriate for a school dance. Meanwhile Tom found us at the mall and followed us back to the hotel for a quick change. We piled into his car and headed to the church for the services. Afterwards we were back at Kay's house to gather with family. Abby ended up going with her cousin Rachel to spend the night there, and Tom, Maggie and I went back to the hotel to sleep.
Monday was an early wake-up and we met back at Kay's for breakfast. We all headed to the church for the 10am service. I think we were all comforted by the fact that Ray had "welcomed" his death as a relief from his suffering, which made it not-so-tragic. After the burial there was lunch at the church and we again headed back to Kay's with some of the family headed home. The girls and I left this morning (Tuesday) to return to New Orleans as Maggie has registration Thursday as well as mandatory cross country practice all this week. We made it home and to the grocery by 4pm, and I've completed 3 loads of laundry (enough for today). Unfortunately discovered that we'd left Maggie's glasses at the hotel, but my phone call showed that they'd been turned it and Tom thankfully agreed to pick them up tomorrow. Always something.
And our two interesting/funny travel stories -- on the way to Houston we were backed up in traffic. I noticed smoke ahead and as we got closer we saw a car completely engulfed in HOT fire (we could feel it and the car was in the median between the freeway lanes). Thankfully it appeared that no one was injured, the one girl crying appeared to be upset about the loss of her vehicle rather than a person and there was no ambulance in sight. On the way home we had another traffic back-up. This time, as we hit where the police vehicles were one car got impatient and decided to cut across the grass to the adjoining access road. A cop immediately boarded his motorcycle and, with a smile on his face, headed off to follow the car. A mile or so up ahead we saw the car pulled off with the cop giving him a ticket! Meanwhile, we were back going at speed......guess it doesn't pay to cut through the grass, no?
And one more item -- Maggie's caught the cold I've been fighting. But now she's got a fever as well. Hopefully she's better tomorrow AND hopefully none of her cousins/family gets it.
Please offer a prayer for my mother-in-law (and the rest of Tom's family) that she is comforted in her loss. She's a strong woman (her elder daughter died from a car accident at 17 and Kay's amazing in her strength to get beyond that), but she's hurting.
Here's to a good back-to-school season!
My mom came down for a couple days a few weeks ago. She was dragged to my yoga class and managed to do very well -- since she's VERY fit, I wasn't surprised! She took Abby back to North Carolina with her for a week alone. While Abby was there by herself they went to Carowinds Amusement Park with my sister and her kids and rode lots of rides. They also enjoyed boating and swimming and she got to spend the night at my sisters' with my niece who is 2 years younger than Abby. The girls get along really well and always have fun playing together!
Maggie and I were able to join them in North Carolina a week later. Unfortunately Tom wasn't able to join us. His dad's health has been failing for the past few months and after Tom took us to the airport he drove (once again) back to Houston as his dad had been admitted to the hospital again, this time with pneumonia. It was sad to see Tom go and know that I was heading to have fun while he was most likely heading to see the end of his dad's life. However, as we all know in our heads, life does go on. For the fun part, Maggie and I arrived in Charlotte without incident and mom, dad and Abby picked us up at the airport to head to my sisters'. We all went out for Japanese food and had a good time. Then the girls and my parents headed up to their house where we were staying. They all went swimming but I stayed in -- suffering a NASTY cough. On Sunday my cousin Amanda joined us at mom and dad's and we spent most of the day in the water. There was some boating involved as well. It's always fun to see Amanda! Monday my parents took us to enjoy a man-made white water rafting -- a GREAT way to see if you like it before travelling/paying to go on a "real" trip. The girls LOVED it. We did 2 rounds of rafting, each about an hour long. The place had good food as well. We tried to go on the zip line, but after over and hour in line we'd only moved a short bit forward. Sigh. Next time, perhaps. We were all really tired that evening!
On Tuesday my sister and her kiddos came up to mom's house. More time in the water, followed by a photo session for the 4 kids. Mom and Kris took them (I was kindly asked by my girls to stay home!) and then dad and I met them all for dinner. Kristin and I then headed to her house and mom and dad took the 4 kids home. Wednesday Kris and I went shopping at the outlet mall. We were there over 6 hours and completely exhausted (and broke!) afterwards. Back to mom and dad's for a bit. Kristin took Mackenzie home that evening for a dental appointment in the morning. They came back Thursday and we were all again in the water. We had BBQ for supper and all spent the night. Friday morning Kris and her kids went home. The rest of us went for movies -- dad and the girls saw Harry Potter and mom and I went for Crazy, Stupid Love. Met up at Starbucks afterwards and back home for a Chinese dinner. And then Saturday the girls and I flew home.
Meanwhile, Tom and all his siblings gathered in Houston. On Sunday his dad and Kay met with the hospice folks and Ray decided it was time for him to enter hospice care. He'd been suffering from chronic leukemia for several years and the past 6 months has been a series of transfusions and repeated infections and hospitalizations. His courage in choosing his fate is amazing and the bravery with which the whole family faced his death is admirable. They brought him home from the hospital and set him up there. Ray maintained his personality until he became too fatigued to do so -- Tom indicated that the hospice company was called "Compassionate Care" -- in typical Ray Webb fashion, when they showed up he announced to the nurse that he was "ready for some compassionate care". He quickly became more and more fatigued, but all were comforted by each other's presence. Ray died Thursday evening with his wife and 5 children by his side, quietly and peacefully. The entire family are gifted by the knowledge of his bravery and the peace with which he faced death. One of my mother-in-law's brothers remarked at the wake that Ray "had his bags packed and was ready to go" to heaven. Would that we could all face death so bravely and peacefully.
After the girls and I returned Saturday, we repacked to go to Houston on Sunday. Saturday evening Maggie and I had tickets to join a friend of hers and her mom to see "Rent" at a local theater. It was a great production and we enjoyed both the show and each other's company. Plan to joint them in the future for other shows! Abby stayed home and I checked in with her at intermission and as we were heading home after the show. I think she's more comfortable at home than I am leaving her at night alone!
The three of us left for Houston Sunday morning. We made good time and arrived at the hotel about 3pm. Tom called and planned to join us at the hotel and we'd go to the wake together. As we were getting ready we realized that Maggie's dresses had been left at home. Whoops! We called Tom and communicated a change in plans -- necessity to find a store to buy two new dresses. I managed to not only find a store, but the mall (with my rusty knowledge of Houston and complete unfamiliarity with the Lake Jackson area)! Went to Penney's as we'd had recent success there and power shopped. Within 20 minutes we'd found 2 dresses. AND they were one sale! AND one is appropriate for a school dance. Meanwhile Tom found us at the mall and followed us back to the hotel for a quick change. We piled into his car and headed to the church for the services. Afterwards we were back at Kay's house to gather with family. Abby ended up going with her cousin Rachel to spend the night there, and Tom, Maggie and I went back to the hotel to sleep.
Monday was an early wake-up and we met back at Kay's for breakfast. We all headed to the church for the 10am service. I think we were all comforted by the fact that Ray had "welcomed" his death as a relief from his suffering, which made it not-so-tragic. After the burial there was lunch at the church and we again headed back to Kay's with some of the family headed home. The girls and I left this morning (Tuesday) to return to New Orleans as Maggie has registration Thursday as well as mandatory cross country practice all this week. We made it home and to the grocery by 4pm, and I've completed 3 loads of laundry (enough for today). Unfortunately discovered that we'd left Maggie's glasses at the hotel, but my phone call showed that they'd been turned it and Tom thankfully agreed to pick them up tomorrow. Always something.
And our two interesting/funny travel stories -- on the way to Houston we were backed up in traffic. I noticed smoke ahead and as we got closer we saw a car completely engulfed in HOT fire (we could feel it and the car was in the median between the freeway lanes). Thankfully it appeared that no one was injured, the one girl crying appeared to be upset about the loss of her vehicle rather than a person and there was no ambulance in sight. On the way home we had another traffic back-up. This time, as we hit where the police vehicles were one car got impatient and decided to cut across the grass to the adjoining access road. A cop immediately boarded his motorcycle and, with a smile on his face, headed off to follow the car. A mile or so up ahead we saw the car pulled off with the cop giving him a ticket! Meanwhile, we were back going at speed......guess it doesn't pay to cut through the grass, no?
