I just wanted to point out to friends and family that Tressa, Keith’s youngest sister, is on her way to Rwanda as a member of the Peace Corps, and that she will be blogging about her experience at http://tressawessa.blogspot.com/ (“No Better Time” is the name of her blog).

I’m so excited for her – this is something she’s always wanted to do!  Keep an eye on her blog – I’m expecting some pretty cool pictures and stories in the coming weeks and months.

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Samoa, Brian, & Bingo

Bingo, Brian, & Samoa

What cracks me up is that Samoa had been trying to take over my pillow all night and it was a battle of wills…  I was determined she wasn’t going to take MY pillow!  lol

Looks like she won after all.  ;-)

Khaki’s under the blanket somewhere too.  It was a full couch!

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Trey, Bryan, Keith, Heather, Tanya, Brian, Missi, & Tressa

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7/11: I’ve removed the slide show to speed up page loading -it was really slowing things down.

Click here to see the pics

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Here are a couple pics:

More pictures available here.

I already had a flight booked on 6/13 — I can’t wait to get over for a visit!!  :)

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Me wading in the ocean with a mimosa

Sitting on the deck was nice, but I wanted to be close to the ocean. So I dragged my chair down and sat where my feet were getting wet. :)

I was off to the right when this was taken…. but check out those waves! Some were 10 feet tall!

Kyle, Lori, Chris, Adam, me, Keith

Here’s a slideshow of all the pics we took:

And here’s a direct link to the album. I haven’t touched any of these yet, and there are quite a few that you’ll probably go “huh?” — just remember Keith had the camera. ;-)

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Here is Kirk’s new photo site, for those that don’t already know it.

I bet you can’t guess which one is my new wallpaper!  :)

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HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!   :)

Keith’s Birthday Dinner in 2006

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Here’s the house we’re renting on the beach…

House Exterior	Large open Deck
Gulf View	Kitchen
Kitchen	Living Room
Living Room	Downstairs Bedroom 1
Downstairs Bedroom 2	Downstairs Bathroom
Upstairs Master	Upstairs Master
Upstairs Bedroom 2	Upstairs Bedroom 2

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• April 16, 2007 -- Vacation Play by Play
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My cousins, Lori & Chris, drove down to visit from Michigan the week after Christmas.  It was AWESOME to get to relax and hang out, catch up, and just spend some quality time with family.  They live entirely too far away, and we never get to see them enough.  (although we’ve got just 48 days ’till our next Gulf Shores trip, woohoo!)  We also welcomed the new year with them along with a group of friends.  I think that was the longest stretch of paid time off I’ve ever had — and oh how I needed it!

January flew by without a lot of excitement.  Somewhere in there we found a new home for Dallas the cat.  It was kinda cool having him around sometimes; but I don’t miss him, so he’s better off where he is now.

The very first part of February I started feeling pretty crappy.  Stuff has been going around the office off and on for weeks (maybe a couple months), and I’m fairly certain I picked something up from one of my coworkers.  I came down with a fever and other unpleasantness (don’t make me try to spell that D word) on Friday, 1/30, which just happened to be the weekend the Shaws (Keith’s sister & family) came to stay with us for Kaylee’s gymnastics meet.  Unfortunately I was down for the count — but after about 36 hours of sleep over the course of the weekend I was feeling better by Sunday.  Then on Monday I had a Remicade infusion (I didn’t want to reschedule, and hadn’t had a fever since Fri), which ended up lowering my immune system even more, so whatever nasty bug I’d been fighting came back in full force.  The rest of the week went by in a blur; I missed 2 days of work and worked from home that Friday, and wasn’t back to my regular self ’till about Tuesday of this week.

Which meant that I was sicker than a dog on my birthday, Saturday (2/7).  NOT FUN!  Oh and I also ended up helping Keith’s mom move that day.  :)  We came home with some extra furniture as well, though we’re still not sure what we’re doing with all of it (sofa, chaise, queen size bed, & 2 dressers).

