Happy New Year

It's hard to believe New Year and 2009 is here. I'm sitting here watching the American Ballroom Dance Challenge. Jeff is singing Santa Claus is Coming to Town to Eli and Furby is barking either because Jeff is singing or because of the fireworks that are going off every second since fireworks are legal here in Texas. Maia and her friend Kaytlin are upstairs. They're having a sleepover tonight, and Evan's in Eagle Pass with Mike until Sunday when I pick him up in San Marcos.

Sunday is Eli's birthday. Spiderman and Batman are hard to find, so I initially settled for Thomas the Train at Kroger, but after talking to Jeff decided to see if the local HEB (another grocery store) had Spiderman or Batman. I was in luck and ordered a Spiderman cake. It's hard to believe that he will be three! His vocabulary is incredible. He loves for us to tell him stories, mostly about Batman, Spiderman, the Green Goblin, Joker and Catwoman. We were at a holiday party last week and the hostess' mom who read books to Eli and decorated gingerbread men commented how bright she thought he was. She is a former teacher. I'm not sure where, but they are from Waynesburg, PA. I will say he does know his colors, body parts and numbers through 10 very well.

The kids go back to school on Tuesday. I'm not looking forward to waking up at 5:50 a.m. to get Evan up again, but it will be nice to get back into the routine. I'll start going to events again next week, and my spring issue goes to print at the end of the month.

The country as a whole may be in a financial recession with banks being taken over, the car industry at the brink of financial ruin and people losing jobs at every turn, however Houston is it's own economic entity. Not to say that people aren't losing their jobs here. At Jeff's company at least three people lost their jobs just before the holidays. Luckily it wasn't Jeff who doesn't seem in too much danger of losing his job. People are shopping, eating out, spending (although probably not as much as usual), building and buying homes. Our realtor who got us this house said it was the best year she has ever had! Jeff and I will start looking for a new home this spring.

Okay, so enough about that. It's already new year on the East coast, but we still have about a half an hour. It's a drink of the bubbly, toast to a new year, and I'm off to bed! Here's to 2009!

Christmas in Houston

Well it's Christmas Eve here in Houston. We all wish we were in Scottdale, PA, but we are making the best of spending Christmas away from "home". Right now the ham is in the oven and I just put the hashbrown potato casserole in. We'll eat about 5 because I need to be at the church by 6:15 for the 7 p.m. Contemporary Service and then the choir will sing for the 9 p.m. Traditional service. I was also asked to sing Sunday for service, so I'll be singing Mary Sweet Mary, a Selah song I was going to sing at Calvin United Presby should we have made it back. At least my $5 plus to buy the sheet music online wasn't wasted! :)

I spent the better part of last night wrapping presents since Jeff told me he doesn't want to be up all night Christmas Eve wrapping. Last night we went to a party at my music and worship director's house. Bob leads the Praise Team and Julie his wife directs the children's choir and sings in the choir and with praise team. It as a nice evening with lots of food and socializing. Eli really took to Julie's Grandma who is in town with her husband from Waynesburg, PA! Julie is also Maia's music teacher at her school.

Last Saturday we went to my high school friend Melynda Kaisher Dunn's home in Houston for a Holiday Open House. I saw her at the DHS 20th reunion this summer. She and her husband Steve have a 4-year old daughter Camille and are expecting their second daughter Molly Jane around the time of Evan's birthday at the end of February. They have a lovely home, had a Santa who makes the rounds with his wife as Mrs. Claus for charity and had a professional photographer there as well! I drank mimosas and ate pimento cheese sandwiches - strange combo I know, but yummy!

Tomorrow I'll be cooking a small turkey breast, stuffing, potatoes, veggie and rolls for Christmas lunch. I kind of switched things around since I just bought the turkey breast today and it needs to thaw! I did a little bit of last minute shopping today and the stores surprisingly weren't too bad! It's very strange to go out on Dec. 24 and Maia had on capri pants a short sleeve t-shirt and flip flops!

Work is going well. I went to my company Christmas party yesterday afternoon,and was glad because not only did I win a bag of Starbucks Christmas coffee and a giftcard, it was nice to get to know some of the people from the main office. With me being freelance, I pretty much just see one of my advertising reps on a regular basis and I email Carlee the Assistant Editor daily. I turned in the edited stories for the Spring issue a few weeks ago and was tying things up for the issue which will be on stands in mid-Feb. I believe it goes to print at the end of January.

It's hard to believe it will be 2009 soon. I've started to look into driving schools and classes here since Evan will be turning 15. I plan on him having some good road time when we drive back to Scottdale after school is out for the year in June. It's been a busy year for us. Moving to Houston, weathering Hurricane Ike, finding a job I like, getting the kids adjusted and involved, being active in the church...we'll see what next year has to offer!

Until then - Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! We miss you all!

Make a Smilebox greeting

Oh the weather ouside is frightful...

Well I have a few minutes before I head out to a Chamber luncheon. You may thing all I do at this job is eat and...you're right. I also drink a lot of coffee, so it's a good thing when I was pregnant with Eli I got a taste for it!

The weather here has to be the major story. Last week I went and bought Maia a new winter coat at Justice and got it for half off with a coupon I had. It was 75 Monday, 35 Wednesday, 70 again on Sunday and today it's in the 40's. Yes I know it's nothing compared to PA weather, but cold here none the less. By this weekend it will be in the mid-70's again. No wonder people get sick here!

I was lucky and got over my sinus thing in time for the Christmas concerts at my church. They both went really well and we got rave reviews for our jazz numbers.

Jeff is in Milan, Tennessee for a few days this week on business, he'll be back on Wednesday. Well it's lunch time. More later! :)

Eli & the Christmas tree

Yes I need to buy a skirt for the tree. Eli didn't want the tree in the living room so it's in the front room. I think he was redecorating after I left to take Maia to gymnastics!

New job: Schmoozing and Exploring

Well I started going to events (I'm required to attend 1 - 3 a week) so Tuesday I went to a ribbon cutting ceremony at the Jersey Village Baptist Church. One of the CFM advertising reps Mary Holdsworth also went and I'm pictured with her as we placed our piece of the puzzle (that made the church possible) onto the board. The majority of the events I attend are Cy-Fair Chamber of Commerce sponsored. As a Chamber member, I went on a tour of the church as was also served a light lunch as a VIP.

The church was pretty amazing. You know everything is bigger in Texas and churches are certainly no exception. The new worship center has state of the art everything from lighting to the sound system. It seats 1500 and has room to expand in the future. They also have an impressive choir loft and orchestra section which is duplicated in the choir room with acoustics any musician would be jealous of! They seemed to be rather pleased with the 45 water closets and specialized sections for the older members and the youth. While I'm not interested in being Baptist, I wouldn't mind attending a service there on an off Sunday for my choir just to experience it. Their first service in the building will be this Sunday.

Yesterday I went to a Women's Networking Group luncheon held at the Houston National Golf Club. Also a Cy-Fair Chamber event, the group is only its first year, but seems to be growing and heading in the right direction. I believe there were at least 21 at this meeting that included bankers, doctors, real estate agents, attorneys, restaurateurs, managers and me!

