Office Space

We moved to our new offices today, and I feel like Kramer in that Seinfeld episode where he has a girlfriend downtown and calls it a long-distance relationship. "It's a whole different world downtown-- different Gap, different Tower Records." My stuff is the same, but my furniture and surroundings are completely different. And there aren't any plates in the kitchen! How are we supposed to eat without plates? You know, we're living in a society! We're supposed to act in a civilized way.

My commute wasn't as bad as I expected--exactly one hour from home to work and I took the girls to school on the way. Of course, we left the house at 6:38 am, which is quite the ungodly hour and confusing for Special, who wanted to know why it was still dark out. We may sleep an extra five or ten minutes tomorrow.

In other news, I had a lovely birthday even though it was marked by washing everything we own. I think I did nine loads of laundry yesterday. Batman was afraid the washer was going to break down if I did one more load, but I think it would be more likely that *I* would break down. Lucky for me I have two excellent laundry-folders in the house. Batman is not one of them; he cleans toilets but doesn't fold clothes, and I don't particularly want to trade.

My excellent in-laws took us out to dinner Saturday night at McCormick and Schmick's, a nice seafood/steak restaurant in the Galleria area. One of my co-workers is married to the executive chef there, and he treated us very well--our menus even said "Happy Birthday" on them! The food was excellent; the girls scarfed down the fried calimari even after we told them what it was. Our entrees were delicious, but there was a schmear of pesto on my plate, which unfortunately we didn't realize until *after* Batman had an allergic reaction--those pine nuts get him every time. It was mild, though, and by the time we got home he was able to eat his apple pie.

Thanks to everyone for the cards and emails and good wishes--I *did* have a good birthday, and this year is shaping up well so far. I made myself a chocolate cake yesterday, and the neighbors brought over a lemon pie, and I got two new pairs of shoes and the Seinfeld season 9 DVDs; you can't ask for much more than that when you turn 37.

And then I died. The End.

Guess what the school sent home for my birthday?

**weep**

Chriiistmaaaas

It's Boxing Day, and for our family, that means "The day you box up all your old toys to make room for your new ones." It may not be as fun as Christmas Day, but it's a lot more productive.

We had a great Christmas; we spent some time in Galveston with Batman's family, and celebrated Christmas morning in our home, just the four of us. Santa was nice to the girls, although he forgot to leave chocolates this year (doh!). We gave each of the girls a Penguin shirt, and I wish I'd had a video camera trained on Special when she opened hers, but this pretty much sums up her reaction:

She was without speech. The girls also got soft, fluffy robes on Christmas Eve, which they needed Christmas morning since our heat went out during the night! Luckily our heat and air guy works on Boxing Day, and we are now toasty warm. Santa delivered some Webkinz, and apparently he gave them to ALL the boys and girls because the website was down most of the morning!

The weather was nice in Galveston, and we enjoyed spending time with family. I wish we could see the out-of-towners more often! Cousin B was thrilled with the beach house and called it "GrandBob's new house!" I'm afraid he'll be bitterly disappointed the next time he visits and has to stay at the 'old' house--no sand or sea there.

We were thrilled to see Uncle D from Colorado--he moved from Florida shortly before we did, and we'd not seen him since. The little cousins had never met him, but they took right to him:

If you haven't already, check out my post at Parents.com. And now I gotta go; the Christmas tree is on fire.

I'm out there, and I'm loving every minute of it

We had a great Christmas, and I'll put pictures up tonight, but I wanted to post this quickly: I've got an articled published at Parents.com! One of the bloggers there requested "baby stories" to fill in her blog while she's out having a baby of her own, and they were kind enough to choose mine as one of their posts. You can find it here, and be sure to check back in with Bree in a few weeks to find out how she and her new baby daughter are doing.

It's beginning to look a lot like . . . well, you know

So . . . how've you been? I can't believe I've not posted in a month, but there was this little holiday with all the eating, and there's another smallish holiday coming up soon with lots of presents and wrapping and eating and card-sending, and I had a research paper to do, and blah blah excuse excuse busy busy blah.

