San Antonio

Time for a quick update. I arrived in San Antonio today (about 3:00 pm TX time). The flight out of Santa Barbara wasn't too early. It left at 6:40 a.m. I got up about 3:15 this morning, got the final things packed and headed the hour drive south to the air port. It is much better than driving to LAX to catch a flight, that much is certain. I got there earlier than I needed to, but It wasn't too early. I needed to be there at least an hour in advance, and I arrived at 5:20 a.m. My brother Mike, his wife Jen, his ex-wife, and my nephew all went together today. The flight from Santa Barbara was a direct to Dallas, and then from there to San Antonio. The flight from Santa Barbara was a little special for the pilot as this was his last flight. He was officially retiring after this flight. He announced that he had flown for over 30 years and FAA regulations mandate that one cannot fly commercially one they reach 60. He turns 60 in a week or two. You could hear in his voice that he was very reluctant to leave this career. The flight attendants were also quite sad and it was noted in their demeanor during the flight. Upon arrival to Dallas our plane was greeted by two fire truck with their hoses poised ready for action. I guess it is tradition for a retiring pilot to get this kind of welcome on their last flight. The plane taxied under both nozzles of water on full bore and got completely soaking wet. The entire plane clapped and cheered for the captain. It was rather special to be a part of such a career coming to an end. The flight attendant came on the speaker and said he had been the best captain ever and her voice broke and quaked as she gave her rave review. I shook his hand and congratulated him on my way out of the plane. The corridor was lined American Airline personnel ready to give the Captain a warm welcome.

We made it San Antonio. A very short flight from Dallas. That was good. I was beat and was ready to get to the hotel. I got my rental car and got to the hotel. Nothing special, but it is clean and certainly ample. Continental breakfast in the morning, and WiFi access for computers, so that is a bonus feature and it is gratis. We went to dinner and are now relaxing in the confines of our own respective rooms. I am going to bed. Tomorrow is bound to come earlier than I think.

Thanksgiving, Teeth, and Texas

Thanksgiving was good, though a bit subdued. None of were feeling teriffic and I was thankful for the fact I didn't offer have to the event at my house this year. We were invited to my hubby's family next door. They didn't have dinner until late, so the we spent the early part of the day at home. I wasn't feeling well at all, and I actually napped for about 3-4 hours in the middle of the day. I also crashed early. It was all needed though. Food was teriffic, they are great cooks next door. We had good company and just had a really relaxed, fun time.

Roo has lost his first tooth. He was complaining about his teeth hurting him while eating corn on the cob last week and then complained they hurt when he was brushing them. I figured it may be his teeth getting wiggly. Well, two of them were extremely wiggly and the other two were loose, but not super wiggly. He lost his top tooth on Saturday at the park. He was sliding down a slide with his sister and her foot kicked him in the tooth. Ordinarily this would have brought about howls of anger and how she had done it on purpose and the like. But, the tooth triumphed all that. All I heard was, "LYD! I LOST MY TOOOOOOOTH!" followed by squeals of delight. I went to the slide and we got the tooth and there was minimal bleeding. It was not the tooth I thought would go first. It was the other top tooth which wasn't as wiggly, but a good kick in the face made it loser. LOL. The tooth fairy was good to him. $5.00. His next top tooth is VERY ready to pop out at any minute. I could pop the thing out if he would let me, but he isn't ready for that. I am sure it will come out within the next five days, to be followed quickly by his bottom teeth. Lyd has one slightly loose top tooth. The dentist said that she will probably lose hers late since she got teeth late. She didn't get teeth until she was over 18 months old! I had given up.

