Five More Days of School!

I am so excited about the holidays this year! Zach is at such a fun age, where everything is magical and fun to him. I want to start all sorts of family traditions, but I'm just not that motivated. We put our tree and lights up the weekend after Thanksgiving, and all of my cards have been addressed and mailed. I've done a lot of shopping, but no wrapping yet, and I am getting together with some friends tonight to do the baking. I still have grand plans of decorating a gingerbread house with Zach; we'll see if that happens!

School ends next Friday for the semester. I am hoping to get some teaching done this week, but between the kids' excitement and all of the holiday programs and concerts, there isn't much class time available. My plan is just to keep them busy and quiet. Let's see if I accomplish that...

Zach and I are flying to South Carolina next Friday, to attend my sister's graduation party next Saturday. I am so proud of her, and couldn't have done what she has. For the past two and a half years, she has worked a full day, then driven over an hour to class one or two nights per week. Granted, I don't want a master's in middle school math education, but that takes a whole lot of dedication. I have no motivation to get my master's; our district doesn't pay enough for me to have to worry about leaving Zach in the evenings, then finding time to do the homework.

We are heading to Louisiana for three and a half days to celebrate Christmas with my family. My sister and her husband are driving down from South Carolina, and this will be our first Christmas all together in Mom and Dad's new house. We'll have to leave Zach's big gift behind, and come up with a clever way to give it to him. I'm thinking of having Santa leave him a picture of his new art desk in his stocking, with a note. We've been watching the Polar Express over and over, so maybe it will work...We have an engagement party for Natalie's best friend the night we get to Lafayette, and besides church and Christmas lights on Christmas eve, we don't have any plans. I can't wait!

For the third year in a row, Darren and I are having a New Year's Eve party. Neither of us really wanted to have one, but we also didn't want to be stuck at home that night with nothing to do. We also wanted to be able to have Zach with us, and not worry about a sitter. I'm asking people to bring their own alcohol and an appetizer or dessert, and we'll play games and have a good time. It won't be all that exciting, but I go back to work on the 2nd, and a hangover wouldn't be fun. I still think of New Year's Eve 1999-2000, and shudder. Darren and I made plans with our friends Kenny and Lorraine and another couple to spend the evening in New Orleans at a Cowboy Mouth concert. The tickets were $100 apiece, but that included unlimited alcohol and dinner. We took a cab from Kenny and Lorraine's house to Tipitina's Ruins, which was near the Convention Center. We started drinking as soon as we got there; if you ordered a beer, the bartender would give you a six-pack. By midnight, none of us was standing very well, and the concert ended shortly after. We took a cab back to Kenny and Lorraine's and we all sat on the couch. Lorraine and I started eating crackers, and the next thing I know, it's 6am and I am still on the couch. Darren and I left their house around noon, but were feeling too bad to drive back to Baton Rouge. We drove around New Orleans for a few hours, went and had coffee, and finally drove home and went to bed. I had to work the next day, and it was absolutely miserable. I think I was hungover for three days afterward. So, I don't want to repeat that. We didn't have a kid then, so I can't imagine doing that with one!

Well, I'm off to clean the nasty house and get everyone ready for our day of fun!

Our Tenth Anniversary Weekend

Darren and I went to Austin Halloween weekend for our tenth anniversary. We reserved our hotel room on Orbitz, and it turned out to be really nice. We left Saturday morning, and arrived in Austin around 1:00. We checked in to the hotel, then went and climbed Mount Bonnell (not as impressive as it sounds). After that, we went shopping in a funky neighborhood, and tried to find the place where we went on the Haunted Hayride eight years ago. That dude ranch is now a gated neighborhood, and we saw them driving the hay wagon around. After that disappointment, we went and found this convenience store that stocks every brand of beer legal in Texas, then drove to Driftwood to eat at the Salt Lick. It is the coolest place to have barbecue, and just as good as I remembered. They don't have a liquor license, so everyone takes their own beer, and sits outside to wait for a table. There is a band that plays, and the food is definitely worth the wait! Later Saturday night, we went and took pictures of the state capitol building, and had coffee at this place called Mozart's on Lake Austin. It was just so nice to be somewhere where the whole town doesn't shut down at 9:00!