So what I've gained so far is that I'll be meeting a lot of interesting people with this job and will get to know the Cy-Fair area as I go to different events. Eli isn't too thrilled about going to Esmerelda's, but it's only two days a week and usually not more than four hours! Next week I'll be heading to another ribbon cutting at a credit union and a Chamber breakfast.

Work wise I've been busy editing stories for the Spring issue. Some of my writers I do very few corrections and others require a little more work. I'm still getting used to the formatting, but it's definitely more up my alley than my previous employment!

We're a week and a half away from our Christmas concert at Windwood. We'll do two shows, one at 4 and the other at 7 on the 14th. Sunday we have rehearsal from 1 - 2, Monday, Wednesday, Saturday and then the concert. I know Jeff will be glad when I'm done with these extended rehearsals! I know my voice will be. The bell choir is also playing so I'll be running!

I was asked to sing a solo at Calvin United Presby for Christmas Eve, however it won't be O Holy Night since the new directors daughters will be singing it this year. I think my family is a little disappointed, but I'm not in charge anymore. I'm going to sing a song called "Mary Sweet Mary."

Well that's all for now - Eli and I are heading to the mall and grocery shopping soon! :)

Kemah photos

Here are some photos from our Kemah trip last weekend. From the top The kids looking at the pelicans in the water at the Boardwalk. (Eli hoping Evan wasn't going to throw him in!) LOL Mommy and her little buddy! Evan and Maia outside The Aquarium Restaurant. I think this is one of the only pictures I have of me and Jeff in how many years?

Signs of Ike

This weekend we decided to take a little trip to the Gulf and went to Kemah, a place several people suggested we go before Hurricane Ike. It was only about an hour to drive down and it was an interesting drive with the scenery changing from the tall buildings of downtown Houston to the rows of oil refineries and the smell that reminded me of Gary, Indiana.

Once we got to the Seabrook area, remnants of Ike and its fury were still evident. Signs were blown out, the FEMA blue tarps still covered damaged roofs, we walked past two buildings - one a home and the other a former bar that had "Keep Out" spray painted in bright orange on the walls with the contents of the buildings either thrown out onto the lawn or left in their disarray.

It wasn't the warmest day to go to the Gulf. It was an overcast 70 and cool enough to need light jackets. When we parked at Kemah some of the little shops and restaurants were open. Either they didn't sustain too much damage from the Hurricane or they have already rebuilt. The buildings I mentioned before were facing the Gulf side. We walked down to what is officially considered the Kemah Boardwalk. It's a inn, several restaurants, rides, and games all owned by the owner of Landry's Restaurants that includes Joe's Crabshack and Saltgrass chains.

We went to a restaurant called The Aquarium a place we have wanted to take the kids for some time now. It has a huge salt water tank that has sharks, and eel, sting rays and other fish that seemed like they were the size of Eli. It was only the second day they had been open since Ike. They are still in the process of rebuilding the boardwalk. Our waiter said across the channel that the Pappadeux restaurant will not reopen where the battered building still stands, but will instead tear that building down and build new.

Despite only a handful of the shops and restaurants being open. I was happy to see people milling around, checking out the pelicans, and watching the boats come in and out to harbor. I imagine by the time summer rolls around, Kemah will be a bustling place to go to have fun.

We left after a few hours because it was getting chilly with dusk beginning to fall and it was way past Eli's nap time. As we left the Kemah limits, there was a boat washed ashore where it came to rest after the hurricane and a church with it's windows still boarded and debris in the yard. Signs of Ike's destruction reminded me that while life has returned to normal in northwest Houston, people are still recovering only an hour south, and I imagine it's nothing compared to Galveston.

A new week

Ok, so the Islamic school is behind me. I found out Thursday that I got the job at CyFair Magazine and I went in to the office in Katy to fill out paperwork, take a tour of the office and have some orientation with the Assistant Editor. I'll basically start right away since they are preparing their spring issue which comes out in February. I'll be doing some editing and proofreading and next week I'll start heading out to events to cover the magazine. I'm expected to go to one to three events a week, I'm thinking I'll work on a happy medium of two unless there are three I just HAVE to get to! Primarily it's networking and getting people to know me so hopefully in time they can start giving me story ideas in the community. Ah, it's so nice to be back in my niche again!

I bought our turkey for dinner Thanksgiving yesterday. The smallest one I could find was a 14 pound turkey for 4 1/2 people. I tried to just by the breast, but Maia was insistent I get the whole turkey. She is also the reason I ended up buying a cheesecake yesterday too. So we'll have our usual of turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, beets, green beans, rolls, cranberries and pumpkin pie. At least I'll have left overs this year unlike previous years when we would go to my mother-in-laws!

The kids go to school only today and Tuesday and they'll be off the rest of the week. Maia will still have gymnastics tomorrow and they have moved choir practice from Wednesday to tomorrow evening, so it will be a busy day.

Belated Birthday

Happy belated birthday to my little sister Paloma whose birthday I completely biffed and forgot about this year! :(

Birthday

Maia celebrated her 11th birthday Monday with dinner at The Olive Garden and a cookie cake. Hard to believe my little girl is growing so fast!

Ok, so I'm officially no longer employed or teaching. I've decided that perhaps my experience of one week and two days at the Darul Arqam School was God telling me I shouldn't be teaching. I was thrown into 7th and 8th grade English with no clue about grading or lesson planning and that was the least of my worries. I thought it was interesting they wanted me to spend a day with the teacher they brought in to replace me. I left a lesson plan for the rest of the week and detailed notes about the students and class, all of which I didn't have the luxury of having and was pretty much left to fend for myself. It probably would have been different experience if it were a Christian or Catholic school, but it was a little too foreign for me. I'm pretty sure none of the teachers knew my name as everyone is referred to as "sister" and usually they spoke Arabic if I was around or didn't really speak at all. The kids were "normal" 7th and 8th grade students, but some didn't speak English very well, so it became a teaching English as a second language for some. One little boy flat out told me he hated the class and showed no effort although I gently coaxed him on a daily basis to open his book and do the in class work.

On the other hand, yesterday I had a second interview for a part-time work from home Editor job for a local publication called Cy Fair Magazine. Jeff actually found the job for me online. When she called to set up the second interview she said I was on the top of the list...so yesterday I met with the assistant editor to the Publisher. I thought it went well again and left my references who I am sure will all give me glowing reviews. I'll let you know how that turns out, until then I continue to send my resume out.

Next week will be the first since I met Jeff that I wasn't home in Scottdale for Thanksgiving. There are some definite advantages to being here in Houston like it's still in the upper 60's and low to mid 70's here during the day. We are in full swing for our Christmas concert at church and I'm catching up on laundry and cleaning I let slide by the last week!

Gymnastics and other stuff

Evan's last football game. Eli the future skateboarder. My two hams!

Maia took four first place ribbons. Maia on the vault. Don't you wish you were that limber?

Walking through another door

I'm going to make this relatively short and sweet because I need to get some sleep since I'm getting up at 5:30 to get ready for my first day at work, get the kids up and out the door by 6:45. I've accepted a part-time teaching position at a small private school about 16 miles away each way. Don't be fooled by the distance because it can take you an hour to go that far in Houston! I think I'm going to try staying away from the tollway and see how it goes.

