Hmmm...Good Times

Hmmm...home sweet home! I have been in Beaumont for two days for work. Beaumont is just a little over an hour from my house in Houston, but it felt like a world away. We worked very hard over the two days and I am so glad to be home and so glad that I work in Baytown instead of Beaumont!

I was thinking today how much I love where I live. Like I literally love my house and the neighborhood and how convenient it is to all the places I need to go. And I really enjoy living in Houston...it's always got so much going on (last year, in one week, I went to a hockey game, a Cirque du Soleil show, and a Bon Jovi concert all in the same arena!). But really, I love the Clear Lake area. This is totally cheesy, I know, but I really love it. It's so suburbia. There are grocery stores and Starbucks on every corner and lots of soccer-mom-looking people running along tree-lined streets (as I speed by at 55 mph) and lots of trees on those tree-lined streets. And there are neighborhood pools (still haven't figured out how to get into ours) and local parks and tennis courts that you can enjoy (well, not in 100 degree Texas summer, but the rest of the year you can!). And Clear Lake is an actual lake that it's nice to go sit by when it's about 65 degress and sunny on a Sunday afternoon. So, despite the fact that I still feel like I don't "live" here, like I could pick up any day and move across the country (or just back to Louisiana), I still love it here!

For example, this past weekend was great...I got to do so many of my favorite things! I ran 4.5 miles on Saturday morning. It has been so long since I had a really good run that I felt like I pushed myself on and still did well. I was quite satisfied with this one. I don't remember my time, but it wasn't that great...just glad to have run that whole way! After that, I ran errands. There is nothing quite so satisfying as having a list of things to do on Saturday and getting them all done in the morning, so you can relax in the afternoon! So, I celebrated that with a delightful pedicure. I am so spoiled! Saturday night was a birthday party for my friend Amy...fun Fiesta-themed party and Mandy's fantastic new apartment. On Sunday morning, I cooked and cooked and cooked for Heather's bridal shower. We celebrated at Maradee's great house in Bacliff and had quite a bit of food to consume. The shower was so much fun. I got 2 prizes for the games we played...good, travel-related prizes (thanks, Erika!). Look at this cool cake that Jill got from The Cake Lady!

I am so excited about Heather's wedding. I have a great dress to wear and we're going to have so much fun leading up to the wedding...two weekends of girl time to celebrate and enjoy the variety of Texas nature (hill country and beach). Her wedding is going to be absolutely beautiful, too. I can't wait!

So, I guess that's all. I just love it here. Maybe I'm just so grateful after being in Beaumont for a few days!

I've Been to Oregon Now

Last weekend, I ventured out on another running trip. This was the first time I left the greater Houston area since I got back from North Carolina back in June...I was quite tired of traveling, so I swore off leaving Houston until Labor Day. But, my dad was speaking in Portland and my grandmother was going along because it was her 80th birthday. They invited me to come up to do a race, so I backed off my vow to stay put and bought a (rather expensive!) plane ticket. The first challenge was getting to Portland. Since Daddy had a meeting on Friday night, Maw was waiting on me to get there to go eat dinner. When I got to the airport in Houston, I mosied (sp?) on down to my gate. I have a routine during air travel. I park offsite (yay corporate discounts at The Parking Spot!), take the shuttle to my terminal, check my bags, then go through security. I give myself plenty of time because I don't want to be stressed out. However, on Friday, my patience was quite tested. NO ONE at all of Intercontinental Airport was in a hurry. Which was OK because I wasn't really either. But still...hello? You work at an airport...everyone is supposed to be in a hurry. Here are the people who were not in a hurry to get anywhere or help anyone else get anywhere: the attendant at The Parking Spot, the shuttle driver who went to all the obscure terminals first (everyone knows that everybody flies out of terminal C...why are we at terminals E & D first?) before finally getting me to terminal C, and all the Continental attendants at baggage drop (there were 3 attendants and literally 2 of them went on break when I walked up). Seriously. I had lots of time till my flight, but this was driving me insane. Finally got through with that and went through security without incident.

So, back to my routine...once I get through security, I always immediately put my iPod headphones in and put my nose in a book or magazine. This is what keeps me from going postal there in the airport. Because, in case you haven't noticed, there are a lot idiots in the world, and they tend to hang out at the airport. Not necessarily the people working there (although there seems to be an unusually high percentage in their ranks), but mostly the people flying. Who doesn't know that you can't bring liquids on the plane? Who thinks you can walk through security without boarding pass and ID? And, if you have a good reason for not knowing that, like you don't travel much, shouldn't you take 2 seconds to read one of the gajillion signs telling you what to do? OK, I'm complaining a lot. But, really, those of you that travel, do you not notice these things, too?

