I'll admit that I've stuck to my little corner of Houston, but why go anywhere else? Within 10 minutes there is a Wal-mart, Kroeger, HEB (my new favorite grocery store), Target, Kohl's, Old Navy, Justice, mall, Red Robin, IHOP, Whataburger, and Sonic, and that's just to name a few places! :) Before we got our internet and cable hooked up we discovered the RedBox DVD rental. You use your Debit or Credit card and rent movies for $1 as long as they're returned the next day by 9 p.m. They're recent movies too. So far we've seen College Road Trip, Step It Up 2 and The Bee Movie. So you can find these red boxes anywhere from Wal-mart and outside of Walgreens to inside McDonald's!
Last Saturday I drove three hours to take Evan for his week with his father Mike who now lives in Eagle Pass, TX. It's a small border town west of San Antonio. My hubby knowing me as well as he does designated the rated third outlet mall in the country for us to meet. It was a relatively boring an uneventful three-hour trip, and after our niceties and goodbyes I headed off for shoppers heaven - Victoria's Secret, Bath and Body, Gap, Polo, Coach, J Crew and I didn't even get to everything because somehow outlet shopping loses its appeal when it's 100 degrees out. I'll be making the trip again this Sunday to pick him up.
We haven't been incredibly adventuresome in the dining out category. However we did try a local pizza place the manager at Bank of America suggested called Loccatelli's. It was super busy, (an obviously popular place) and it was some good food! :) We'll be going back again for sure! Vietnamese food seems to be popular here, so we'll have to try it at some point and there are several Mexican restaurants such as Lupe Tortilla, Los Cucos and Pappasitos which look to be worth trying. We've also been to Sam's Boat (a favorite of Jeff's) and Logan's which is a lot like Texas Roadhouse but without the dead things on the wall.
More tomorrow.
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Getting there
Ok, so I've been here a week now, but I think I'll make things relatively short so your eyes don't start burning as you read, but there is a lot to catch you up on.
First there was the trip to Houston. My in-laws drove us to the airport around 8:30 a.m. There we was me, Evan, Eli and Maia's cat Midnight who I was really not looking forward to transporting on two planes to Houston.
We got there in plenty of time and after a teary goodbye with my mother-in-law who almost succeeded in making me cry, we proceeded through security. Much to my horror, I had to take Midnight out of the carrier, while it was x-rayed and walk through the detector with him in my hands. I had already decided in my head that if he got out of my hands at that point he could be the airport security cat! Have any of you seen Homeward Bound II? I was having those thoughts as well.
They loaded us on schedule for us to sit on the plane for almost 45 minutes! There was a computer fault and the technicians were trying to fix it. I don't have a problem with making sure the plane is safe, but people were starting to grumble about missing their connecting flights. We finally took off and luckily just made our connector to Houston - with enough time for a diaper change but not for lunch!
We arrived in Houston with a now stinky cat and three very hungry people. Jeff and Maia met us and we made our way to the baggage claim where we sat and waited and waited. There were three other passengers who were also looking for their luggage so I assumed it hadn't made the transfer. I gave my information to the UsAirways agent and off we went.
Let me just confirm before I sign off for tonight that YES it is HOT in Houston! Since we arrived it's been nothing less than 95 degrees and this weekend it registered 101 on my car thermometer. More tomorrow.
First there was the trip to Houston. My in-laws drove us to the airport around 8:30 a.m. There we was me, Evan, Eli and Maia's cat Midnight who I was really not looking forward to transporting on two planes to Houston.
We got there in plenty of time and after a teary goodbye with my mother-in-law who almost succeeded in making me cry, we proceeded through security. Much to my horror, I had to take Midnight out of the carrier, while it was x-rayed and walk through the detector with him in my hands. I had already decided in my head that if he got out of my hands at that point he could be the airport security cat! Have any of you seen Homeward Bound II? I was having those thoughts as well.
They loaded us on schedule for us to sit on the plane for almost 45 minutes! There was a computer fault and the technicians were trying to fix it. I don't have a problem with making sure the plane is safe, but people were starting to grumble about missing their connecting flights. We finally took off and luckily just made our connector to Houston - with enough time for a diaper change but not for lunch!
We arrived in Houston with a now stinky cat and three very hungry people. Jeff and Maia met us and we made our way to the baggage claim where we sat and waited and waited. There were three other passengers who were also looking for their luggage so I assumed it hadn't made the transfer. I gave my information to the UsAirways agent and off we went.
Let me just confirm before I sign off for tonight that YES it is HOT in Houston! Since we arrived it's been nothing less than 95 degrees and this weekend it registered 101 on my car thermometer. More tomorrow.