As I think I mentioned I have been applying for jobs, but the circumstances had to be right. Meaning it had to pay enough for me to put Eli in some kind of daycare and make a little money after that! I've sent what seems like a million resumes out via Internet and got a call Friday afternoon that the principal would like to interview me that evening at 6. After leaving hasty instructions with Jeff how to make cheese steak sandwiches, I headed to the school where I was interviewed by the principal and two board members.

The school is small, with no more than 15 students in each class from Pre-K to 12th. It kind of reminds me of Mt. Carmel at home. I was basically offered the job on the spot, but told them I would speak to my husband about it and consider the salary they offered. Probably the selling point was they had a local woman who would watch Eli for 5 hours (7:30 - 12:15) for $2 an hour! She and her husband live right across the street from the school. Once Eli is potty trained he can come with me to the school for the pre-K program at half the tuition cost.

My mom says I luck out at finding jobs, but I believe God sends you on a journey and He knows the path you're to travel in life. I went today to get some of my books to teach 7th and 8th grade English and so I jump in feet first tomorrow morning. Anyone know a course on lesson planning for Dummies? The curriculum is set, and actually the principal and vice principal are very nice and happy to help when they can. More tomorrow...

Unrest in the land of the Republicans

So America has elected a 44th president. Jeff and I didn't vote - we're not registered here in Texas and we weren't forward thinking enough to get absentee ballots from Pennsylvania. I guess we had enough on our minds in between not having our belongings for a month then Hurricane Ike. This evening in church for rehearsal it is apparent that we live in Republican land, although I saw a few Obama signs here and there in my travels, we subtly prayed for the leadership of our country and it was commented that the outcome of yesterday is part of God's plan...

It was also reported and then later confirmed by Evan that there was a fight at the high school today between students when one black student brought an Obama sign and something was said by another student and a fight ensued. Luckily Evan missed it. The rumor was that the campus then went on lock down, but Evan said that wasn't the case. Maia said they held a mock election at her school on Monday and McCain won, however her class grouping (three homerooms) voted for Obama. Maia's music teacher who is also my worship and arts director's wife said some of the kids in the school were treating each other differently too. It is true that the way children vote particularly at that age are influenced by their parent's political affiliation, hopefully their actions in school will not filter into the streets.

Today was the last game for Evan and they lost 14-7 I believe to Klein High School. I could go on about the questionable coaching and player decisions, but I'm actually just glad for the season to be over. I don't have to pick Evan up from school Monday - Wednesday which I'm pretty sure will save me at least $20 a week in gas although now that it's down to $1.97 here and with my Kroger card I paid $1.87 at the pump today. I have a feeling he'll go out for the team next year, and he plans to do track this spring.

We found out Maia won't be able to have a gymnastics birthday party because they are booked through December, so she'll have to think of something else. We'll need to get the invitations out next week. We signed her up for a skills competition Nov. 14 and a floor skills camp on the 22nd. If you ask me these camps and other things are just money makers for the school, but I figure Maia should try them out at least once to see if she likes it.

Well it's late and I need to be up in almost five hours to wake Evan up for school.

Another weekend

Halloween has come and gone. The time has come to set our clocks back for Daylight Savings and it's November! Where has this year gone? Let's see, since it became 2008, I left my job at the bank, we moved to Texas, and survived Hurricane Ike. If you ask me, that's plenty for this year. I'm hoping we'll be able to get back to Scottdale for Christmas. It's in the plans, but monetarily it might not be feasible. I know the kids are expecting to head "home" in December and I don't plan on disappointing them! In fact I've spent most of the weekend sending applications and resumes to jobs down here. I just know that it will have to be the right job (especially when it comes to pay) for me to put Eli into day care. Believe me, it isn't cheap here!

Halloween night was interesting here in our plan. People really get into the whole event with cul-du-sacs having their own little parties and big and small out trick or treating. The only unpleasant thing about the evening was the mosquitoes. I keep telling Jeff we should buy stock in bug repellent! Eli wasn't really interesting in the actual act of Trick or Treating so he stayed with us and handed out candy in the driveway. Maia went off with her friend Kaitlin and came back with a bag of goodies that of course we have been partaking in all day today!

Tomorrow I'll be singing with the choir and ASH, then we have a two hour rehearsal specifically to work on Christmas program music. I also got an email on Friday from the worship and arts director asking me to sing in a select group who will sing a Jazz rendition of A Christmas Song for the performances. Of course I said I would sing! :)

Another week is almost upon us. Evan's last football game of the season is Wednesday at Klein High School and his coach decided to move him from strong safety where he's played all season to free season. Don't ask me the logic in that, but if it means he'll play more during the game I'll be happy.

Hasta manana!

Fall is here

Well you know you live in Texas when you think it's cold and it's 65 degrees. However I think the brief cold spell is over because it's supposed to be in the upper 70's again the rest of the week. I had to chuckle when Eli and I went to the mall on Tuesday. People were bundled up in boots, turtleneck sweaters and vests!

Tomorrow is Evan's last home football game. While I love football, it seems as though this season has gone on forever! I'm not sure if he'll go out for the team next year. I guess that remains to be seen this summer when he will have to decide if he's going to go back when camp starts or not. His final game will be next Wednesday at Klein High School.

We started our extended rehearsals today in choir for our Christmas program which will be mid-December. We will also have a rehearsal from 1 - 3 Sunday. I think I'm going to have lunch with one of the ladies who was one of the first to befriend me at the church after service because it's too far for her to go home and then come back for a one o'clock rehearsal.

I still need to buy my Halloween candy. Nothing like waiting until the last minute! Maybe I can get Eli to go to the store Friday morning. He has become a homebody, meaning he doesn't relish the idea of going out anywhere when we're at home...however I have things to do, and they often have to wait until the kids come home from school.

The cheapest I've seen gas so far is $2.12! Woo hoo!

Random stuff

Well we haven't had a repeat of the potty number two thing, so that might have been a "once in a lifetime" moment we won't have again in the near future. Sometimes Eli seems really interested in "being a big boy" and other times he is content to use the pull up that he is wearing. Sigh!

Maia had her first sleep over at a friend's house last Friday. She and her friend Kaitlin are the only two girls her age in this part of the plan. Maia has often asked why we moved to a place where there are all boys! Kaitlin lives just down the street and around the corner and is a very nice girl. She and Maia also sit together on the school bus.

We were invited to a neighborhood Halloween party down in Kaitlin's "neck o the woods" on Friday so we'll be heading down there around 6:30. It said to bring something to share and I'm either going to make Pumpkin Fluff (a recipe I found on Allrecipes.com) or get a cookie cake at the Great American Cookie Company in the mall. Trick or Treat will take place Friday evening, so I'm not sure how that is all going to work out.

Maia has already decided she wants a cookie cake for her birthday instead of a traditional birthday cake. She is planning on inviting 7-8 girls over the Saturday prior to her birthday (her birthday falls on a Monday this year) for a party, although I'm not sure what we're going to do here. We still have a few more weeks to plan.

Jeff, Maia, Eli and I went and looked at Open Houses in the plan on Sunday after I had church and we ate lunch. These are homes that have been built by the management company and are for sale. We liked two. One is rather pricey, but is absolutely gorgeous and the other is a little smaller (by 50 sq. feet) and is appealing because it is on a quieter street. That one seems more affordable and Jeff and I could see spending the next 30 years in either one. We would like to stay in the plan, but we really can't start the house shopping seriously until after the Christmas holidays. Considering the housing market hasn't been all that great nationally, she said she expects the plan to be filled by June. I believe her, because I've watched at least 10 houses spring up since I came here in July.

