Sugarland, warm breeze blowing, long dirt roadSeveral weeks ago, a lady called the store and asked if we had 2 of a specific remembrance albums for first communion, which she needed by April 26th, 'cause she was going out of town on the 27th. We didn't have it in stock, but it comes from a company we order from all the time, so I took down the information and put it on the order form. Jan assured me that she would be finishing the order soon, so I left it alone and went about my business.
First time that I saw him was such a long time ago
I was sixteen going on seventeen
Bluebonnet Texas queen fell in love with a rodeo king
Down in Sugarland
A couple weeks later, the lady calls and asks about the books. I checked, and yes, they'd been ordered, but not until the 19th. That's barely enough time for them to get here by the day she needed them. I told her we'd call her when they came in, and hung up.
Fast forward to Thursday, the 26th. The lady calls again, and became rather irate when Carrie told her the books weren't here and probably wouldn't be until Monday. And I do mean irate. So we figured the best thing to do would be to call around to the other Catholic bookstores in Houston and see if anyone had two. I called five bookstores, going in order of distance from us (the closest being 30 - 45 minutes away) and finally found two at a store in Sugarland.
I grabbed a roll of quarters for toll money and a water bottle from the fridge, hopped in the car and headed down to Sugarland. The traffic, thank God, wasn't very bad at all for lunch hour, and I got right through the toll booths. $4 in tolls, 2 hours and 70 miles later, I had the two books back at the store, and the lady was coming to get them in a couple hours.
Customer service gives me a headache. But now I wanna live in Sugarland...
(By the way, the song Sugarland by the band Sugarland is about the town Sugarland, Texas - same place I went to. Also the home of Imperial Sugar.)
What I love about the southRegistering was exhausting... but fun. :-D It took almost all day Saturday - my feet were hurting by the time we were done. Silly 'nea forgot her comfy flip flops. Roaming the aisles at Target was interesting... we "shot" a bunch of stuff I didn't even think of 'till I saw it, and I STILL managed to forget mixing bowls. Oh well, that's what the internet's for!
If you need a Dixie Fix just come on down
That's what I love about the south
Southern belles with a drawl
Make you stop and drop your jaw
Come on y'all, shut your mouth
That's what I love about the south
I taught Avery and Stefan piano this week. Avery did amazingly well - he was in "the zone", and even though he hadn't practiced at all, after about 20 minutes he'd aced the song from last week. He was all excited, too... poor kid hardly ever gets praised for anything.
I ordered the Lutheran Book of Prayer from CPH yesterday, which I'm really excited about getting. Mom and Bekah have the hardback versions that I've been borrowing every once in awhile, so I was debating on getting that or the leather version that they have. I finally decided on the leather one, and now I can't wait to get it. I get jealous of the Catholics every once in awhile when we get really nice prayer books at the store... they be way off on theology, but they do really well with their books.
Oh look, there you go again
Puttin' on that smile again
Even though I know you've had a bad day
Doin' this, doin' that
Always puttin' yourself last
A whole lotta give and not enough take
But you can only be strong so long before you break
So
Fall
Go on and fall apart
Fall into these arms of mine
I'll catch you everytime you
Fall
Go on and lose it all
Every doubt, every fear
Every worry, every tear
I'm right here
Baby, fall
Forget about the world tonight
All that's wrong and all that's right
Lay your head on my shoulder, let it fade away
And if you wanna let go it's okay
That song is the most beautiful thing to grace country music lately. It's just... gorgeous. And oh-so-swoon worthy.
The first thing I saw when I walked into work this morning was a gigantic box of stuff from a store downtown that Jan gets junk from all the time. It was not a very exciting thing to see. I procrastinated as long as possible before diving in to it (which was less than an hour - there wasn't much else to do with Carrie and Charlotte there). It was, as expected, a bunch of junk - including a plaque for teachers (we never sell stuff for teachers, Carrie and I can't figure out why she buys it) that said "Teacher's care to the Core!". Yes, it actually had those typos. And yes, it was a pun on apples. If I was a teacher, I'd get real sick real fast of the apple jokes.
I was doing inventory before I left and I found a book on the non-fiction shelf that I hadn't noticed before - Brother Cadfael's Book of Days. Which is basically a year's worth of Brother Cadfael's wisdom taken from the Cadfael Chronicles series by Ellis Peters (which, if you like murder mysteries, are AWESOME). So, since I'd neglected to take my store discount off of $80 worth of icons I bought a couple weeks ago, I went ahead and took my discount on the $14.95 book ($1.50) and then discounted another $8 (the discount from the icons). I ended up paying somewhere around $5.90 for it - pretty shiny deal.
When I got home, I found my box from Barnes & Noble.com, which contained The Children of Hurin (I will NEVER be able to stop telling people how BEAUTIFUL that book is!!) and The Austere Academy. So I gained three books today! I can't wait to get into The Children of Hurin... I've gotta finish the Father Brown series (two more books to go in that), first.