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Heading to Houston
Tomorrow we leave for Houston. Jeff and Maia left for Texas around 10 a.m. They got a later start than they had hoped because after keeping the cat Midnight in all night, they decided to let him out thinking he would come when called...well that didn't happen so they left without him after I made arrangements to fly with him tomorrow.
My in-laws picked us up from Scottdale and Evan and I went to our last concert in PA together, the Projekt Revolution Tour at the Post Gazette Pavilion in Burgettstown. It was an all day event starting at 2 and going until 11.
A smaller stage featured bands such as Armor For Sleep (saw them before and didn't like them, seeing them again didn't change my mind), Hawthorne Heights, 10 years, and Atreyu. I liked the last band, but because Evan and I had mosh pit tickets and wanted to be in the front, we stayed for one song and made a bee line for the gates.
To make a long story short - he and I stood in front for six hours. Street Drum Corps, Ashes Divide, Busta Rhymes, The Bravery, Chris Cornell and Linkin Park played. Evan managed to snag two guitar picks and when Chester came down into the crowd - he was holding on to Evan! Evan's comment was he wanted him to let go of his hand and he was way too close! LOL Overall Evan and I decided it was the best concert experience we had! Ironically, Pittsburgh was the second stop on the tour and they will close the tour in Houston Aug. 24...I'm tempted to get tickets! :)
So then Evan and I drove to Scottdale to hopefully retrieve Maia's cat. We found him and made it back to Monroeville around 2 a.m.
Today has been spent relaxing, repacking and entertaining Eli. Tomorrow we head to the airport around 8 a.m. and will be in Houston by 2:30!
My in-laws picked us up from Scottdale and Evan and I went to our last concert in PA together, the Projekt Revolution Tour at the Post Gazette Pavilion in Burgettstown. It was an all day event starting at 2 and going until 11.
A smaller stage featured bands such as Armor For Sleep (saw them before and didn't like them, seeing them again didn't change my mind), Hawthorne Heights, 10 years, and Atreyu. I liked the last band, but because Evan and I had mosh pit tickets and wanted to be in the front, we stayed for one song and made a bee line for the gates.
To make a long story short - he and I stood in front for six hours. Street Drum Corps, Ashes Divide, Busta Rhymes, The Bravery, Chris Cornell and Linkin Park played. Evan managed to snag two guitar picks and when Chester came down into the crowd - he was holding on to Evan! Evan's comment was he wanted him to let go of his hand and he was way too close! LOL Overall Evan and I decided it was the best concert experience we had! Ironically, Pittsburgh was the second stop on the tour and they will close the tour in Houston Aug. 24...I'm tempted to get tickets! :)
So then Evan and I drove to Scottdale to hopefully retrieve Maia's cat. We found him and made it back to Monroeville around 2 a.m.
Today has been spent relaxing, repacking and entertaining Eli. Tomorrow we head to the airport around 8 a.m. and will be in Houston by 2:30!
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Three Days to Departure
It's Thursday and already not without mishap. Let's go back to yesterday first. The movers came. I can still hear the sound of ripping packing tape! Three guys, two younger and an older one. I showed them what they were to take and they went at it. Now that they're gone and I look around my house I see a million things I could have sent but didn't. Sigh!
The only "real" problem we ran into was they couldn't get all of the screws out of our bed so that is staying...I'd like to blame it on the fact that they didn't bring their tools (they arrived in a rented Penske truck) and I had to go back and forth several times to my mom's house to borrow various screwdrivers.
They were done by 12 which meant I could get to my hair appointment (last one with Chad!). Later that evening Evan, Eli and I headed out to his last baseball game with the Southmoreland Recreation League. It was the championship game in the Hempfield Area Athletic Association Pony playoffs and we were playing the other Southmoreland team who was undefeated in the regular season! We lost the first game Sunday, but being in the winners bracket they had to play us again and we came to win and did so 9-2. So both Maia and Evan ended their baseball and softball careers (at least here) in winning fashion! :) Afterwards one of the mothers organized a going away party for Evan (and the family) complete with cake, card, team photo and frame and signed baseball.
We came home, took over Grandma's TV for a few minutes to watch the remaining 30 minutes of So You Think You Can Dance, and then retired to our furniture-less house where we all slept on various mattresses and cushions on the livingroom floor. I ended up going upstairs at 4 a.m. since there was no room for me!
Today we were getting ready for Jeff's arrival when he called to tell me he didn't have a seat on the plane from Dulles (D.C.) to Pittsburgh and wouldn't be arriving until 11 p.m....
That's all for today.
