The Best Laid Plans . . .

As just about everyone knows, I am a huge party planner. I love to come up with themes and coordinate the food, activities and prizes. Just witness my excellent Pi Day Party! So, when our dear friends, Raymond and Claire Lininger, and their three children, Drew, Cora and Audra, decided to move home to Oklahoma, I needed no prompting to dive right in and start planning. I planned three games for the party yesterday: Pin the Liningers on OK, OK Trivia, and Find as Many Words in Shawnee, Oklahoma as You Can. The prizes for the games were to be little baskets of cornbread and bean soup mixes, with a large gift for the Liningers that also included a bottle of Texas wine. You know, to remember us by. Plus, I planned on making Feta Salsa and a few different crackers to share as well.

The games (except for drawing OK on a posterboard) were all completed earlier in the week, but I had planned on doing the grocery and gift shopping/assembly on Saturday. Saturday morning, Christina came over to hang out. Originally, we had planned on playing tennis, but rain (blessed rain!) prevented us from doing so. Instead we ended up running errands together: the craft store to pick up party gift supplies (me) and the guitar store to drool over guitars (Christina). We ended with a nice lunch at New York Pizza and Pasta in downtown Beaumont. An altogether lovely time but now it was time for me to head home and get started on party preparations . . . (cue the foreboding music). Christina was driving and as she came up to a blind intersection with the largest road in town besides the interstate, a truck traveling in the cross-direction ran the red. She slammed on her brakes, and avoided the truck . . . but T-boned the two-horse trailer (complete with two horses!) it was towing. Scariest moment of my life, by far! Thank God for safety engineering and my parents for instilling a seat-belt wearing habit. Had we not been wearing our seat-belts, there is no question we would have been through the windshield and absorbing who knows what sort of impact with our heads. The airbags deployed (thankfully, no chemical burns) and the crumple zone worked perfectly. In fact, considering that it was a head-on collision (for us) at a decent clip (Christina was going around 45 mph before hitting the brakes) the fact that we walked away with no more than some nasty whiplash is amazing. Even the horses, who were lying one on top of the other in the flipped trailer, appeared to have no more serious injuries than a few bloody lacerations. God’s hand was definitely over us all.

Of course, this seriously derailed the plans for the day. There was the waiting to give statements to the police. There was the unloading of Christina’s car into Michael’s (he came right away when I called him). Christina is in the midst of moving houses/offices, so that was a lot of stuff! There was the ibuprofen popping and snoozing at home. And finally, the driving up to Christina’s new place in Lumberton and unloading her items. By the time that was all completed, I had little more than 2 hours to run to the grocery store, assemble the gifts, make the food and draw Oklahoma on the posterboard I’d picked up. Needless to say, some items got scrapped, most notably the crackers. Michael wanted me to scrap it all, but I just couldn’t not have something for the Liningers. I think all the standing in the kitchen aggravated my bruised foot, though, so by the time I got to the party, I couldn’t really walk. Hence, pictures are slim, although you can see a few more at Steph's and Claire’s blogs. We all had fun and I know our friends appreciated the activities we planned. Godspeed to Oklahoma, Liningers! We will miss you very much!

Adley choo-chooing while Michelle looks on

Brian and Moses and a bright green cast

Drew also gets in on the train action

Pre-Fourth Weekend in Houston

For Michael's birthday (way back in February), I gave him a "weekend in Houston," complete with tickets to two of the three games that the 'Stros were playing this Fourth of July weekend . . . against the Red Sox. I know he misses getting to see them with any regularity and I have never seen them, so I knew he would enjoy going to the games. Plus, we continued our tradition of going to the Alley Theatre's "Summer Chills" series.

I had a bit of a time deciding what hotel to book. I wanted it to be a nice one in downtown Houston (and Michael insisted on a pool), but I'm also a cheapskate. Finally, I bit the bullet and used Hotwire. We ended up at the Hyatt Regency. I was a little concerned about its distance from the theatre and the ballpark, but when we got there, we discovered they had a free downtown shuttle that would take you anywhere in the downtown area. Score! And, there was a Einstein Bros bagel shop in the lobby! Not a ton of savory selections, but still better than Beaumont. We really enjoyed our stay there, so I definitely recommend it to any of y'all that might be wanting to stay downtown. Plus, in looking at hotels since then, I've generally found it to be the cheapest 4+ star hotel in the area with a pool. Can't go wrong!