Sunday, we went on the Duck Boat Tour. It was corny, but fun. The vehicle was something that the British Navy had used in World War II, and it moved at about ten miles per hour. Also, it had transmission problems. Our tour guide was very entertaining, and made us wear duck whistles, to blow at pedestrians that we passed. After our slow drive around town, we drove into Lake Austin and made a big circle. We worked up an appetite with that tour, and went and had lunch at the Hula Hut. It was okay, and the service was bad. We drove around downtown, then went to the Whole Foods Market to wander around. We then went to the Arboretum, which is an outdoor mall, and it had most of the same stores that we have here in The Woodlands. We had fajitas at the Iguana Grill out on Lake Travis, but it was too dark to see. We went back to the hotel and went to bed after that.

Monday, we checked out and had breakfast at the Magnolia Cafe. That was the best Eggs Benedict I have ever had! We were sad to leave Austin behind and head back to Houston. Everyone there is so much more relaxed, and there is so much to do. I would still love to live there someday!

What Happened to the RSVP?

As we move rapidly toward the holidays, I am already feeling like life is moving too quickly for me. Between work, my Creative Memories business, the sorority, and being a mom, I feel like I am already stretched incredibly thin. Now, we are getting ready to add Thanksgiving meal planning and preparation, which I really enjoy, and Christmas shopping. I think I would enjoy Christmas shopping so much more if I had more money to spend. It's tough to buy gifts that you hope make people happy, plus don't cost a fortune, yet still look like they do. The area where we live is getting more and more expensive, and I can't afford to shop in all the new exclusive boutiques that we have here. Since we don't use credit cards, I need to space our presents out over several paychecks. That is tough, because once I start shopping, I just want to get it over with.

My Creative Memories business is not going nearly as well as I hoped that it would. I had high hopes that it would help to pay for Christmas this year, but those hopes will go unrealized. I had my Holiday Open House this past weekend. I planned that thing for weeks. I sent out invitations and e-mails, made phone calls, put up fliers at school, put signs on the mailboxes in my neighborhood, and put a sign in my front yard. I even put an ad on the local website. I had nine people tell me they were coming Friday night or Saturday, and never heard from the rest of them. Thursday, I worked from 4:30-1:00am typing out a welcome letter, planning the food, and artfully arranging my products. I was so excited about the weekend, and having so many people come. Friday, I rushed to the grocery store after work, went home and prepared food, and waited for my guests. I had four people Friday night, then two customers on Saturday. I never heard from the others. No, "sorry, I can't make it" for whatever reason. I did book one show for January, and had two more orders after that, but I still haven't made back the money that I spent on the food.

Why don't people RSVP anymore? I've heard that it is a Houston thing, but that is poor manners in my opinion. Growing up, I was taught that you respond to any invitation that you receive, whether or not you are able to attend the event. The host needs to know how many people to prepare food for, and how many chairs to have. It's just good manners. If an invitation comes with an RSVP, it's not an optional thing, and I don't know why people think that it is. The letters RSVP stand for "repondez, s'il vous plait", or "respond, please". I've had many events the past few years when I was left wondering if I should telephone everyone on my guest list to find out if I would be alone that night or not. If anyone is actually reading this blog, what does a person do to get responses to an invitation? It really makes me never want to have a party again! I could have saved myself a whole lot of time and money this weekend if I would have known the number of people who would actually show up.

Life in Fast-Forward

I cannot believe that it is October already! This is my favorite time of year, and I wish things would slow down enough for me to take the time to enjoy it. School is still stressful, I am trying to work my Creative Memories business, and I am trying to get our fledgling sorority chapter to grow. I have tried to cut back on my commitments, but I always seem to overextend myself anyway. I can never say that I am bored! I just want to have the time to go to the Renaissance Festival, or enjoy an afternoon at the park with my family.

