Killing Time

I am sitting in an airport waiting to go home. What a great time to blog!

I have been in Louisiana all week conducting Employee Benefits Meetings. One of my bosses and I started out early Tuesday morning to head out to Tyler, TX. It took us a little while to get out of town, as we had to load up some supplies from the office, have a sit-down breakfast at Chik-fil-a, and find a Starbucks. You'd be surprised how elusive they are when you need one. We passed up one because it was on the wrong side of the freeway. A little too inconvenient for Starbucks. We finally found one in Conroe, and then we were REALLY on our way!!! (at about 8am - Good thing we started early!!!)

We had a lunch meeting in Tyler, and from there, we headed East to Bossier City, LA. We stayed the night there in a cassino...because that is pretty much the only option...and then made our way to Hodge, LA, for another lunch meeting on Wednesday. After a...delicious??? catfish buffet at the only restaurant in town, and another successful presentation, we took to the road again and drove South to Lafayette, LA. We had dinner there with some of the ladies from the office, and gave two Benefits presentations on Thursday morning. We had lunch with the ladies again, and then hit the road again for Harvey, LA, which is about 20 minutes outside of New Orleans.

We went into New Orleans and had dinner at Brennan's. Yum!!! Then we made our way to Pat O'Brien's and sat in the piano bar for a couple of hours. That place is fun!!! The musicians are very entertaining. After that, we went to the Cat's Meow and hit up some karaoke. Yes, I did!!! It wasn't like when I did it in college, though. I only sang one song, and this time there were other performers, though non quite as talented as yours truely! :-) Finally, we ended our New Orleans experience at Cafe Du Monde with some famous pastries, which I do not know how to spell. It was a good time for sure!

This morning we had our final presentation in Harvey, LA, and finally got to head to the airport, where we have now been since noon. It is 3:29pm. Our flight was supposed to have left at 1:45. I don't know what you folks in Houston did to bring all that rain today, but it sure has delayed us!!! But they are starting to board our plane now, so it shouldn't be too much longer.

All in all, a good trip!

Since my last post...

Hello fellow bloggers! Since my last post, I think I have actually taken some pictures! They are not loaded yet, though. I'll try to get some pics up to accompany my list this time (that's for you, Summer!).

So, what have we been doing???

• Few Astros games
• Celebrated Father's Day with both of our dads
• Dinner with friends
• Lynda flew in for a weekend and spent one night with us before we left for Family Camp
• Family Camp
• Celebrated Independence Day with friends
• Celebrated my Dad's birthday with the fam
• Went to Ft. Worth for a friend's wild and crazy bachelorette pary and shower
• Visited Stacy, Wes, Jake and Derek one last time before they move to Costa Rica
• Spent some time with our boys, Royce and Joey, while their dad played baseball and their mom is in the jungle
• Fun times with the greatest nephew in the world (Trey)
• Went to Dessert Gallery with Trent and Rachel and played some games
• Dinner with the Oliverios
• Astros game where I finally got my Lance Berkman bobblehead!!!
• Went to see Wes one last time before they move to Costa Rica (and to pick up the recliner we bought from them)
• Went to Ft. Worth for the Worley-Rebolledo wedding (Congrats Jenni and Rod!!!)
• Stayed with Summer and Jason and Judah - we missed Elijah because he was at camp

Ok, so that's all we've done. Tonight, we are going to a wedding, and tomorrow night is Second Saturday at our house!! Don't forget! It starts at 6pm!!!!! Next weekend, we'll wish Matt Tisdale well as he heads off to Harding (I think). Toward the end of August, I'll be traveling for work, and possibly into September as well. In October, Craig and I are going on VACATION!! WHOO-HOO!!!!!!!!!!!! A legit vacation, too - we're going to Walt Disney World!!!!! I am very excited. Craig has been a couple of times, but I never have, so I'm glad we'll get to go while we only have to worry about the two of us. Someday, I'm sure we'll take the wee ones (who don't exist yet...no rumors, please! :-) ), and then we can walk around like we own the place and let them have all the fun!!! But this trip is for us! We're going to drive there, so if you have any suggestions for cool places to see on the way, let us know!!!

Update...

It has been quite a while since I have posted any happenings from our lives. As you might have assumed, Summer DID have the baby...about six weeks ago. I have a few pictures, but I think they are all duplicates of what Summer has on her blog, so please feel free to check them out. (http://www.coxragamuffins.blogspot.com/)

Since my last post, we...

• had Second Saturday at our house


• have been to many softball games


• went camping over Easter weekend


• have shared numerous meals with friends


• celebrated our favorite nephew's 1st birthday


• celebrated our favorite niece's 8th birthday


• made absolutely no plans for two weekends in a row in April in anticipation of Judah's arrival so we could go to Ft. Worth at a moment's notice


• made a trip to Ft. Worth the weekend after those two weekends to see Judah (but not before we attended the best 8-year-old celebration ever!!!)


• have been to several of Ashlee's soccer games


• celebrated Mother's Day with Craig's mom by surprising her with breakfast in bed EARLY that Saturday morning (there are no pictures of this event), and celebrated Mother's Day with Steph's mom and the gang on that Sunday


• have gone to some Astros games


• wished friends well as they headed off to a new adventure (www.luttrullstown.blogspot.com)


• spent one Sunday afternoon playing games with Trent and Rachel and Frankie and Becky


• ran a 5k


• congratulated a cousin who graduated from high school and spent the day with Steph's family


• cut Trey's hair

There. Have I left out anything? It has been a busy couple of months!

