Mid-Week Questions

by Justin

Why do people finish getting ready for work in the car? It seems this week, while traveling to work, I have run across several people who are putting on makeup, shaving, plucking eyebrows, ect. Thankfully no one was putting in contacts, but I think that is next. Is it really too much to ask for someone to be five minutes late to work of get up ten minutes earlier to finish your face to get ready for the day? Is there really so much downtime on the commute that you need to fill it with “productive activities”, as my coworker explained? This is the same coworker who’s commute to work is all of twelve minutes, if she hits the lights. I think this bothers me more than I realize.

It is August 9^th in Dallas and we haven’t had a 100 degree day. This week has been very hot and humid, as the rest of the country has been for weeks. We are actually predicted to hit 100 this weekend. All I heard yesterday from people was how freakin’ hot it was. Are you kidding me? We went the entire month of July without a 100 degree day. I barbequed every week in July and didn’t burn my pasty white forehead even once. It is like complaining that it rained for two months after two YEARS of drought. Perspective people, it is all I ask.

Thanks for allowing me my mid-week vent.

We concluded our Summer Barbeque Series last night. I think they were a rousing hit. Last night was a potluck meal. We provided a salad and some drinks. It was so nice not to have to grill outside and worry about all the details. We played a couple rounds of Pond Scum (a wonderful group game I might add, with such a pleasant name). We communed with one another, which was the ultimate point. In the end, over the course of the summer we merged different generations (from retired to newborns), different groups (church to friends) and different personalities to create quite an great mix. I really enjoyed them and look forward to doing it again in the future. Albeit maybe not four in a row ;)

Make it a great week!

Summer Fun

We have been hosting a summer BBQ series at our house each Wednesday night. Our first shindig, “Flip-Flop Pary”, was marked by good burgers and great company. Last week we our “Dog Days of Summer” hotdog party was busting the roof off the house. This week we welcome our in-town friends to a “Tiki Party”, complete with grilled chicken breasts and fixins. We are excited to merge our diverse set of friends into one place and let the good times roll. They are very informal, which is our style, and full of food and conversation. We will round out the summer series next week with a pot-luck style spread. Wish you were here!

Over the weekend Holly and I scooted off to San Angelo to attend one of Holly’s BFFs from High School wedding. As we sat through some Friday afternoon traffic, Holly and I realized that the six hour drive was the longest we had been in a car since we drove to the Texas panhandle for Christmas. Does anyone else think we are spoiled to free open airline seats?

We are also barreling towards some major milestones. On August 15 we find out if we are having a boy or a girl. We are pretty excited about that, but still nervous. We’ll keep you up to date. On August 18^th my brother gets married in St. Maarten. I have never been to the Caribbean, Bahamas or anything like it, so I am excited.

Finally we need to welcome Jackson David Kolb to this side of the world. The bouncing baby boy of Seth and Kristen Kolb was born on Monday. We are super excited for the first time parents and anxious await meeting him someday soon, even if by webcam! For super cute new baby pictures follow the ‘Seth’s Blog’ link on the sidebar.

Make it a great week!

Warning

Not completing a blog post within a current 12 month period will get your link removed from this bloggers roll. Come on folk, that isn't asking too much, is it?

The Cat Won

Well it stopped raining. I, for one, never complained. This might go down as the greatest summer ever in my book. It is July 17^th in Dallas and we haven’t had a 100 degree day yet. Yesterday was the first ‘Ozone’ day since who knows when. It has been great.

Well the cat won. As you know our cat, Trigger, has diabetes. We don’t know why but after five or so years he peed on the carpet for the first time ever. From day one, he has always used a litter box. We don’t know if he just couldn’t make it to the box this one time, or what. Since his pee was already there we battled him over the next three weeks of using the same area of carpet multiple times as his restroom. We tried our normal discipline routine. We tried new forms of discipline. We even took him to the vet to check for a urinary tract infection. No dice. So after three weeks of battle, Trigger won.

What did he win, you might be wondering? Well he won a new wood floor. I have a low tolerance for cat pee smell, but Holly is even worse. Last week we pulled up the carpet in our living room, hall and yanked the linoleum in the laundry room. Over the weekend and after work this week we have been laying our new oak wood floor.

Now I helped Dad lay his laminate floor some time back. I figured my extensive knowledge and practice would pay off. I also knew I could call on Dad to return the favor and help. Sure enough Dad and I laid the hardest part, full of notches and un-straight walls, over the weekend. Mom was a trooper and pulled all the grass and weeds from our flower beds! Holly and I have been working to finish the remaining area by Wednesday.

Why Wednesday you ask? Well Holly and I have initiated a summer barbeque series at our home. Our first one is a ‘Flip Flop Party’ to be held this Wednesday. I really thought we could finish the flooring over the weekend. I didn’t count on the extensive notching needed to get into the laundry room. My expertise failed me there.

So here we are. Trigger likes the new floor. My knees and back hurt. Holly is a handy flooring assistant.

Happy Fourth of July

Holly and I are headed to Phoenix in the morning to celebrate my dad's graduation on the 6th. I will blog more about that when we return, but here is my thought for the holiday:

"How often we fail to realize our good fortune in living in a country where happiness is more than a lack of tragedy." - Paul Sweeney, author

Plus you can't have a fourth without:

"When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands, which have connected them with another, and to assume, among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed, by their Creator, with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness."

~ Declaration of Independence
~ July 4th, 1776

Entitlement

Holly has been confronted with a series of events lately that all boil down to people thinking they are entitled to certain items. After she brought this up I also have been noticing a lot of entitlement mentalities as well. Since we haven’t posted in a while I thought I would post a few that I have seen and see if any of the far off bloggers have any other real life examples.

1. I am driving down the highway at 70 mph and you decide that you want in my lane. You simply turn on your blinker and think that you signaling your desire entitles you to the lane. However, I am driving faster than you. You don’t care you speed up to get in front of me then slow to your original speed, because you desire to be in that lane, not that you need to be in MY lane. (yes I realize this is reverse entitlement)

2. A co-worker has studied and passed a certification exam that myself and two other people have. He feels that because he is older he is entitled to get a promotion. However, he has less years of experience than I do and people don’t want to work with him because he is adamant that he is good at his job. No one likes to pick up after his messes. He has been told these things by management, but feels they are just being ‘picky’ and he still DESERVES the promotion because of his certification.

3. Another co-worker is very upset because she can’t fly to see her friend this weekend in Florida because all the planes are full. She feels that the company should block some seats for employees to fly on. She obviously feels that she is entitled to a free flight as apart of her benefits. She obviously hasn’t figured out that full seats means someone paid for that seat and conversely paid her salary, whether she is in Florida or not.

Many people feel they are entitled to a lot of things. I could go off for hours, but I am wondering if any of you have any good entitlement situations…

We're Pregnant!

If we haven’t been able to tell you in person, please forgive us. We have waited until we just can’t wait anymore. Our due date is 12/31/07, a New Year’s blessing for sure! You can expect more updates soon!

