Bigger or Better: Life outside of Texas

Thanksgiving happened quickly. One minute I was getting on a plane in Houston, and the next I was getting off a plane in Houston. Obviously that's not what occurred, because I have photo evidence saying otherwise. Or actually Mark does, because he took more photos. One would think that lots of photos meant he really enjoyed the trip, but actually he found it a little stressful. My family is...loud. I didn't ever realize it until Mark commented on it. And then I discovered, yes, my family--especially my siblings--is intense. Playing games involves a lot of shouted semi-dramatic arguments. Group conversations involve talking over others, loudly one-upping the others in the discussion; and apparently the louder it is, the funnier it is (guessing from the laughter). ~~~~~~~~An Aside on the Games~~~~~~~ We played several rounds of Telestrations , where a word is drawn, then with the next player written, then with the next drawn, etc. I took pics of the most artistic/outlandish ...

After 4 months, I am finally back at work. But let's rewind to 2 weeks ago when Mark and I traveled to see his family. The little guy, being in charge Before going up to Idaho by bus, we saw his brother's family in Utah. Actually, it's sort of a habit now. Oh, we're flying into Salt Lake? Let's visit David and company and then they can pick us up from the airport . They are long-suffering. Mark and I get to be "uncle"and "aunt" there, which is always fun, because it means that I am liked just for being related. Good smiles and fall colors I listened to the older boys tell me about their dragon game, and stacked blocks and read books with the youngest. We got to go with them to Cornbelly's (a fall family fair) and eat s'mores over a fire, but I think their favorite part was when Uncle Mark played Halo with them. He loves pumpkins. I love his hat. So we're friends. My favorite part was the fair. There was a swing...

When I hear the word "cistern," I wonder why the formal plural of sister is not "sistren" since the formal plural of brother is "brethren." Truly I could have been a philosopher. Last week, Mark took me adventuring near Downtown Houston. Mainly, to the cistern. I have lived in Houston basically my whole life, and I never knew Houston had a cistern. Turns out once-upon-a-time, the giant one-and-a-half football field tank kept the drinking water for the city. And now it doesn't, which is why we were allowed to go inside it. Otherwise, we would obviously be contaminating Houstonian's drinking water. The white floating blocks are for artistic purposes that will be explained later The huge underground space reminded Mark of the Mines of Moria in Lord of the Rings. Meaning, of course, that the place isn't captured well in poor lighting. Thus, most of my pics from the day trip are not  in the cistern. Which, I suppose, is dumb if that's...

I write this in support of mothers. Granted, I am basically unqualified on this topic. [Yes, I have a cat, and it's kinda like she's my baby, assuming that I would as a mother just leave dry cereal on the floor and a bowl of water that I maybe change twice a week, and who I bathe and brush like once a month. Don't look to me for an example.] Since 1st grade I knew I wanted to be a mother. Amazingly, even though I see how hard being a mother is, [feeding and clothing and teaching and cleaning and praying, all with a sleep deficit. I don't function well with sleep deficits.] that is still my goal. I am beginning to suspect that it is because  of the hard work that I want to be a mother. No, I'm not a masochist. I can see  how honorable the calling of motherhood is. It is the honor that draws me; not for fame or praise, but for the sense of fulfillment inherent in mothering. Today I was reading a short history of a faithful mother in the 1800s who opened her home fo...

There are just so many phrases around the word 'butt' that it makes for easy title creation. Well, as long as my post is about butts. Two weeks ago I started physical rehabilitation for my spinal surgery. I will freely admit that I thought I was a star patient going in; I was exercising on the elliptical, I could do upper-body weights as long as I was lying flat, I could balance on a yoga ball, I practiced planking.... I quickly realized that the physical therapist figured out where in my core I was most weak, and made me work on that. Silly competent therapist. He wasn't even impressed with the exercises I was already doing. Except for the yoga ball. He was impressed by that. I have learned valuable lessons. Such as      Cycling leisurely for 8 minutes burns 17 calories.      Rehab is work. And it hurts.      A surgical incision in the "core" area affects a whole lotta movement.      My "core" includes not only my ab...

Because of school and my spine problems, Mark and I have gone on Zero fun trips this summer. It made for a boring Instagram feed. Fortunately, my car registration and vehicle inspection expired 3 days ago, and it forced our hand into a trip. No, we did not do anything illegal. So now that you are not accomplices, how, you may ask, does vehicle registration have anything to do with fun trips? Strangely, the answer is: car repairs. A month or two ago, for a reason that I don't remember (I was otherwise occupied with back problems, if you recall), Mark took my car in to get its struts replaced. Unfortunately, that led to my Anti-Lock Braking System malfunctioning, which led to 2 more trips to the mechanic last month. Because we had to wait for ordered car parts to arrive, that meant that my car finally got released from the car 'clinic' on the 2nd-to-last day of August. The very next day, I took my car in to get inspected. It failed. The mechanic must have disconnected...

Yesterday I got to experience surgery for the first time. Well, sort-of. I don't remember anything about the surgery, but I'm pretty sure it happened, because my lower back is in plenty of pain and my right leg is not. So something must have been done. Plus, my back was painted orange with iodine, and I have an occlusive dressing covered by a transparent dressing on my lower back. That, and my throat hurts. Which makes sense if someone placed a breathing tube down into my trachea. Oh, and I have some lung congestion and atelectasis (my small airways aren't opening all the way and have some mucus in them. This is because artificial breathing does not really work at fully opening airways, since the positive pressure needed to force them open usually ends up damaging the lungs. Yeah, breathing naturally is better, since the diaphragm and abdominal muscles can create negative pressure to pull air into the airways and open those little alveoli up). I'm sad I didn't ge...