Next Friday is our ten-year anniversary. It is hard to believe that ten years ago today, I was getting ready to get married. We lived in Baton Rouge, but got married in Lafayette, an hour away. Much of the wedding planning fell on my mom, who was trying to take care of my grandmother. She had fallen and broke her hip, wrist, and another bone, and moved in with my parents. I was struggling in school, not sure what direction I wanted to go in. I knew that I wanted to go into the art field, but was unsatisfied with the graphic design program at LSU. They taught students how to draw, but nothing on the computer, which was what Darren was doing at the time. Darren was in grad school at LSU that semester; going to class two days per week, and commuting to New Orleans three days a week to work. It was a somber day, two weeks before our wedding, when Darren and I went and resigned from the university together. I was waiting tables at a new restaurant, On the Border, so there wasn't much income being contributed by me. I was tired of wedding details, and just wanted to forget about all of it.

Eventually, I settled down, and really enjoyed my wedding. Friends said it was the most fun wedding they had ever been to, but I don't remember a lot of the details. What I do remember is that I cried through the entire ceremony, and at the reception, Darren and I had a private waiter. Every time we'd take a picture, which was too often for me, our waiter would dispose of our drinks. Consequently, neither of us had much to eat or drink that night. Our two sixteen-year-old bridesmaids, on the other hand, had the time of their lives! My sister and her best friend drank numerous glasses of wine, danced, and leaned against columns for support. Beth went home first, when her dad found her dancing cosily with Darren's step-dad. Natalie was taken home by some neighbors later on, and they put her to bed. Darren and I went to Mom and Dad's house that night to tell her goodbye, and she was passed out cold.

The night of our wedding, Darren and I stayed in a bed and breakfast about a mile from my parents' house. We arrived long after everyone else had gone to bed, shook the birdseed off our bodies, and went to bed. The time changed that night, so we arrived an hour early for breakfast that morning. While waiting on breakfast, we read the local newspaper, which had a picture of the bed we had just slept in. Apparently the house was haunted. Thank God we didn't encounter any spirits that night! We were too tired to notice anything, anyway.

That morning, we went to Mom and Dad's, opened presents, and headed to Memphis. We spent a night there, then drove through Tennessee to Nashville. I think we spent the night there, visited Graceland, then drove through the mountains to Chattanooga. We stayed in an old train car at the Chattanooga Choo-Choo, where I stayed with my parents at a much younger age. We toured Rock City and Lookout Mountain, then headed for the Gatlinburg area. We spent two nights in a cabin in the mountains near Sevierville, and had a wonderful time. The weather was perfect, the leaves were gorgeous, and we were in love. We then went to Atlanta, and took the Marta train to the World of Coca-Cola. We explored Underground Atlanta, and turned toward Baton Rouge the next morning. After 8 hours in the car, and an hour away from home, we were no longer speaking. I think it had something to do with Darren talking during a good song on the radio. I sure am used to that now; if Darren isn't talking, then Zach is. There isn't much silence around my house!

For our tenth anniversary, we are supposed to be spending next weekend in Austin. I haven't been there in eight years, and am looking forward to getting away for a few days. We have a long list of things to do; we go on vacation to do stuff, not relax. I hope that we have a wonderful time!

What a Week (or Two) It's Been!

Just when I thought things were settling down for me, and looking forward to having a calmer month, October came along like a bulldozer. We recovered from Hurricane Rita, thinking, "Well, that wasn't bad at all. It was nice to have the extra days off!" On the Sunday after Rita, the 25th, the cable company lost power just before the season premiere of Desperate Housewives. We ended up having to listen to the show on my kitchen radio, which wasn't the same. That same night, my cool new kitchen light flickered and faded, and eventually turned off, not to be revived. We figured there was a loose wire in there, and we'd get to it when we could.

That Monday, the 26th, our dear power company began doing what they called "rolling blackouts", and assured us that we wouldn't be affected for more than an hour at a time. They were doing this to try to help turn on customers who had lost power during Rita. Their rolling blackouts turned into 4-5 hours at a time, and usually during the hottest part of the day, or just when I was about to cook dinner. They'd go off for an hour, come back on for an hour, then go back off for several hours. What fun that was! Thankfully, that only lasted for 3 or 4 days, and we are back to business as usual. The grocery stores and gas stations are restocked, and we finally cleaned up our backyard yesterday.