I am off on my way to Texas tomorrow to see Brad (nephew) graduate from Air Force Basic Training. I am really looking forward to this. I finally broke down and told the kids about it Sunday. I waited as long as I could without springing it on them the last minute. As expected, Andrew is distraught over the fact that his mother will be leaving him for five whole days. He cried, and cried some more. He still will whimper and whine about it. He will be fine once I am gone I am sure, but the interim is killing him. Lyd on the other hand said she wasn't happy about it, but that was it. I haven't heard another peep out of her about other than her consoling her brother that it will be okay and that she will be home with him. How cute is that? She has always been mentally tougher than her brother though. Roo is definitely the momma's boy. He is a boy through and through, but he is definitely hooked on his mom. I will bring my laptop computer with me and post while in Texas.

I have the best husband in the world. He stayed home late this morning to get the kids off to school. Lyd's cat, Jinga, woke her up in the middle of the night. I woke up about 3:45 and made my kid check and she was wide awake playing with the cat. I asked her if she had been up a long time? She said yes. I took the cat out and told her to get to sleep. She wanted to watch a movie. I explained to her that it was the middle of the night. She says, "Oh, I had no idea it was still night time". I made her go to the bathroom, gave her a drink and she drifted back off to sleep in about 15 minutes or so. Hubby let her sleep as late as she could this morning so she wouldn't be a complete zombie at school today.

My husband also had me test drive a new car last week. He does this from time to time but insisted last week that I come check out the Ford Fusion SEL. He said it has everything I would want in a car. I took it for a ride, and loved it! It is on a Volvo frame with awesome styling, handles quickly and agily on the road with plenty of power to get out of situations. This car had just about everything I would want in a car, leather, top notch stereo, information center, power moon roof, rear spoiler, nicer wheels etc. I don't really need a car, so I didn't think much about it. He then comes home with a quote for the car in his hands. Since he works for Ford he get's what is called "D" plan pricing which is less than what they normally deal a car down to. The price was good, but not spectacular. He said he was going to buy it for me and surprise me with it for Christmas. When he got the monthly payment he thought he would consult with me instead. LOL. We finally decided that I don't need the car right now. There is nothing wrong with my Impala at all. It does have 113K miles on it, but those are highway, and it gets good mileage for a big car. I regularly average over 28 mpg combined highway and town driving. If just straight highway driving, I will get over 32 mpg. It did put a bug in my ear to try out the new Impala's and see which I like better, the Fusion or the Impala. I was glad I did. I love my Impala now, but I don't like the new models at all. The dash design is terrible. I don't even like to look at it. I figure if I am going to shell out over 25K on a car (no deals at Chevy for us) I had better like to look at at the dash! I didn't even take it on a test drive. I did take the Fusion out for another test drive and I also drove their 4 cylinder Fusion. It gets a little better gas mileage, but it was noisy with the revving the engine had to do and the like. I just didn't like it at all. So, no four cylinder for me. I have been with a six cylinder for years, and now can't go back! LOL. I have decided that my next car will be a Fusion. The one hubby was going to get me was Merlot Red, but I really want it in their dark blue pearl. It looks great in that color. I told him to call me immediately if they get one in that color with all the stuff I want on the car. I am so spoiled! : )

Off to the wild blue yonder

Long Over Due

Once again, time has gone by faster than a speeding bullet. I have been meaning to update this for at least 5 days or more now. I am finally taking the time to do it today.

Last week on Wednesday I took the opportunity to take a gander at the Mercury transit in front of the sun. The observatory here at campus was open to take a look. I figured since this wasn't going to happen again for another ten years or so, and that it was a mere 400 yard walk, I had better take a look. Though Mercury is one of smaller planets (or is it the smallest now that Pluto has been taken off the honored list of planetdom?) it really gave perspective to the size of the sun. Mercury was a mere black dot against the massiveness of the sun burning eternal behind it. I also got a good look at a sun spot which was actually more interesting than Mercury was. The sun spot was about 5 times the size of Mercury or more. We are in an area where the full trasit was viewable. Mercury in Transit

Friday was a very busy day indeed. I had it off of work for Veteran's Day on Saturday, but boy was the day packed. The kids and I enjoyed the morning and I got a long overdue haircut. I then had a babysitter lined up starting at noon because I was taking my dad to his first chemotherapy session. That ended up going about five hours or so, including the driving to and from which was about an hour and 20 minutes itself. Time went by okay at the therapy session. I played games on my computer mostly. The doctor came in to visit dad and she really liked my computer and we shared secrets of getting gaming time to ourselfs when kids are either in bed or busy. LOL. She is really cool and I like her a lot.