Eli's awake from his nap - that's all for now!

Eli!

This just in .....Eli pooped on the potty today and went pee pee in his potty three times today! Potty training here we come! :)

Mommy time

It's 12:32 a.m. CST and here I sit catching up on the shows I record and then watch when I get a free moment which happens to be around this time if Eli wears himself out enough to fall asleep at a decent hour. There are a few shows that I don't miss during the week, and yes I know I sound like a TV junkie, but right now it's Dancing With The Stars, Project Runway just completed it's season, Heroes, The Mentalist, Eli Stone (no it's not just because that's my son's name), Law and Order SVU and ER in its final season. Thank goodness for DVR (digital video recorder) because I couldn't live without it!

(Friday afternoon) Evan's team won their second game of the season yesterday against a team that up until yesterday was undefeated. Evan only got in for one play, but I suppose that's better than none right? He told me last night since they only have one running back that he's going to ask his coach about switching positions. There are only two games left in the season, but there's not harm in asking.

I'm singing the offertory this Sunday at church. Aaron Copland's "At the River." Did I mention the church I attend has a membership of 1400 and it's considered small? I'm also going to sing with the Praise Team and Choir too. So it'll be another long Sunday. However I already have lunch taken care of since they're having their annual Brisket and Chicken sales this weekend, so I'll be picking some up after church!

Well, the kids will be home in a little over an hour, then I need to run to the Post Office and get dinner ready. Shrimp Scampi, Alfredo noodles and salad! :)

Keeping up

Ok, so I've become terribly lax in my blogging in the past few weeks. I gave my friend Kelli instructions to remind me I need to blog! My phone buzzed and there it was, a text telling me I hadn't written since the 13th. I suppose part of it is that life is pretty much back to normal now that we have recovered from Hurricane Ike.


Evan had an excellent football game last week. They lost a close one at home against a tough Westfield team, but Evan was put in with the first string defense when the other "rover" was missing some opportunities. He saved six points in goal line extra point attempts with some excellent tackles. Okay, so he also let them score a touchdown because the kid he was defending against was a bout a foot taller than he is, so those six points were a wash, but it was definitely the best game he's had all season. I just hope the coaches recognize his effort as well.


I sang for the first time with A Servant's Heart or ASH or the praise team/band at Windwood this Sunday. I was basically sight singing one of the songs, but it was fun although the second service was extremely long so I spent from 8 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. at the church which isn't horrible, but it makes for a long day. The first service I sang with what I call "the doo wop" girls, meaning there are about six or seven of us in two rows around mics. Then the main alto had to leave so Bob asked me to sing with his wife in the front. Woo hoo! Actually I was a little nervous about the main song because I had just learned it that morning...but all went well.

Maia has started to plan her birthday party. She decided to have some girls over, although I'm not sure what we're going to do at this point....I have a little time before I have to decide.

I'll try to write more this week! :)

Batman lives at our house!

Is this not THE cutest little Batman you've ever seen?

Things to like

So it's been roughly three months since we arrived here in Texas. People always ask me, "So, do you like it here?" With the exception of the hurricane, my answer is yes. Of course I miss PA and Scottdale and my friends and family, but there are things to like here too.

• Grocery stores, malls, Target, Wal-mart, gas stations and restuarants are all a stones throw away to get to a variety but never travel more than 15 minutes.
• It's October and we're still wearing shorts, tanks and t-shirts because it's 80 during the day. It's cold if it gets to 60. :)
• Mornings and evenings are cool and although it gets dark about 7:30 here, those times are comfortable enough to be outside and are enjoyable.
• I'm starting to get to know my way around here although I don't go too far out of my comfort zones unless it's to an away football game.
• I'm making some good friends and have met a lot of good people.
• There is a lot more diversity meaning ethnicities, and I think that's good for the kids to experience.
• I am really happy at the church I'm at from the groups I'm getting involved in to the pastor and staff at the church. The membership is 1400.

Probably my only complaint is the bugs....spiders (including black widows), centipedes, earwigs (or pincher bugs as we call them), ants, mosquitoes, cockroaches, beetles...most of those except the black widows we've had in the house. Thank God for Terminex!

Eli got his Batman costume this weekend. He is SO cute! I'll take a picture of him some time this week and post if for all to see! The best $16.99 I've ever spent!

More later this week! :)

A Week Goes By

I realized at some point today that I hadn't written in the blog since last weekend. Not much going on here, so I suppose with a "slow news week" I can pile everything into one post. The kids got out of school early today because of the long weekend. They have Columbus Day off on Monday. Evan went to Eagle Pass this weekend to spend time with his father, but will be home on Monday in time for practice at 2:30. Maia is going to her first birthday here tomorrow for a little girl in her class - Courtney. The first grading period finished last week and both of the kids are doing well in school, so I have no complaints. Maia signed up for an after school Poetry writing club that will meet on Thursdays. Evan's team lost this week 27-7, but was part of a great goal line stand that prevented the other team from scoring and he also made a tackle and was acknowledged for it! Of course mom did the "woo hoo" (the only one) but that's okay, I'm allowed. Eli has discovered Back at the Barnyard, a cute animated show on Nickelodeon where as soon as the farmer and his wife turn their backs, they stand up on two legs and talk like humans. Actually there is quite a bit of adult humor that would be lost on kids watching it. Have I mentioned Eli is also very much into Batman these days? Partially because of the series of Batman Lego toys they've been giving away in Happy Meals at McDonald's. He will tell you in no uncertain terms that he is going to be Batman for Halloween and will go trick or treating and say "Trick or Treat, smell my feet..." He learned that from a Halloween t-shirt I bought him at Wal-mart. Lately he's enjoying playing Batman while Daddy is the Joker or Maia is Batgirl and they fight crime together. I asked one of the neighbors and unfortunately Trick or Treat here in the plan is not nearly as organized as it was in Scottdale. The kids will come out Oct. 31, but not at any certain time, so this may prove interesting. I figure I'll buy a bunch of candy that I like (in the event there are leftovers) and if I run out I don't answer my door! Okay, that's all for now. :)

Football and singing

I'm sitting here on a Saturday afternoon watching Michigan lose to Illinois while my chicken is roasting in the oven and in a few minutes I'll put the stuffing in too. I'm really waiting until later tonight when I get to watch either Ohio and Jeannette's Terrelle Pryor take on Wisconsin sans their marching band who was suspended this week for hazing or USC. Either way I'll be happy.

The football week here in our family starts on Thursdays. That's the day Evan plays his games at 4:30. Last week they lost (I forget the score) to a good Klein Collins team. His team actually has some good plays and bright moments, however they tend to kill themselves with penalties and receivers who cannot catch the ball to save their lives. This Thursday we'll travel to Klein Oak. Of course going to games becomes a giant eating fest. It's usually pretty warm at 4:30 in the afternoon so we need drinks and Maia and Eli are hungry so they share a nachos and I grab a few when I can. I found prices at home games are ridiculous and I'll learn to take beverages with me and maybe some snacks. I know when Jeff, Maia, Eli and I went to the varsity game last Friday at Spring we easily spent $40 between admission $18, hot dogs, nachos, pop, peanuts, etc.