To backtrack a little bit, on my way home from work, the drive which usually takes 20-25 minutes took me 50. And I was sick and tired of it when I was done, even with music therapy during the ordeal. I take the tollway feeder road (access road, service road, whatever y'all yankees call it) about 4ish miles as part of my drive, and just that much took 35 minutes. There was a major accident on the other side of the tollway - as in, people on the feeder couldn't even see it - and traffic was still backed up 4 miles. On the side with the accident, my neighbor came home and said it was backed up from the Galleria - which is a good 15 miles. That was probably my first major experience with really bad traffic with me driving (I've been in a heckuva lot worse more times than I can count with somebody else driving), and it was enough for me to say that I'm definitely not gonna drive from the bookstore to Conroe every day in rush hour traffic, if Jason ends up getting a job in Conroe. Bleck.
Tomorrow - er, well, in 15 minutes it'll be today - Jason and I are going to register at Macy's for our china and towels, and then hopefully to Target to register for everything else. I'm pretty excited - especially about my china. It took me forever to find a pattern I like, and this one it just perfect.
Jason's about done with the paper he's writing for school - we cannot wait for that to be over with (3 weeks!!) - and then we're gonna go watch TV. Y'all have a good weekend!
It's a long trip alone over sand and stoneCheck out the countdown. As of this post, EIGHTY DAYS 'till I get married to Jason. That is just shiny. And now, of course, I've just remembered I have to whip up a response card... but, the invitations are done except for printing! (Yes, Stan, you ARE invited. AND you'll get an invitation. ;-)) They'll hopefully be sent out mid-May or so. I'm getting so excited I could just explode!!
That lie along the road that we all must travel down
So maybe you could walk with me a while
And maybe I could rest beneath your smile
Everybody stumbles sometimes and needs a hand to hold
'Cause it's a long trip alone
Work... lately... has been work. Which usually isn't the case with my job - I typically very much enjoy what I do, but since my boss hired this new lady it hasn't been terribly enjoyable. To put it politely, she's rather... dense. She's been working here for over a month and still doesn't understand some of the most remedial tasks we do. This job is certainly teaching me patience...
Carrie, my co-worker, my favorite co-worker in the whole wide world (other than her mom, Melissa, who's on a kind of "sick leave" after hip replacement surgery), is sick with some kind of head cold. I'm trying desperately to avoid getting sick. Bekah had some kind of 24 hour flu on Friday, so I hauled Jason off to Conroe (actually - he hauled me, considering he drove me in his truck), but she's perfectly fine now and nobody else seems to have gotten it. 'tis the season, I suppose... especially since the weather's been wacked out lately.
Jason and I went with his mom up to Groesbeck, Texas to visit her side of the family on the 7th. It was awesome - it snowed. REAL snow. Lots and lots of it coming down so thick it was making Jason drive under the speed limit. It didn't stick that we saw (we left not too long after it started coming down thick so as to not get stuck 2 hours from home the day before Easter), but dang it was awesome. It's the most snow I've ever seen. It was the first snow that two of Jason's cousins had ever seen, and it was hilarious watching them in it.
On a completely unrelated note, I just ordered the Children of Hurin (and Book the Fifth of the Series of Unfortunate Events to get free shipping) from Barnes & Noble. That 40% off coupon was just too cool not to be used, plus, I've read a couple glowing reviews about it. I'm in the mood for some dark mythology, Tolkien style...
There wouldn't be no Alamo
No Cowboys in the Super Bowl
No "Lonesome Dove", No "Yellow Rose"
If it wasn't for Texas
Fort Worth would never cross my mind
There'd be no Austin city limit sign
No Lone Star of any kind
If it wasn't for Texas
Happy Texas Independence Day! Here's a couple goodies for y'all on the 171st anniversary of our independence from Mexico...
The Texas Declaration of Independence: http://www.lsjunction.com/docs/tdoi.htm
Click here to listen to "Jim-Bob" from the KILT morning show read William Travis' letter from the Alamo.
The following is something I found online a couple years back, by Bum Phillips (coach of the Houston Oilers from 1975-1980). I posted it on my blog last year, and I'm gonna do it again this year. It's just too good to miss.
Dear Friends,
Last year, I wrote a small piece about what it means to me to be a Texan. My friends know it means about damned near everything. Anyway, this fella’ asked me to reprint what I'd wrote and I didn't have it. So I set out to think about rewriting something. I considered writing about all the great things I love about Texas. There are way too many things to list. I can't even begin to do it justice. Lemme’ let you in on my short list.