Once we got home, I made sure Dad was doing okay I then hopped into the shower to get ready for my next adventure. I was driving back to the Santa Ynez valley to the Chumash Casino to see Bob Newhart with the old lady we bought our house from. She is really sweet, and is sharp as a tack for being 86 years old. She had called and set up tickets to go see a "Seussical" which is a musical tribute to Dr. Seuss at our local college theater with us for the Saturday after Thanksgiving. She then mentioned that she would like to see Bob Newhart, but she couldn't take herself because she won't drive on the freeway or at night anymore. I told her I would gladly take her since I like Newhart anyway. So, plans were made. I got her all picked up and loaded with walker in my car. We got to the Casino and the theater is all the way in the back which was quite a hike for her. Once we got there, we expected to be seated at the back which is where her last minute tickets were for. Well, all the sudden the usher grabbed two extra seats and placed us at the end of the fourth row! They were killer seats. I looked behind us and figured it had to do with Mrs. Mummey's (her real name!) walker. It did. The very back 20 rows or more were "bleacher" style seating with no handicap/walker access. We scored! The show itself was quite funny and enjoyable. Bob Newhart is quite subtle in his humor and not crude. So, all in all, it was a busy, but good day.

This weekend wasn't too busy, but quite enjoyable. I had aspirations of cleaning the kids bedrooms, but that fell by the wayside very quickly. I had no interest in doing that whatsoever. I had told the kids I would take them to Boomers (miniature golf), but wouldn't you know it, the day was cold, drizzly, and just not a day for a round of putt-putt golf. We opted, instead, to go to Chuck E. Cheese. The kids like it, and you can turn them loose without worry. Uncle Steve came with us. We like to play the games as much as the kids to anyway. Hubby joined us a bit later after he got off work. We must have stayed there three hours. The kids had a blast and I parted with a fair amount of sheckles. Sunday, I wasn't feeling the greatest. Maybe it had to do with the crappy pizza at the "Cheese". I took the day easy for the most part. We did have a funny moment at the breakfast table though. We were all done eating and this conversation/activity ensued.

Lyd: Okay, we are going to play a game. Everyone pretend you have a buzzer in front of you, and I am going to ask questions. When you know the answer, ring your buzzer and I will call on you.

So we all assume the proper position of hand poised over the invisble buzzer

Lyd: What would you do if you fell down and broke your head?

Hubby rings his buzzer

Lyd: Yes, Mark.

Mark: Call 9-1-1

Lyd: Correct!

Lyd: What would you do if a dog got hit by a car?

Roo: Rings his buzzer

Lyd: Yes, Roo.

Roo: Call a Vet!

Lyd: Correct!

Lyd: What would you do if you found a baby in the street? (apparently she watches the news)

Roo: Rings Buzzer

Lyd: Yes, Roo.

Roo: Call 9-1-1, and get the baby out of the street.

Lyd: Correct!

Roo: I want to ask questions now.

Me: Okay Roo, your turn.

Roo: What would you do if the fence fell on the cat, a tree fell on the fence, the fence caught on fire, and there was a burgler running through the yard?

Me: Rings buzzer.

Roo: Yes, mom.

Me: Get the cat, and call 9-1-1.

Roo: Incorrect. Get the cat, call a vet, call the fire department, call the police, call builders to rebuild the fence! (obviously, he wanted to cover all aspects of the emergency).