Pardon me for a moment while I brag that I'm 95% finished with my Christmas shopping. And it's all wrapped, too. So why is it that I still have more to do than I can say grace over?!

Anyhoo, here are two signs that Christmas is near. First, a Webkinz family Christmas portrait:

and Number One's school Christmas concert:

And finally, one sign that winter is nigh:

New boots, perfect for those frigid 50-degree days here in Texas!

Getting to know me, getting to know all about me . . .

My 'big' brother sent me an email with the following questionaire, and rather than forward it on to ten of my closest friends, I thought I'd post it here. By doing this, of course, I'm risking having a piano fall on my head or something equally dire, the fate of all those who break chain letters, but it's a chance I'm willing to take.

Of course, I'd love it if you would copy the list, paste in your own answers, and email it to me, or post it in your own blog! Tag, you're it.

So! Here it is, 36 things you may or may not know about me:

1. What is your occupation? project accountant for a marine contractor

2. What color are your kitchen walls? beige-y tan

3. What did you last watch on TV? a PBS special on Carol Burnett (what? I love her!)

4. What is the last thing that you ate? Jason's Deli baked potato

5. Can you drive a stick shift? I’ve never even tried

6. What Crayon color would you be? if you go by the color palette in my closet, either brown or black

7. Last person you spoke to on the phone? my mother-in-law

8. Favorite Halloween costume ever? Cinderella (played by me) with her ugly step-sisters (played by Batman and a boy in the youth group)

9. How old are you today? 36

10. Favorite Halloween candy? Tootsie Rolls

11. What is your favorite board game? Monopoly, except I stink so bad that even Special can beat me

12. Have you ever dyed your hair? once; I really need to start doing it regularly (too many gray hairs to pluck) but am too cheap

13. Pets? a fat, lazy, mean cat named Jumpy

14. Favorite food? You mean besides all of it? anything chocolate

15. Last movie you watched? Little Miss Sunshine

16. Favorite Day of the year? Christmas

17. What do you recycle? glass, plastic, paper, metal

18. What was your favorite toy as a child? the Barbie head where you could style her hair

19. What is your favorite hobby? reading

20. First kiss and when? Richie Bostick when I was 16 and working at Arby’s (DORK!)

21. Cherry or Blueberry? If we’re talking pie, I’d rather have lemon, lime or chocolate; if we’re talking muffins, blueberry.

22. Did you go to the prom? Our school had a banquet and I went both years, once with a friend and once with a date; I went to the public school prom when I was a senior.

23. Last book you read? A Lifetime of Secrets, by Frank Warren (one of the PostSecret series); am currently in the middle of The Cigarette Century which I’m reading as research for a school paper

24. Next home remodeling project? new faucets for the master bath

25. When was the last time you cried? in church on Sunday

26. Favorite smell? bread baking

27. What inspires you? music

28. What are you afraid of? Being strangled--I can't stand for anyone's hands to come anywhere close to my neck. Interestingly, however, I love to wear turtlenecks.

29. Hamburger, cheeseburger or veggie burger? hamburger

30. Favorite car? my gas-guzzling Ford Explorer (the taupe one; we’ve had three)

31. Favorite dog breed? The kind that doesn’t bark, jump on people, or require being walked (am cat person)

32. Number of keys on your key ring? 3: my house, in-laws' house, and my car

33. How many years at your current job? almost 2

34. Favorite day of the week? Saturday

35. How many states have you lived in? 5 – Mississippi, Tennessee, Arkansas, Florida, & Texas

36. Favorite teacher of all time? Miss Joy, 2nd grade

People cheering . . . cheerleaders?

Special cheered at her first football game Friday night! We almost didn't make it due to a complete meltdown over the "hideousness" of the uniform ("It's too BIG! It's DISGUSTING! It makes me look SO FAT!!"), but she pulled it together in time to put on a great show. Here's my little cheer-tator in all her glory:
Go Cougars!