It starts with The Window at Big Bend, which in and of itself is proof of God. It goes to Lake Sam Rayburn where my Granddad taught me more about life than fishin’, and enough about fishin’ to last a lifetime. I can talk about Tyler, and Longview, and Odessa and Cisco, and Abilene and Poteet and every place in between. Every little part of Texas feels special. Every person who ever flew over the Lone Star thinks of Bandera or Victoria or Manor or wherever they call "home" as the best little part of the best state.
So I got to thinking about it, and here's what I really want to say. Last year, I talked about all the great places and great heroes who make Texas what it is. I talked about Willie and Waylon and Michael Dell and Michael DeBakey and my Dad and LBJ and Denton Cooley. I talked about everybody that came to mind. It took me sitting here tonight reading this stack of emails and thinkin' about where I've been and what I've done since the last time I wrote on this occasion to remind me what it is about Texas that is really great.
You see, this last month or so I finally went to Europe for the first time. I hadn't ever been, and didn't too much want to. But you know all my damned friends are always talking about "the time they went to Europe." So, I finally went. It was a hell of a trip to be sure. All they did when they saw me was say the same thing, before they'd ever met me. "Hey cowboy, we love Texas." I guess the hat tipped ‘em off. But let me tell you what, they all came up with a smile on their faces. You know why? They knew for damned sure that I was gonna’ be nice to ‘em. They knew it ‘cause they knew I was from Texas. They knew something that hadn't even hit me. They knew Texans, even though they'd never met one.
That's when it occurred to me. Do you know what is great about Texas?
Do you know why when my friend Beverly and I were trekking across country to see 15 baseball games we got sick and had to come home after 8? Do you know why every time I cross the border I say, "Lord, please don't let me die in ______"?
Do you know why children in Japan can look at a picture of the great State and know exactly what it is about the same time they can tell a rhombus from a trapezoid? I can tell you that right quick. You. The same spirit that made 186 men cross that line in the sand in San Antonio damned near 165 years ago is still in you today. Why else would my friend send me William Barrett Travis' plea for help in an email just a week ago, or why would Charles Stenciled ask me to reprint a Texas Independence column from a year ago?
What would make my friend Elizabeth say, "I don't know if I can marry a man who doesn't love Texas like I do?" Why in the hell are 1,000 people coming to my house this weekend to celebrate a holiday for what used to be a nation that is now a state? Because the spirit that made that nation is the spirit that burned in every person who founded this great place we call Texas, and they passed it on through blood or sweat to every one of us.
You see, that spirit that made Texas what it is, is alive in all of us, even if we can't stand next to a cannon to prove it, and it's our responsibility to keep that fire burning. Every person who ever put a "Native Texan" or an "I wasn't born in Texas but I got here as fast as I could" sticker on his car understands. Anyone who ever hung a map of Texas on their wall or flew a Lone Star flag on their porch knows what I mean.
My Dad's buddy Bill has an old saying. He says that some people were forged of a hotter fire. Well, that's what it is to be Texan. To be forged of a hotter fire.
To know that part of Colorado was Texas. That part of New Mexico was Texas. That part of Oklahoma was Texas. Yep. Talk all you want. Part of what you got was what we gave you. To look at a picture of Idaho or Istanbul and say, "what the Hell is that?" when you know that anyone in Idaho or Istanbul who sees a picture of Texas knows damned good and well what it is. It isn't the shape, it isn't the state, it's the state of mind. You're what makes Texas.
The fact that you would take 15 minutes out of your day to read this, because that's what Texas means to you, that's what makes Texas what it is. The fact that when you see the guy in front of you litter you honk and think, "Sonofabitch. Littering on MY highway."
When was the last time you went to a person's house in New York and you saw a big map of New York on their wall? That was never. When did you ever drive through Oklahoma and see their flag waving on four businesses in a row? Can you even tell me what the flag in Louisiana looks like? I damned sure can't.
But I bet my ass you can't drive 20 minutes from your house and not see a business that has a big Texas flag as part of its logo. If you haven't done business with someone called All Tex something or Lone Star somebody or other, or Texas such and such, you hadn't lived here for too long.
When you ask a man from New York what he is, he'll say a stockbroker, or an accountant, or an ad exec. When you ask a woman from California what she is, she'll tell you her last name or her major. Hell either of ‘em might say "I'm a republican," or they might be a democrat. When you ask a Texan what they are, before they say, "I'm a Methodist," or "I'm a lawyer," or "I'm a Smith," they tell you they're a Texan. I got nothin' against all those other places, and Lord knows they've probably got some fine folks, but in your gut you know it just like I do, Texas is just a little different.
So tomorrow when you drive down the road and you see a person broken down on the side of the road, stop and help. When you are in a bar in California, buy a Californian a drink and tell him it's for Texas Independence Day. Remind the person in the cube next to you that he wouldn't be here enjoying this if it weren't for Sam Houston, and if he or she doesn't know the story, tell them.