The only "real" problem we ran into was they couldn't get all of the screws out of our bed so that is staying...I'd like to blame it on the fact that they didn't bring their tools (they arrived in a rented Penske truck) and I had to go back and forth several times to my mom's house to borrow various screwdrivers.
They were done by 12 which meant I could get to my hair appointment (last one with Chad!). Later that evening Evan, Eli and I headed out to his last baseball game with the Southmoreland Recreation League. It was the championship game in the Hempfield Area Athletic Association Pony playoffs and we were playing the other Southmoreland team who was undefeated in the regular season! We lost the first game Sunday, but being in the winners bracket they had to play us again and we came to win and did so 9-2. So both Maia and Evan ended their baseball and softball careers (at least here) in winning fashion! :) Afterwards one of the mothers organized a going away party for Evan (and the family) complete with cake, card, team photo and frame and signed baseball.
We came home, took over Grandma's TV for a few minutes to watch the remaining 30 minutes of So You Think You Can Dance, and then retired to our furniture-less house where we all slept on various mattresses and cushions on the livingroom floor. I ended up going upstairs at 4 a.m. since there was no room for me!
Today we were getting ready for Jeff's arrival when he called to tell me he didn't have a seat on the plane from Dulles (D.C.) to Pittsburgh and wouldn't be arriving until 11 p.m....
That's all for today.
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Countdown
I hate to say it, but time is completely running out for me and this moving thing. First, the check HR sent to the moving company via UPS was lost, but they are wiring it. So the movers will come between 8:30 - 10:30 a.m.
Things are slowly coming together. I sent Maia off to her friend Abbey's for the night and tomorrow. They are going to Idlewild for one last hurrah together. Eli will go to his babysitter Sue Sue's one last time and to see his friend DJ. That means I'll almost have an empty house to deal with the movers, get the things out of the garage to the front of the house, move boxes downstairs to the living room, move the old furniture out to the curb.
It's come down to what to take and what not to take. Luckily my mom has said that what is left here will be here when we come back for Christmas. Maybe by then I'll have regained my sanity and can look at things clearly. Somewhere I read "don't wait until the last minute to pack" I know I've failed that lesson horribly! :)
Jeff comes home Thursday thank God - this hasn't been easy pretty much on my own!
I won't have Internet after tomorrow morning so the blog will have to go on hiatus for a while until we have our Internet up and running in Houston. I'm sure I'll have some good stories to tell then!
Things are slowly coming together. I sent Maia off to her friend Abbey's for the night and tomorrow. They are going to Idlewild for one last hurrah together. Eli will go to his babysitter Sue Sue's one last time and to see his friend DJ. That means I'll almost have an empty house to deal with the movers, get the things out of the garage to the front of the house, move boxes downstairs to the living room, move the old furniture out to the curb.
It's come down to what to take and what not to take. Luckily my mom has said that what is left here will be here when we come back for Christmas. Maybe by then I'll have regained my sanity and can look at things clearly. Somewhere I read "don't wait until the last minute to pack" I know I've failed that lesson horribly! :)
Jeff comes home Thursday thank God - this hasn't been easy pretty much on my own!
I won't have Internet after tomorrow morning so the blog will have to go on hiatus for a while until we have our Internet up and running in Houston. I'm sure I'll have some good stories to tell then!
Saturday, July 12, 2008
Logistics and Happenings
Jeff's company offered a very good relocation package which was one of the reasons we decided to pursue a life in Houston. However, it consists of fronting the money for the flights, hotel rooms, etc. and getting reimbursed for it. So it has been a game of making sure we have enough to cover expenses, getting the best price for flights, quotes for movers, etc.
In the midst of all of this moving stuff I have been part of the Reunion Team planning my 20th high school reunion at DeKalb, IL. What started as a few emails to some fellow classmates turned into a full blown reunion complete with tour of the high school, Meet and Greet, Family Picnic and Main Event. It was a lot of fun and the turnout at all events was better than expected. I hadn't been to a reunion prior to this one and at the end of this year's weekend, alums were already talking about having a 25 instead of waiting until 30. It was great to see how people have changed (or haven't at all), to see children and spouses and I hadn't been in DeKalb for 20 years! How cool is it there is a Target, Wal-mart, Kohl's and Old Navy right there! Back in the day you had to drive at least a half an hour to the nearest mall!
While on my trip, my mom, her friend Marty and I went to see the musical Wicked! It was great! We were then treated to dinner at Petterino's adjacent to The Goodman Theater and then walked around the relatively new Millenium Park.
