Winter in Texas

One of the branches I support is in Detroit. The office manager asked me if people can lay out year round in Texas. (Apparently someone from the Dallas branch visited and was very tan.) I stifled a laugh and had to explain that people in Dallas like their tanning beds and spray tans.

Ok, I know winter in Texas isn't REALLY winter compared to Detroit or DC. We start the day in the 30's and warm up to 55-60 degrees. Yesterday I saw a guy driving with the top down. Really? At least pretend it's a proper winter!! People are starting to talk...

Happy New Year!!

Every year I typically put together a list of new year's goals (not resolutions). Since I made a big goal this summer to accomplish 30 things in 12 months, I thought I would do a mid-point check in instead.

30 things in 12 months

1. Talk to a teacher about Teaching Certification & Prep completed 7/14/10
2. Organize and print digital photos completed 1/2/11
3. Organize photo prints
4. Pay off $7000 on my car
5. Take a 5 day vacation!! completed Thanksgiving and Christmas 2010
6. Go to a batting cage completed 4/30/11
7. Run an entire 5K (no walking!) completed 5/7/11..sort of. I ran almost the entire thing and walked just a little to avoid CPR
8. Sew Christmas Tree skirt completed 11/18/11
9. Keep a plant alive for 1 year completed 6/18/11
10. Go to a driving range completed 7/20/10
11. Cook a holiday meal on my own completed 12/5/10
12. Toss the football with Tommy completed 4/30/11
13. Go to a firing range
14. Take a spontaneous weekend trip with no plans completed 7/23-25 & 9/10-13
15. Read a Christian book completed 11/25/10
16. Read a faith based book completed 1/22/11
17. Plant a tree
18. Visit one of the 10 states I’ve never visited
19. Make a bowl with dad completed 5/30/11
20. Go to a concert completed 9/4/10
21. Write a short story
22. Take a cooking class completed 4/16/11
23. Design and order personalized stationary
24. Go to a museum completed 7/16/10
25. Join an Adult Bible Group
26. Try Vietnamese food completed 9/15/10
27. Donate blood 3 times donated 6/30/10 & 11/2/10 & ....
28. Fix my bike completed 4/5/11
29. Take Lawson to a park
30. Go fishing

Lawson and Auntie Beff

Last night I babysat Lawson for a bit while Casey went to a school play. We played and played....dressed as Buzz Lightyear of course.....

We Raced, We Hope for a Cure

On Saturday my friend, Annie, and I went to the Race for the Cure event in Dallas. It was simply amazing. Once we parked, it was a quick walk to the starting line and we were off! (along with 26,000 of our closest friends in pink)

The weather was absolutely beautiful. The race was packed, but everyone was respectful and patient with crowds and traffic.

The turn out was humbling. An estimated 26,000 participants for the same cause. All of us just because it's important but some wearing survivor shirts, some walking in celebration of a survivor, and others in remembrance.

The group we paced with consisted of mostly women participants. However it was so touching to see so many men in pink supporting wives, girlfriends, mothers, etc.

Race for the Cure

On my list of 30 things, I put a goal to run an entire 5k. I had planned to try to run the whole Race for the Cure 5k, but since it's so close to LASIK I'm not allowed. (I actually have a doctor's excuse to not sweat! woo hoo!)

However, since the cause is so important, I'm still going to participant by walking. I even bought pink walking shoes!

If you'd like to walk, you can register up until day of the event. (Oct 16) If you don't want to walk/run, you can "sleep in for the cure." It's the option for those who flinch at exercise at 8am on a Saturday.

If you don't want to do any of those but you'd still like to give toward the cause, you can donate on my page. I'm really not pressing hard for fundraising but I'm putting my page out there just in case.

LASIK...round 2

It's hard to believe is almost been 3 months, but enough time has passed that I can have touch up LASIK! I go in for surgery on Thursday, October 14. This time it has to work....well, because it just has to! (Mostly because I only paid for 1 other touch up and the thought of intentionally putting a laser in my eye more than twice just seems silly)

So here's to perfect vision!

(Um....keep your fingers crossed just in case...)

Bubbles 2.0

This week I have joined the majority of the population and bought a laptop! I'm not really sure why I haven't bought one in the past, other than a desktop was what I always had. But over the last couple years I've been trying to downsize and simplify my life. That includes eliminating wires and peripheral computer junk.

I tend to tell people I'm computer literate and have a natural tendency to be a "computer person." Truth is, I can figure out just about any computer program and minor issues, but I have no idea what any of it actually means. So my poor dad was volunteered as the family techie to help me narrow down what I needed. He helped me with technical questions like - What's a reasonable amount of memory? What processing speed to I really need? Dell or HP?

So thanks to dad's expert assistance navigating websites and 5 trips to the store, I have Bubbles 2.0.

If you couldn't guess by the computer having a name, my mom helped in a big way too! She helped sort through the other important things like - What color should my computer be? Are the speakers loud enough for music and Netflix? And because my mom names everything, she provided the nickname for my laptop! (The shell is slick black with silver circles.)

Bubbles is Bubbles 2.0 because the original Bubbles suffered from CUSBOE Syndrome. (Compulsive USB Over Eating Syndrome) She ate dad's wireless mouse signal so dad exchanged her. Bubbles 2.0 has been behaving and running like a dream!