My parents came in that Thursday night from Louisiana, because Darren had surgery on Friday. He has had a lump on the side of his neck since the eighth grade, and finally decided to have it removed. The lump had grown steadily since it appeared, and was about the size of a chicken nugget. The doctor thought it was a benign cyst, and we weren't worried about the procedure. We left the house at the ungodly hour of 5am, then drove an hour to downtown Houston. Darren's surgery was at 8:00, they woke him up around 9:45, and kicked him out ten minutes later. It turns out that the lump was a giant ingrown hair; when his beard started to develop as a teenager, that hair grew in instead of out, wrapped around, and a cyst formed around it. Darren went back for a check-up on Friday, and the doctor told him that the hair was over a foot long. Gross! She took out his stitches, and the swelling is almost gone. It looks great!

Darren slept for most of the weekend after his surgery, so I took my parents and son shopping. My poor dad is stuck with Zach every time we are together. Poppa is Zach's favorite person, and I cease to exist when he is around. Lately, though, Zach is becoming more and more defiant to Poppa, and rude to my mom, so Poppa is losing patience with him. He needs to get back in his good graces; he hopefully won't be the only grandchild forever.

Darren did get up long enough to drive into Houston Saturday night. He took me to dinner for my birthday, a week late, at the Melting Pot. It's a cool fondue restaurant, and everyone has a private booth, and you eat until you feel sick. We ate every bite of our cheese course, salad, meat course, and chocolate course. I can't believe I didn't explode! It was fun, and we hadn't been there in a couple of years.

I knew I had a busy week ahead of me, and I was dreading it. I found out on Saturday that I had a Creative Memories meeting on Monday night. I knew that Darren had a huge project due Wednesday, and wouldn't be able to get home to watch Zach. I didn't want to go to the meeting, but I knew that I needed to. Zach had a wonderful time, and I had to drag him out of Laura's house! He loves being around kids so much, I know he'll make a great big brother someday.

Tuesday, I had an eye doctor appointment after work, my first in 14 years. They ended up dilating my eyes, and I barely made it home. It was 8:30 before it didn't hurt to keep my eyes open, and I decided to get a head start on my cooking for the sorority meeting/Creative Memories show that I was hosting on Wednesday. I started browning some chicken on the stove, and put some cookies in the oven to bake. I was feeling so well-prepared and domestic, and all proud of myself. Just then, the oven started to beep, and "FI" starting flashing on the control panel. I opened the oven and pulled the cookie sheet out, and the parchment paper looked like it had started to burn. Three cookies slid off the sheet, and onto the element. They immediately ignited, and I now had a small fire in my oven. I kept trying to turn the oven off, but the elements wouldn't switch off, and the temperature kept rising. Darren finally went and turned the breaker off, leaving Zach alone in the bathtub in the dark, but smoke kept billowing out. I decided to call the non-emergency number for the fire department, thinking they could tell me how to get the smoke out of our house. They decided to send a truck over, and I asked them not to turn on the sirens and lights. About 30 seconds later, I heard approaching sirens, so Zach and I went out to the driveway to wait for them. He was so excited to see the pretty lights! The firemen used a huge fan to blow the smoke out of the house, removed my charred Pampered Chef stoneware pieces from the oven where I store them, and checked the area around the stove for heat with a cool infrared camera thing. By the time they left, it was 10:00, and I stayed up until 1:00 cleaning the kitchen. We put in a call to the home warranty people that night to have the stove looked at.

Wednesday night, I had the sorority meeting at my house, and it was fun. I sold enough Creative Memories stuff to stay active until the end of January, so I don't have to worry about that right now. I just have to worry about the fact that I have an all-day event scheduled for next Saturday, and no one is registered to come. I don't want to waste all the pretty stickers and new products on me! I guess I'll sit and crop alone...

Well, 6:00 is going to come early, so I'll have to finish this later. It's taking way too much effort to look at the screen.