We've been lucky to have been able to see quite a few Steelers games this season even though we're in Houston. The Texans played their season opener at Pittsburgh so we saw that here, last week the Steelers played Monday night and this week is a Sunday night game both which are nationally televised on ESPN. Now my living room can be appropriately decorated since my mom sent me some black and gold Pittsburgh flags and a bag which I still need to figure out how I will utilize.

Tomorrow is church. I believe next week is the first Sunday the Bell Choir will play, so we'll be practicing like crazy on Wednesday. I think they were supposed to have started Christmas program music rehearsal last Wednesday when I missed. I've also spoken to the Worship and Arts Director about joining A Servant's Heart (ASH). It's their praise and worship band, and I simply told him if he needed an extra female vocal that I would like to be a part of it. The thing is, I'll have to rotate going to ASH and Bell Choir rehearsals because they are at the same time!

Ok, enough for now. I have a few minutes before I make the Harvard Beets and dinner is served!

Hasta manana!

How we spent our Hurricane

Here's how we spent some of our time with no electricity for eight days after Ike!

How do you say it?

Ok, I still haven't really gotten past the "ya'll" thing, just like in PA you start to look past the "younz" thing. However I will say that you don't find many people speaking in double negatives. Some people speak with stronger Texan accents than others. I suppose those are the Houstonians or those who were born and bred somewhere in Texas.

There are some interesting pronunciations of street names in particular that you would never have guessed "were said that way." Every day when I pick up Evan from football I get on Telge road. Now before you read any further. Say it out loud. How would YOU say that name? Here it is pronounced Tell-gee Road. However you take the name Kluge and it's pronounced Kloog. Then you have the name Kuykendahl. Look at it closely before I tell you how to say it. That would be Kerk-in-doll.

In Texas most grocery stores make tortillas on site in various sizes and the tortilla selection in the bread aisle is just as big as the white, wheat, split top and raisin bread. It seems as though the salsa choices are expanded and the international food aisle is huge! People must love gourmet cheeses around here and beer and wine flies off the shelf! Ok, now I'm hungry.

Jeff leaves for Baltimore early tomorrow morning and will be gone until Friday. It will be my first time being here with the kids for an extended period of time without him here. I'll have my hands full!

R U Sirius?

One of the reasons I rarely listen to "regular" radio stations is that I can't stand the what seems to be endless stream of commercials. I know they need to make money, but after a while the commercials seem as repetitive as the songs they play hour after hour. A few weeks ago I couldn't get into the car without hearing Jesse McCartney or Rhianna coming or going.

One of our vehicles is equipped with Sirius satellite radio and I think it is the greatest thing since I discovered it was okay to eat peel and eat shrimp and lobster with clarified butter is a taste of heaven. They play every kind of music you could want to hear and there is also news, talk radio and sports. My favorite is the "New Wave" station that plays all the songs of the 80's and 90's including college favorites like DePeche Mode, Yaz, Erasure, Talking Heads and Kajagoogoo. I also have programmed in Rock, Alternative and Pop. The DJ's come on sparingly to say something profound (LOL) and then they play music!

Now the only caveat about listening to satellite radio is that it is primarily uncensored. After all didn't Howard Stern go to satellite after he was banned on regular radio stations? So you have to watch what you're listening to (particularly when there are young ears in the car) because except for a few cases, songs are played in their non-radio versions, and I'll tell you I've heard songs I've sung along to before and have heard lyrics I've never heard before!

Well it's late and I have to wake up in five hours to get Evan up for school. By the way, his team lost 22-12 to a JV team from Concordia Lutheran. Evan played only one series but he made the best of his time out there getting credit for a tackle and almost making an interception.

Found out Jeff will be going out of town Tuesday - Friday of next week for a trade show in Baltimore! So next week may be a little hectic.

Goodnight!

Hurricane wrap up

Okay, so this is my last entry about the hurricane. One of the coolest things we saw early last week was the convoy of tree cutting and electric trucks coming in to Sam Houston Raceway where they were staging. The line was never ending and by the time everyone checked in, there were hundreds of companies from all over the country including Florida, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Canada. How strange to see the familiar orange and black trucks of Asplundh here in Texas! Don't ask me how to spell it, I'm still figuring out how to pronounce it! Today there was a fleet of trucks staging in the church parking lot as I made my way to bell choir/choir practice (also known as Marlena's evening out). Everyone at church had their electricity restored this weekend or early this week, but there are still plans and residents in the outlying areas of Houston who don't have power. Some didn't have running water or sewer either. Reports on the news said that Centerpoint Energy was close to a complete meltdown (within minutes) when Hurricane Ike came inland.

It can be years before I have to experience a storm like Ike. Although my sister told me hurricane season lasts through November and this is only nearing the end of September, so there could be some rain, but hopefully nothing like Ike. I don't think I'll ever forget the round the clock news coverage and stories that played out on TV, the newspaper and as people recounted stories to their friends and neighbors.

One thing that did happen was you were forced to acknowledge those people who live beside you and across and down the street. With nothing better to do, neighbors were often seen sitting outside eating, around a fire, cooking, doing yard work, and just standing there talking. There were kids all over the plan with a week away from school.

So life has returned to normal for us. We've put away the candles and have pushed to the back of the pantry the canned goods and bottled water....until next time.

Well I have to be up at 5:45 to get Evan going for school and he has a game at 6 tomorrow night. It's been a heck of a two months here since we moved between the furniture and hurricanes!

How to spend your time

As I said, we didn't have any home or fence damage. No trees came crashing through our home and we had hot water and could cook. I found ways to recharge our cell phones, Evan's PSP and Maia's DS by taking them with me to the church to charge during rehearsal and then again during church service.

During our time off from work and school and really anything because of the lack of electricity we spent a whole lot of family time. At first we amused ourselves by candlelight playing word games, talking about when the kids were babies, places we've been, etc. One of the last nights Evan and Maia played "Drumline" or at least the end of the movie when the drum lines had a "play off". They each strapped a plastic hamper to themselves and played and danced away.

There was some TV time. Our neighbor Mark and his wife and infant son were staying with her parents a few miles away and had electric so he let us borrow a mini tv. There we were huddled around a 4x4 inch screen checking cancellations and seeing the pictures of the devastation of the coast and the people waiting in line for hours at Points of Distribution for FEMA MRE's (meals ready to eat), water and ice.

Maia, Evan and I also took to reading. Maia finished her school Accelerated Reader book and started to read Tom Sawyer which Evan had brought from PA. Evan who had been procrastinating reading an assigned book for AP English finished it in two days and I finally got the chance to read Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister by Gregory McGuire. He's the author of Wicked.

One of the worst things about the storm was that it brought out the bugs. With the windows open we had little ants (not the fire ants we have in the yard) invade our house and the mosquitoes are huge and horrendous! Not that the windows are closed and we've invested in ant and mosquito spray hopefully we'll have the situation under control. I killed one last night that was as big as a water bug!