And one more item -- Maggie's caught the cold I've been fighting. But now she's got a fever as well. Hopefully she's better tomorrow AND hopefully none of her cousins/family gets it.
Please offer a prayer for my mother-in-law (and the rest of Tom's family) that she is comforted in her loss. She's a strong woman (her elder daughter died from a car accident at 17 and Kay's amazing in her strength to get beyond that), but she's hurting.
Here's to a good back-to-school season!
Monday, July 4, 2011
4th of july!!!!!
Can't believe it's already the 4th of July -- it has truly flown by. Time to get school shoes for the girls and a couple new shirts for Abby. And socks. You can never have too many uniform socks, no?
Abby DID manage to swim in her swim meet on 19 July. We spent the early part of the day seeing the Transformers movie with my friend and her daughter (who is Abby's best friend -- convenient!). We were perhaps not the expected demographic for the movie (two moms with two 11 year old girls) and I'd not seen any of the previous Transformers (though I do remember when the first toys came out!), but it was fun. Both girls wanted to see it and Lisa had actually seen the other ones. On our way to the movie the AC in my car completely stopped. Not so pleasant in June in New Orleans. However, as we left the movies to head to the swim meet it, of course, worked just fine (which was thankful!). The meet itself was HOT. I made my debut as a timer. And I'm thankful for that because the volunteers were served bottled water by one of the lifeguards throughout the meet -- I drank 5 of them along with the soft drinks I'd brought with me. But I did have fun timing! They set it up so a parent from each team work in tandem for each lane. The guy I was teamed with was a good match for my personality and we didn't have problems with the process. Abby swam four events -- part of the free-style relay 200 yds, 50 yd freestyle, 50 yd backstroke, and 50 yd breast. She didn't win any of her heats -- she jumped up an age bracket this year and swam against 4 12 year olds and 1 11 year old, but she got her personal best time in the breast and was pleased over all which is most important! Meanwhile Maggie got a ride home from the head teacher in her room as Tom was still in Houston. Thankful for the kindness of others! She'd had a good day at work and we ordered pizza when we got home.
Tom came home the 30th. His dad was moved out of ICU to a regular room but will still have iv antibiotics for another week or so for the infection. He's up and about and the family is thankful for every day they get to spend with him. That morning I'd taken my car to the shop for the AC and got a rental -- they offered me a yellow vw bug -- how fun! Brought it home and told Abby she had to go see my rental as it was kinda cute -- she asked me if I were being sarcastic as the last rental we had was BoBo the KIA Borrego which we weren't overly impressed with. She hugged the car when she saw it! And my family made me post a photo on facebook so they could see it. That afternoon I took Abby for swim practice and headed to Walmart -- our church supplied a group of teens in town for Bible Studies a meal and I was the coordinator. The vw has a surprisingly big trunk which was good because I had food to feed 25! A friend was going to bring Abby (and Maggie who'd stayed after work to exercise) home from swim practice, but I finished up early and went myself -- more so Maggie could see the car! Maggie had come down to the pool after running and some of her campers "begged" her to swim with them so she was there playing with them. She introduced me as her mom -- funny to see their little brains trying to figure out how someone "old" can still have (and live with!) a mom! We went to drive home and couldn't figure out how to move the front seat to let Abby in the back (not me, my friend, Maggie, or Abby) -- but Abby's small and flexible enough to climb between the front two seats. Fun!
Friday I took Maggie to work, exercised, and went to the grocery. The Nissan folks tried about times and could not reproduce the AC problem. Lots of apologies. So Tom and I went to return the car :( and get my van back. I'm thankful (and a bit surprised!) Nissan didn't charge us. And, of course, I've still had no problems with the car.
Our weekend has been slow and relaxing. I attended a funeral Saturday of a lovely lady at my church. She'd had lung cancer and the entire time I knew her she was in poor health. I appreciated the eulogies from her sons and comments from friends that shared more of her vivacity and love for God. A lovely woman and while her family is grateful that she is with God, they miss her here on earth. Tom and Maggie cooked supper for us that evening (fajitas and corn on the cob) and we just relaxed.
Today Maggie got up early with me to head to the gym for a bit of running (her)/elliptical (me) followed by yoga. She then suggested coffee, so we went to one local place (closed) and tried a second (open and crowded due to the first being closed!). And then the grocery. Home to bathe and make oatmeal chocolate chip cookies (yum!). And relax for the afternoon. Tom and Maggie again plan to cook supper and I've got a pretty good book to read. And am actually updating this in a more timely fashion!
Happiest of 4ths to all!
Abby DID manage to swim in her swim meet on 19 July. We spent the early part of the day seeing the Transformers movie with my friend and her daughter (who is Abby's best friend -- convenient!). We were perhaps not the expected demographic for the movie (two moms with two 11 year old girls) and I'd not seen any of the previous Transformers (though I do remember when the first toys came out!), but it was fun. Both girls wanted to see it and Lisa had actually seen the other ones. On our way to the movie the AC in my car completely stopped. Not so pleasant in June in New Orleans. However, as we left the movies to head to the swim meet it, of course, worked just fine (which was thankful!). The meet itself was HOT. I made my debut as a timer. And I'm thankful for that because the volunteers were served bottled water by one of the lifeguards throughout the meet -- I drank 5 of them along with the soft drinks I'd brought with me. But I did have fun timing! They set it up so a parent from each team work in tandem for each lane. The guy I was teamed with was a good match for my personality and we didn't have problems with the process. Abby swam four events -- part of the free-style relay 200 yds, 50 yd freestyle, 50 yd backstroke, and 50 yd breast. She didn't win any of her heats -- she jumped up an age bracket this year and swam against 4 12 year olds and 1 11 year old, but she got her personal best time in the breast and was pleased over all which is most important! Meanwhile Maggie got a ride home from the head teacher in her room as Tom was still in Houston. Thankful for the kindness of others! She'd had a good day at work and we ordered pizza when we got home.
Tom came home the 30th. His dad was moved out of ICU to a regular room but will still have iv antibiotics for another week or so for the infection. He's up and about and the family is thankful for every day they get to spend with him. That morning I'd taken my car to the shop for the AC and got a rental -- they offered me a yellow vw bug -- how fun! Brought it home and told Abby she had to go see my rental as it was kinda cute -- she asked me if I were being sarcastic as the last rental we had was BoBo the KIA Borrego which we weren't overly impressed with. She hugged the car when she saw it! And my family made me post a photo on facebook so they could see it. That afternoon I took Abby for swim practice and headed to Walmart -- our church supplied a group of teens in town for Bible Studies a meal and I was the coordinator. The vw has a surprisingly big trunk which was good because I had food to feed 25! A friend was going to bring Abby (and Maggie who'd stayed after work to exercise) home from swim practice, but I finished up early and went myself -- more so Maggie could see the car! Maggie had come down to the pool after running and some of her campers "begged" her to swim with them so she was there playing with them. She introduced me as her mom -- funny to see their little brains trying to figure out how someone "old" can still have (and live with!) a mom! We went to drive home and couldn't figure out how to move the front seat to let Abby in the back (not me, my friend, Maggie, or Abby) -- but Abby's small and flexible enough to climb between the front two seats. Fun!
Friday I took Maggie to work, exercised, and went to the grocery. The Nissan folks tried about times and could not reproduce the AC problem. Lots of apologies. So Tom and I went to return the car :( and get my van back. I'm thankful (and a bit surprised!) Nissan didn't charge us. And, of course, I've still had no problems with the car.
Our weekend has been slow and relaxing. I attended a funeral Saturday of a lovely lady at my church. She'd had lung cancer and the entire time I knew her she was in poor health. I appreciated the eulogies from her sons and comments from friends that shared more of her vivacity and love for God. A lovely woman and while her family is grateful that she is with God, they miss her here on earth. Tom and Maggie cooked supper for us that evening (fajitas and corn on the cob) and we just relaxed.