What happened here?!

by Holly

I came into work on Wednesday morning to find my desk all in upheaval. There was potting soil from my plant all over the shelf, the water bottle that has a plant in it was out of water, the Kleenex box was empty and everything else on my desk was out of place. Hmm…. what could have happened here? And why?

Upon further inspection, I realize there is a horrible screeching noise coming from under my desk, and the general power strip area. The computer will not come on at all.

So, I cleaned up the potting soil and water mess, and put everything back in its place. I then sat down (and realized my chair was wet) to call the help desk for some help with the offending noise and the fact that my computer will not come on. My phone doesn’t work. Oh, there is a dial tone, but when you push the buttons, all that happens is a suspicious ‘squish’. That’s right. My phone is wet.

After notifying my supervisor of what’s happened so far, I went to the secretary’s desk to use her phone. After a few questions such as “And you say the phone is wet?” and “What did you say the noise sounded like?” I was able to get someone to come check it out.

Turns out that the power strip had gotten wet as well, so after replacing it, I was good to go and the computer works fine. And no more screeching noise!

The phone? That took a couple more hours and a very nice old man to tell me that my phone was in fact, broken. That was his technical diagnosis for the problem. I got a new one, and he even showed me how to program numbers into it.

Everything is fine now, but my questions remain: What happened here? And why? And one more: Who? I assume I’ll never get my answers b/c people are just that immature. That is today’s society. Do whatever you want and don’t mind the consequences. Someone else will clean up your mess.

So, I hope you had a better start to your Wednesday than I did! Happy Thursday!

P.S. I’m not in a bad mood. Just pensive, pondering the direction of our society, and if it has anything to do with the fact that parents are letting TV’s raise their children and others are insisting on removing God from our lives. Hold that thought- Who was it that created us? That’s right!

Tchaikovsky: Piano Concerto No. 1

By Justin

A few weeks ago I returned home from a week on the road to find that Holly had bought me a surprise. It was tickets to the Dallas Symphony Orchestra at the Myerson. I was super pumped. So following in those people from Chicago and their refined reviews, here is my take on the concert. Now some of you might think I know something musical. I played in the high school band, as did Holly, but our limit to musical theory is whether or not it sounds good. So what follows is the ‘Texan’ review of our evening.

The valet guy was super nice and not too expensive. We drove up in our Ford and he parked it right next to a Jaguar, so that was cool. We had never been and were obviously turned around and he pointed us in the right direction. We really like the valet guy.

The Myerson is beautiful. You can tell it was designed by a really small Asian guy (I.M. Pei for you architecture types). The aisles are long and the rows are narrow. He needed to account for Texas boots and American stomachs, but the seats were comfy.

We arrived in time to hear musicians warming up. That was fun. They sound good even when they are not all playing the same thing. Maybe that is a sign of talent.

The order of the evening was as follows:

Debussy: Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun
Tchaikovsky: Piano Concerto No. 1
Connesson: Une lueur dans l'âge sombre, "A Glimmer in an Age of Darkness"
Ravel: La Valse

The Piano Concerto was by far the hit of the evening. It was 33 minutes with great crescendos and movement. Parts were familiar which always increases the entertainment value for me. Holly and I even resisted the temptation to clap during the first and second movement, however I think that is because we read a beginners guide and knew not too.

The third piece was by a newer French composer (sorry couldn’t resist). What was nice was the conductor spoke after the intermission to explain how the piece was about a new star filling the vast darkness of space. He went on to explain melodies and movements within the piece. Holly and I hate interpreting art and music so it was great to hear what he was talking about and visualize what the composer envisioned in writing it.

The final piece was great. It was a really fast waltz, a very peppy and lively tune. I was really getting into it and bam it was done. I really wanted to hear it again.

I will also say that intermission was interesting as well. My critique is that they should put how long intermission is going to be on the playbill. Having never been I didn’t know how long I had to down my glass of champagne. I finally asked a really nice usher who explained that it is 20 minutes and that we will hear bells when it is time to return to our seats. Bells? Sure enough bells were piped in. Why bells? I always thought you just flashed the lights, with one minute till. Sure enough they did that as well! Good planning guys.

Our only critique of the concert itself was a certain French Horn musician. Having played the FH in high school I spent a lot of time listening for their parts. It was annoying me at times to see a FH slumped over his horn while he was not playing. I know the concerto has long piano solos, it is a PIANO concerto, but still no one else looked bored. He, on several occasions, put his elbow on the bell of the horn and propped his head on his palm. Nothing says can I go home more than that. It was very distracting to me. Holly noticed it as well. She also noticed another player of a fairly large “baritone like” instrument fold his hand over his horn.

So we like the symphony. My final critique is the Myerson is beautiful and has great valet, ushers and champagne! Was that B-flat suppose to be sharp?

FAM Team

By Justin

I am going to admit that I don’t know anything about the game called ‘Fam’. My guy friends play this game in which you say the word fam. There are rules and I just don’t know them. There is a history, I don’t understand. I honestly don’t know the first thing about it, except to say fam.

The word fam occurs a lot in my life. In fact, at work I have joined a FAM team. This team responds to any accidents involving planes. My role on the Family Notification Team, FAM for short, is to call the next of kin for passengers and notify them of an accident and gather some information. It is a high stress but very necessary part of disaster planning.

Yesterday we had a full scale drill. At 9:15am a Southwest plane hit an F-16 on landing in Tulsa, OK. In the drill we had 100 people on board the plane plus crew. I received my notification of activation at 9:45am. It was a nerve racking day. I made actual calls during the drill to actors playing family members. I was assigned to crew to start the day and my first call was to the wife of the pilot to notify her that her husband was injured and transported to a hospital. She was already onsite in Tulsa. I could hear over her cell phone the sirens and people in the background. As the day went on it became easier to pick up the phone and call to check on the family members.

It brought to life, somewhat, what a real activation will be like. At Southwest we don’t assume it won’t happen and we don’t act like it won’t. We talk and live like it is going to happen today and are prepared if it does. As they like to say in training, we are the safest airline in the world, flying the most flights per day. That is where you want to be, but we have to be prepared for the inevitable.

For future reference, if you ever hear of a Southwest incident, don’t call me call Holly. I'll already be on the phone.

Oh and

FAM (whatever that means)

And Now My Turn

by Holly

My hubbie has tagged me, so here we go…

1. I love my cat, Trigger, more than most people probably think you should love an animal. I like to kiss his head between his ears and scratch his armpits till his purr rattles the roof. I have to pick him up for a quick squeeze and kiss before I shower every night and he can jump in bed with us on weekend mornings if I’m changing the sheets that day (Justin’s more lax on this than I am!) And we’re learning to give him insulin injections for his diabetes since the supplements didn’t work, but its worth it for my baby!

2. I love anything orange scented and currently am loving the Bath and Body Works Mango-Mandarin shampoo and conditioner. Smells like an orange grove in our bathroom every night!

3. I have to go through the house each night and ‘pick up’ everything that’s not in its place. This is not the same as cleaning, but just to make things look neat and tidy. I’ve become a little more relaxed about it since marrying Justin, but he’s also had to learn that this is important to me and I’m not going to stop doing it.