Friday we drove out, checked in a the hotel and headed straight for the game. We were pretty high up, almost directly behind home plate. So, while the players were small, we had an excellent view of the action. We were, of course cheering for the Sox, and I was getting concerned when, by the top of the 7th inning, the Sox were down 1-5. We had mostly Astros fans around us, and one gave us a sympathetic look and said "that's ok, you'll probably win tomorrow," at which point her companion shushed her and said "it's not over yet, they may still win tonight!" Sure enough, that inning the Sox scored 6 runs and won the game 7-5. Poor 'Stros. They are the worst team in baseball right now. What a downfall from when I moved here in 2005 and they won the NLCS!

Can you tell who those people are? Yeah, me neither.

We won! We Won!

After the game, we stayed for the fireworks show, which was pretty impressive. I tried to take some pictures, but did not have much success.

Michael claims that Citgo sign is a poor imitation of Fenway

A semi-decent fireworks shot! Sometimes, I surprise myself.

Saturday was mostly spent lazing around. We went to the Galleria to visit Michael's  favorite store: Brooks Brother's. We actually spent more time in their women's store, picking out some sweaters for me. I recently pulled my white (and only) cardigan out of the washer to discover yellow stains all over it. I really like having a sweater, since the AC in SETX can be freezing, but I had no luck finding any in the middle of summer. Fortunately, BB had several nice options and Michael spoiled me by buying three, plus a few polo shirts. He is gradually working to make me less of a schlub . . . poor man, he's got a long way to go! ;-P

That afternoon was spent at the hotel's rooftop pool and we both managed to escape with little to no sunburning. Woohoo! We then headed to a restaurant near the theatre for dinner . . . and dinner took far less time than we anticipated. Consequently,we had a good hour to kill before the show started so we wandered out around the small park near the theatre. Now, in view of how this is sort of a diary of our lives and really our only method of keeping a record of what has happened, I'm going to transcribe what we encountered in the park, but I warn you it is not pretty. So feel free to skip to this next paragraph, if you'd like!

As we entered the park and started walking along the river, a teenager came up and said "I don't know if you want to go down there, I think the guy laying down there is dead." Apparently, he and his friends had come across this man, sleeping (or so they thought) on a park bench, but something didn't seem right. When they couldn't wake him, they called 911 and emergencies crews were already on their way. Sure enough, when the EMTs arrived, they determined he was deceased. We didn't talk to the emergency crew, as we were not the people who discovered the body, but I am betting that the extreme heat that has been gripping all of Texas was the ultimate factor.

When we finally made it to the theatre, we had an excellent time at the show. They were producing Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None. I had read the book, but didn't remember all of it, plus she changed it up when she adapted it for the stage, so I was suitably mystified and surprised. So was Michael. Alley Theatre, as always, did an excellent job and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. I wish we lived closer, so we could take more advantage of the it . . . although, to be honest, many of the shows they produce, I probably wouldn't want to go see anyway. They are doing Anton Chekov's The Seagull in February, though, so that will probably be Michael's birthday present next year! (Don't worry, I'm not giving anything away. One, we've already talked about it and two, he never reads this!).

Sunday was church back at St. Martin's, the best Episcopal church we found in the Houston area thus far, and then on to the game. We sat on the deck, in right field, so were much closer to the players, but not quite as good a view of all the action. Still enjoyable, particularly when the Sox won, sweeping the series. I think I can call Michael's birthday present a success!

More anonymous players

I guess that's why they're called the Red Sox.

House poor . . .