Today Maggie got up early with me to head to the gym for a bit of running (her)/elliptical (me) followed by yoga. She then suggested coffee, so we went to one local place (closed) and tried a second (open and crowded due to the first being closed!). And then the grocery. Home to bathe and make oatmeal chocolate chip cookies (yum!). And relax for the afternoon. Tom and Maggie again plan to cook supper and I've got a pretty good book to read. And am actually updating this in a more timely fashion!
Happiest of 4ths to all!
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
bad blogger (or just busy?)
Yes, I have been quite busy, but I also haven't prioritized updating this site! So what did the month of June hold?
Tom made a trip to Holland and London for work. Had to laugh when his one facebook post had him in Leicester Square and my comment back was "kitchen, Metairie".....Those trips are always tiring if nothing else, and after the first few times, just a bit more exciting than my dad's regular trips to Indianapolis when I was a kid!
Maggie's been quite the busy one. She spent a week in Los Angeles with her aunt, uncle, and cousins for her 8th grade "graduation". First time flying alone! And I don't recommend Delta for unaccompanied minors. I like the fact that they require you to "sign" for them when they get on/off the plane to ensure they are delivered to the correct people, but I find their fees rather excessive for this "service". She had a GREAT time! Catalina Island, Rodeo Drive, Universal Studios, etc. etc. She's also working her first "real" job (yikes!) as a counselor in training at the JCC -- she'll make more money this year than me.....She's completed 2+ weeks and really seems to like it a lot. AND she's doing as much of the cross country summer running as we can manage -- practice is 6am. I take her and have been jogging again. Today's practice is at night and I cannot take her to it because Abby has a swim meet, so we jogged the neighborhood this morning.
Abby kept VERY busy the beginning of June with her swim team practice and theater camp. Swim practice is 3X a week in the afternoons. She missed the first 3 meets due to camp, and the one last week got stormed out just before her first race. Today's the final meet of the year. However, I think she enjoys the practicing more than the racing! The theater camp was at UNO. I was really impressed with the program. It met every day for 3 weeks and then put on "Peter Pan" for 4 shows. Abby was a mermaid and an indian. She has a quite different persona on stage than you'd suspect just talking to her. And she's expressed interest in doing the holiday show at UNO, depending on what we do for Christmas this year. Abby also went with Tom last week for a short visit to Houston to see his dad. Ray's dealing with chronic lymphatic leukemia and hasn't had an easy past few months. They had a nice visit and came home Saturday.
Unfortunately, Tom returned to Houston Sunday as his dad took a downturn. Tom's brothers checked on him in the morning and found him quite disoriented, so they took him to the hospital. He's suffering from and infection and was severely dehydrated and was admitted to ICU. Thank God he's really improved over the past couple days and should move to a "regular" room today.
Meanwhile many other things have kept us busy -- my parents came to see Peter Pan and spend some time with us. While they were here my washing machine died (after 14 years!) and dad helped Tom with the new one -- the first one they installed didn't work, so it required 3 trips to the store to finally get it done. But the new one works so well! I've seen several movies with the girls -- Super 8 (good), Something Borrowed (good), Green Lantern (not so good). Today Abby and I are meeting friends for Transformers. I'm providing a meal for 25 teenagers tomorrow evening. And I'm keeping busy at the gym (actually, given that Maggie's working at the JCC, Abby swims there, and I work out there, I may just move in!).
No big plans for the rest of the summer and it doesn't look like we'll take a big family vacation, but overall, we're doing well.
Tom made a trip to Holland and London for work. Had to laugh when his one facebook post had him in Leicester Square and my comment back was "kitchen, Metairie".....Those trips are always tiring if nothing else, and after the first few times, just a bit more exciting than my dad's regular trips to Indianapolis when I was a kid!
Maggie's been quite the busy one. She spent a week in Los Angeles with her aunt, uncle, and cousins for her 8th grade "graduation". First time flying alone! And I don't recommend Delta for unaccompanied minors. I like the fact that they require you to "sign" for them when they get on/off the plane to ensure they are delivered to the correct people, but I find their fees rather excessive for this "service". She had a GREAT time! Catalina Island, Rodeo Drive, Universal Studios, etc. etc. She's also working her first "real" job (yikes!) as a counselor in training at the JCC -- she'll make more money this year than me.....She's completed 2+ weeks and really seems to like it a lot. AND she's doing as much of the cross country summer running as we can manage -- practice is 6am. I take her and have been jogging again. Today's practice is at night and I cannot take her to it because Abby has a swim meet, so we jogged the neighborhood this morning.
Abby kept VERY busy the beginning of June with her swim team practice and theater camp. Swim practice is 3X a week in the afternoons. She missed the first 3 meets due to camp, and the one last week got stormed out just before her first race. Today's the final meet of the year. However, I think she enjoys the practicing more than the racing! The theater camp was at UNO. I was really impressed with the program. It met every day for 3 weeks and then put on "Peter Pan" for 4 shows. Abby was a mermaid and an indian. She has a quite different persona on stage than you'd suspect just talking to her. And she's expressed interest in doing the holiday show at UNO, depending on what we do for Christmas this year. Abby also went with Tom last week for a short visit to Houston to see his dad. Ray's dealing with chronic lymphatic leukemia and hasn't had an easy past few months. They had a nice visit and came home Saturday.
Unfortunately, Tom returned to Houston Sunday as his dad took a downturn. Tom's brothers checked on him in the morning and found him quite disoriented, so they took him to the hospital. He's suffering from and infection and was severely dehydrated and was admitted to ICU. Thank God he's really improved over the past couple days and should move to a "regular" room today.
Meanwhile many other things have kept us busy -- my parents came to see Peter Pan and spend some time with us. While they were here my washing machine died (after 14 years!) and dad helped Tom with the new one -- the first one they installed didn't work, so it required 3 trips to the store to finally get it done. But the new one works so well! I've seen several movies with the girls -- Super 8 (good), Something Borrowed (good), Green Lantern (not so good). Today Abby and I are meeting friends for Transformers. I'm providing a meal for 25 teenagers tomorrow evening. And I'm keeping busy at the gym (actually, given that Maggie's working at the JCC, Abby swims there, and I work out there, I may just move in!).
No big plans for the rest of the summer and it doesn't look like we'll take a big family vacation, but overall, we're doing well.
Sunday, June 5, 2011
5 June 2011 update
BUSY last month! Both girls had exams (sequential weeks) and end-of-year activities. Piano recital, violin recital, water war party, plus some fun! Whew!
Abby finished 5th grade first. She's done really well in school and enjoys it for the most part. The last day of exams we joined a friend of hers and her mom for lunch and then her friend spent the night. The last day of school, Abby went to their house for the day/night. She participated in the piano recital a couple weeks ago and her violin recital was yesterday morning. She really enjoys the music and is progressing well. This summer she's participating in a theater camp at UNO. It's 3 weeks and at the end they present "Peter Pan". She's playing an indian and a mermaid. I hadn't realized there were mermaids in the show -- sigh. She's also doing swim team for the JCC, although with theater camp she's missing the first 3 meets.
Maggie finished 8th grade and will "really" be in high school in the fall. She's added another honors class to her schedule for next year after finding parts of 8th grade not quite challenging enough. She's working as a counselor-in-training at the JCC camp this summer and hopes to fit in some of the summer running (6am weekdays) for cross country. The most exciting thing for her is her trip to California from Tuesday-Sunday -- her 8th grade graduation gift from her aunt and uncle who live there. She's THRILLED and ready to go!
The girls and I also enjoyed a couple "fun" days -- pedicures and shopping for outfits in recognition of superior performance at school, then a movie day. Maggie hosted a party for 9 of her friends on Memorial Day (Tom and Abby wisely evacuated the house!). Water Wars ensued -- hundreds of water balloons, water guns, hoses, scavenger hunts, food, and fun. They really had a good time and hope to do it again yearly.
Tom's in Europe this week and part of next for work. I'm here, driving all around town. I also think I'll be living at the JCC this summer -- drop Maggie at work, take Abby to camp, return to JCC to exercise, errands etc. Pick Abby up at camp, pick Maggie up at JCC, return to JCC an hour later for swim practice. I've also started (4th time!) a complete reading of the Bible -- a church challenge for the year is to use a chronological reading of the Bible. We just started 1 June and have only gotten to Isaac's birth (along with a bit of the genealogical listings in I Chronicles). My parents are visiting next week (for Abby's shows) as well. WHEW!