When William Barrett Travis wrote in 1836 that he would never surrender and he would have Victory or Death, what he was really saying was that he and his men were forged of a hotter fire. They weren't your average everyday men.
Well, that is what it means to be a Texan. It meant it then, and that's why it means it today. It means just what all those people north of the Red River accuse us of thinking it means. It means there's no mountain that we can't climb. It means that we can swim the Gulf in the winter. It means that Earl Campbell ran harder and Houston is bigger and Dallas is richer and Alpine is hotter and Stevie Ray was smoother and God vacations in Texas.
It means that come Hell or high water, when the chips are down and the Good Lord is watching, we're Texans by damned, and just like in 1836, that counts for something. So for today at least, when your chance comes around, go out and prove it. It's true because we believe it's true. If you are sitting wondering what the Hell I'm talking about, this ain't for you.
But if the first thing you are going to do when the Good Lord calls your number is find the men who sat in that tiny mission in San Antonio and shake their hands, then you're the reason I wrote this tonight, and this is for you. So until next time you hear from me, God Bless and Happy Texas Independence Day.
May you be poor in misfortune, rich in blessings, slow to make enemies and quick to make friends. But rich or poor, quick or slow, may you know nothing but happiness from this day forward.
Bum Phillips
And I love youIt's offical. I'm now a happily engaged woman. :-D
Like all little children love pennies
And I love you
Like good times of which I've known many
And I love you
'cause I know you give me a heart of my own
You make my blood flow
Like red on a rose
Jason proposed in the wee hours of the morning on January 27th, I accepted, and he put the most beautiful ring on my finger. :-D
So... we started dating on May 7th, he proposed on January 27th, there are seven diamonds in my ring, and we'll be getting married on July 7th, 2007. It can't get much better than that. ;-) :-D
And then I crashed into youOkay, I didn't believe my sisters during American Idol last year... but now I do. Chris Daughtry is awesome. Downright amazing vocals.
And I went up in flames
Could've been the death of me
But then you breathed your breath in me
And I crashed into you
Like a runaway train
You will consume me
But I can't walk away
So my "new" toy (as in: I've had an account since November, but just had time to play with it) is LibraryThing. It's simply wonderful, and will most likely spawn random re-reading cravings as I catalog books I forgot I have. Books are beautiful. And they smell good, a fact that causes much hilarity for my co-workers. My library, for the curious: http://www.librarything.com/catalog.php?view=lynealeia
I'm heading off to Conroe in about half an hour to spend the weekend with my wonderful boy. This makes me very very happy. :-D
Y'all have a good one!
We'll do it allIt is SO COLD. For Texas, anyway - but I mean it! It's COLD! So cold they cancelled school and stuff. For some districts. And Sam Houston, so Jason doesn't have to drive up icy roads to school tomorrow. Yucky yucky cold... I want summer! Cowering under piles of blankets isn't my cup of tea. Although I do love my blankets... and my tea.
Everything
On our own
We don't need
Anything
Or anyone
If I lay here
If I just lay here
Would you lie with me and just forget the world?
All that I am
All that I ever was
Is here in your perfect eyes, they're all I can see
I don't know where
Confused about how as well
Just know that these things will never change for us at all
If I lay here
If I just lay here
Would you lie with me and just forget the world?
I think it's so funny how the weather people are calling this "the Blitz". It's a freakin winter storm, people, not a "blitz"! I mean, y'all northern people are used to this sort of thing. Just 'cause it's been unusually warm this year doesn't warrant the term "blitz" for the first winter storm that happens to howl it's way across the country. But since when do weather people make sense?
The store's been dead lately. Is anybody else in retail having this problem? I mean, I know it's after Christmas and all, but basically... ever since October sales have been down, as compared to previous years. And supposedly it's not just our store, although I suppose it might just be the Houston area. We've basically been doing less than a fourth of the normal sales. It was so dead today that I was writing my Christmas thank-you notes. And I hate writing thank-you notes, so it was definitely boring. I left at 4:30 (instead of the usual 5) after Jason called to tell me that the icy stuff was heading my way. I love my boy, he takes care of me. :-)
Piano lessons today went good. I had Sarah, the 7 y/o with enthusiasm and talent. She had actually practiced for once, so she was absolutely amazing. She had the piece memorized - the music and the words. She even nailed the glissando better than both her brothers had when they were on that lesson. I love that kid; when she puts her mind to it, she's great!
I miss Jason's body heat...
If you're goin' through hell
Keep on goin'
Don't slow down
If you're scared don't show it
You might get out
'Fore the devil even knows you're there
I live!
Nea's been busy. Work, teaching piano, two choirs, plus Christmas-crazyness and DoRena and Zach coming to visit have kept me away from my 'puter, but I'm a-gonna try once again to blog regularly. We'll see how that goes. ;-)
So in the past two weeks I have congratulated both the Rach(a)els on their engagements!! Which is SO TERRIBLY exciting!! :-D More MHers getting married off... sniff... makes me feel old, in some weird way.