4. I miss my family terribly and wish that I could go home to see them more often. This is complicated only by the fact that we have so many friends here in the Dallas area and are so involved in our church that we don’t have all that many free weekends. A nice problem to have though!

5. I don’t know what I would do without peanut butter or peanut butter flavored fudge or peanut butter cups or peanut butter ice cream….

6. My favorite place to eat is IHOP, any time of day, any day of the week. And any given night, if I can’t sleep, I try to persuade Justin to get up and go have pancakes with me. This has only worked on weekend-nights typically, as we get up at 5:30 to get ready for work each day and need our sleep!

7. My hero(ine) is my grandma, who I call Mom. She is a prayer warrior and has devoted her life to serving God and her family. She has had some difficult times in her life and has always chosen to be the source of strength for our family, trusting in God to carry us through. She will have many crowns in heaven, for her service to others and her selfless acts of kindness that come so naturally to her. I love you Mom!


I'm not going to tag anyone, b/c we have the same blog-world friends for the most part, but if Abbey and Charissa want to do it, I'd love to read yours! Aimee has done it already if you want to check out her list.

Tagged

Here are the rules: each player starts with 7 random facts/habits about themselves. People who are tagged need to blog about their seven things and post the rules as well . At the end of your blog, you need to choose 7 people to get tagged and list their names. Don't forget to leave them a comment telling them that they have been tagged and to read your blog!
Where to start??

1. I am a fanatical Texan. The guest bathroom in our house is complete with everything Lone Star State. For my one year anniversary with Southwest I received a stained glass wall hanging that is full of Texas artifacts. The bathroom is rounded out with a state flag shower curtain. Even my pickup is Lone Star red!

2. I hate painting. Holly loves to spice up the house with painting and accents. I do it out of husband obligation, but I really dislike it. I love the result just not all that blue tape and clean up.

3. I have a goal to see every one of my distant friends this year. I am off to a slow start, but I think I will still make it.

4. My driving routine to work is very regimented. I go the same way every morning and a different way every afternoon. I turn on the radio change stations and turn it off at very specific points. If an accident causes me to change my routine it is very disruptful to my day or evening.

5. If I wasn’t married and lived alone I would be like Hugh Grant’s roommate on Nottinghill. I consider myself pretty well kept, but I know it is all Holly’s doing.

6. I love the Chapel. I attend Plano Bible Chapel. It is significant to me that we don’t call ourselves a church. I love the fact our founders and elders value that difference. I love my Sunday school and especially the people who teach it. I love my pastor and his enthusiasm and passion for effecting change in peoples lives. I love just being in the company of the people of the church.

7. I know a secret about a blog-world friend, but I can’t tell. I am however open to bribes…

I tag Holly, Seth, Jonathan, Paul and Sarah. Sorry but everyone else is taken so I second the tags on Ethan, Armand and Jelanie!

Main Landing Gear Warning Light

It was a normal flight, for the most part. I was riding as a crew member from Fort Lauderdale on a packed plane to Houston and then on to Love Field. Our early arrival into Houston Hobby was well received by the passengers. I always like being early and I like to see the passengers happy when it is announced. As we landed we learned that we had an aircraft swap. There goes the time savings.

We went to our new gate to board our new plane and it was late. Every board showed delayed, so something crazy was going on somewhere. The crew and I board the plane, go through the pre-board checklist and start to re-board passengers. We takeoff with no problems. After we reach 10,000 feet I jump up and start to pass out peanuts. I get three rows of peanuts passed out when the captain calls the flight attendants. Normally this occurs when he is going to request the FAs sit down due to turbulence. I stop passing out peanuts and head to my seat, in anticipation. Right then the captain comes on the intercom and says that we have a ‘Main Gear Warning Light’ and that we are returning to Houston.

Now there are precious few things that you don’t want to go wrong on an aircraft. Almost every system on a passenger airplane in the US has two and three backup systems. This fact has made air travel in this country the safest in the world. The last thing you want to hear on an airplane is that the one system you need to land without incident has a warning light.

Thankfully all the readings in the cockpit showed that the gear was functioning properly and that the light was faulty, but those were some intense minutes. The other thing that was odd was that the flight crew knew that the system was operating as normal, but the passengers were not informed of anything other than a warning light. The FA stated that for the most part the less the passengers know the easier it is to handle any situations that arise. I found that very interesting.

Well we landed at Hobby without incident. We then transferred our passengers back to the original plane that we had left at the old gate and headed on our way to Love field. I was originally irked that we were taking off late. After our incident it made me ignore the fact that I was getting home 2.5 hours later than scheduled and glad to know that I work for an airline that values the safety of passengers so much that they don’t ignore warning lights just to get a flight on time or make money.

Imus in the Mornings

by Justin

I don’t know Imus. I have never even heard of him till last week. I am quite sure, based on what I am told, I wouldn’t enjoy listening to him. I do, however, have a problem with him being fired.

The problem I have is the discourse of racism in our country. Imus said “nappy headed hos” or something like that to cause him to get fired. No sooner than he said it did the NAACP, Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson were on a plane to protest.

My question is why isn’t the NAACP, Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson protesting at the record company’s door step or the phat pharm corporate headquarters? Why are they not protesting the MTV awards show?

The answer is simple, they are not white.

I am sure I am racist in some form or fashion. I am sure that I have discriminatory beliefs and actions. I do however try not to be hypocritical. If they want me to respect the NAACP or even begin to listen and learn about a “new civil rights era” in this country, then it is time to clean their own house. Till then, stay our of mine.

It is time for a change is discourse in this debate. It isn’t white vs. black, cacasion vs. African American or even you vs. me. It is all of us trying to learn from each other. It is about us all holding each other to same standard. If you call your friend, brother or even your mother a ‘ho’ and it is an endearing term, then don’t be shocked when I call them the same thing.

A Glimpse Into My Day

by Holly

Wow, we’ve fallen off the wagon, haven’t we??
I keep thinking of great things I want to post but most of them have a picture to go along with them. We don’t put our pictures on the computer and even if we did, I don’t know how to put them in the blog. Justin keeps forgetting, so… no posts.

So I thought I would bore you all with what my day has been like so far. I’ve committed to a renewed effort of focusing on work while at work and leaving the email and blog world till after 4 (this comes in handy since I work on a quota system!)

Anyway, I work for an insurance company, reviewing medical claims. We pull them up based on their aging status and priority in a program called Get Work. We look at the documentation for each claim in a program called Image, which has been scanned in to eliminate the paper trail. That background given, our inventory of backlogged claims has been mounting for weeks as the units that send us work have been cleaning house and sending us junk we shouldn’t even be seeing. Its bad enough that we’ve been asked for voluntary overtime, and if that doesn’t work, we’ll move on to mandatory overtime.

Sounds simple enough, right? No. Image hasn’t been working for the last 2 hours and we aren’t able to work at all. Its like I can hear the inventory count clicking and spinning out of control as we continue to get dumped on and can’t even defend ourselves! Aaagggghhh!!!!!

So that’s my day. How are you?

One Year Ago Today....