Just before I left for the weekend and Jeff left for Houston, we had a death in the family. Our three-year old dog Koda went to the vet on a Monday with a clean bill of health. Tuesday she started scratching out her hair and me thinking she had fleas gave her a flea bath Wednesday morning. By Wednesday evening she was lethargic and I noticed she had sores and her skin looked red underneath. Thursday morning she wasn't interested in even getting up to go out in the morning. By the time I came home for lunch at 1 she was barely moving. I got her to the vet in a comatose state and she died less than two hours later. Cause was internal bleeding - we believe she was poisoned.
In the midst of all of this moving stuff I have been part of the Reunion Team planning my 20th high school reunion at DeKalb, IL. What started as a few emails to some fellow classmates turned into a full blown reunion complete with tour of the high school, Meet and Greet, Family Picnic and Main Event. It was a lot of fun and the turnout at all events was better than expected. I hadn't been to a reunion prior to this one and at the end of this year's weekend, alums were already talking about having a 25 instead of waiting until 30. It was great to see how people have changed (or haven't at all), to see children and spouses and I hadn't been in DeKalb for 20 years! How cool is it there is a Target, Wal-mart, Kohl's and Old Navy right there! Back in the day you had to drive at least a half an hour to the nearest mall!
While on my trip, my mom, her friend Marty and I went to see the musical Wicked! It was great! We were then treated to dinner at Petterino's adjacent to The Goodman Theater and then walked around the relatively new Millenium Park.
Just before I left for the weekend and Jeff left for Houston, we had a death in the family. Our three-year old dog Koda went to the vet on a Monday with a clean bill of health. Tuesday she started scratching out her hair and me thinking she had fleas gave her a flea bath Wednesday morning. By Wednesday evening she was lethargic and I noticed she had sores and her skin looked red underneath. Thursday morning she wasn't interested in even getting up to go out in the morning. By the time I came home for lunch at 1 she was barely moving. I got her to the vet in a comatose state and she died less than two hours later. Cause was internal bleeding - we believe she was poisoned.
Friday, July 11, 2008
1 week to move - first steps
Wednesday the moving truck will arrive to take 90% of the items we've decided to take to Texas with us. The rest will go with Jeff and Maia when they drive down or it's not going! Evan, Eli and I will fly out of Pittsburgh Sunday the 20th of course after Evan and I go to see our last concert together in PA - Projekt Revolution tour featuring Linkin Park.
The whole Texas ball started rolling so to speak in May when Jeff told me he was pursuing a job in Texas with a company called Dominion Building Products. After several phone interviews he was invited to go to Houston to meet with his potential boss. A week later he was offered the job and had to give and answer by May 27.
We actually spent many nights talking about how a move to Houston would affect us, our children and our families, but in the end we decided that the timing was right (with Evan getting ready to start high school in the fall) and if we didn't go now, we weren't going. Jeff was never going to have the earning potential here and the opportunities for our children seemed to be a major positive in our decision making. So we both got the nerve to tell our children first and then our families - then the moving process began.
I guess the first hurdle was that Jeff was to begin his job June 14 with their annual conference - so there were only a few weeks and he would leave. So there was I - a single parent with Maia in fast pitch softball and Evan in Pony baseball and Eli in tow wherever we needed to be. Thank God for some good friends who came to my aid and got one kid or the other to their respective games when I couldn't split myself in two!
I decided to work out what I was scheduled at the bank (a little more than two weeks) because they were short staffed as it was. I also resigned as choir director at my church after 10 years! It is hard to leave good friends, but it's been nice to not get dressed until 10 a.m. every day! :)
The whole Texas ball started rolling so to speak in May when Jeff told me he was pursuing a job in Texas with a company called Dominion Building Products. After several phone interviews he was invited to go to Houston to meet with his potential boss. A week later he was offered the job and had to give and answer by May 27.
We actually spent many nights talking about how a move to Houston would affect us, our children and our families, but in the end we decided that the timing was right (with Evan getting ready to start high school in the fall) and if we didn't go now, we weren't going. Jeff was never going to have the earning potential here and the opportunities for our children seemed to be a major positive in our decision making. So we both got the nerve to tell our children first and then our families - then the moving process began.
I guess the first hurdle was that Jeff was to begin his job June 14 with their annual conference - so there were only a few weeks and he would leave. So there was I - a single parent with Maia in fast pitch softball and Evan in Pony baseball and Eli in tow wherever we needed to be. Thank God for some good friends who came to my aid and got one kid or the other to their respective games when I couldn't split myself in two!
I decided to work out what I was scheduled at the bank (a little more than two weeks) because they were short staffed as it was. I also resigned as choir director at my church after 10 years! It is hard to leave good friends, but it's been nice to not get dressed until 10 a.m. every day! :)
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