Like I said, DoRena and Zach came for a week after Christmas! We had much fun. There were explosive New Years' festivities (and I do mean that literally - my cousins are pyromaniacs, and we live outside the city limits), many lazy days spent watching movies, playing Apples to Apples, and, wonder of wonders, sleeping in! Bean and I had fun relaxing. I had forgotten there was such a thing.
I got a 19" flatscreen monitor for Christmas from my parents, which is simply wonderful. It's flaaat and shiiiny and oh-so-worthy of beautiful colors. My book and DVD collections also expanded, and I will just say that 10 Things I Hate About You is one of my most favorite movies ever. Even at 1 in the morning.
I also gained another toe injury (I'm beginning to wonder why my feet have such bad luck lately): Laddie escaped from the house while Eddie-down-the-street was blowing up a large amount of Black Cats in a bucket on the cul-de-sac, and shot across the street to "attack" it. I, being a terrified "mother", ran after him and apparently hit the curb a little harder than I thought in my haste to catch him. A good chunk of skin got peeled off the tip of my big toe, and I think I cracked the toenail, too - but I don't want to cut it off and deal with that sort of injury again. For the record, I think this is my fifth toe injury in as many months. And I don't even have big feet!
One more thing: I love Jason. That is all. :-D
Under your spell againI had to quote that entire song, it's just too beautiful to cut up! So... Evanescence did it again, IMNSHO. I'm absolutely IN LOVE with The Open Door. I'm hoping against hope that I won't wear it out too soon... :-D
I can't say no to you
Crave my heart and it's bleeding in your hand
I can't say no to you
Shouldn't have let you torture me so sweetly
Now I can't let go of this dream
I can't breathe but I feel
Good enough
I feel good enough for you
Drink up sweet decadence
I can't say no to you
And I've completely lost myself, and I don't mind
I can't say no to you
Shouldn't have let you conquer me completely
Now I can't let go of this dream
Can't believe that I feel
Good enough
I feel good enough
It's been such a long time coming, but I feel good
And I'm still waiting for the rain to fall
Pour real life down on me
'Cause I can't hold on to anything this good enough
Am I good enough for you to love me too?
So take care what you ask of me
'cause I can't say no
Last week, a husband and wife came in to the store with their year-and-a-half-ish-old son. They were quiet and nice so I didn't exactly pay much attention to them... other than the fact that the kid stared at me like I was some weirdo (then again, I can't say I blame him) while I was restocking. But later, Melissa walked into the back room and said to Carrie, "Man, Carrie, you were right. He STINKS!" Carrie explained after I prodded...
Apparently this family comes in about once a week. And every single time, without fail, the kid takes a crap in his diaper. Every time. So a couple minutes later the mom took him into the bathroom and changed his diaper - much to Carrie's chagrin. After they left, she RAN into the bathroom, took out the trash, washed the sink, and sprayed the whole bathroom with a de-smellifier (so scientifical I am, I know). I turned to Melissa and asked "So does Carrie actually want kids of her own?" and Mellisa said "Oddly enough, yes. But they won't poop. They wouldn't dare." *snort*
I love my job. :-D
You better lose yourself in the music, the moment
So. What's new, you ask? Let's see...
You own it, you better never let it go
You only get one shot, do not miss your chance to blow
This opportunity comes once in a lifetime
I'm not going to college, and I'm VERY happy about it. I do, however, now have a job!! :-D I'm also VERY happy about that. I'm working at a Catholic bookstore about 15 minutes from home. On a street that was named after my relatives. :-P I just started yesterday, but it looks like it's gonna be awesome. My hours are 10 to 5, Monday through Friday, with the exception of Wednesday when I get off at 4:30 so I can make it to Tomball for choir. This is exactly what I wanted. :-D
Jason and I are still doing wonderfully. :-D We're still alternating between Conroe and here on weekends, but unfortunately Wednesday nights in Conroe have to stop 'cause choir's starting tomorrow. :-( Hopefully I'll survive. ;-P
Speaking of choir, I'm now the accompanist for the voice choir, because our organist got a new job and can't do anything other than Sunday mornings, which pretty much stinks... but a lady at church who's very good musically volunteered to direct the choirs, so we still have them. :-)
To wrap up this post... the Astros are doing good, Gilmore Girls and Lost are starting this week, and my toenails are painted purple. :-D PANTS, y'all!
Everybody needs somethin' to keep them strongBethany has tagged me. And I think I'll actually enjoy this one!
Yeah, something they can feel down in their bones
For me there ain't no substitute
For three simple chords an' the God's honest truth
And a steel guitar from the heart to take me home
1. One book that changed your life:
Besides the obvious - the Bible - I'd have to say the Mandie series by Lois Gladys Leppard. Because, well, they're what made me such a bookworm to begin with - and I'd say me being a bookworm has quite shaped my life.