And I cannot forget that Maggie (with a bit of help from Tom) painted her room -- gone is the dark green, now it's sky blue (actually matches my toe nail polish right now!). She's gotten new bedding and re-arranged the furniture. Abby is up next -- she'll also be getting a new bed to replace the IKEA one currently in her room. Babies are growing up.....
Abby finished 5th grade first. She's done really well in school and enjoys it for the most part. The last day of exams we joined a friend of hers and her mom for lunch and then her friend spent the night. The last day of school, Abby went to their house for the day/night. She participated in the piano recital a couple weeks ago and her violin recital was yesterday morning. She really enjoys the music and is progressing well. This summer she's participating in a theater camp at UNO. It's 3 weeks and at the end they present "Peter Pan". She's playing an indian and a mermaid. I hadn't realized there were mermaids in the show -- sigh. She's also doing swim team for the JCC, although with theater camp she's missing the first 3 meets.
Maggie finished 8th grade and will "really" be in high school in the fall. She's added another honors class to her schedule for next year after finding parts of 8th grade not quite challenging enough. She's working as a counselor-in-training at the JCC camp this summer and hopes to fit in some of the summer running (6am weekdays) for cross country. The most exciting thing for her is her trip to California from Tuesday-Sunday -- her 8th grade graduation gift from her aunt and uncle who live there. She's THRILLED and ready to go!
The girls and I also enjoyed a couple "fun" days -- pedicures and shopping for outfits in recognition of superior performance at school, then a movie day. Maggie hosted a party for 9 of her friends on Memorial Day (Tom and Abby wisely evacuated the house!). Water Wars ensued -- hundreds of water balloons, water guns, hoses, scavenger hunts, food, and fun. They really had a good time and hope to do it again yearly.
Tom's in Europe this week and part of next for work. I'm here, driving all around town. I also think I'll be living at the JCC this summer -- drop Maggie at work, take Abby to camp, return to JCC to exercise, errands etc. Pick Abby up at camp, pick Maggie up at JCC, return to JCC an hour later for swim practice. I've also started (4th time!) a complete reading of the Bible -- a church challenge for the year is to use a chronological reading of the Bible. We just started 1 June and have only gotten to Isaac's birth (along with a bit of the genealogical listings in I Chronicles). My parents are visiting next week (for Abby's shows) as well. WHEW!
And I cannot forget that Maggie (with a bit of help from Tom) painted her room -- gone is the dark green, now it's sky blue (actually matches my toe nail polish right now!). She's gotten new bedding and re-arranged the furniture. Abby is up next -- she'll also be getting a new bed to replace the IKEA one currently in her room. Babies are growing up.....
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Mom's Day
Had a perfect-for-me mother's day on Sunday. Abby joined me at church and we came home for a bit of quiet. Tom and Maggie got home and we watched "The King's Speech" which I highly recommend. I finished a good book (not at all literary, but definitely entertaining!), AND my family gifted me a 90 minute massage at Earthsavers which I was able to schedule for tomorrow. Joy, oh joy......
In other news, Abby has her first swim practice today (it was too cold last Tuesday and she wasn't able to go on Thursday). I enjoyed my zumba class today, and Tom seems to be finally over his cold. And Maggie's still on track to be exempt from all-but-the-one-required exam this quarter -- go Maggie!
In other news, Abby has her first swim practice today (it was too cold last Tuesday and she wasn't able to go on Thursday). I enjoyed my zumba class today, and Tom seems to be finally over his cold. And Maggie's still on track to be exempt from all-but-the-one-required exam this quarter -- go Maggie!
Saturday, May 7, 2011
2 weeks in Houston
Well, not really 2 weeks, but more like 2 visits over about a 2 week time period. Over Easter the four of us headed to Houston to spend the holiday with Tom's family. Almost everyone was there. We stayed with Tom's brother and his family and had a great time visiting with everyone. The girls and I also managed a bit of a trip down "memory lane" with a drive-thru of our old neighborhood, including a trip to Starbucks (always something to enjoy!). And we managed a photo of everyone in attendance.....
The second visit to Houston involved just Tom and me. We were invited to attend the wedding of one of Tom's former colleagues' son. The special part of the invitation was that it was to be a traditional Hindu ceremony, something neither of us had ever enjoyed. So I worked out how to be gone on a Friday-school-day, coordinating transportation for both girls. Maggie was a bit easier given that I don't normally drive on Fridays. Abby got to go home with one friend on Thursday and spend the night there (THANKS to Lisa and George!) and then hitch a ride with them to school Friday. After school Friday she went home with another friend (THANKS to Tihana and Alan!) where we picked her up after our return. Tom and I got on a 630am flight to Houston, after my calling home to make sure Maggie's alarm had woken her up (which it's only failed 2x this year). We had a painless flight to Houston, got the rental car and drove down to the temple in Pearland. They were serving breakfast and we located our friends as well. We were given a detailed program for the events that would ensue which really helped us understand what all was going on as it's quite different from the American ceremony. Additionally, 2 of my friends provided me with some information on what to expect as well (THANKS to Denise and Jigi!). So we knew before-hand that it would be much longer than what we're accustomed to and that it's expected that people talk quietly amongst themselves during the service. The lady seated next to me also helped, as well as the grooms' parents. Although both of the newlyweds' families are from southern India, they are from 2 different states within the country, both of which have different customs. The families consulted with priests to figure out the best way to incorporate both traditions into the ceremony. In addition, to me it looked like there was a bit of "our" traditions included, such as that of exchanging rings. Tom and I participated at the beginning where the groom's family and friends follow him around as he makes his way to his new family. Then we sat and watched the various parts of the early ceremony. For a while at the beginning the couple sat together on a swing while 2 women pushed them and a group of women sang and other women performed various rituals. After the couple climbed onto the stage other various rituals were conducted in Sanskrit -- we could recognize the names of the couple as well as their family members. At one point, the groom gifts the bride with a red sari, which she leaves to change into. At this point, a friend of the groom's mother grabbed me from the audience. She'd wanted me to wear a sari for the ceremony, but time had gotten away at the beginning and this was an opportunity to change. So, like the bride (to what I'm sure was a MUCH lesser degree!) I was assisted into a sari which, most generously, my friend gifted me. Meanwhile, a group of instrumentalists (playing drums and reed instruments that resembled large oboes but sounded more like saxophones) were playing in the main hall. I rejoined Tom and people were walking all around, visiting one another as well as the groom and his family on-stage. The grooms father came and visited and commented on the chaos. Tom and I simply found it fascinating, though I was glad to have been prepared! Finally, the bride returned -- it was precisely timed by astrologists so as to be the "perfect" time. Bells rang out as the ceremony progressed and more rituals were performed. Completely fascinating! When it was over, we progressed into another room for lunch. We were invited to sit with friends of the groom's family which we appreciated. Lunch was a traditional south-Indian vegetarian spread which we really enjoyed. Unfortunately, after lunch Tom and I had to head back to the airport. There were to be two receptions, one Saturday night and one Sunday that we were unable to attend. They would include the musicians again as well as a woman brought from India who is an author and would be dancing as part of the entertainment. This woman as well as the musicians had been flown over from India for the wedding festivities. Tom and I were thrilled to have been included in the group and truly enjoyed it all. We returned our rental car and got to the airport where we were able to secure an earlier flight. I'd told Abby that I'd pick her up in the sari, so I wore it home. I managed to "beep" the security and "enjoyed" the pat-down (probably due to the safety pins keeping me in the outfit as that was the only additional metal on my body). An Indian gentleman complimented me on my sari at the coffee shop. And two ladies inquired as to my outfit as we got on the plane. Two other ladies commented as we headed to our car back in Houston. So we headed to get Abby and got home to be with Maggie as well. It was a LONG day, but definitely thoroughly enjoyable and I'd do it again in a heartbeat. Thanks to all who helped us get there, especially Prahba and Bala for the invitation!