More tomorrow. :)

Weathering the storm

Well, 12 days after Hurricane Ike hit Houston we got our power back on this evening ironically as Jeff and his boss Geoff were unloading a generator. I was standing in the foyer talking to Geoff's wife Tracy when the house alarm went off. She said, if your alarm is going off you must have electricity. I flipped the switch to the light in the dining room and there it was! It's late tonight, but I almost don't want to turn off the light for fear it might not come back on.

Back to the beginning - Jeff's work shut down early Thursday and he knew he wouldn't go in Friday because the mayor requested that all non-emergency companies close. The kids were also off from school. Friday I ventured to the grocery store - I think I blogged about that just before the storm. The store was a zoo! People in line over 10 deep, buying everything that wasn't perishable they could get their hands on. They couldn't keep the bottled water stocked and they were completely out of paper plates! I went back the next day because I realized while I had bought things "in case" I didn't get anything to feed the family while we did have power. The store was a little less hectic - not to mention I left Eli at home!

By Saturday afternoon the wind was picking up and by nighttime it had begun to howl. I remember the last time I looked at the clock when there was power, 3:37 a.m. and then there was complete darkness and the wind howled furiously outside blowing the trees just beyond the fence, opening and shutting the damper on the chimney with a loud boom. I was sure in the wee hours of the morning that the wind was going to come right through with the window. At some point I drifted off into a restless sleep and we woke up the next morning to more rain. Eventually the rains let up and we decided to venture out for a while.

Trees, branches, debris, and power lines were strewn everywhere. Water flooded roads creeping up onto lawns and in some cases completely covering roads. We drove by metal buildings that collapsed to nothing and trees uprooted roots and all. Some just lying helplessly where they fell, others on homes cutting holes into roofs and breaking off gutters and fences like they were built from sticks.

Evan has some pretty cool footage of the mess that Ike left in our neck of the woods. Of course it's nothing compared to the total devastation that Galveston, Galveston Island, the peninsulas and beaches dotting the coast have endured leaving homes leveled to nothing but foundations.

The kids start school tomorrow. Hasta manana!

Preparing for Ike

Ok, so Ike is coming...I decided to get some things last night and my sister called to give me some helpful hints about what I should buy to be prepared this morning. So Eli and I left with list in hand to Kroger, the nearest grocery store. On the way one gas station was backed up at least six deep on each side of each pump. I stopped at the MAC machine and got some cash then we headed over to the grocery store. The gas station there was just as backed up. When we walked into the store I should have known something was going on because there was one lone cart in the store which I promptly swooped up and put Eli in.

The bread aisle was empty but we have a loaf I bought a few days ago. The water aisle was empty so I threw five little bottle packs in the cart, but upon walking around the store found full size bottles. The website suggested a gallon per person, per day for three days, so that amounts to 15 gallons. I picked up some tuna, canned chicken, peanut butter, trail mix, granola bars, hand sanitizer, plastic plates and forks, cookies, candy, soup, cereal, etc. We should be able to survive three days, I'm hoping it's not longer than that.

So the lines were six deep at least and Eli decided to freak out because there were so many people in the store. A kind lady who had come inland from the coast was nice enough to let me go in front of her (since she only had a few things). She was giving me some tips on weathering the storm. Lots of wind, but since we're in a house we should be fine. A check of the radar said wind gusts should be about 91 mph in our zip code. As soon as we got out of the store he was fine and then we waited in line for gas...once we got to the pump it said you could only buy premium gas, but with my Kroger card and 10 cent discount it cost $3.47 and was the same as the corner gas station I had passed on the way. Which by the way was out of gas by the time we passed again to return home.

Jeff's work closed at noon and I was alerted by automated phone call from Tomball ISD that there would be no school for the kids on Friday. A lot of people have headed to Dallas, but I think we'll "hunker down" and ride this one out. If not I told my ex who lives in Eagle Pass that we may show up on his doorstep!

If I don't blog for a few days (after tomorrow) we don't have electricity. Our phones are charged and I'll email or update here when I can.

Should I Be Worrying?

As you know, Marlena has never had to deal with Hurricanes or evacuations. We don't live in a designated evacuation zone as far as Houston goes. We live far enough northwest where Houston is concerned. However, Evan's football game has been cancelled for tomorrow which was a bummer because I love my weekly football game. Turns out Varsity will play tomorrow night away and the JV and Freshmen games will be rescheduled at another time. In the event of bad weather it was announced that we are to check the church website to see if there will be two or one service on Sunday. When I went to Wal-mart there I was buying socks and a movie for Evan and everyone else was buying gas cans, water jugs and everything else! Hmmmm I thought to myself, maybe I should be a little better prepared "just in case". So tomorrow I think I'll brave one of the stores with Eli and pick up a few things on the Hurricane Preparation Guide. When I see people boarding up their windows in our plan THEN I'll worry!

It's still hot in Texas

I noticed it's around the 70's in PA and it was very strange watching the Steelers game in Pittsburgh vs. the Houston Texans, knowing your thousands of miles away. Believe it or not I can't find any Steelers merchandise here, so I asked my friend Kelli to hunt down a flag for me if she can. Anyway, when I went to pick up Evan from football practice my car thermometer read 100! So yes, it's still hot here. I cracked up at the people in Green Bay dressed in long sleeves, hoodies and jackets for the game Sunday at Lambeau!

I'm not sure if Hurricane Ike is headed this way or not. From what I read, officials are looking to evacuate the Rio Grande Valley up to Corpus Christi. For those of you who don't know, McAllen where Jeff and I spent a week considering a move there a few years ago is right in the Valley! He also still talks about moving even further south and I'll remind him about Hurricane season every time! I've also told him we're not going anywhere until Maia graduates from high school!

This evening was parent orientation at Maia's school which I would chalk up to a 26 year old teacher talking to a roomful of parents like we're children about merit and demerit systems, the text books they are using for science and math (she teaches those subjects exclusively), blah, blah, blah. Or in my mind - a total waste of time! I suppose it was beneficial to someone in that room!

I did get to see a few of the boys Maia has mentioned from school. Luis (who supposedly likes Maia) and Michael (one of her classmates). Afterwards Jeff and Eli went home since Eli was acting a little wild for a restaurant, and Maia, Evan and I went for a late dinner at Red Robin.

Evan has an away game Thursday and I have my evening of bell choir and choir at church for a few hours tomorrow. I'm going to try to convince Eli to get a haircut tomorrow! Wish me luck! :)

Maia and Candy

Maia posed with this horse Candy at little J.T.'s birthday last weekend. Unfortunately Candy also stepped on Maia's big toe and made it bleed and brusied it a little. Next time she'll wear boots and not flip flops! :)

Eli

Eli loves to ride his bike up and down the road in our plan! :) He's been asking for a new bike since this one is getting a little small!

Football & Runny noses

Yesterday Evan's team won their first game of the season 21-0 so they are now 1-1. Evan played a decent amount in the second half and was even credited for a tackle. LOL When the announcer said his name I of course yelled a loud "woo hoo!" Hey if you have one fan in the crowd it's gonna me your mom! It was a good thing the team they played wasn't very good because once again their receivers couldn't catch, one punt return bounced off a players helmet and luckily into a teammate's hands and they had some pretty dumb penalties. Have I mentioned how excited I am football season has started? This Sunday NFL begins and how apropos that the Steelers are opening their season against the Houston Texans.