Luckily during that time we rejoined the civilized world and had FiOS TV installed.  We’ve had FiOS internet for as long as we’ve been in the house (November 2007) — but during that time we’ve been getting by with just broadcast TV.  Sure, we had digital converter boxes and the picture looked great most of the time, but we only got about 6 channels, and if the wind blew you couldn’t even get NBC.  (it sucked!!)  Not to mention the lack of a DVR…  Seriously folks, once you go DVR you never wanna go back!  So anyway, the install date coincided with when I was laid up on the couch, so at least that worked out.

UNFORTUNATELY….  This week has been very difficult at work.  Of course I had loads to catch up on after being out (and completely out of it) for so long.  But then yesterday we had a Reduction in Force.  My job is ok, but we had to let a lot of incredibly talented people go thanks to this horrible economy.  Telligent’s culture is unlike any I’ve experienced before, so most of my coworkers are much more than just people I work with – they’re friends, and even extended family.  It was an extremely long, difficult day.  I really can’t begin to tell you how taxing it was…

So now I’m just trying to regroup, and refocus.  It feels like the house went to shit while I was sick!  We’ve got extra furniture out the wazoo; dirty dishes, dirty floors, dirty laundry a halogen (I think?) light bulb on the back patio that needs to be replaced, a leaking toilet that needs to be fixed…  And it’s already past 1pm.  :(

So I guess it’s time to get some coffee going and move!

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Gulf Shores

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We’ve loved and hated him a million times since bringing him home Thursday; we’ve decided to find him a new home, then give us all a few more days time to adjust about that many times as well.

Neither one of us have ever had a cat before, so it’s definitely an alien presence in our home.  He seems to enjoy dumping the dogs’ water bowl over every chance he gets; he likes playing with the Christmas tree; and he must think potted plants have a big “TOY” label on them.

The dogs seems to be adjusting well.  Khaki basically avoids Dallas.  This morning Samoa started “kind of” playing with him – he would chase her, then she’d chase him; but neither were sure what to do when they caught the other.  Dallas started playing with some balls this morning.

I think it’s safe to say that the jury is definitely still out on this one.  He’s a beautiful, loving cat; I’m just not sure I enjoy having white cat hair all over everything, and, the concerns I mentioned before still hold.

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Christmas is nearly here, and I’m totally not feeling it.  I actually got decorations up this year (note that I had to completely redecorate the tree this past weekend because I had to replace one string of lights that had gone out)…  But haven’t gotten all my Christmas shopping done yet.

Keith and I are volunteering with the soup kitchen tomorrow; hopefully that will help me get my head on straight.

I had my front brakes worked on yesterday.  They’ve been bad for a while; I’d gotten a quote at Brakes Plus a few months back, then when I had my oil changed & car inspected at a local shop last month they gave me an unsolicited quote for the brakes that beat the other one.  What finally got me to split with 200 hard-earned dollars was that they sent me a coupon for 30% off labor if done by the end of the year.  Thus… new brakes (pads, whatever).

Work’s been kicking my butt lately.  I love the work, don’t get me wrong, it’s just very tiring & stressful – and it’s not the kind of work you just leave at the office.  With email on my Mogul (yeah that’s another story I’ve never told here, but I ditched the Treo way back and “upgraded” to another phone I hate but am stuck with) and a company laptop…  I still end up working at home, after 10-12 (or longer) hour days.  And then there are the technical problems I crunch on subconsciously, and wake up at all kinds of crazy hours thinking about…

I’m determined to drop a few pounds before our next trip to Gulf Shores this coming April…  I just haven’t been able to squeeze in any trips to the gym, and with this crazy, unpredictable Texas weather – one day it’ll be walks and bike-riding in shorts one day, while bundling up like an eskimo the next (no exercise those days).  And don’t get me started on trying to eat healthy during the holidays….  ;-)

Oh.  Here’s a shocker for anybody that knows me…  I think we’re getting a cat.  !!!  Yeah, you read that right!  Keith’s mom has two Ragdoll cats she’s been trying to find homes for.  I’m STILL not completely sold on it, but Keith’s committed us to a trial run.  I’m just thinking about MORE vet bills, another mouth to feed, kitty litter, claws on my leather sofa, cat pee, Khaki the ferocious Chihuahua….  lol  (really, I’m not a pessimist, I swear!)  We’ll see how it goes.  I’ve got some pics on my phone, I’m just too lazy to go get my phone right now.  I’ll post about it later.