The second visit to Houston involved just Tom and me. We were invited to attend the wedding of one of Tom's former colleagues' son. The special part of the invitation was that it was to be a traditional Hindu ceremony, something neither of us had ever enjoyed. So I worked out how to be gone on a Friday-school-day, coordinating transportation for both girls. Maggie was a bit easier given that I don't normally drive on Fridays. Abby got to go home with one friend on Thursday and spend the night there (THANKS to Lisa and George!) and then hitch a ride with them to school Friday. After school Friday she went home with another friend (THANKS to Tihana and Alan!) where we picked her up after our return. Tom and I got on a 630am flight to Houston, after my calling home to make sure Maggie's alarm had woken her up (which it's only failed 2x this year). We had a painless flight to Houston, got the rental car and drove down to the temple in Pearland. They were serving breakfast and we located our friends as well. We were given a detailed program for the events that would ensue which really helped us understand what all was going on as it's quite different from the American ceremony. Additionally, 2 of my friends provided me with some information on what to expect as well (THANKS to Denise and Jigi!). So we knew before-hand that it would be much longer than what we're accustomed to and that it's expected that people talk quietly amongst themselves during the service. The lady seated next to me also helped, as well as the grooms' parents. Although both of the newlyweds' families are from southern India, they are from 2 different states within the country, both of which have different customs. The families consulted with priests to figure out the best way to incorporate both traditions into the ceremony. In addition, to me it looked like there was a bit of "our" traditions included, such as that of exchanging rings. Tom and I participated at the beginning where the groom's family and friends follow him around as he makes his way to his new family. Then we sat and watched the various parts of the early ceremony. For a while at the beginning the couple sat together on a swing while 2 women pushed them and a group of women sang and other women performed various rituals. After the couple climbed onto the stage other various rituals were conducted in Sanskrit -- we could recognize the names of the couple as well as their family members. At one point, the groom gifts the bride with a red sari, which she leaves to change into. At this point, a friend of the groom's mother grabbed me from the audience. She'd wanted me to wear a sari for the ceremony, but time had gotten away at the beginning and this was an opportunity to change. So, like the bride (to what I'm sure was a MUCH lesser degree!) I was assisted into a sari which, most generously, my friend gifted me. Meanwhile, a group of instrumentalists (playing drums and reed instruments that resembled large oboes but sounded more like saxophones) were playing in the main hall. I rejoined Tom and people were walking all around, visiting one another as well as the groom and his family on-stage. The grooms father came and visited and commented on the chaos. Tom and I simply found it fascinating, though I was glad to have been prepared! Finally, the bride returned -- it was precisely timed by astrologists so as to be the "perfect" time. Bells rang out as the ceremony progressed and more rituals were performed. Completely fascinating! When it was over, we progressed into another room for lunch. We were invited to sit with friends of the groom's family which we appreciated. Lunch was a traditional south-Indian vegetarian spread which we really enjoyed. Unfortunately, after lunch Tom and I had to head back to the airport. There were to be two receptions, one Saturday night and one Sunday that we were unable to attend. They would include the musicians again as well as a woman brought from India who is an author and would be dancing as part of the entertainment. This woman as well as the musicians had been flown over from India for the wedding festivities. Tom and I were thrilled to have been included in the group and truly enjoyed it all. We returned our rental car and got to the airport where we were able to secure an earlier flight. I'd told Abby that I'd pick her up in the sari, so I wore it home. I managed to "beep" the security and "enjoyed" the pat-down (probably due to the safety pins keeping me in the outfit as that was the only additional metal on my body). An Indian gentleman complimented me on my sari at the coffee shop. And two ladies inquired as to my outfit as we got on the plane. Two other ladies commented as we headed to our car back in Houston. So we headed to get Abby and got home to be with Maggie as well. It was a LONG day, but definitely thoroughly enjoyable and I'd do it again in a heartbeat. Thanks to all who helped us get there, especially Prahba and Bala for the invitation!
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
When Flat Stanley Came to Town
Recently my nephew Taylor sent Flat Stanley to visit us. I followed the directions and decorated him appropriate for New Orleans life and took him various places with me. Along with a Power Point presentation, I thought it'd be fun to put Flat Stanley's adventures here, so that EVERYONE can enjoy them, not just Taylor's first grade. So, here it goes!
Flat Stanley arrived in Metairie in the middle of April. He was wearing a rather boring (all white) outfit, so the first thing I did was to get him decked out in New Orleans clothing -- complete with a Saints' shirt and a Hornets' hat (sort of ironic, as Taylor lives in Charlotte and that's where the Hornets started out!). I also gave Flat Stanley a beignet and he held onto it the entire trip (or perhaps he was eating them on the sly and picking them up mysteriously?).
Two years ago my niece Mackenzie sent Flat Stanley to visit us as well. I still had photos of him (he was all decked out for Mardi Gras and carried a chocolate Easter candy!), so I posed the "real" one next to the photo for a picture.
Flat Stanley was hoping to spend a day at one of the girls' schools, but I wouldn't let him sneak into their lunch boxes.
I DID, however, let him tag along with my in my purse....
As we headed out the door on the way to Book Club, Flat Stanley noticed the tree in my neighbor's yard. I thought he was too small to climb a big tree, but I let him climb up my gardenia bush. He thought the flowers smelled great!
Flat Stanley was introduced to some of the ladies in my book group. He posed for a photo with them.
But I think he enjoyed the cookies more than the discussion on the book!
The next day Flat Stanley went with me to Bible Study.
It was the final meeting for the year so we had a little luncheon afterwards. Flat Stanley thought the centerpiece was pretty.
But once again, he preferred the food!
We had a bit of time before we had to pick up Abby, so we stopped at a local coffee shop for a cup of coffee and a rest.
And then we went to the library. I think Flat Stanley wanted to read ALL the books!
With all the trips we were taking, Flat Stanley was careful to always wear his seatbelt.
On the last day of Flat Stanley's visit, Maggie went to the doctor for her yearly physical. Flat Stanley enjoyed riding the carousel horse in the lobby.
And, although the doctor didn't examine him, Flat Stanley had to get up on the table anyway.
We had a great visit with Flat Stanley! Maybe he'll come back again some day....
Flat Stanley arrived in Metairie in the middle of April. He was wearing a rather boring (all white) outfit, so the first thing I did was to get him decked out in New Orleans clothing -- complete with a Saints' shirt and a Hornets' hat (sort of ironic, as Taylor lives in Charlotte and that's where the Hornets started out!). I also gave Flat Stanley a beignet and he held onto it the entire trip (or perhaps he was eating them on the sly and picking them up mysteriously?).
Two years ago my niece Mackenzie sent Flat Stanley to visit us as well. I still had photos of him (he was all decked out for Mardi Gras and carried a chocolate Easter candy!), so I posed the "real" one next to the photo for a picture.
Flat Stanley was hoping to spend a day at one of the girls' schools, but I wouldn't let him sneak into their lunch boxes.
I DID, however, let him tag along with my in my purse....
As we headed out the door on the way to Book Club, Flat Stanley noticed the tree in my neighbor's yard. I thought he was too small to climb a big tree, but I let him climb up my gardenia bush. He thought the flowers smelled great!
Flat Stanley was introduced to some of the ladies in my book group. He posed for a photo with them.
But I think he enjoyed the cookies more than the discussion on the book!
The next day Flat Stanley went with me to Bible Study.
It was the final meeting for the year so we had a little luncheon afterwards. Flat Stanley thought the centerpiece was pretty.
But once again, he preferred the food!
We had a bit of time before we had to pick up Abby, so we stopped at a local coffee shop for a cup of coffee and a rest.
And then we went to the library. I think Flat Stanley wanted to read ALL the books!
With all the trips we were taking, Flat Stanley was careful to always wear his seatbelt.
On the last day of Flat Stanley's visit, Maggie went to the doctor for her yearly physical. Flat Stanley enjoyed riding the carousel horse in the lobby.
And, although the doctor didn't examine him, Flat Stanley had to get up on the table anyway.
We had a great visit with Flat Stanley! Maybe he'll come back again some day....
