Leaving for PA next week

Evan, Maia and I are so excited to head home to Scottdale, PA next Friday for Spring Break! We have a lot on the agenda. Most importantly I'm going to be clearing what's left in the house at 307 out so my mom can put it on the market this summer. I've heard there have been some good improvements and I can't wait to see them. Of course we all want to see our family and friends that we miss so much!

We will leave when the kids get out of school early and drive as far as Memphis and stay the night at a Best Western, then we'll get up and drive the rest of the way. On the way back we'll stop in Knoxville to see my friend Tracey so I can meet her new little daughter Sophie who she adopted from China last summer.

I'm hard at work on my Summer edition of Cy-Fair Magazine that will come out mid-may which means I have to have all of my writer's stories turned in before I leave for PA - so next week will be a little hectic to say the least.

I joined Windwood Presbyterian officially last Sunday. It's been my family and home away from home since we moved here, so it seemed only right and natural to become an "official" part of the church.

Eli's sleeping and I have work to do - so I'll check in again soon!

P.S. If you read the comment on my last post - it was "not by Evan". wink wink ;) Ah my 15-year-old is such a comedian!

Getting regular

No I'm not talking about prune juice and fiber! I used to be very faithful at this blogging thing and lately I've fallen off a bit. Not that there's nothing happening in our lives, I just have to find the time to write or remember to.

The membership class went well. To my surprise there were close to 20 people there. Some had been raised Presbyterian and were simply joining because they moved across town, but others were from Episcopal, Catholic, Lutheran and Baptist backgrounds. I don't think little old CUP had 20 people join the church in all the years I was there since my return. Anyway, we are already officially new members, but will be received during the 11 o'clock service on the 1st of March. Then, Bob (our worship and arts director) asked me to sing during the service that day as well - yikes! I'm not sure what I'm going to sing yet. Some of it hinges on if Bob will be around. He is currently in New Jersey visiting his mom who is in the hospital with complications from stage 4 cancer.

I'm reading a really interesting book. It's called The Shack by William Paul Young. Mom - has Book Club tackled this one yet? It was recommended by a friend of mine from church who read it and another lady in the church is reading it as well and once I'm done we're going to have coffee and discuss it. Without giving too much away for those of you who want to read it - it's about Mack who is dealing with the death of his youngest daughter (who was abducted and murdered) and how God comes to him to help him deal with his loss, pain, and his faith.

Evan will turn 15 this Sunday. It's hard to believe my baby is close to driving and three years from going off to college! Mike will come on on Friday to spend some time with him until Sunday about noon since it's a good drive back to Eagle Pass for him. I guess we'll have our family celebration Sunday afternoon and evening.

I think that's it for now. The kids and I are looking forward to heading home to PA in a few weeks! :)

A beautiful day in the neighborhood

(Maia and her friend Kaitlyn at the Houston Zoo)

Today's weather (mid-70's) is exactly why Jeff and I moved down here to Texas! It is going to be gorgeous the next couple of days with temps in the mid-70's. Okay, so Sunday it's supposed to rain, but still be warm.

This Sunday the choir is off, but the bell choir is playing, A Servant's Heart is singing and I have to stay for three hours after the second service for a "new members" meeting which I guess is required to join the church, however being raised in the Presbyterian church I think it's kind of goofy to have to sit about learning about the Presbyterian denomination. I understand it for real newcomers, but oh well.

I found a new house for us to rent next year. It was my hope that we would be able to buy, but unless we can finagle a down payment of $9,000 in the next month, it will have to wait another year. We can come up with 5k, so donations for the other 4 would be accepted! :) We are going to rent a home smaller than the one we're in now. It's a three bed room and coincidentally right beside Eli's babysitter Esmeralda, so it's right down the road, keeping the kids in their schools. It's a one-floor open plan and the lady who owns it said her electric bill in the summer is half of what I paid this summer! I'm hoping our landlady will let us out of our lease two months early so we can move in at the beginning of April. It is a lease to own, so in a year Jeff and I will have first choice if we want to go ahead and buy the home through owner financing or a commercial lender.

We found out earlier this week that Maia's friend Kaitlyn is moving not only from the plan, but to Humble (pronounced "umble") here in April. It will take her to an entirely new school district just before the year is over. I think Maia is pretty bummed about it, but since she's the only other girl in this plan, it doesn't bother her to move in a few months herself. Maia came with us to see the house and announced right away that she liked it.

Work is going well. The Spring issue went to print this week and next week I'll be finalizing my editorial calendar for Summer. The kids and I are excited to be making the trip back home to PA in March. However Evan has already said he's concerned it will be "cold" up there still! Well that's all for now. I should go out and enjoy the rest of the day - if only Eli didn't like to keep my hostage at home!

I'm back!