2. One book you've read more than once:
The Wall by John Hersey. I think I've read it more than any other book... and I've never been quite sure why.
3. One book you'd want on a desert island:
When I was younger, I always said I'd want Robinson Crusoe... I was a very practical child. :-P But, these days I'd have to agree with Mrs. Casey and say The Lutheran Hymnal.
4. One book that made you laugh:
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams.
5. One book that made you cry:
Exodus by Leon Uris.
6. One book that you wish had been written:
More Brother Cadfael novels! I wish that series would never end...
7. One book that you wish had never been written:
The Purpose Driven Life... because I've seen it corrupt tooo many people. Icky icky.
8. One book you're currently reading:
Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen, after which will be Persuasion and Mansfield Park, and then my quest to read all the Jane Austen novels will be complete!
9. One book you've been meaning to read:
Someday I WILL finish War and Peace! Someday... yes... key word...
10. Scariest book you've ever read:
I don't think a book has ever really scared me... but some of the Brother Cadfael novels have come close.
I'll tag Anna, Naomi, Nathan and Padre.
If I gave you my hand would you take itSo um... I haven't blogged lately! Apologies to my MOTHER and SISTER who apparently stalk me. ;-P
And make me the happiest man in the world
If I told you my heart couldn't beat one more minute without you, girl
Would you accompany me to the edge of the sea
Let me know if you're really a dream
I love you so, so would you go with me
The conference was wonderful, Colorado is beautiful, the Stuckwischs are so much fun, the wedding was awesome, and I am thoroughly sick of being in the van. That, my friends, is my summary of the past... four weeks. ;-) I'm gonna try to figure out a way to upload the wedding pictures I took so y'all can see them at some point... I won't put the link on here, but I'll let y'all know when I get them done so you can ask me for the link.
As for other general life shtuff, Jason and I are still doing great. :-D Nea is happyyyy. I get to go to the Renaissance Festival this fall AND an Astros game on September 3rd, not to mention all the LiGW stuff coming up, and two lockins - one with the local people and one HT lockin on Reformation weekend that should be awesome.
This weekend we're taking a day trip to San Antonio for my cousin's birthday party, which should be fun - believe it or not, I've lived in Texas all my life and never actually been to San Antonio. Weird, I know. ;-)
Well, that's all I can think of for now... PANTS, y'all!
Dancin' when the stars go blueWell howdy there, strangers! I've been neglecting my poor widdle blog, haven't I? Well, considering it's been almost two months since I last blogged, I figured I'd better get around to it. ;-)
Dancin' when the evening fell
Dancin' in your wooden shoes
In a wedding gown
Where do you go when you're lonely
Where do you go when you're blue
Where do you go when you're lonely, I'll follow you
When the stars go blue
Time's been flying by and I've been keeping incredibly busy. I'm in Conroe almost as much as I'm in Houston, which makes me vewy happy... everything's been working out to where I see Jason twice a week - on the weekends and again on Wednesday evenings at St. Mark's youth Bible study. I've been managing to hitch a ride with my mom to Tomball and then with my 4th cousin Jason Toombs from Tomball to Conroe (he also goes to Bible study). Toombs takes me back to Tomball and I pick up my dad's car from Zion, where he left it after Bible study there, and drive myself home.
This past weekend Jason and I got invited by a family from St. Mark up to their lake house on Lake Conroe, so I went up to Jason's house Monday night, and then Tuesday we went to the lake and went swimming, relaxed in the hot tub, and went out on their boat to watch the fireworks display in Bentwater, one of the really expensive neighborhoods on the lake. It was sooo much fun. And now Nea wants a lake house. ;-P
I simply can't believe that the Feast is a mere 12 days away! We're leaving in 10 days... I am SO beyond excited!! :-D I've still got to decide on which sectionals to attend... I'll be attending a few of the Internet Services-hosted sectionals, since I'm an IS content manager, and I've also got to work the LiGW booth twice during the conference (which thankfully only requires me to miss 5 minutes of the sectionals I'm attending to get to the booth), so that helps my decisions ever so slightly.
After the Feast my family is going to take off on a whirlwind tour of Colorado and then head home... I've spent about 6 hours total planning this trip and I'm almost sick of it before we even get started. ;-P We'll get home on Friday the 28th (as of the current schedule that may change), and then my mom, sisters and I will be leaving again on August 1st to head up to Indiana, where I'll be riding with the Rheins and Bean to Wisconsin for Nathan and Katie's wedding. We'll be home again on either the 9th or 10th. So basically, life is only gonna get crazier until the middle of August, but I'm looking forward to all of it!
In other news... I got my hair chopped off. O:-) Well, not THAT short - about 6 or 7 inches - but it feels short to me! It's a few inches below my shoulders now, and it looks much better. It was starting to get damaged and thin below that point, so now I can grow it out again and it'll look much better.