Sunday, April 17, 2011
two weeks in the US
We had the pleasure of having one of our former au pairs come and visit us the past couple weeks. Aina lived with us in Holland for 2 years while Tom and I were both working. She took care of the girls and the house. She's from Lithuania and is currently living in Ireland with her daughter, Tija. They both made the LONG trip here and we did all kinds of things. She not only was able to see some of what makes New Orleans, New Orleans, but also able to see how our somewhat typical suburban family lives and the activities we enjoy (or put up with!). I don't have photos of EVERYTHING we did while she was here, but here are some of them:
Mom, Aina, Tija and I enjoyed the zoo one day (mom had come down to enjoy Abby's grandparents' day and got to see Aina and meet Tija as a bonus).
Tom, Maggie, Aina and Tija went to one of the many school fairs used as fundraisers and enjoyed many of the rides.
Unfortunately, Aina and Tija were not only able to experience the joy of carpool, but had to go to BOTH girls' schools as well as running the track carpool for Maggie and her teammates one day. As I said, not all I do is the most exciting thing in the world!
Aina joined Tom and mom at one of Maggie's track meets. I'd gone to the one the week before with my aunt, so I elected to stay home. Abby and I babysat Tija while the others were at the meet.
Aina tried out the "Zumba" XBOX game with Maggie. I wasn't there to see, but from their reports they had fun but are no more talented at it than I am!
Maggie, Tom, Aina and Tija went to the Insectarium -- yes, there IS a bug in that lollipop!
One day after school, Tom took Aina, Abby and Tija to the aquarium.
And the final picture was taken at City Park in the Sculpture garden. Beautiful day to be there!
I don't have photos of many of the other things we did, but here's a list!
Things you MUST do in the US to experience life at the Webb's:
Church with Abby and me -- Abby stayed with Tija in the nursery and fell asleep. Abby really enjoyed being with the babies!
Plantation tour -- Tija wasn't so interested in this tour.....I suppose most 2 year olds are!
Target -- I took Aina one day -- our Target is 2 stories. She returned a second day WALKING. While I recall walking everywhere when we lived overseas, I have RARELY seen anyone walk ANYWHERE where we live!
Bible study -- two weeks in a row -- Aina enjoyed hearing the ladies in my group laughing! Who says Bible study isn't fun?
Tj maxx -- more shopping! Apparently, clothing here is much less expensive than overseas, although I didn't take Aina to Saks.....
Grocery store -- after living in Holland, I know how rare a BIG grocery is.....
French Quarter -- including an evening eating crawfish, a morning enjoying beignets, AND part of the French Quarter Festival -- a parade!
Godspell at Maggie’s school -- school play -- Tom and Abby took Tija to the park -- one of many trips to play at the park!
Train at mall -- Tija LOVED this. Maggie even got on it with her!
Puccino’s -- had a bit of time to kill one day, so I took Aina for coffee at my favorite local haunt.
Tom grilled for us one day, Aina enjoyed a "real" American hamburger, pizza, sushi, the aforementioned crawfish, as well as my cooking.
It was a full couple weeks and I hope all enjoyed it as much as I did!
Mom, Aina, Tija and I enjoyed the zoo one day (mom had come down to enjoy Abby's grandparents' day and got to see Aina and meet Tija as a bonus).
Tom, Maggie, Aina and Tija went to one of the many school fairs used as fundraisers and enjoyed many of the rides.
Unfortunately, Aina and Tija were not only able to experience the joy of carpool, but had to go to BOTH girls' schools as well as running the track carpool for Maggie and her teammates one day. As I said, not all I do is the most exciting thing in the world!
Aina joined Tom and mom at one of Maggie's track meets. I'd gone to the one the week before with my aunt, so I elected to stay home. Abby and I babysat Tija while the others were at the meet.
Aina tried out the "Zumba" XBOX game with Maggie. I wasn't there to see, but from their reports they had fun but are no more talented at it than I am!
Maggie, Tom, Aina and Tija went to the Insectarium -- yes, there IS a bug in that lollipop!
One day after school, Tom took Aina, Abby and Tija to the aquarium.
And the final picture was taken at City Park in the Sculpture garden. Beautiful day to be there!
I don't have photos of many of the other things we did, but here's a list!
Things you MUST do in the US to experience life at the Webb's:
Church with Abby and me -- Abby stayed with Tija in the nursery and fell asleep. Abby really enjoyed being with the babies!
Plantation tour -- Tija wasn't so interested in this tour.....I suppose most 2 year olds are!
Target -- I took Aina one day -- our Target is 2 stories. She returned a second day WALKING. While I recall walking everywhere when we lived overseas, I have RARELY seen anyone walk ANYWHERE where we live!
Bible study -- two weeks in a row -- Aina enjoyed hearing the ladies in my group laughing! Who says Bible study isn't fun?
Tj maxx -- more shopping! Apparently, clothing here is much less expensive than overseas, although I didn't take Aina to Saks.....
Grocery store -- after living in Holland, I know how rare a BIG grocery is.....
French Quarter -- including an evening eating crawfish, a morning enjoying beignets, AND part of the French Quarter Festival -- a parade!
Godspell at Maggie’s school -- school play -- Tom and Abby took Tija to the park -- one of many trips to play at the park!
Train at mall -- Tija LOVED this. Maggie even got on it with her!
Puccino’s -- had a bit of time to kill one day, so I took Aina for coffee at my favorite local haunt.
Tom grilled for us one day, Aina enjoyed a "real" American hamburger, pizza, sushi, the aforementioned crawfish, as well as my cooking.
It was a full couple weeks and I hope all enjoyed it as much as I did!
Saturday, April 2, 2011
Monday, March 28, 2011
reflections on 42
Today is my 42nd birthday. If you'd asked me 20 years ago what my life would look like at 42, I'm certain the answer would have been different than the reality. Then I was about to graduate from college and heading to OSU to work on my MBA. I anticipated working somewhere in the midwest, at some point meeting a great guy and having 2-3 children. So here I sit, in Metairie, LA, not in the midwest, not working (in a "career" position!), married with 2 kids. How in the world did I get here?
Well, it started in grad school with interviews. I managed to wrangle an interview with Shell, even though they were targeting people in Finance. From that, I managed an on-site interview, and got an offer. So I headed to Houston. After a slight wrong turn (that thankfully got me where I was meant to be!), I found Tom. We settled in Houston, had 2 daughters, and then found ourselves both being transferred overseas. So we worked in The Hague for almost 3 years. And then my assignment ended and Tom got transferred to New Orleans. So we decided to try out a new scheme with me not working and see how that worked out. Overall, it's good. A LOT busier than I ever envisioned. But I'm able to focus attention on what I believe to be most important -- raising 2 girls in this rather imposing world. Often at the expense of Tom and me.......
On the whole, I'm content, joyful, hopeful, and enjoy what I do. Many days are crazy, but I'm thankful for all the blessings I've received.............
Well, it started in grad school with interviews. I managed to wrangle an interview with Shell, even though they were targeting people in Finance. From that, I managed an on-site interview, and got an offer. So I headed to Houston. After a slight wrong turn (that thankfully got me where I was meant to be!), I found Tom. We settled in Houston, had 2 daughters, and then found ourselves both being transferred overseas. So we worked in The Hague for almost 3 years. And then my assignment ended and Tom got transferred to New Orleans. So we decided to try out a new scheme with me not working and see how that worked out. Overall, it's good. A LOT busier than I ever envisioned. But I'm able to focus attention on what I believe to be most important -- raising 2 girls in this rather imposing world. Often at the expense of Tom and me.......
On the whole, I'm content, joyful, hopeful, and enjoy what I do. Many days are crazy, but I'm thankful for all the blessings I've received.............
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Spring Break 2011
As with last year, we headed to Big Bend National Park for spring break (well, Mardi Gras break, actually!). This year my parents were willing to join us for both the train adventure as well as hiking.
Mom and dad got here Thursday, the third. It was Abby’s last day of exams and she was home early. She and I got home from school and not only were mom and dad there, but also Tom was home to work there the rest of the day. Later on, mom and I went to get Maggie and a friend from track (my carpool day!). Friday Maggie had school, but Abby was out. Tom and I took her to renew her passport. Everyone at the post office kept asking where we were going – no plans soon, just want to keep it up to date.
Saturday the girls had piano lessons and Abby had her violin “contest” for the year. Tom took her for that in the afternoon. Sunday was spent mostly getting ready for the trip. We left Monday morning via 2 taxis to the train station.