By Justin

Who knew what started as a post about stripper and striper fishing would turn into a whole year of fun. One year ago today was our first blog. Holly didn’t think she would enjoy it; now she is an avid reader. I figured we would have some drop outs along the way, I just didn’t think it would be all the boys. Maybe my blog New Year resolution will be to inspire some long lost friends to join in the community again. As any alcoholic would say, it is never too late to jump back on the band wagon.

A year later and the blog would read the same. I am leaving this afternoon for Twin Arrows. The weather looks perfect. Nice crisp 50 degree evenings and warm 70 degree days with a chance of rain mid week. As I am so often reminded, it doesn’t rain at Twin Arrows, it is just heavy dews.

Holly is using some of the great benefits of working for an airline and hopping on a plane to West Texas for the evening. She will fly right over me on her way to Amarillo. I am jealous that she gets to see the family; it has been since Christmas since we have seen them. That is a long time in Justin and Holly world.

So that is the update of the next week. Happy Blog-verseray to Us!

Why I am bad at email

By Justin

I am sorry Ethan. I am sorry Erin. I have no excuse. None.

I am horrible at email. I love receiving them. I keep them for weeks on in and read them multiple times. I just have a hard time responding. I want to have the time to put forth thoughtful responses. I want to have the time to share a piece of my life with my long distance friends. I want to have the time to make the emails flow and somewhat witty. I want to have the time to make them count.

I have the time to do these things, but it is always at 6 p.m. after work. I never seem to be in the mood to sit and compose a hello to my friends that are defending my freedoms, my friends that make me laugh and cry on the east coast, or to my friends right here in town that I never see.

So to all my friends that I never email, I am sorry. I promise the reply button is at hand and my response, thoughtful or not, is quickly behind this post.

Healthy Snacks

by Holly

I am trying to eat more healthy foods and exercise regularly, two things I don’t normally relish. Justin and I love french fries of most varieties, but particularly Jack in the Box’s ‘seasoned curly fries’ and Scotty P’s ‘cardiac fries’. (Need I say more there?) We could live on Coke (no diet, thank you) and Sonic cheeseburgers with mayo. All this to say, our clothes no longer fit. And the budget really does not allow for new ones, but maybe the point should be that we need to be more healthy. Hmmm…

So, I have a few product recommendations for you:

1). Pringles has a new variety of chips, Pringles Selects. They are smaller and thicker, with a different kind of crunch, and they come in a bag, not a can. Four flavors: Sun Dried Tomato, Parmesan Garlic, Honey Sweet Potato and Szechwan Barbecue. I am in love with these, although I have only tried the first two. Next trip to the store though, and the next two are coming home with me!

2). Kellogg’s has a new cracker called All Bran. They are little whole grain crackers similar to Wheat Thins, and they are wonderful! There are Whole Grain and Garlic varieties. They are both yummy, but if you don’t mind dragon-breath, go for the Garlic!

3). The Laughing Cow has little triangular shaped soft cheese wedges, ¾ oz size. They come in a round disc and have 8 wedges in each disc. I’ve found Original Creamy Swiss and French Onion flavors, both quite good. Ours were next to the deli meat and cheese cases.

For those of you familiar with Weight Watchers (I’m familiar but don’t pay for their services), you can have one serving of the Pringles Selects (28 chips) OR one serving of All Bran crackers (18) with one wedge of Laughing Cow cheese for 3 points, which is quite a decent snack.

So there you go. Your nutritional tips for the day. Enjoy!

And your final score is........

by Holly

So my long-awaited year-end evaluation was this morning. I was nervous of course, although I know that I do my job well, but nevertheless, someone is putting a score on your livelihood for an entire year! It went really well thankfully. My supervisor is extremely nice, easy to talk to and quite funny. So she put me at ease, we took care of the business part of it, chatted for a few minutes and then…..

That’s right. We discussed my raise. Woohoo! It was a nice one, combined with many compliments and thanks for being a team player, dedicated to ethical behavior and good business sense, and best of all, an overall valued employee. So nice to hear those words!!!

I hope you have good evaluations, good bosses and good jobs. And that includes the non-money-paying type Aimee! Hug your kids and your husband and thank him for the opportunity to be there for them each day.

An Apology, A Thank You and

by Holly

Seems we’ve been consumed by our personal lives this week and out of touch with the outside world. Sorry about the lack of comments on everyone’s blogs and the serious negligence of our own posts.

We’ve found out this week just how loved and supported we are by our family, friends and church family. I think we had an idea, but until you are the one in need, you don’t really know to what extent people will go to show you their love. Its been nice to realize that. Sorry about the generalities- not anything that needs the public eye.


Do all of you experience the yearly performance evaluation? Its that time of year for me, and although I know I do my job well, the anxiety is there nonetheless. It should be coming up in the next couple of weeks, so I’m trying to just keep plugging along and not let it preoccupy my time and mind, but its still there.

On a similar note, I came in this morning to an email informing me that I have been placed on a task that only one other person in the department has access to. Without getting into the mundane details of Medical Reviewer responsibilities, I’ll just say that this is a huge honor and makes me realize that I have done something to please my supervisor. With the nature of this responsibility, I feel sure they were looking mostly for professionalism in conduct. What a compliment!
Now if we could start off every Monday morning with that kind of lift, the week might seem a little shorter! Ha!

Weekend Madness

By Justin

There is a saying that Albert Einstein says something like “Education is what remains after one has forgotten everything he learned in school.” Sometimes I think this can be translated into “Work is what remains after you have survived your weekend.” While by no means did we ‘survive’ the weekend we did do a heck of a lot.

Friday night we meet some family friends in Fort Worth for supper. We ate at a really nice restaurant that has relocated from the top of the tower that was hit by the tornado. I was telling a coworker this and she commented that she might have to eat there just so she could tell her mother this story. It seems that tornados are a ‘cool’ thing up north.

Saturday morning we didn’t get to sleep in. Saturday morning sleep in is half of why I go to work. We had a close family friend pass away and her memorial service was early in the morning in Bridgeport. I hate funerals. I can have absolutely no feelings towards a person and break down crying. We left after the memorial and headed home. I was afraid ‘housewife Holly’ was going to come out, but instead I coxed her into the bed to take a nap. Man it was a nice long midday nap. We woke up a little late and rushed around to meet our friends for a concert. We drove out to Terrell, Texas to attend a southern gospel concert. We love southern gospel. We definitely eschew the age curve, but we don’t care. The concert got over around 10 and we headed to IHOP for supper. We got home real late.

Sunday we attended church, and really enjoyed the sermon. It was good to be there. After church we went to Mansfield to see my brother’s new house. It is big and nice, he wouldn’t have it any other way. It was great to spend a few quality minutes with him and his fiancé. We got home in the middle of the early evening to finish up a few easy chores and head to bed.

In summary, we traveled to Fort Worth, two hours west, one hour east and one hour south. All we needed was a border run to Oklahoma and we would have covered the compass!

Lastly, I would like to formally welcome the Maney's to Blogger! Paul and I attended Tech together and were roommates for a brief (and illegal) time. He took my place in Moosehead Mtn. when I got married. Paul's wife Sarah and Holly were at Tech at the same time and knew each other as well. Hi Paul and Sarah!!!!