Me: Okay, now it's my turn. (I thought I would seize the moment to see what they would do in an actual emergency involving mom or dad)

Me: What would you do if you had been outside playing and come into the garage and saw that mom or dad had fallen off a ladder and you couldn't wake them up?

Roo: Rings buzzer and answers, "I would get an alarm clock and make it ring to wake them up!"

Me: Well, what if they still wouldn't wake up?

Roo: I would get the dog to lick their face!

Me: Well, what if they still wouldn't wake up?

Roo: Shake them like crazy.

Me: What if they still wouldn't wake up? (prying for the 9-1-1 answer)

At this point Lydia is jumping out of her chair with her hand up in the air.

Lyd: I KNOW, I KNOW, IKNOW!!!

Me: Yes Lyd, what would you do?

Lyd: HAVE A FUNERAL! She said this complete straight-faced and very satisfied with her correct answer. Never mind that it implied her parent had died.

Mark and I about fell off our seats with laughter. LOL.

Monday, Monday...

It sure feels like Monday today. I didn't want to get out of bed at all this morning, and my eyes are still feeling somewhat heavy, and unrested. I think I am fighting off some sort of bug, but I had to come in today, or else I would have stayed home.

It was a good weekend, though not terribly exciting. Hubby worked Saturday, and I spent most of the day trying to clean out our room. All the extraneous junk in my house is driving me absolutely mad. I cleaned out our closet which produced 3 trash bags full of donations for the Goodwill store. I organized in there, and it is now safe to walk in to that closet once again. I gave our room a thorough cleaning which included throwing tons of junk away, cleaning the corners, shampooing the rug (including under the bed). I am amazed at how many kids toys there were in our room hiding here and there. I really had a goal of cleaning the kids rooms this weekend, but that didn't happen. It took too long for me to get ours done. The kids were hardly letting me work any longer than 10 minutes at a time without some sort of "need" or interruption which required my assistance. I finished cleaning the room on Sunday and then we took the kids and dog to the park. The kids rode the ponies. It was a glorious day and it was good to spend it at the park. I was trashed when I came home though. I had a headache and wasn't feeling up to snuff. I went to bed at 4:00 and reluctantly got up at 7:00. After getting kids in showers and stuff ready for school on Monday, I went back to bed at 9:00. As said earlier, I am still not feeling up to scratch today.

My dad had a PET scan two weeks ago. He got the results which indicated that the current trial medication he is isn't doing much for the small growths that are back in his chest. He is going to start IV chemotherapy again this Friday. It is the same meds he was on the first time, which seemed to do pretty darn well. The doctor's choice a long time ago would have been radiation, but he has already had that on the chest, and can't get radiation there again. I will take him to that appointment, which is going to be a long time I know. I will bring my new laptop with me to pass the time. I wonder if they are on wireless internet there? Hopefully I will be able to pick up a signal there. If not, I will just have to game I guess, and maybe work on entering some genealogy data that I haven't entered in a very long time.

My nephew Brad is currently starting his 3rd week of boot camp today. I bought my tickets and reserved my hotel room to attend his graduation from that. I am looking forward to go to that. It is a non-refundable ticket so I hope he doesn't get sick or something which would delay his graduation. I have decided though, I am going regardless. I have already paid for everything, so I will go and have a good time anyway. I think he will be graduating anyway, but you just never know. San Anotonio TX is where Lackland AFB basic training is located. I have mentioned San Antonio to several people and they say it is beautiful there. I have my doubts, since it is TX, but I have never really spent any time in TX, so I don't really know for sure one way or another. I will be gone for a total of 5 days. I will probably miss my family like crazy, but it will be a fun adventure too. I promise to take lots of pictures and to take in all I can of San Antonio. Right now I have a room all to myself, but it is double occupancy. I may share it with Brad's mom, if she needs a room. She is such a negative pessimist that it kind of drives me crazy. There is a certain part of me which thinks having a room all to myself (something unheard of these days) thinks this sounds like luxury!

Better get some work done