While this was our third trip, it was mom and dad’s first using a “roomette” vs. riding overnight in coach. The rooms are quite tiny – barely the width of the bunk beds. The upper bed is held up, the bottom one becomes two facing chairs. Maggie and I shared, Tom with Abby, and mom and dad together. Soon after we left we got to enjoy (?) our first meal on the train – train food, while better than airplane food, is NOTHING to write home about! Spent the afternoon reading/visiting/playing games until time for dinner – not much better…The one thing I really enjoy on the train is sleeping. I love the rocking motion. And while this particular train has two long stops (about an hour in Houston and then almost 3 in San Antonio), I generally sleep through them both. Lovely! The other part I enjoyed about this trip is looking out the window and recognizing where I am – until we pass over the Huey Long Bridge to cross the Mississippi. Then I’m lost.
Tuesday morning we slept in. We got off the train in Alpine, TX and the rental Suburban was soon delivered. After a stop at the grocery (for food for the hiking as well as snacks for the rooms) we were completely loaded down. Mom and Abby were in the back seat, Maggie and I in the middle and Tom and dad in the front. We got to the lodge and had a painless check-in, moved the stuff in the rooms (Abby asked to stay with mom and dad and they were agreeable) and then took a short loop walk (less than 1 mile) to loosen up. Dinner was at the lodge and bedtime was soon after that.
Wednesday was our ambitious day – hiking up to the South Rim (about 14 miles round trip with a 2500 elevation change – roughly 250 stories).
Tom, dad and I all carried 1 gallon containers of water as well as our personal supplies, each one had a pack with their lunch.
We hiked up via the trail that the four of us had done last year and, for me, it seemed easier. I was amazed at all the girls remembered from the trail (where we’d eaten lunch, etc.).
We had lunch at the top and then descended via a different trail. This one was more difficult than the one we’d gone up on (steeper, rockier) and was quite tough, especially after all the previous hiking.
Maggie and I were going a faster pace and made it about 15-20 minutes before the others. We were all quite thankful for the good food at the lodge’s restaurant that night, as well as a hot shower. Last year Mardi Gras was in February, so it was much cooler than this year…..
Thursday we awoke to sore muscles and a few blisters. Decided to do an easier hike. So Tom found a “flat” hike through the desert to the Chimneys – rock formations with Indian pictographs on them.
It felt good to stretch our legs, although the blisters weren’t really happy and it became fairly warm toward the end. After we finished the hike (about 6 miles round trip) we got in the car to eat lunch and took a driving tour, seeing the Rio Grande along the border of the US and Mexico – and stopping for ice cream for all interested! Nice dinner at the lodge again and early to bed.
Friday, despite blisters, we headed for another rather challenging hike – in particular because unlike most hikes at Big Bend this one started at the highest elevation and descended about 700 feet (which we had to climb back up). The Windows Trail, however, was perhaps the most beautiful of the ones we saw. Such diversity and all.
Ended at the “winder” which is where the water (when it’s there in the desert climate!) drains off the mountains.
Really spectacular, but WOW was a pain to walk back, especially the last part with most of the climbing! We had a late lunch at the lodge and then got in the car for a tour. Hit the hot springs area – had been a private hotel at one time and the natural “hot tub” still exists. Dad, Tom and I walked the short way to it and Tom dunked his feet in. A lady was sitting in it. Back to the car for a trip back for dinner.
Saturday we headed out, back to Alpine. Went back to the book store we’d gone to last year and made some purchases. The train was about an hour late, but we were able to get lunch on board. And then the time change that night made it another hour. However, they were able to ultimately make up all the time and then some, so we arrived back in New Orleans 20 minutes earlier than expected. Saturday afternoon they advertised a trivia game with prizes. Maggie was interested, so she and I went. And I won a bottle of wine. Not too bad! Only got 4 right out of 12, but it was good enough for second place. And I was the only one that knew all the words to “Oscar Meyer Weiner” and “sang” it (I use the term “sing” quite loosely!). As we got over the Huey Long Bridge, Maggie and I were looking out our window. We both saw a lady at the same time working in her yard that looked familiar and looked at each other saying “wasn’t that?”. I checked in my church directory and I believe it WAS she and her husband working in their yard. Funny to see someone you know from the train!
Finished 4 loads of laundry, went to the grocery today, and am about to head to Abby’s basketball game with mom and dad. Always something!
So thankful for NO injuries, NO ONE falling down (my mom learned to STOP before turning around to talk!), NO running into cactuses (as I did last year), NO major disagreements, and LOTS of fun by all. None of us would win any fashion awards, but no one else on the trails looked any better!
Mom and dad got here Thursday, the third. It was Abby’s last day of exams and she was home early. She and I got home from school and not only were mom and dad there, but also Tom was home to work there the rest of the day. Later on, mom and I went to get Maggie and a friend from track (my carpool day!). Friday Maggie had school, but Abby was out. Tom and I took her to renew her passport. Everyone at the post office kept asking where we were going – no plans soon, just want to keep it up to date.
Saturday the girls had piano lessons and Abby had her violin “contest” for the year. Tom took her for that in the afternoon. Sunday was spent mostly getting ready for the trip. We left Monday morning via 2 taxis to the train station.
While this was our third trip, it was mom and dad’s first using a “roomette” vs. riding overnight in coach. The rooms are quite tiny – barely the width of the bunk beds. The upper bed is held up, the bottom one becomes two facing chairs. Maggie and I shared, Tom with Abby, and mom and dad together. Soon after we left we got to enjoy (?) our first meal on the train – train food, while better than airplane food, is NOTHING to write home about! Spent the afternoon reading/visiting/playing games until time for dinner – not much better…The one thing I really enjoy on the train is sleeping. I love the rocking motion. And while this particular train has two long stops (about an hour in Houston and then almost 3 in San Antonio), I generally sleep through them both. Lovely! The other part I enjoyed about this trip is looking out the window and recognizing where I am – until we pass over the Huey Long Bridge to cross the Mississippi. Then I’m lost.
Tuesday morning we slept in. We got off the train in Alpine, TX and the rental Suburban was soon delivered. After a stop at the grocery (for food for the hiking as well as snacks for the rooms) we were completely loaded down. Mom and Abby were in the back seat, Maggie and I in the middle and Tom and dad in the front. We got to the lodge and had a painless check-in, moved the stuff in the rooms (Abby asked to stay with mom and dad and they were agreeable) and then took a short loop walk (less than 1 mile) to loosen up. Dinner was at the lodge and bedtime was soon after that.
Wednesday was our ambitious day – hiking up to the South Rim (about 14 miles round trip with a 2500 elevation change – roughly 250 stories).
Tom, dad and I all carried 1 gallon containers of water as well as our personal supplies, each one had a pack with their lunch.
We hiked up via the trail that the four of us had done last year and, for me, it seemed easier. I was amazed at all the girls remembered from the trail (where we’d eaten lunch, etc.).
We had lunch at the top and then descended via a different trail. This one was more difficult than the one we’d gone up on (steeper, rockier) and was quite tough, especially after all the previous hiking.
Maggie and I were going a faster pace and made it about 15-20 minutes before the others. We were all quite thankful for the good food at the lodge’s restaurant that night, as well as a hot shower. Last year Mardi Gras was in February, so it was much cooler than this year…..
Thursday we awoke to sore muscles and a few blisters. Decided to do an easier hike. So Tom found a “flat” hike through the desert to the Chimneys – rock formations with Indian pictographs on them.
It felt good to stretch our legs, although the blisters weren’t really happy and it became fairly warm toward the end. After we finished the hike (about 6 miles round trip) we got in the car to eat lunch and took a driving tour, seeing the Rio Grande along the border of the US and Mexico – and stopping for ice cream for all interested! Nice dinner at the lodge again and early to bed.
Friday, despite blisters, we headed for another rather challenging hike – in particular because unlike most hikes at Big Bend this one started at the highest elevation and descended about 700 feet (which we had to climb back up). The Windows Trail, however, was perhaps the most beautiful of the ones we saw. Such diversity and all.
Ended at the “winder” which is where the water (when it’s there in the desert climate!) drains off the mountains.