Unfortunately Eli has decided to come down with a runny nose. Hopefully we can curtail it with Dimetapp before it's get worse. Poor thing couldn't breathe at all last night and he finally fell asleep with my arm under his neck, which by the way was NOT comfortable!

My friend Kelli sent me a really simple recipe for Beef Stroganoff. I paired it with a French bread baguette and dipping oil like you get at John Harvard's (in Monroeville) and grape tomatoes for a pop in your mouth kind of veggie. It was SO good!

Not too much on the agenda this weekend. I'm going to look for a Steelers flag before Sunday's game. I think we'll hit Sam's Boat for a meal since I've been good about cooking all week and Jeff's been craving a fish sandwich from there. Sunday I'll be singing in choir. More on Monday! :)

The Joy of Cooking

Ok, so I'm a stay at home mom now. One of my many daily joys is cooking 90% of our meals (at least dinners) at home. There are our basic "Solomon family" meals such as Mac and Cheese, fish sticks and fries; some kind of pasta, garlic bread and homemade meatballs; roast, potatoes and carrots. But one gets tired of the same old so I subject my family to recipes that sound good to me but don't always work out.

I've been cooking quite a bit from a Taste of Home cookbook my mom gave me for Christmas last year. Yesterday was chicken Florentine "panini" sandwiches, and I really like a recipe for antipasto salad that I made for a church function before we left. I'm also a fan of the website allrecipes that I've been using a resource for years. Tonight it's sweet and sour pork and Friday it's either Italian beef sandwiches or beef stroganoff. Tomorrow before Evan's game I'm making some Wedding Soup that will be fashioned after my mother in laws soup which I will never be able to make the same!

Just call me Betty Crocker!

On another note, Jeff and I are pretty sure we are not interested in buying this house in June at the end of our lease although I know our landlady would like us to. In living here there are many things I would change and don't care for about the house. There are many plans within the school district including some older ones that are appealing because of the trees and "homey" feel to the neighborhood.

Oh, and if you have any easy and family friendly recipes you'd like me to try on my family - just send them my way! :)

Bugs

It seems that we are getting inundated by bugs outside and they're making their way inside. I heard some people call them "love bugs" because they're flying around mating although I've seen some single ones. They're hanging out by the door, are plastered to the front of my car and splattered on my windshield. I know we're not the only ones either. When we walked out of Chik Fil A today after lunch I took notice of the bugs smashed on the front of other cars. Occasionally they make it into our house which me being unsympathetic to bugs in my house I have a whole bunch of dead ones in my foyer which I'll have to sweep up after dinner.

They aren't the only bugs that we have visit us. There are these weird "pincher" bugs. We're not sure what they are but they look nasty. They can also swim (if you just drop them in the toilet) so you have to squish them before you flush them. There are also centipedes and have I mentioned the spiders? Ew and squish!

As you know Maia and Jeff are real nature lovers. Jeff is always catching something outside like toads, frogs, preying mantis and lizards to name a few. Did I mention he brings them in the house like show and tell too? Ugh!

Have I ever mentioned that we have garbage pick up twice a week here in Cypress? I imagine it keeps the critters down if garbage isn't sitting around in garbage cans and houses for more than a few days.

Gustav seems to have come and gone with it down to a category one and still over New Orleans, but Hannah now is currently over the Bahamas. We haven't had rain yet although the skies are cloudy today. We'll see how the weather pans out with the rest of the week's activities such as Maia's gymnastics tomorrow and Evan's first home game on Thursday.

Back to our schedules tomorrow. More then! :)

Sunset in Houston

Evan's first game

There's Evan #33 running towards the play at his first game vs. Morton Ranch.

Football season begins

Here are is one of the critters we often find in our back yard!


Well, Evan's first game of the season was a loss to Morton Ranch by a score of 14-6. Maybe they needed to get their first game jitters over with because there were some "boo boo" plays that should have never happened that most likely cost them the game. The red team who played after Evan's won by a score of 14-0. As a mom who's used to seeing her son on the field 110% of the time in Junior High it was a change to see Evan play only two series the whole game. I'll admit it may not have been different at Southmoreland and the defense wasn't on the field a whole lot even considering the score.

So here we are, it's the Labor Day weekend. Not much planned. We have this Sunday off from choir, but I imagine we won't have another "off" Sunday until the end of May or June. Tomorrow we're going to Jeff's secretary's son's four-year-old birthday party. Other than that we'll just be hanging around the house until the kids go back to school on Tuesday. Oh - Evan DOES have football practice on Monday.

This week I got three real pieces of mail! One from my friend and former choir member Susan Shannon, my BF Kelli and my mom sent me a couple articles to read and items she found obviously at the house. It's nice to get real mail once in a while and not just bills and junk mail! :)

Evan's first days in high school

As many of you know my Evan is a young man of few words. I start waking him up at 5:50, then go back upstairs at 6 to give him the 20 minute warning which usually gets him going. It was suggested to me that Evan take the bus because traffic around the high school is horrible in the morning and it's a good 15 minute ride just one way from our house.

He says he has six minutes to get to each class and seems to be making his way around fairly well. He says the halls are particularly chaotic between classes and he has yet to find his locker and it's almost Thursday.

One nice thing is that football is considered his 7th period class, so they practice during 7th period and it carries over until 3:30. Tomorrow is his first game. He's on the freshmen white team. I'll let you know how it goes.

Have I ever mentioned how much I love apple pop? We could get it occasionally at Margarittas, but here you can buy either Manzanitas of Sidral Mundial at any grocery store! I remember drinking it in Guadalajara when we spent a month there when I as 13. It is SO good! I'll have to take some back to PA with me when I visit! :)

Maia's school adventures

Well I thought I would divide Maia and Evan's school adventures into separate blogs.

Maia missed the bus the first day. It was scheduled to come at 6:50, but we have learned in three days of school that Maia should be waiting in our drive way by 6:40, because he bus driver shows up at any time! Jeff took her the first day and besides forgetting what her bus number was I expect the school expects things like that, she made it home just fine.

The next day Maia got on the bus on time but got off at the wrong school! She didn't know (and neither did I) that they bus junior high and intermediate students together with buses stopping at Willow Wood Junior High first then going on to Northpointe. Maia is smart enough to go to the office and approach a secretary who directed her to a bus that would take her to school and she made it without being late. Turns out another little boy (who was red faced from crying) did the same thing.

Maia is sitting at a table in class with three Mexican students who are bilingual. She seems to be getting along with a girl named Daisy. She has also reported that there are two other Asians besides her and she has become friends with a girl named Valerie. She has also said that at lunch there are three tables for each class. The Mexican (or Spanish speaking students) sit at one, the Asian and white girls sit at the middle table and the boys sit at the other table.

The school seems to be pretty strict about dress code and behavior - which is good, kids need to learn to follow rules somewhere!

It's a challenge to get up at 5:45 to get Evan going first and then Maia. Believe me I head back to bead with Eli until he gets up for the day!

Happy Happy Joy Joy

It's about 11 p.m. Sunday night and Eli and I are sitting on the couch watching Thomas the Train. It's late and I should head to bed since I need to get Evan up about 5:45 a.m. and Maia at 6:15 a.m., but (big smile) school starts tomorrow yippee! :) Maia's lunch is already packed and in the frig and Evan's account has money in it too. The stories after school should be interesting.