So, anyway, I got through security and put my iPod on. I brought a Bourne book with me...one of the sequels written after Robert Ludlum died. This one was pretty good. Fortunately, it was quite absorbing. Since I had my headphones on, I'm not entirely sure what happened, but somehow they lost our original plane. The second plane they brought over had mechanical issues (and I was more than OK with not getting on that plane!). So, they flew in a plane from Dallas for us to use. We took off an hour and a half late. The flight to Portland is 4-1/2 hours. I know that it is very far away, but it just seems like 4-1/2 hours is really long. I've flown to California a few times and it never seems to take nearly that long. Oh well. Whatever. So, I got to Portland at 8:00 Pacific time, which is 10:00 Central time (or "God's time" as my Dad likes to call it). Maw had waited for me for dinner, so we went out to eat after that. I was quite wiped out then, but we went to a fantastic seafood place, Salty's, which overlooked the Columbia River, the border between Oregon and Washington. We felt very underdressed there! I had smoked salmon and I think that it may be the best thing I've ever eaten!! We finished up and then went back to the hotel and I crashed.

Saturday morning, we drove a half hour out of Portland to Tualatin for a 5K at the Crawfish Festival. Since I am from Louisiana, the Crawfish Festival concept cracked me up! We never did figure out why there is a Crawfish Festival in Oregon. We talked to enough people while we were there, seems like we could have asked one of them. Oh well. We were in a hurry because I wasn't really sure what time the race started AND at one point we didn't have any way to tell what time it actually was, so we were rushing. Daddy and I ran back to the car for something and, when we got back, Maw had a crowd around her. This is a trait my Dad inherited honestly from her. They both make friends everywhere they go. Really, strangers walk up and just start talking to them. At the race, she made friends with an Indian family who had relatives that went to LSU (I have no idea how this came up in conversation, but that's what she told me). Well, they were so nice and watched the whole race with her and even waited until we finished (long after their son had finished) to cheer for us. So nice! I had handed Maw my camera just before we started the race. I didn't realize that it was hard to use, but I guess it is, because she wasn't sure what to do with it. She stopped the local newspaper photographer and asked him to show her how to use the camera. Here is a picture she took while we were running that she termed "General". Also, here are a couple shots at the race. One of Daddy and me and one of some model boats that were racing in the man-made pond we ran around at the end of the race. Also, Maw with the announcer who wished her a happy birthday over the intercom.

For lunch, we met up with Maradee, who happened to be in Portland for work, and her friend from grad school, Judy. We ate at this great restaurant, Jake's. I ate too much! Maw told a story about our family that took 2 hours to tell and we laughed a lot. She did a great job keeping us waiting for the details. At one point, she was about to tell us a very crucial detail and her phone rang. We really felt like we were on a commercial break! After leaving the restaurant, we went to heaven! Really, we went to Powell's Used and New Books, which I was told is the largest book store in the world. I think that heaven will have a large book store in it. At least that would be heaven to me. I have way too many books, but this was a four-story bookstore that covered a city block...how could I resist? I only bought four books and three of them I've been looking for, so it wasn't a waste! We were there for quite a while! After leaving the bookstore, Judy had to go to take care of her dog, then to work, so Maradee ventured out with us to Mount Hood, which is the tallest something or has the most snow year-round...I don't remember, but there is some distinguishing fact about this mountain. I like to think that landmark statistics are like baseball statistics...there is always something that sounds impressive, but you're not exactly sure what it means in the grand scheme of things. Anyway, we drove an hour to Mount Hood and looked around for a bit, till we got bored (i.e. I made Daddy leave because he was watching a film about the wood used in this lodge and I knew that we would be there FOREVER if I didn't get him out of there!). Here is another example of Maw taking a picture. Maw, I'm sorry...I know you don't mind me poking a little fun at you! We drove back to Portland and went straight to the Bite of Oregon festival, which had a bunch of local restaurant booths, there. It was quite a busy festival. The fun part of it was that they had an Iron Chef competition there. Maradee said that it seemed like the announcers were on crack : ). It was hosted by Guy somebody from the Food Network and these two local morning show DJ's. Fun times. They made it exciting. The two-time defending champion won, so that was kind of boring, but it was all fun to watch!

Sunday, I got up and worked out at the hotel gym. Daddy was preaching at the church he was visiting, but I couldn't go because of the timing of my flight. The flight back was very uneventful and very on time...yay! Of course, it was literally 30 degrees hotter when I got off the plane in Houston than when I got on in Portland, but that's the price you pay to live in the South : ).

I'm also including a couple of random pictures. There were two interesting water fountains...one in Tualatin at the race and one in downtown Portland. And there were some pretty flowers Daddy asked me to take a picture of in Tualatin. Oh, and a picture of Maradee, Judy, Maw, and I under an interesting sculpture in Portland. And a picture of one of the signs on the bike rack at Powell's bookstore. So, enjoy!

I Did Not Make it to Work Today

So, I woke up at about 3:30 this morning with a terrible sore throat. This is the third day in a row that I've woken up with a sore throat, but it was even worse this morning. And I could tell I had a fever. I went to bed early last night, but I guess it didn't help. So, around 6:30, I called in sick, which involved calling 6 people and leaving voice mail about things that had to get done today. Then I went back to sleep. I ended up sleeping for 13 hours and I was still tired! Well, I don't think that the thunderstorm helped me want to leave the house.