Tonight I get to go see Pirates 2 (YAY!!) with my sisters, Jason, Pr. Mallie and Carrie, and then Jason's kidnapping me and taking me back to Conroe, where I'll be 'till Saturday night.
So! Hopefully that's a decent enough update... I'll attempt to blog more before we leave, but I can't promise anything. ;-) PANTS, y'all!
There's a new wind blowin' like I've never knownIn case you haven't heard or you didn't see it coming... Jason and I are officially dating now. ;-) I don't think I've "described" him here before... so... he's 23, lives in Conroe and goes to church at St. Mark. He's a finance/banking major at Sam Houston State, and now he's myyy boyfriend. :-D
I'm breathin' deeper than I've ever done
And it sure feels good, to finally feel the way I do
I wanna love somebody, love somebody like you
So! I've had a busy week, yet again. Friday after Hanna's confirmation questioning I went with Jason, Paige, Jonathan, Bekah, the other Jason (who happens to be my sixth cousin) and a bunch of St. Mark people to play pool. Bekah and I spent the night at Paige's and tanned in her backyard on Saturday. I think this summer I may end up actually having a decent tan - I won't be deathly pale for The Feast! ;-)
Sunday was Hanna's confirmation, and we had a party back at our house afterwards. A bunch of my family including the boys was there, plus Jason, Paige, our friend Matt from Corpus and Hanna's friend Eddie. We had a good time!
Monday I didn't do much of anything. Tuesday I went up to Conroe for a LiGW website meeting thingy with Scott and Stan (PB and Jason were also there), got to hang out with PB, Jason and Stan afterwards, and then Jason took me back to Tomball. Wednesday was the usual craziness and today is kind of an in-between day, because tomorrow St. Mark is having a lockin in "honor" of Stan being here. So, I'm in for another crazy weekend, but it should be fun, as usual!
Well, my mom has decided that it's way too nice of a day to stay inside, so we're going to pick up some lunch and eat at the park. Have a great weekend, y'all, and congrats to most of you on the end of the semester!!
And we're not gonna live forever
So life has been crazy, as usual! I've been spending most weekends in Tomball or thereabouts, and my weekdays have been split between church functions, teaching piano, looking for a job and stuff like that.
Can you tell me is it now or never
I'm not gonna make up your mind
I don't wanna live without you
And I don't wanna live a lie
We'll never know 'till we try
Yeah we'll never know 'till we try
This past weekend I went to the mall with Jason, went bowling with Jason, Paige and Cecily, watched three movies (including United 93 - if you get the chance, GO SEE THAT MOVIE!) with them, got very little sleep and drank a ton of caffeine.
Monday I went and registered for fall classes at Tomball College! I'm actually pretty excited about it, believe it or not. ;-) I'll be taking English, History, Music Lit, German and Biology (the last of which will be taken online - apparently it's easier and better if you're not a science person to take it online). I'm gonna go for an Associate of Arts degree with an area of concentration in history... which basically means I get to take three extra history courses. ;-P I'm taking four semesters' worth of German to make up most of my electives, and for kinesiology I'm taking country and western dance - can it get any better than that? ;-)
My widdle sister Hanna is getting confirmed this weekend... dude. My whole family is practically grown up now. It's kinda scary, but cool at the same time. A bunch of the family is coming in for it, so it should be fun!
That's all I've got for now... I shall leave you with a quote from an article by Rob Long in the May 8th edition of National Review (the first sentence cracks me up):
"There's a part of every Frenchman that adores the philosophical drama of a good, solid national crackup. For one thing, it really gives the language a workout. The reason French is often described as the language of diplomacy isn't just that it's flowery and foggy and vague. It's also the language of wonderfully pompous concern."
Starin' down the stars
Musical flavor of the moment: Nickel Creek, Randy Rogers Band and Cross Canadian Ragweed. You just gotta love artists that haven't gone Nashvilleized and yet are *incredibly* wonderful... thank yous go to Paige and Landon for addicting me. ;-)
Jealous of the moon
You wish you could fly
Just stayin' where you are
There's nothin' you can do
If you're too scared to try
Had a whirlwind Holy Week, which was perfect, 'cause it didn't give me time to overanalyze anything. :-P Friday from 8:30 to 3:30 me, Bekah, Landon, Paige and Jonathan painted the overhang on the parish hall, which turned out to be SO much fun. :-D I love painting, and having friends around makes it that much better. Pr. Mallie was there and didn't have anything to do, so he came out and chatted with us for awhile, too. Can I say, again, that he is AWESOME?! lol. He's an absolutely perfect match for what our church needs right now.
Easter was wonderful, as always! Pr. Mallie preached his first sermon with us in the late service, and after church we headed up to Lufkin and spent the rest of the day with Uncle Tom, Aunt Gina and the boys.