Ok, so it's been a few weeks since I've blogged. Both my sister and my mom had to remind me that I had lapsed in my writing. Right now the majority of my family is sick with some form of the cold. Evan actually stayed home from school today and in 1 1/2 days I've only seen him a handful of times and it's usually to get a drink, then he goes back upstairs to his room. Not even on the computer, so I know he's not feeling well. Eli has a stuffy, runny nose and little cough, but it doesn't seem to be slowing him down much.

Today I joined a gym. A women's gym who had a deal I couldn't refuse. They waived the $100 enrollment fee and it's only $39 a month. Workout places are a dime a dozen here like Starbucks it seems as though there is one on every corner. Considering a good treadmill costs over $1500, the price is reasonable. I actually met one of the trainers at the Women's Networking Luncheon in December. Their cardio kickboxing class was featured in a write up in the fall issue. Anyway, I'm thinking if I know they're taking my money out of my account that I should go use the facilities. The plan is to go at least once a week to walk on the treadmill or elliptical and Saturday mornings do the cardio kickboxing. There goes my only morning to sleep in - sigh. I've decided that I'm not getting any younger and I really live quite a sedentary life. I'd like to lose about 20 pounds to get to a healthy weight which also means...diet.

This whole Steelers going to the Super Bowl may blow my diet out of the water for a day, but I have figured out it's all about portion control and watching high carb foods and sugars. Speaking of the Steelers...woo hoo! I think with the Cardinals in it too I would be happy if either team won with Russ Grimm coaching on the Cards side and of course the hometown team. I drove past a guy today who had a Steelers window car flag flying. See, the Steeler nation is strong everywhere you go. I read an interesting column on yahoo.com about the Steelers and how it's hard NOT to like them. I'd post it, but I can't find it.

The Spring issue is going to print hopefully at the end of this week - then I can invoice for the rest of my payment for that issue and then I'll invoice for the first half of Summer. I've decided with my Summer pay I'm going to take the kids (at least Maia and Evan) back to PA for our spring break which begins March 13. They return to school on the 23rd. I'll take two days to drive up and two to drive back, but it will give us a nice chance to see friends and get some work done at the 307 house. Jeff is still deciding whether to go and if I'll take Eli. He certainly has the vacation, but he's concerned about the long car ride. It would cost us close to $1,000 to fly back plus a car - so I'm driving. I'm going to try to get the majority of work done at the house, but will come back for a week or two in June to finish things up.

Jeff and I have been looking at some houses here in Houston as we would prefer not to rent another year and put down permanent roots. We're not done with our lease until June so we have some time, but we don't want to just settle either because we need to be out. Our landlord would like us to buy this home, but Jeff and I are not in love with it enough to invest for the long term, and she's asking more than what brand new homes are going for here in the plan with them closing out the plan (meaning it goes to the Homeowners Association) in June and they have great discounts. I think she'll have a hard time selling this. There's a house that has been for sale since we got here, but they want to much. Whereas another home we looked at down the street was reasonably priced and sold within a few months. We'll see.

I've decided to join the church here. I'm involved like crazy and I really like the church and the pastoral team. I'll go to a three hour new members class on the 8th of Feb. then be received by the church during the service March 1 by letter of transfer from Calvin United. I transferred my membership to Calvin when I had Evan baptized some years after I moved back home and Jeff and I were talking about getting married.

Well after a four hour nap today, it looks like Eli is crashing for the night which means I go to bed too and get up early to see if Evan is up to going to school tomorrow.

Winter in Houston

Now you know I love and miss you all, but you can't beat winters in Houston and I'm sure my sister in Florida would concur. I can feel my blood thinning after living here six months. I'm officially cold when it gets to 45 here! Today it is only 62, but the sun is shining and there's the slightest breeze. It's so comfortable I can just wear a light sweater and darn it I still wear my flip flops! As we were watching the Steelers playoff game yesterday evening and I watched the snow flakes fall and thought of my friend Kelli freezing her tushy off in her awesome seats - I remembered how much I enjoy watching games in the comfort of my home and how miserable I was when Jeff and I went to one of the last games at Three Rivers and we left after the third quarter because it was so frigidly cold. I believe we ended up at a bar across the river at Station Square until the game ended then we ate at my favorite Chinese Restaurant there.

We're in the final stages of putting together the Spring Cy-Fair Magazine issue that will be out on stands Feb. 15. While the entire issue isn't mine from inception to finish, it will be exciting to see the finished product. Summer will be all me and I'm already compiling a list of stories. I'm really enjoying the job so far. Tomorrow I'm going to a networking luncheon then I'll head to a major Chamber event at 11:30.

We resumed bell choir rehearsal last week and will have regular rehearsal this week for choir. We will also have our music ministry Christmas party this Saturday evening at a home that is supposed to be just fantastic! Jeff is going and it will be the first time we're leaving Evan in charge with Maia and Eli for a few hours....yikes!

Well the kids should be walking in the door soon. :)

Eli's birthday & Maia

Eli getting ready to blow out the candles on his Spiderman birthday cake and Maia and her friend Katylin on their scooters.

Batman

Eli napping with his Batman Bear and showing off his new Batman bike Christmas Day.