Oh, and you will be happy to know that I found our camera!!!

Make-Up Picture

Wow, Trey sure does love his furry cousin! Roscoe was so good for this photo shoot. He might as well have been sitting in that position for three years! Trey was good, too. And look! Not a hair out of place on Roscoe!!!

Bad Blogger

It is true...I am a bad blogger...a very bad blogger. But at least now we know that I still remember the password. I was going to post a great picture for you to make up for my lack of postage, but the little icon is not responding to my clicking. Sorry folks.

Weekend With Friends!

I made a trip to Fort Worth this weekend for Summer's baby shower.

Her second little boy is due in April. I can not wait to meet him. I know Elijah is going to be a great big brother! They have been working hard to get the baby's room ready, and it looks wonderful! Here is a picture of a little something I gave her for the baby's room! Why, yes, it is is a fiber optic plant! And, yes, she loved it!!!
Jason and Elijah played tee ball for a little while on Friday afternoon. Elijah can really hit! He is going to be a big star on his tee ball team here in a few weeks!!!

While I was in the area, I was able to get together with a few other friends from college, and we had dinner dowtown in Fort Worth. It was so good to see all of you!!! Would you believe I did not take a single picture the whole weekend? I know there are some floating around from the shower, but I wish I had remembered to take some at dinner, too.

While I was gone, Craig worked like a little baby owl getting our yard in good shape for the Spring. It looked so nice when I got home last night, and I can't wait to see it in the daylight! It will look great for Second Saturday this weekend. Thanks Craig'O!!!

It was a great weekend, and I really enjoyed the time with my friends, but I was glad to be home last night!

Softball

After one post, I'm already behind on my blogging. I'll try to do better!

Softball started up again for the guys a two weeks ago, and they played some good games. Of course, the cheer leaders sat on the cold metal bleachers, but it is worth it to support the guys! Here are some pics. Unfortunately, the photos of the guys actually playing did not come out too clearly.
Last week, play continued, but unfortunately, a man in their league, playing on a different team, had a heart attack during a game. He passed away later that night. Please keep his family in your prayers.

Our team does not play tonight, but they start up again next week!

Camping with Ashlee!!!

Our niece, Ashlee, had expressed interest in going camping with Uncle Pop and Aunt Stephanie, so for Christmas, we got her a new camping chair and her very own pink and purple lantern. As bright as it is, I wouldn't mind having one for myself! We had a free weekend last weekend, so Craig called Ashlee and asked her if she would like to camping that Saturday night, and she said yes. So we loaded up the car, and after running a few errands, including buying food for Roscoe so Me-Maw could feed him while we were gone, we finally got out of town and on the road toward Hunstville State Park.

Before we went to our campsite, we stopped to visit Big Sam, where we paid tribute to Craig's alma mater, Sam Houston State University, by singing their school song.

Hail alma mater, hats off to you
Ever you'll find us loyal and true
Firm and undaunted ever we'll be
Here's to the school we love; here's a toast to thee. You can really see what a beautiful day it was. The sky was so blue. Also, notice my mad photography skillz!!!When we got to our campsite, Ashlee helped us set up both tents, and she said that she wanted to sleep in her own tent all by herself. We were impressed by how brave she was, and even more impressed that she actually spent the entire night in the tent all by herself!!! We were so proud of her. She was not scared at all!!! Ashlee even pointed out a racoon by a tree less than 20 feet from us!!! She is one brave 7-year-old!!!
We took a short walk down to the fishing pier, and Ashlee and Uncle Pop fished for a while. They didn't catch anything, but someone else on the pier caught a bass, and another one caught a catfish. Fortunately, we were planning on eating out that night! The next morning, they went fishing again, but this time, Ashlee's fishing rod fell into lake! They decided to call it a day as far as fishing was concerned, and headed back to camp. A few seconds after they got back, a little boy ran up behind them, completely out of breath and told us that they were able to fish out Ashlee's rod! So Craig went back and got it. Still no fish, but at least we can keep trying!
We also played card games, frisbee, roasted marshmallows, and did some art-work. I know that Uncle Pop and I had a blast, and I think Ashlee did, too!! Hopefully, we can go camping again soon...maybe for two nights next time! We are happy that she enjoys doing things like this with us. It makes us a proud Uncle and Aunt!!!!!

Fun Weekend!!

With the threat of bad weather Saturday evening, we planned a low-key night of dinner and games with Craig's parents at our house. Fortunately, they live a couple of neighborhoods over, so the drive back and forth is easy. We played Cranium Pop 5 and Hand & Foot, and we had a blast! Becky does a great impression of Atari's Frogger!!! Had I thought of taking pictures, that would have been a great one! Becky--you got lucky this time!!!

Sunday night, we met Trent and Rachel at Freebirds for dinner, and we hung out with them for a while. Always fun!!!! Here are some shots of us at The Bird.

I am going to try to take more pictures of friends and family. It seems like we only have pictures of our vacations. Do we not live between vacations? Granted, vacation means time away from work, but why not remember the highlights of the days we DO have to work, and take pleasure in those moments?

This will be a busy week for us. Softball starts up again tomorrow night, so we'll be at the ballpark with friends. Tuesday, I have the pleasure of spending the evening with precious Trey. Wednesday, of course, is bible class, and maybe we'll pause to breathe later in the week! Maybe you will see more pictures soon!