Today I haven't done much other than pick up yet another job application at a coffee shop on 1960 and listen to Nickel Creek's latest CD almost three times through.
Landon made an interesting observation on Sunday morning. Bekah and I both had on dresses, and he had apparently been talking to Bekah about these type of dresses on Friday. So he comes up, points to what we're wearing, and says something to the effect of "Now, see, THESE are the type of dresses guys like to see on girls in church. Not shorts, jeans, pant suits, or whatever - but DRESSES. Girls wear pants too much to church and not enough dresses." Now, before someone jumps all over me, I DO realize that dressing up for church isn't about impressing guys. ;-P This apparently isn't just about church, either; it's any sort of formal function. Now, moving on. So, if this is the case, why don't more girls wear dresses? And, not just dresses, but modest, attractive dresses? They dress either like sluts or feminists, and then wonder why they can't get a decent guy. And have I mentioned how hard they make it on the rest of us to find decent clothes, church clothes in particular? Nobody sells the good stuff because the slutty and mannish stuff is what sells. I don't get it... I guess I'll just have to chalk it up to feminisim, even though that's probably too broad of a generalization, and continue keeping my eyes peeled for the few-and-far-between good church outfits that I rarely find.
Okay, enough rambling for one blog post! Happy Easter everybody! :-D
Blurring and stirring the truth and the liesAnother hugely busy weekend for Nea! I just can't escape life, it seems. ;-)
So I don't know what's real and what's not
Always confusing the thoughts in my head
So I can't trust myself anymore
I'm dying again
I'm going under
Drowing in you
I'm falling forever
I've got to break through
I've got to breathe I can't keep going under
Friday night Paige spent the night here, and we FINALLY got to see Pride and Prejudice!! It was SO wonderful. And it made us SO twitterpated. :-P Saturday we got up and went up to church to wash windows, clean the youth room, and we were gonna paint but it was WAY too windy. At 3 we played softball with Living Word and St. Mark; I had a loverly chat with PB which is always good. Went to Chili's with St. Mark, and then went to Kohl's where I got a new swim suit, even though our stupid pool doesn't open 'till Memorial Day. It used to open on the weekends in May, but nooo... they just have to torture me. Not to mention the hours this year are 12 to 7 on the weekdays, and 12 to 8 on the weekends. What the heck are they thinking?!
Sunday! Palm Sunday! Pr. Mallie's installation!! He ROCKS. We are BEYOND EXCITED to have him here. :-D :-D
I got a nice sunburn at the softball game which I'm now having to deal with... what fun. :-P I'm hoping it'll hurry up and turn into a tan without peeling too much... I haaate the peeling stage. Thankfully it's mainly just my shoulders... I didn't get anything on my face. It'll be a nice tanline later though. ;-P
My Astros are doing good so far! 4 wins, 2 losses, and they're playing right now. I just love baseball. :-D Backe, Biggio and Berkman are "my men" this year... and I still have much love for ol' Baggy, poor baby. Yes, I like my killer Bees. ;-)
That's all I've got for y'all today... pants!
You look at me, but you're not quite sureWell! I sure had a huge fun weekend. :-D Paige IMed me Friday night and said she was gonna come kidnap me to spend the night at her house, so I threw a bunch of stuff in a bag and went to Tomball. Saturday we drove up to Conroe to go with Jason to the Montgomery County Fair, which was reeeally fun! I haven't been to a county fair in at least 8 years, and I forgot how awesome it was. We stayed out there 'till about 9:30 after going to Chili's, and then came back to Tomball. I ended up spending the night at Paige's Saturday night, and Sunday we went to church, I fixed her computer and we almost slept through the youth meeting. When I got home I watched last Wednesday's Lost with Bekah and Hanna... I KNEW HE WAS AN OTHER. Nyah. ;-P
Am I it or could you get more?
You learned cool from magazines
You learned love from Charlie Sheen
If you want me let me know
I promise I won't say no
Follow your heart, your intuition
It will lead you in the right direction
Let go of your mind, your intuition
It's easy to find
Just follow your heart baby
Yesterday I taught piano, and today I haven't done much of anything except finish Grapes of Wrath. Good book!
Anna might get to come see me at the end of May!! :-D I'm very very excited about that and the Garner trip at the beginning of June. Yay for seeing people!
Okay, that's all I can think of... my brain's kinda not here today. But that's okay!
I'm quite madly in love with this layout... yes, I am.
Wait a minute can we stop the car right here
Re-did my template and all that good stuff. :-D I'm very happy with it, notwithstanding the girlyness. ;-P Gotta love bluebonnets!
Can I take a picture here can I
Have a second just to take in all the sights
All the southern stars and northern lights
I'll have a "real" post for y'all hopefully tomorrow... did lots of fun stuff this weekend!