Knox William Tokarz

by Holly

Well, baby season continues…

My friend Amy had her third baby yesterday, January 24th, 2007. She already has two girls and didn’t find out the sex of this baby, so she and Andrew were thrilled to have a baby boy this time!!!

His name is Knox William Tokarz, little brother to Shelby and Jerzy. He weighed 6 lbs 10 oz and was 18 inches (I think!) long. Amy is doing fine and should be home Saturday.

Amy and I met my first week in the dorms at Texas Tech in 1996. She was living across the hall from me and Aimee (check out Aimee’s blog under H’s Buddies!). Amy and I have been friends since then and now live about 10 minutes apart, in Allen. She’s my scrapbooking buddy and a wonderful friend.

Congrats Amy and I can’t wait to meet Knox!!!

Lacking of a Rant

Lacking anything but cars and traffic to write about stinks. I want a new rant. Well I have plenty of rants, but most revolve around work and just wouldn’t make sense without the context. So what have we been up to?

Monday was THE ice day. We rebounded from that for a pretty mundane Tuesday. We spent the night watching The West Wing. Wednesday a mini ice day ensued. We got to come home from work, but it turned out to not be so bad. I think the meteorologists were being gun shy since they missed the last one so bad. Thursday Holly took a meal over to our friends that just had the baby and I met her and our friends at the rec center. Brian and I played racquetball. I stink to high heaven at it, but it is a very good workout. I will play racquetball for an hour, but get bored at trying to lift or run on the treadmill for an hour. Friday was a busy work day. We met some friends for dinner and I played computer games all night.

Now I am here.

Tomorrow we are going for a prolonged walk, weather permitting. Cleaning up the house a little and running some errands. Tomorrow night we are having a couple friend of ours over for dinner and games, so that should be fun. Sunday is church and relax. Next week we start it all over again.

That’s the update!

Ice Day

It is a cold and icy day in Dallas. We don’t deal well with this type of weather. I blame it on our ancestors; they rode horses and never traveled more than a few miles from the farm. As a consequence, we never were appropriately trained on how to drive a pickup in the ice.

By far the most annoying thing in the whole world on ice days are the people who just can’t make it to work. This morning, after my hour and a half 20mph drive to work, a coworker (who lives closer to work than me) called to tell me she couldn’t make it and would I tell her manager. I told her that her manager was here and I would transfer her. She was is utter shock that he was here and asked who else was missing besides her. I informed her that she was one of three not here, the other two living less than ten miles from work, by the way.

Well she just showed up, at 12:50. From the minute she walked in the door she has been going cube to cube to tell her stories of how bad the bridges were. She is making the rounds faster than a politician at a fundraising rally. We all seemed to make it across those bridges.

P.S. She has a 4 wheel drive car too!

Tour the State of Texas

Celebrating our western heritage:
Cut n Shoot, Texas
Gunshot, Texas
Gun Barrel, Texas

Need to be cheered up?
Happy, Texas 79042
Smiley, Texas 78159
Paradise, Texas 76073
Rainbow, Texas 76077
Sweet Home, Texas 77987

Why travel to other states? Texas has them all!
Detroit, Texas 75436
Colorado City, Texas 79512
Denver City, Texas 79323
Nevada, Texas 75173
Memphis, Texas 79245
Miami, Texas 79059
New Boston, Texas 75570
Santa Fe, Texas 77517
Tennessee Colony, Texas 75861

Feel like traveling outside the country? Don't bother buying a plane ticket! (Unless you are going to fly Southwest Airlines)
Canadian, Texas 79014
China, Texas 77613
Egypt, Texas 77436
Turkey, Texas 79261
London, Texas 76854
New London, Texas 75682
Paris, Texas 75460

We even have a city named after our planet!
Earth, Texas 79031

And a city named after our State!
Texas City, Texas 77590

Exhausted?
Energy, Texas 76452

Need Office Supplies?
Staples, Texas 78670

Men are from Mars, women are from
Venus, Texas 76084

You guessed it, it's on the state line..
Texline, Texas 79087

For the kids
Kermit, Texas 79745
Elmo, Texas 75118
Nemo, Texas 76070
Tarzan, Texas 79783
Winnie, Texas 77665

Other funny city names in Texas :
Beeville, Texas 78102
Bigfoot, Texas 78005
Buda, Texas 78610
Cactus, Texas 79013
Mercedes, Texas 78570
Nixon, Texas 78140
Telephone, Texas 75488
Whiteface, Texas 79379
White Deer, Texas 79097
Muleshoe, Texas
Loco, Texas

And last but not least, the Anti-Al Gore City
Kilgore, Texas 75662

Baby Season

by Holly

Well… It seems to be baby season in Texas. Our friends from Tech, Charissa and John, are the proud parents of a baby girl born on the 8th, Gianna Joy Ludlow. She was a little early but is doing great. Charissa is reported to be doing fine. For pictures and more info, check out their blog under H’s buddies. (That is pronounced GEE-ah-na).

Abbey and Nathan, friends from church, had their baby boy yesterday the 10th. His name is Jachin Rei Mulder and is doing good as well. Jachin has cleft lip and palate, but is healthy and there were no complications. Abbey is recovering fine from her c-section and is expected to be home by Saturday. (That is pronounced JAY-kin Ray).

Thank you all for your prayers for Abbey and Jachin yesterday. They were felt and appreciated. We hope that each of you are enjoying babies and new life in general as well. I’m sure Trey and Viki can’t wait to see their nephew!

God bless!

Here's Where I Am

By Holly

Although Justin has set the bar pretty high for this new year, I will try to be just as sensitive and gracious in my own soul-searching.

I ended 2006 in a tailspin, not knowing where December had gone. I spent 2 ½ weeks on a federal jury 40 miles from my home, which was both intriguing and exhausting. I am thankful for the experience, and for the kind judge and security officers, but I wish that it had come at a different time of year. You see, it lasted from December 4th to the 20th, causing me to miss out on the usual languishing in Christmas joy that I usually partake in. I don’t want to start out the year complaining; I did enough of that last year. I just hope that I can recover from the anxiety and caffeine-induced high that I was on, before it truly takes its toll on me.

So as I look forward to this season of both physical and emotional renewal, I have spent a good deal of time, as Justin has, contemplating what is truly important in my life. We have made a few observations/decisions/commitments together, but I want to share today my personal ones. Bear with me, as I do best with lists (you understand, Aimee!).

1. I need to simplify my life. This means limiting my church, social, financial, emotional commitments. I feel that the things of my life are all important and good, but too much of a good thing can still wear you down and distract you from your focus, mine being my relationship with God, and my marriage.

2. I want to be a more positive person. While our society as a whole, and me in particular, appreciate both sarcasm and good-natured ribbing, I do not feel that they are the most appropriate or Godly of ways of personal interaction. This said, I aim to use my posts on our blog to be either informative or reflective. Disclaimer: if you find me gossiping or tearing down someone’s character, please call me on it. I want to know.

3. I want to recognize and appreciate the blessings in my life. There are issues in all of our lives that seem to consume us and overtake any other semblance of thankfulness for the lesser items around us. While these issues are important and will not be neglected, they do not need to take precedence every hour of every day. This may be my hardest battle, and yes, I’m leaving it vague intentionally.