And with that – it’s time to get dressed for work.  If I don’t get another post in before Christmas – have a wonderful Christmas!

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If this isn’t the cutest thing ever, well, you’re crazy.  ;-)

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Here are a few of them:

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So check it out — Jodie & Kirk have a couple posts with new pictures.

Oh and in case you haven’t heard yet….  Jodie’s expecting #2 in June!  :)

(Doesn’t that look like a little Jodie right there?!)

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We went tubing down the Guadalupe this past weekend — me, Keith, Tanya, Trey, Angie, & Zane.  We left Friday night, and came back Monday.  Stayed at Yogi’s campground in a little cottage.  We actually tubed Saturday AND Sunday — had a blast both days!  I might have some pictures later (we took a supposedly waterproof camera), it’ll depend on what turns out, and how bad I look.  :)

Getting pretty tired of the campaigns…  Tried to ignore the Republican BS (Giuliani) on the boob tube tonight, but was still drawn to it (love/hate kind of thing).  Of course it just pissed me off, so I tried to lose myself in Google Reader.

I just “discovered” Jay Brannan tonight.  Good stuff!  I don’t buy much music these days, but think I might buy his new CD.

I finished reading Confessions of a Pagan Nun earlier tonight…  I’ve read mixed reviews on the internet (after the fact, of course – I’ve ruined too many books by reading stuff on the internet first) — but I enjoyed it.  Makes you think.  It is historical fiction, but the author kind of blurs the line between fiction and reality so I was kind of doubting the fiction part for a while.  Anyway…  I have the next book picked out, but it’s in the other room and I’m being lazy.  ;-)

Nanette turned TWO YEARS OLD on Tuesday!  I know, hard to believe…  I talked to Jodie tonight and asked her if that made her feel old…  It sure does me!

Um…  what else….?  I guess that’s all if I’m grasping for something else to write about.  ;-)

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I started a new job last month, and am absolutely loving it.  I no longer have to deal with coworkers I can’t stand– everybody (ok, NEARLY everybody) at the new job is laid back and fun to be around.  :)  Every day there’s something new, and I’m constantly on the go.  Never a dull moment!  I knew I hated working at the old place, but didn’t realize just how much it was affecting my whole life until I got out of there.  Work was like a black cloud over EVERYTHING, dragging me down.  I’m actually HAPPY again–without medication!  :)

The fence staining has stalled…  It’s too damn hot to be out there any longer than you have to be.

Keith’s youngest sister, Kelli, had her baby around 2pm on Wednesday.  Pics of Ryli here.

I’ve joined the “fit club” at work.  We started a contest on Tuesday to see who can lose the most weight (%) over the next 8 weeks.  I weighed in Tuesday, went to the gym, and ate healthy that day..  Did well on Wednesday.  Then it all went to shit Thursday.  ;-)  So I’ve got some making up to do – probably gonna try to hit the gym tomorrow.

I dropped my cell phone this week and broke the display…  About half my screen is unreadable.  Makes it pretty difficult to send/receive text messages!  Given that, and the fact that I’m going to need the capability of sending/receiving emails from my phone for work pretty soon, I’m shopping for a new phone.  The nice ones are expensive!

We still haven’t gotten the garage door fixed.  My first paycheck with the new job was only for one day, so I’m currently living on my savings account; so we’re holding off ’till after next payday…

Did you see the post about watering your foundation?  Well our back door off the sun room had gotten to the point that we could hardly close it, never mind latching the door.  We didn’t get a soaker hose for back there, but instead I just watered the heck out of it with a regular sprinkler (that section of the yard doesn’t have a working sprinkler system), and now we’re able to close the door again.

I’m pretty sure there was other stuff I wanted to mention, but that’s all I’ve got for now.  :)  Hopefully the next post will be more interesting…

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