One of the girls in my group had a big presentation this afternoon, so I was quite determined to get to work in the mid-afternoon. I figured I would go in, work a few hours and bring my laptop home to make up for the morning time. I have tons going on at work right now! So, I left my house at 1:00 this afternoon. At 2:15, I had given up trying to get to Baytown and just came home. I tried 3 different routes to get to work and they were all flooded. On all three routes, I accidentally drove into standing water. I'm pretty sure God saved my precious car from stalling at least once because I was in deep water for a long time and I didn't know what to do except keep driving...stopping there would have for sure ruined my car that I love! So, here I am, back at the house, watching The Office reruns and feeling like a bum. At least it was a good day to be home, rain and all : ).

My Mom is Great!

My mom is great. She is the technology person (there's some title) for her school. Which is funny because when we got our first home computer, she would only turn it on if my dad or I were home. But, now she's the technology person for her school. She writes grants all the time for them to get lots of cool stuff. She got an HP grant last year and then got another one this year. The one she got this year, they only gave to 15 teachers in the whole country and she was one of them! She went to a national technology conference in Atlanta last month and spoke...so cool! Here's the article about her grant http://thejournal.com/articles/21062. Go Mom!

Another Fun (but not lazy!) Weekend

This past weekend was ridiculously fun. I don't think I should be allowed to have this much fun...it makes the week seem very boring! Friday night, my friends Eddie and Ann were in town. I know them from Houston and they got married last September (at a gorgeous ceremony in Northern California). They live in North Carolina now, so we don't see them much at all. They were in town for a wedding, so a group of us had dinner at my favorite place in Clear Lake...BJ's Restaurant and Brewery. Fun times catching up with Eddie & Ann, as well as my other friends who live right here in Houston, but I never get to see.

After dinner, a group of us went to see The Bourne Ultimatum. I have been counting the days until this movie came out for about 6 months now. In preparation for it, in the last month, I have read the new Bourne book (so good, BTW) and watched both of the previous Bourne movies (awesome!!). This movie definitely did not disappoint! I was sitting between 2 men who loved the car chase scenes even more than I did (if that's possible) and they cracked me up with their reactions to the whole thing. Anyway, this movie was fantastic. Really, really, really good! I love the whole Bourne saga and I love Matt Damon, so it's a good combo for me : ). Once I got home (at 1:00am), I had to pack up my car for my Saturday adventures (more on that in a minute). I put a TV, two tables, and luggage in my car. If anyone on my cul-de-sac was looking out their window they probably thought that either I was moving out in the middle of the night or we were being robbed. Neither of those was true, though.

Saturday morning, I ran a race with my friend Matt. We ran the Maribelle's 5K on the Bay run in Seabrook, TX. I really like this race, for some reason. They have it every year and I've run it 2 or 3 other times. They always have the same T-Shirt (which I don't care for), but it's a different color every year. This year, it was red. I put it on after the race, but it made me look fat, so I took it off and just suffered through in my running attire. I know, how could I possibly be vain when I look like this? It was a great day to run...very cloudy and it even rained on us a little bit. Unfortunately, neither of us was feeling well, so our time wasn't too great. And we started off way too fast. Which I can honestly say is completely Matt's fault. I am very good at pacing myself, especially with my new GPS watch. But he was running faster and I let myself try to keep up with him, so we both punked out after mile 2. We finished OK (31:56), but we could have done better. Oh well. It's just a 5K and it was just for fun. After that, we had breakfast at Chik-Fil-A...yummy Chik'n'Biscuit thingies that are chicken nuggets in a dry roll...sooo good. As I predicted when they came out, I should never have tasted these! They will be a weakness for me. See, I have this theory that I like enough unhealthy food, so I avoid trying new things that will be unhealthy and that I think I will love. Like frozen custard or Snickers ice cream bars...I know that I will love them, but I don't need any more unhealthy habits in my life, so I must avoid them! Anyway, we had quite an adventure trying to get a picture at Chif-Fil-A, as you can see : ).

After leaving Chik-Fil-A, I went to Maradee's house because some of my family was staying there while Maradee was out of town. Here are a couple cute pics of Mia. That's the trampoline in Maradee's back yard! Once we got done jumping on the trampoline, I got cleaned up to head to Galveston!

After watching poker on TV for a while, we headed down to Galveston for Matt's going away party. It was so much fun. Matt is moving to South Carolina to go to Clemson because he is smarter and much more patient than me (I thought I would die working on my MBA!). We had a super-fun party that started at the Casa de Galveston and ended at Pirate's Beach. There were tons of people there (Mia even made an appearance!) and we just hung out...nothing organized or anything. There was a bonfire and a dog and I survived both! I think there were like 25 people there at some point and it was great to see some people we hadn't seen in a while. We played "jumbo" farkle with foam dice. Well, some people played...I didn't get around to it. The house was decorated with pictures and it turned out great!