So that seems to be my short list for now. I won’t apologize for the somber mood, but will say that’s where I’m at today. And I will leave you with one last piece of food for thought…

My friend is having her baby today, her baby that has cleft lip and palate. This should be a time of celebration and extreme joy, however it is filled with anxiety, nervousness, fear, sadness, anger, frustration, helplessness. I could go on and on, and I won’t pretend to know what she and her husband are experiencing. I just tell you this to help you reflect on your own lives, to think about your own blessings and to thank God for what you do or do not have.

Happy New Year to you all and many wishes for happiness for you.

The New Year in Paradise,TX

Perched atop a hill, overlooking the tree lined valley to the west, sits my boyhood home. My parents bought this house close to 19 years ago. It is a home full of memories of laughter, crying, discipline and pride. A home like I want my kids to grow up in.

The nature of the beast of getting married is the inevitable figuring out of holidays. Absent of children, Holly and I alternate which parent we spend Thanksgiving and Christmas day with. This year we celebrated Christmas in Paradise over New Years weekend. I wrote extensively about my reflections over Christmas of the farm. While I have learned a lot on the farm, and have a deep respect for the rural way of life, I cannot deny that I am who I am because of the value and virtues of growing up in Paradise.

My dad would say that he is a humble man. I would say he is a proud man. He has a lot to be proud of. He taught me early on, mostly through action, that there is no reason to dodge hard work. He worked long hours, in every imaginable condition, to bring home a wage that we could live on. Rarely did he say no to reasonable requests, and even if it was a little out there he would explain why we work hard not to waste our money.

He taught, mostly by action, that you stand up for yourself but you don’t trample the people around you to do it. He work toward the future, but not at the expense of today. You think about every action and the reciprocal reactions. You love your family.

If dad was the provider, Mom was the executor. She was the one who worked to let the family enjoy itself. She freely gave or horded her salary to pay for the superfluous. She was the nurturer.

I have always been a moma’s boy. That is not to say that I wasn’t dad’s kid, but Mom and I always connected. She would put up with the random requests in whatever game I was playing by myself in my head. She would encourage and push, mostly in nonverbal ways, each and every whim I talked about. She was the voice of the wide open future.

This New Years, I reflected on family. The successes in life caused by two parents who chose to escape the city and raise their family in a small rural community. Parents who, for whatever reason, choose to nature and guide their kids towards far greater success through every means possible. Whether it was through feeding and raising the animals, figuring out the calculus problem or achieving the next merit badge, their non-verbal lives of discipline have made me who I am and will be.

New Years is a time of looking forward. I think you need to look back down the road traveled, to make sure the vision ahead is clear.

Christmas in Texas

On the flat open plains of Texas, where farming and ranching still are king, Holly’s parents have established a homestead. It is a place that seems removed from time. It is a place of peace, quite and stillness. It is a home filled with things that are hard to find in the suburbs of Dallas. grew up in rural Texas.

I count many of my virtues and who I am as a person based on this upbringing. It is one of many things that drew Holly and me together. It is a common bond that is understood; a common set of morals that are taught on and by the land. This Christmas, on the high plains of the Llano Estacado, I reflected and appreciated this more than ever.

Holly’s dad is a farmer and rancher. He is a man of tremendous virtue and hardworking ethics. His whole life has been in cultivating, nurturing and growing things. He might be planting wheat, nursing a new born calf or raising grandchildren, but he is always at work. His whole mind revolves around how to help other people and things achieve their best.

I have learned a lot on the farm. I ask Galen thousands of questions. Sometimes I trip him up a little bit and ask a question that is so blatant to him that he has to stop and think how to explain it, like “How does a windmill really work?”. Other times the years of experience let the answer roll off like poetry, “Is a feedlot inhumane to cows?”. He never dodges a question or gives you too much to digest. He never dulls it down or makes it too simple. He shoots from the hip, and challenges you to grow in your understanding.

My many days on the farm have given me a lot of firsts. I saw my first new born calf. I saw my first dead calf. I herded cows by pickup truck and sorted cows onto trailers. I learned how to blow dirt out of radiators. And most importantly, why we don’t wear sandals on the farm. This Christmas I learned how to ride my first tractor. In the truest of styles, Galen gave me an option, drive the pickup back to the barn, or drive the tractor. I picked the pickup, so did Galen. He made me sit in the seat, explained the controls to me and drove in a big circle. Three minutes later and he left me alone on a tractor for the next hour. “No time like the present to learn” is Galen’s heart for growing his children. Even though they might not be his own.

Holly’s mom is the epitome of a southern mom. Never a day goes by that a home cooked meal, with dessert, isn’t served in her home. Over years of childrearing and herself holding down a job, her kids always came home to a hot meal, with dessert. She is a woman of God. The church door swing, and she is there with a casserole and a smile to welcome you in. You walk into her house and her bible is on her bedside for her daily devotional. You stay through Sunday and you will attend her Sunday school class. She reared her kids this way, and it shows. Hers is a family marked by God’s blessings, and it shows.

This Christmas, she showed me how much love she really has for her family. Selecting everyone a perfect gift, favorite dessert and taking the time to sit and talk to each and everyone of us. She was busy, tired and sick but she didn’t let that spoil her Christmas with the family.

Christmas is special. This year I understand more about Christmas. How the farm makes it special, and how family makes the farm.

It was Christmas,
On the farm,
In Texas!

Waiting

I took Holly’s car to work yesterday for the one reason of getting her oil changed. The traffic was delightfully light on the way home, so I arrived at our normal oil changing place around 4:30. I put my name on the list and sat in my car, waiting for my turn to go into the bay. Around ten minutes later they still haven’t got to my car. They ‘invite’ me to wait in their lobby. Being a very nice day outside I decide to stand outside the store and call my grandmother. I hate people who have long personal conversations on cell phones in public. I was on the phone no less than twenty minutes when I noticed that my car had not moved. I looked at the car in the bay and they had it hooked up to a reader trying to determine why the check engine light was on. They were taking that teenage girl to the cleaners, changing her differentials, oil, filters, everything. Besides that I had been waiting for forty minutes with no movement whatsoever. I kindly asked the guy behind me in line to back up so I could get out, this is suppose to be a ‘quick’ lube.

I then headed over to get my haircut. I drove by my normal drop-in place to find eight people in the waiting room reading magazines and three people cutting hair. Not a good ratio in this place. Having lost out on all my chores for the day, I went home. I snuggled up on the couch and watched TV till Holly got home. What a waste…

Doing the Most Good

That is the motto of the Salvation Army. Every quarter my department tries to complete a charity event. Sometimes they are small, sometimes they are simple cash donations, other times we donate our time. Such is the case today.

The Salvation Army’s Dallas and National headquarters are really close to Dallas Love Field. Today we went to a local sorting house where all of the gifts give for the Army’s Angel Trees are stored and sorted. We spent the day double checking families bags to ensure all the toys were in the right place.