And cash rich! Praise the Lord, I signed the paperwork to finish the sale of my house in Nederland today. Apparently, I'd paid more on the mortgage than I realized, so we should be getting a nice cash infusion here shortly. Of course, it'll immediately go towards Michael's mortgage, so we won't really see it, but it is such a relief to be done with the house. Much as the liquidation is nice, I'm almost more excited about the fact that I no longer have to worry about upkeep anymore. No more lawn mowing for me!!!! :-D

Post-cruise fun

I had a training class in Seattle the week after the cruise (which means my company paid for my flight there and back. Score!) but it didn't start until Tuesday. Rather than hang out all by my lonesome in Seattle, I went with Peter and Melissa to Oak Harbor for the evening. Sunday we didn't do too much besides get home (after a reather stressful time navigating getting everything to the van after getting off the ship), do a little unpacking (them, not me!) and watch a movie and hit the hay. Monday, I took the kids to McDonald's for breakfast and play time and then to the neighborhood park for more play time. I had to take the shuttle back to Seattle on Monday afternoon so I'd be ready to go bright and early Tuesday, so it wasn't a very long time with them, but any extra time with my babies is a plus in my book! Coincidentally, the shuttle driver knew Peter and Melissa and had been in a Bible study with them. I made sure to give him plenty of dirt on Peter!

Hard to catch him looking at you!

David did NOT like this slide. I ended up having to climb in there and rescue him. Not so easy to get through those tubes when you're more than four feet tall!

Sarah, on the other hand, loved it!

There I got his beautiful face

She INSISTED on pulling the wagon

Visiting Garfield

Michael and I flew to Seattle a few days early for our Alaska cruise (posts coming soon, I promise) so we could spend some time with his good friend Garfield and family. Garfield was Michael's teacher at TJ (history, I believe) and they have kept in touch. They even went to Jamaica (Garfield's home) together with a few other former students once! We had a blast with Garfield, Eddie and their adorable children: Montrey and Sanaa. Activities included attending the local Duck Daze parade, riding to the top of the Space Needle and learning how to play Carcassonne. It was great to meet them and to have a few days to adjust to Pacific time before hopping on the cruise!

Ah, this brings back memories!

They stopped and did a routine right in front of us . . . so fun!

Proof that Michael occasionally get behind the camera

Sanaa, Garfield, Eddie, and Montrey

Yep, we're going to the top of that!

Nice view of Mount Rainier and the city

Ah, the beautiful site of industry

Somewhere down there is Melissa's favorite Chinese place

Is that our cruise ship? May be!

Proof we really went to the top . . .

And to Pike Place Market!

Another Rainier shot . . . this time from a moving vehicle

Opal Wedding

For Memorial Day, Michael and I took a mini-vacation to Nebraska. Now, if you are not a Nebraskan, this may seem like an odd destination . . . unless you happen to be a huge Taylor Swift fan and wanted to be there for the first North American concert of her world tour, held in Omaha! Woohoo!! Oh wait, we aren’t Taylor Swift fans and we weren’t there for her concert and we did have to deal with hordes of jay-walking teenage (pre-teen? They all looked young to me.) girls wearing ridiculous jean skirts and cowboy boots. Plus jacked up parking prices. Despite the takeover, we really liked Omaha . . . especially the steak. But I’m getting ahead of myself! Let’s start over . . . 

For Memorial Day, Michael and I traveled to Nebraska for the wedding of our dear friends, Deanna Sandman and Frank Opal. The wedding was held on Sunday in Lincoln, but because we were flying into Omaha, we stayed there at a hotel near the airport. Not only did we get to see Frank and Deanna tie the knot, we also got to catch up with good friends. Saturday, we were able to spend time with Justin Rucker (who recently moved to Arizona) and with Kelly Shepherd and Melanie Spradling (who is slumming in DC). Really, though, the highlight of Saturday was making the requisite visit to an Omaha chophouse. Yummy! Although, expensive! But, it was good steak!

Sunday, we woke early to go to the first service at Trinity Cathedral, so we could get to Lincoln early to spend more time with Mel and Kelly before the wedding. They ended up helping Dee get ready, though, so weren’t available as soon as we got there. Making lemonade out of lemons (or rather, wine out of grapes) we took the opportunity to visit a local winery. After the tour (well, really, just a tasting), there was just enough time to grab lunch with Mel and Kelly and head to the wedding. The ceremony was beautiful, the reception a blast and the attempts to blow up water balloons to decorate their honeymoon suite a truly dizzying experience. But enough of me jabbering . . . let’s get to the good stuff!

Hanging out at the Gene Leahy Mall in Omaha on Saturday.

Beautiful bride . . . guess the groom 'tain't bad neither!

Here's a PSA: water balloons are not designed to be blown up by air!