Bigger or Better: Life outside of Texas

 My first semester of college, in addition to the [stupid] decision to take an 8am calculus course, I also enrolled in American Heritage. It was one of those General requirements, which resulted in a large class where nobody knew anybody, but it also had occasional "labs" [or whatever they called it], which were much smaller (<12 students) groups lead by one of many TAs. I don't remember the professor's name, but I remember the TA I had: Jason Alexander Smith. Yes, almost 2 decades later and I still know his name. I did not like him, and so would silently mutter "Jason Alexander Smith," full name, as if he were in trouble with his mother. There were several reasons why I detested his presence [enough that, if I saw him on campus--even from the corner of my eye, without full conscious recognition--I would instantly feel bad vibes; I don't know if those vibes were coming from him or me ], but one of them was that he argued that no one, even Jesus, did a...

 I once had a calling [this is a technical term for "a volun-told position in a church congregation] when I was in college to attend the religious activities at a local jail. From what I recall, that calling existed to help with church attendance there--which frankly seems a little odd. Maybe there were other reasons that I wasn't privy to, but regardless, every so often, I went to jail. I don't remember many details about the place, but looking back, I can tell you it had more going for it aesthetically than the Behavioral Health Unit where I work now. Allow me to paint a picture of what the BH unit is like: Other than some coloring pages taped to the walls, there is no artwork or wall decor. The walls and doors are painted a yellow-ish beige, but I don't mean yellow-like-the-sun, but rather yellow-like-the-discoloration-with-age. There is no access to the outside. And I don't mean that the doors off the unit are locked [which they are, BTW, in addition to being h...

 At the gracious invitation of my brother Jaron and his family, Mark and I spent Christmas in Alabama. The more memorable parts of the trip were (of course) the nieces, and flight cancellations, with other highlights sprinkled along the way. As a warning, I took many pictures of Eliana, and not so many of Angela...because Angela is a fiercely independent and very active 2-year-old learning how unfair the world can be. The first thing to know about these cuties is that shoes--particularly ones that are too large for their little feet--are fascinating to them. Angela had a decided preference for her mother's high heels, whereas Eliana aimed mainly for her sisters' boots [except for that one time she wanted us to help her put on her mom's flip-flops, which really doesn't work when your entire body is only twice as big as the shoe itself]. Their shoes-of-choice meant that Eliana toddled with bowlegs, and Angela shuffled/clomped while trying to look as princessly as possible...

I don't remember the number of hours, but whatever the quantity, my first date with Mark was long--we did lunch, then ice-skating, then ice cream. Obviously it went well enough that we both stuck around to get married less than a year later. Now that we're married, sans kids, I am not sure if a "marathon date" should technically be called a "day trip." Regardless of its title, the fact is we went somewhere else for half the day yesterday, and were suitably happy about it. The entire trip was planned around a single fact: we had a gift card for a fancy restaurant line. There is, actually, one of their restaurants in DC, but we weren't feeling sushi, so we chose their alternate cuisine at the restaurant in Alexandria. And of course, if we make the trip to Alexandria, we may as well do things in Alexandria that we couldn't otherwise enjoy in DC. So before dinner, Mark took me to Fort Ward where the volunteers with the National Park were giving a Christm...

 I know Halloween is beloved by many people, either for the candy or the costumes [or even both!], but for me it's one of those "oh yeah wow the holiday is this week gosh I haven't done anything" celebrations. Thus, when discovering that our church Halloween party was less than 7 days away, I put Mark in charge of deciding on costumes. To my surprise, he was willing to go as "Stitch" if I would go as "Lilo." The plan was we would order his costume online, and I would wear one of Mark's Hawaiian shirts [which he never wears, to my disappointment].  One of our Sunday School kids In the back of my mind, I told myself I should also find that black hair wig that I got almost a decade ago, to better match Lilo's appearance. But this week was so busy that I didn't get that thought to the front of my mind until the day of the party. I am not exaggerating when I tell you that I tore the house apart looking for that wig. I pulled out boxes, looke...

 In an unexpected series of events, I got a free piano. There had been an upright piano on the Behavioral Health unit where I work, but because it had metal wires--making it a safety issue for patients who will diligently find a way to harm themselves--it had to be kept locked in a meeting room. It wasn't bothering anyone there, but once we started having morning rounds in-person again, the room was becoming quite crowded. Piano needed to go, I offered to take it, and voila, piano. Obviously in need of some elbow grease It actually hasn't yet left the building; I just moved it from the meeting room into my office one floor up [thank goodness for elevators. also for easy-going officemates].  exhibit A: laminate Once that was done, I consulted the World Wide Web for DIY piano renovations and related questions, which is how I learned that those piano keys are not ivory. I started disassembling it a piece at a time, taking home some of them, partly so that I could consult Mark, bu...

 In the six-odd years Mark and I have been married, we have found that there are two truths about family trips: When we visit my parents, we will do something outdoorsy; and when we visit his parents, we will play hand-and-foot canasta. It is guarantees like these that make it possible for me to avoid planning activities until we get there. It also makes it so that anything else that we do feels like a bonus.  Low expectations = high satisfaction. Or something like that. For example, the visit to my parents overlapped my youngest brother's visit to the parents by 3.25 days. Which means we got to coo over our nieces...and include Jaron and Liz in the obligatory outdoors activity. Bonus. Also, I went on a second  outdoors activity with my dad on e-mountain bikes. Two hour ride, over approximately 26 miles, with only one crash (which was me). And we had been so close to making it all the way without incident! Unfortunately, there was a rock chunk in the path, and I saw it in...