This event was very humbling and eye opening. We would see bags for an entire family with no donations or toys in them, although someone had picked their name off of a tree. We would see bags just stuffed to the brim, over flowing with everything imaginable. You would come across bags where the entire family was one child with an unpronounceable name, while your next bag would have eight children with very pronounceable names. Lastly you would come across one bag with three children and three boxes of diapers. It was a moving and worthwhile experience.

While I do not agree with all of what the Salvation Army does or believes, I can truly say that I full heartedly agree with their Christmas spirit. The next bell ringer I see, I won’t ignore.

One Word: P-A-R-T-I-C-I-P-A-T-I-O-N

A few lighthearted jabs at those of us who choose not to participate:

Armand – “So there I was…” not participating in the Blogging network I invited everyone to join

Ethan – “E”verywhere but here.

Jelaine – “The music in my head…” is not compatible with my Blog, obviously

Scott – “Scooter0979” has not Blogged since Sept1306

Andy – “The AB Show” is a no show

Amanda – “Wow! I can’t believe I am doing this…” well take heart because you aren’t

Tom – “OldGoat Ramblin’” must be inaudible, old guy, mumbo-jumbo

3:07 PM

Well that was going to be my last blog of the afternoon, but this is just so dang blogable.

The guy that sits to my back in cube world has serious sinus issues. It is so bad that he blows his nose obnoxiously loud at least three times a day. Some days more! It is so gross that sometimes you can hear the ‘obstructions’ move. Today, probably since no one is here, it seem overly loud. It is too much to ask to go away from your desk to do that? It is also interesting that we were in our 1.5 hour meeting and he didn’t blow his nose once. It is an issue or a habit?

Now I am done; or am I?

3:00 PM

Well this should be my last blog of the afternoon. I am heading out right before the 4pm buzzer hits. I hope you have enjoyed my return to the blogging world, even if only Jenise and Viki were the hourly winners! Thanks Ladies.

Have a great weekend and I promise more normal blogging will return.

bd..bd.bdddd That's All Folks.

2:00 PM

So I was so excited about my apple pie, remember? I finally dove in. I was looking forward to a yummy gooey mess. It turns out that the pie was stale and past due. The inside was dried out and the pastry was crunch. Major Letdown!

In my disgust I went to a friends cube to complain. I was in mid explanation when she interrupted me to tell me about her problems with tax provisions and how we are not adequately addressing the exposure drafts. Wait we went from apple pie to exposure drafts? Now that is the sign of a really bad afternoon.

1:00 PM

Well we are on the downhill slide into the weekend now.

A friend just posted all of her pictures to our Team’s Holiday Party. We had our party December 1^st in the Uptown district of Dallas. Now if you don’t know Dallas, this is where all the trendy people hang out. Holly and I aren’t that trendy. We both went out and bought clothes, just for this event. We had a lot of fun getting dressed up and going out, as we never do that.

The party was a good time. It was a culinary art school, so we had several stations open with both students and instructors cooking at all the stations. We had pizza, sliced beef, a soup and gourmet macaroni and cheese. Yeah you heard me. The student told me that the head chef likes to play around with simple things so he made up a big vat of macaroni and cheese. They served it to you in a martini glass and you had the option of adding several toppings including bacon, chalets, raisins, etc. Amazingly enough it was pretty good. Wash all this down with a hefty free bar and the night was a blast.

On top of that the CEO and President of SWA attended the party. In this first picture you see Holly and I with the President.
We also spent quite a long time with the CEO and his wife. After some general introductions and chit chat he inquired as to where Holly was from. After the ‘West Texas’ explanation Gary (the CEO) dug deeper. We found out that Gary started his auditing career on a client in Friona, Holly’s hometown. They started speaking about the CO-OP and the feedyards, etc. We left on cloud nine, having spent a good 20 minutes in one on one conversation with Gary and his wife.

This last picture is one of a gingerbread Southwest Airlines Boeing 737.

High Noon

I just spent the last hour and a half in a committee meeting. One of the great things about SWA is that the company as a whole is charity conscious. Our department hosts an annual tournament which benefits the Scottish Rite Hospital of Texas. I am the department treasurer so I am in the middle or helping run all the finances. My first meeting as treasurer was an hour and a half over pricing strategies. What did I get myself into?

No I am off to lunch, well not really. I am having leftovers at my desk. Meatloaf, potato salad and a regular salad are on tap. My good surprise was that I forgot that I get a Mrs. Bairds fried apple pie each Friday for breakfast. So when I opened my lunch box and saw it I was very pumped.

mmmmmm……

10:00 AM

I worked this past hour. It is amazing how you can stretch a 30 minute task into 60, isn’t it?

I was wondering what people want for Christmas. My mom is bugging me for ideas, but I honestly can not think of things I need or want. Maybe I should cut back ‘treating’ myself through out the year so I will have a Christmas list.

What do you want for Christmas?

9:00 AM

For the last hour I have been socializing. It seems that everyone is gone today. Out of 24 people in my office, I think I am 1 of 10 here. A super quiet day leads to a super long day. I will put my headphones in an pass some time.

It is super cold today. I think the overnight low was 19 with a high in the lower 40s. It may be winter, but this ain’t a Texas winter. Fear not we return to overnight lows in the 40s and highs in the 60s next week. Plus they are calling for rain, yipeeeeee

8:00 AM

Yesterday my audit was canceled. It seems someone else within the department had already completed most of the items we were going to do. That’s fine with me. The problem is now it is Friday and I have little if anything to do. With that in mind I thought that I would try to get back on the band wagon and blog every hour or so about what I have been doing this fine day (or whatever is on my mind at the time). So if you are having a lazy Friday day, check back often. Hopefully my experiment will work.

Verrrrummmmmmm

WHOA…. Did you see that? It was the last ten days. I better go catch it. I’ll let you know what happened as soon as I do…………

The Physics of Driving

By Justin

I have a fear of my blogs turning into Viki’s Flip-Flop-Girl, but when you drive as much as I do every day it dominates your thinking. So with that I offer the following assessments.

1.) The most direct route between two points is a straight line. People should understand this. Unless your vehicle has 18 wheels it is NOT necessary to turn left prior to turning right. Swinging out to make a curve is simply stupid. I drive a full sized pickup and I can make every turn between my house and my work without swinging out to make turns. Short of straight parking spots it just is not necessary.

2.) The Laws of Inertia are still true while driving. I truly wish people would understand that their Ford Focus does not weigh near enough to tip over during turning. The laws of inertia would tell you that you would be required to go astronomically faster than 10 mph during your turn prior to reaching the point of tipping over. So please while making that turn from the light, accelerate just a little bit. Please do not swing out to make the turn.

3.) For very action there is an equal and opposite reaction. If you are football fielding in the left lane and forcing me to be a butt kisser and you become an unnecessary braker you should expect to hear my horn. Your stupidity and lack of caring deserves my reaction. It is a simple law of physics. :)

Some Sad News...

by Holly

Our kitty Trigger, who is more accurately referred to as My Baby, has been diagnosed with feline diabetes. He is seven and has been overweight most of his life, but I had no idea that we were contributing to such serious problems. I should say 'I' here instead of 'we', since Justin was not the one giving into Trigger's meowing/begging for more food. I don't like to hear him cry.