I have a dentist appointment (just a routine cleaning) at 10:25 and other than that Eli and I will be hanging out for the day until we a. pick up Evan from football practice or b. Maia comes home. Both get done about 3:15.

Choir and church today was a pleasant surprise. One of the older ladies took me under her wing (although I can't for the life of me remember her name) and led me through the service. We sing at 9:30 and the 11 o'clock service, however the choir leaves after they sing the anthem at the 11 a.m. She told me there are usually about 30 in the choir. The Senior Pastor Kevin Rudolph is a very energetic speaker whose delivery reminds me a lot of Jim Hepler in that he is very animated and passionate during his sermon. All in all it was a good day.

Watched the end of the Olympics tonight and so now I look forward to Evan starting his football season on Thursday and then Steelers and the Houston Texans will start the regular season so I'll definitely be able to see that game!

More tomorrow...

It's rainy in Houston too

Jeff commented to me as we were waiting for the rain to pass at Evan's scrimmage that as many people said "you know it's hot in Houston" they also failed to mention that when it rains - it rains! I imagine some of what we're getting is fall out from Fay, but it's rained every day this week.

Evan's scrimmage was played on one field but two separate games red and white teams. The coach called out first team white defense and Evan jogged onto the field. Unfortunately he didn't do too much because they didn't run any pass plays. Then there was lightning and thunder, the coach sounded the horn and it was pretty much over.

Maia and Evan start school on Monday - so we're going to enjoy our weekend sleeping in (now that Eli is feeling better) and I'll be singing on Sunday, so I'll let you know how that goes! :)

Make a Joyful Noise

As you know, last night I joined the Chancel Choir at Windwood Presbyterian. If you'd like to check out their webpage it's www.windwoodpc.org. I'll admit I was pleasantly surprised by my experience. I'm pretty sure I'm older than the music and worship guy Bob Vandervliet and the choir director Joe Akers, but after me everyone else is well..."older." There is a nice sound to them.

At Windwood they have what they call a "convergent" service meaning it's a mix of Praise and Worship and a traditional service. I'm singing alto and we actually spent a good 10-15 minutes doing warm ups including those darn lip trills that I can't stand. (Sorry Jim Overly) We are singing an original piece written by Bob called "Now is the Moment" for their fall kick off service.

We're to be there at 8:30 to go over the piece with the praise band, first service is at 9, second service is at 11, but the person I was sitting by (I can't remember her name) said that they usually leave after they sing for the 11 o'clock service.

It's exciting to not have to direct and sing three different parts and it's fun to sing alto because it's more challenging than soprano. A sweet older lady tried to talk me into playing in the Bell Choir as well. She seems as enthusiastic as Tottie was about the bells. Rehearsal is before choir, so I might try if I can get us eating and settled for the evening before then. And by the way yes, they do have a robe short enough for me! I'm not sure how many are in the choir, I'll try to take an educated count on Sunday.

Evan has his first scrimmage tomorrow! Woo hoo! I'm not sure how they're going to run it with both teams on the field, but I do know they're feeding all players from freshmen, JV and Varsity (300 total) Chik Fil A after the game!

Hasta manana!

Football 101

For those of you who might be a little footballese challenged - the question was posed to me today by an unnamed reader - what does a Strong Safety do? Here is your answer...

Definition: A defensive player who generally lines up in the secondary to help stop the pass, but often aligns close to the line of scrimmage to help stop the run.
Examples: In most defenses, the strong safety lines up over the tight end and is responsible for both playing the pass and supporting the run.

For those of you who are Steelers fans - Troy Polamalu is a Strong Safety! :)

Immunizations - turns out when I didn't have health insurance that I didn't keep a good record of Evan's immunizations. It wasn't until we started going to Dr. Lim that we had any record to speak of. It occurred there might be some at Dr. Brubaker's office?

Anyway, to make a long story short - I had to take Evan to a walk-in clinic so he could get a MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) shot and start the Hepatitis B series so I could register him for high school. Luckily we could still register today after the nurse signed off on us. Evan will be taking Art, Biology, English, Spanish, Algebra, History and football counts as his P.E. this semester I guess.

That's all for today. Tonight I'm going to go to choir practice at Windwood Presbyterian down the road. They practice for 2 hours! I'll be singing alto - I already know that...it should be interesting!

Ciao! :)

Magic Rub Erasers and Rockets

There was one final item that eluded us on Maia's school list which easily ran me over $50 if you count her locker shelf, mirror and memo board. Anyway, the item was Magic Rub Erasers which I had NO idea what they were. I'm still not exactly sure, but they are white, three to a pack and you can only get them at Office Depot. I also learned at registration for Maia that you can buy the items on the school list at the school for a set amount and not worry about running around to Target and other stores to get what you need! That would be a note to self for next year.

Maia has been going to gymnastics for three weeks now and they had student evaluations today. She was promoted already to Rockets. Classes begin with Sparklers, then Firecrackers, then Rockets. Hopefully this class will challenge her a little more. I don't worry about the tumbling part but she needs more work and experience on the balance beam and uneven bars.

Went to register Evan today at the high school, but looks like the immunization sheet I got from Dr. Lim's before I left was incomplete as far as dates goes, so I had to fax the office in Mt. Pleasant so they're fax directly to the high school hopefully he's up to date because I have another appointment tomorrow at 1:40.

It's supposed to rain all weekend - I suppose some fall out from Fay which is over the Florida keys right now.

Long weekend

Well today is Monday and Eli I believe is finally over the hump of this virus. I say that because after only eating little nibbles and being sustained on chocolate milk, he ate 3/4 piece of toast without him crying that it hurt his teeth and mouth! I say it was a long weekend because Jeff and I didn't get a whole lot of sleep. Eli would just cry and cry. No doubt because his mouth hurt, but nothing seemed to console him. Poor Maia who has been sleeping in our room actually went and slept on the couch a couple of nights because he was keeping her up. I told her if his restlessness continues that she should try sleeping in her room. I told Eli if he does a good job at lunch that we would take him to Chucky Cheese for dinner tonight.

We have a few things to wind up as far as school supplies. I'm done shopping for Evan with the exception of some new shoes which he is very particular about. Maia I got some tennis shoes and one outfit. She is super picky about colors, patterns, if there are buttons, etc. They start school next Monday! Elementary school starts an hour earlier here with the first bell ringing at 7:50 a.m. Evan will catch the bus at 6:20 a.m. and Maia will follow suit at 6:50!

We went to the Houston Premium Outlets Saturday to do some shopping. It is a relatively brand new mall, however we learned it can be miserable when it rains! It was a pretty successful trip and I imagine I'll be returning with Eli once the kids are in school.

Evan will continue football practice this week from 3 - 5. I'll go to register him tomorrow at 11 a.m. and he will have Camp Cougar (for new students) on Friday followed by a scrimmage at home against Magnolia at 4:30 p.m.

Still watching those Olympics. Boy I'll be bummed when they're not on anymore! :)

P.S. My piano bench DID make the trip. I guess it was in a box and Jeff unpacked it, because I came home from the store and there it was in front of my piano! Now I just need to buy a dining room table!