Really spectacular, but WOW was a pain to walk back, especially the last part with most of the climbing! We had a late lunch at the lodge and then got in the car for a tour. Hit the hot springs area – had been a private hotel at one time and the natural “hot tub” still exists. Dad, Tom and I walked the short way to it and Tom dunked his feet in. A lady was sitting in it. Back to the car for a trip back for dinner.
Saturday we headed out, back to Alpine. Went back to the book store we’d gone to last year and made some purchases. The train was about an hour late, but we were able to get lunch on board. And then the time change that night made it another hour. However, they were able to ultimately make up all the time and then some, so we arrived back in New Orleans 20 minutes earlier than expected. Saturday afternoon they advertised a trivia game with prizes. Maggie was interested, so she and I went. And I won a bottle of wine. Not too bad! Only got 4 right out of 12, but it was good enough for second place. And I was the only one that knew all the words to “Oscar Meyer Weiner” and “sang” it (I use the term “sing” quite loosely!). As we got over the Huey Long Bridge, Maggie and I were looking out our window. We both saw a lady at the same time working in her yard that looked familiar and looked at each other saying “wasn’t that?”. I checked in my church directory and I believe it WAS she and her husband working in their yard. Funny to see someone you know from the train!
Finished 4 loads of laundry, went to the grocery today, and am about to head to Abby’s basketball game with mom and dad. Always something!
So thankful for NO injuries, NO ONE falling down (my mom learned to STOP before turning around to talk!), NO running into cactuses (as I did last year), NO major disagreements, and LOTS of fun by all. None of us would win any fashion awards, but no one else on the trails looked any better!
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
stay at home -- yeah, right!
I always thought the term "stay at home mom" to be interesting. No mom I know (aside from one with a newborn!) really stays at home. As my girls get older, it seems I am less and less "at home" (today being a bit of an exception!). No wonder I don't ever really want to go anywhere on the weekend. That said, looking back on the days/weeks/months, it's often difficult to really say what I've done or accomplished. Every week has its "normal" activities for me -- gym, yoga, zumba, grocery, cooking, carpools (with a capital "s" on the plural!), homework assistant, disciplinarian, Bible study, church -- you get the picture. But so much of what is really important is done in stolen moments -- driving in the car (with captive audience) or heating up a dinner that was cooked in the morning in recognition of a 6pm return-home-time. Do I feel fulfilled? Most days. Do I feel intellectually challenged? Sometimes (but when I had a paying job the answer was still "sometimes"). Do I like driving all over the city (NO!!!!!)? Is it worthwhile? Definitely yes -- Abby forgot her lunch in the car yesterday morning and called from school. I was only a few blocks away, so turned around to bring it to her. Walked into the gym (where they gather before the day starts) and was greeted with a smile, a hug, AND a kiss. Not too shabby! So perhaps I can "work" in sweats or jeans most of the time, but I believe I'm making a difference in the world and fulfilling my main purpose. At least for today.....
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
no, i didn't fall off the face of the earth!
It's been an incredible 3+ weeks here! Tom headed to The Netherlands on Saturday, January 22, just missing a visit from his sister and her family, in town for a conference. Needless to say, the girls and I REALLY enjoyed their visit! Their children are 3 and 1+ and a delight to be around. Saturday evening they came over here and we enjoyed spaghetti -- forgot how fun it is to see tomato-faces on little ones! On Sunday we met them at City Park and enjoyed the playground for a bit (wanted to go to Story Land but it closed at 4 instead of 5 as the website had indicated). Headed back to our house to walk up to the levee and see the lake, then home for Chinese food. Monday they had a conference dinner (and it's one of our crazy days with violin at 6:30), but we were able to see them again Tuesday evening for pizza. Definitely a treat and I'm so grateful they made the effort to join us.
The following weekend my aunt, uncle, tallest cousin, and his girlfriend were in town, celebrating my cousin's birthday. They headed over our way to join us for Thai food Sunday afternoon and then back to our house for a bit of a visit. Again, quite a blessing to get to see family!
And yesterday I was able to meet with a friend from high school and her kids for lunch -- a real treat at "Court of Two Sisters" for the jazz brunch. It's amazing how the years melt away and you can talk. Her older daughter was ill and stayed at the hotel, but I enjoyed talking with both her son and younger daughter at lunch. I'm so thankful that all these people "wanted" to see us!
Besides all that, we've been up the the typical activities. In addition Abby suffered (and still has a runny nose) from a really bad cold and missed 2 days of school. I'm thankful she failed the flu test and failed the strep test and was able to make up her school work fairly easily.
Most of all I'm so thankful Tom made it home last Saturday night. The world just seems more "right" when he's home....
As we freeze here in New Orleans, hope you all enjoy the rest of winter!
The following weekend my aunt, uncle, tallest cousin, and his girlfriend were in town, celebrating my cousin's birthday. They headed over our way to join us for Thai food Sunday afternoon and then back to our house for a bit of a visit. Again, quite a blessing to get to see family!
And yesterday I was able to meet with a friend from high school and her kids for lunch -- a real treat at "Court of Two Sisters" for the jazz brunch. It's amazing how the years melt away and you can talk. Her older daughter was ill and stayed at the hotel, but I enjoyed talking with both her son and younger daughter at lunch. I'm so thankful that all these people "wanted" to see us!
Besides all that, we've been up the the typical activities. In addition Abby suffered (and still has a runny nose) from a really bad cold and missed 2 days of school. I'm thankful she failed the flu test and failed the strep test and was able to make up her school work fairly easily.
Most of all I'm so thankful Tom made it home last Saturday night. The world just seems more "right" when he's home....
As we freeze here in New Orleans, hope you all enjoy the rest of winter!
Monday, January 17, 2011
Lots of photos from December 2010
All right -- time for some photos from December! Random order, so please forgive...
First, we have Abby modeling the "bumpit" Santa saw fit to put in my stocking. Alas, my hair is too fine to make it work effectively. It DOES make Abby a bit taller, no?
Next up, my dad with the BEST REINDEER EVER!!! Dad collects reindeer. This beautiful hat (you too could have purchased one from CVS!) not only lights up BUT the antlers move in time to a LOVELY rendition of "Gramma got run over by a reindeer" -- how could you want any other reindeer than this one? Mom says it even topped the astroturf one I found several years ago....
Next up, me and my "mini-me" -- yes, she quite resembles me from when I was in 5th grade. Poor baby! Although her personality tends to be more like Tom....which is, in many ways, a GOOD thing.
Now we have my mom and Abby all dressed up for our "fancy night out" at Muriel's -- YUM! And aren't they lovely?
Here are me and both my babies. Hasn't Maggie gotten tall? Or could it be those heels coupled with the flats I have on???? How she walked thru Jackson Square to the restaurant from the parking lot is beyond me!
Me and my mommy.....
Maggie and my mom.....
Maggie heading to her Winter Formal. Sigh....and no, she didn't really have red eyes. I just need a better camera!
Finally, Abby's stocking ran over and filled up a box! She must have been pretty good....
First, we have Abby modeling the "bumpit" Santa saw fit to put in my stocking. Alas, my hair is too fine to make it work effectively. It DOES make Abby a bit taller, no?
Next up, my dad with the BEST REINDEER EVER!!! Dad collects reindeer. This beautiful hat (you too could have purchased one from CVS!) not only lights up BUT the antlers move in time to a LOVELY rendition of "Gramma got run over by a reindeer" -- how could you want any other reindeer than this one? Mom says it even topped the astroturf one I found several years ago....
Next up, me and my "mini-me" -- yes, she quite resembles me from when I was in 5th grade. Poor baby! Although her personality tends to be more like Tom....which is, in many ways, a GOOD thing.
Now we have my mom and Abby all dressed up for our "fancy night out" at Muriel's -- YUM! And aren't they lovely?
Here are me and both my babies. Hasn't Maggie gotten tall? Or could it be those heels coupled with the flats I have on???? How she walked thru Jackson Square to the restaurant from the parking lot is beyond me!
Me and my mommy.....
Maggie and my mom.....
Maggie heading to her Winter Formal. Sigh....and no, she didn't really have red eyes. I just need a better camera!
Finally, Abby's stocking ran over and filled up a box! She must have been pretty good....
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