Well, cats' blood sugar is supposed to be similar to humans, less than 120. Trigger's maxed out the glucometer so we're not sure what it is, but its greater than 450. Not good. The vet basically told me my only option is to give him insulin injections once or twice a day, based on the results of a fructosamine challenge. What's that? I don't know because I didn't ask. I didn't ask because we are not going to give our cat insulin injections once or twice a day. I came home about $200 less wealthy than when I went and started doing some online research. I stumbled upon a website for PetRemedy, a supplement for cats that is touted to fix the problem rather than treat the symptoms. Hmmm..... that sounds too good to be true. It comes in capsule form which you break open and mix in with canned meat-based catfood and Voila! your kitty is good as new.

What could be the problem? Trigger does not eat canned food, or tuna or any treats or people food. He wants his dry carb-based food, and nothing else. So, we're currently on Purina Diabetic dry catfood, but it still is not the best choice, according to this website. I've ordered the supplement which is supposed to be accompanied by dietary recommendations, so we'll see what their suggestions are for abnormal kitties who don't like the good stuff.

Poor baby. We can tell he doesn't feel good and we feel incredibly guilty that he is sick. So, that's our drama for the time being. There may be another chapter when we do get the supplement. Stay tuned...

Traffic Terminology

By Justin

So I drove a lot this weekend. All that driving gives a man some time to think. I realized through all of this driving that I have come up with a few ‘choice’ terms for specific types of drivers, so I thought I would share.

Football Fielder: This is the person who wants to drive a constant speed in bumper to bumper traffic, so they will get in the left lanes and leave an entire football field in front of them. This person can be of any age or type of automobile. Why this person drives me nuts: The entire traffic pool behind them wants to get around them and most do, so while driving the constant speed they are letting hundreds of cars beat them home for the sake of speed and saving some brake pads.

Tennis Courter: This is the person who leaves about a tennis court in front of them, but as soon as someone gets in the lane to pass them speeds up. They will eventually slow back down and you can get in, but not before a few more revs of the engine. This person is typically a middle aged person, driving a Honda while talking on their cell phone.

Idiot: This is the person who is completely unaware of their surroundings and when the 60 MPH traffic comes to a grinding halt feels the need to overreact and use the shoulder as excess stopping room. The idiot doesn’t realize that shoulders are not stopping ramps and doesn’t realize that some shoulders contain dangers. This person drives me nuts because if you didn’t have room to stop, you were too close to begin with.

Butt Kisser: This is the person who is so close to my tailgate that I can’t see their headlights. It is beneficial to be able to see your car before I slam on my brakes for you to test your brakes.

My All Time Favorite…

Unnecessary Braker: This person hits their brakes in bumper to bumper 70 MPH traffic for no apparent reason. Sometimes they are on their cell phone and can’t talk and drive at the same time. Sometimes the lane next to them hits their brakes, and while our lane is not braking, they feel the need to react. Sometimes they are a two footed driver and accelerate while their brake lights are lit. Sometimes they are just plain stupid.

The fun in all of this is that I use the terms so much Holly knows what I am talking about. I will be on my cell phone talking with her in traffic and I can say I have a tennis courter in front of me and she understands. She also is now an expert, like me, with pointing out Unnecessary Breakers.

Good luck and happy naming!

A Southwest Airlines Halloween

by Justin

Holly spoke recently about Halloween at Southwest Airlines. No other holiday could fit the corporate culture better than Halloween. In fact, most of headquarters was doing nothing but working on Halloween for the week leading into our celebration, Friday Oct. 27th. On that Friday, literally the entire HDQ was shutdown for the day of fun. Skits were put on by department, carnivals held inside the building for employee's kids and more candy than you can shake a stick at. In the truest of Southwest forms, it was BYOB the whole day. Below are some pictures. Enjoy.This is me. I went dressed as Michael Jackson. Most departments have a theme. This year Internal Audit hosted a Skaryoke Bar. To go with our Bar, we all dressed as musical stars. Notice he one gloved hand, the broach and my pale white skin to pull off the dress!

These are the fearless leaders of Southwest Airlines. On the left you have the person my Team reports to (Departments are Teams at SWA), CEO: Gary Kelly as Jack Sparro. On the right you have the face of Southwest Airlines, founder and Chairman: Herb Kelleher as Perry Mason. In the center you have the kepper of the Culture or our Mom and President: Colleen Barrett as Della from Perry Mason.
And finally a picture of the whole team in the Bar. Notice the pregnant Brownie Scout and the white trash and pregnant Brittney Spears, front and center!

Now back to work.

It’s beginning to look a lot like…

By Justin

My attire at work today would not meet Viki’s standards. While I did wear flip flops to work yesterday, I am quite sure that I am competent enough to fill those flip flops excellently. ;) However, it is November 9^th and I am wearing shorts and tennis shoes. Did you get that? I am wearing shorts and tennis shoes.

It is November for crying out loud. The leaves are turning, but the grass is growing? Our fall pumpkins are out, but the flower beds are blooming.

I walked into work today and a lady was wearing a sweater. I asked her if she had heard the forecast (high today of 88). She said she had but she just couldn’t put the sweater down because it is fall.

I just want to know where fall is, because it is not in Texas.

Deadlines

by Justin

Why are deadlines so imposing? Why do they always seem to work against you? It always seems that no matter how far off they are, they get here quicker than they need too. It always seems that no matter how hard you work to not be stressed against the deadline, the deadline moves closer.

I hate deadlines.

One More Thought...

by Holly

This one is for you Aimee, in response to your post about the four D's. For those of you that missed it, she heard a sermon about how to handle life's demands which included Delete, Delay, Delegate and Do It Now. I read this quote, author unknown, on my perpetual calendar and it seemed to fit perfectly.

"Besides the noble art of getting things done, there is the noble art of leaving things undone. The wisdom of life consists in the elimination of nonessentials."

Happy Deleting!

Random Stuff

by Holly

We are still alive, I promise. I kept thinking Justin would post about Halloween (I don't know how to put pictures on the computer!), but he's been a little busy. You see, he has a new computer!!!! He built it instead of buying it and is so excited. It is pretty cool, but I don't have that guy fascination with all things electronic.

This weekend we are headed to East Texas to go 'camping' which is really our Sunday School class staying in cabins. I'm a little relieved though because it is pretty cool today and colder at night. I know, you people up north think we are a bunch of wimps, but that's okay. At least I live in Texas! :)

It seems the holidays are right around the corner. November kind of snuck up on me this year. I love the fall, the cooler weather and the holiday excitement, so I'm like a kid all excited about a new toy (or like Justin with a new computer). For those of you counting down, there seems to be 58 shopping days left till Christmas. ONLY 58?! That is not very long!! I'm the kind of Christmas shopper that starts months in advance to pick just the right gift for each person. Okay, so I bought the first gifts in June, but who's keeping track?

I promise some pictures are coming. I am going to get Justin to show me how to get our pics from the camera to the computer and then to the blog. It can't be that hard, right? Justin is shaking his head reading this I'm sure, because he knows how hard I make simple computer tasks. ;)

Hope you all have a great weekend, and congratulations Scott and Laura!