Hello again

Well good grief there's so much going on these days I'd have to blog daily to keep up.

1) I totally didn't even blog about our fun July 4th weekend we spent at my dad's in New Orleans. Or maybe I did? I don't think so. It's the yearly trip. In short, Anna was old enough to hold a sparkler this year, which kinda freaked her out and pleased her at the same time. She and her cousins spent 8-10 hours a day over 3 days in the swimming pool. Yes, this apparently is physically possible. I was exhausted for her. We ate really well, but Dad and his wife are on diets (and now look like rock stars) and so we didn't eat as halphazardly as we did in previous years. This means less guilt. We had a super fun time again this year crammed into just about 72 hours. Woo-hoo! Will post picture soon. Oh yes I will!

2). Fast forward to my return from Germany. I managed to stick around Houston for a week getting all the love I could from Anna, who has now become a daddy's girl thanks to my absence. Can you blame her? On day one of mommy's absence, I get a report that she got off camp early, went to her friend's house, and came back covered in glitter head to toe. Also she gets to stay up a little later thanks to Paul's schedule and she gets to sleep in my spot in our bed. She probably eats pizza for breakfast. Oh yes and then when mommy returns from travel, mommy brings her tons of cool stuff (special request from Germany this time was a pair of rainbow sunglasses with bows and rainbow hair bow. I actually got close). Who wouldn't love it when mommy's gone?

2). Then I went to Anchorage, Alaska with Dad. Paul is the most patient husband in the world for letting me go another week like this, and I managed to beat my own guilt by promising no more travel to myself anytime soon. But I pay the price in "I want DADDY to read me books at night, not mommy!" That's another post. Anyway, I talked dad into letting me tag along on a business trip and so I got to sit in on some of his business meetings AND do some cool Alaska things. Most notable of Alaska things: an earthquake! 5.4 happened 70 miles away at 6am, and my bed shook. I wasn't sure if it was an actual earthquake or if my neighbors were being inconsiderate at 6am so I googled the Alaska Earthquake Information Center who tracks these things. Apparently the list of daily earthquakes in Alaska is long! Pretty common are the small ones but a 5.4 at least makes the news :) We also went on a cruise for whale watching, sea lions, glaciers, puffins...we got a full taste of Alaska in our visit, including tasting salmon and local halibut. Fishing is a big deal there. In my mind when you can mix a business trip with pleasure, it's the best combo. I learned TONS just from listening to Dad's business meetings. To sum it up, my perspective is that the oil field is greatly about relationships. Relationships build trust so that people want to do business with each other. It's like everyone knows everyone and everyone goes back like 30 years or so in the business. Like astronauts, they even have nicknames. In fact, the oil field has plenty of parallels to my own career, and I definitely picked up on a thing or two while listening in. Second thing about relationships and the folks in the oil field: everyone I talked to seemed to be at least somewhat regretful about the time they'd spent away from the family while the kids were growing up. Being on the rigs equals big money but it comes with a price of being away from the family weeks at a time. The same theme runs throughout all I met: by the time they make the right amount of money to enjoy it, the kids are all grown up. I think it's a mandatory vicious cycle; however, I did pick up on the fact that times are changing. These kids coming into the business these days are protected by a different company culture: limits and rules and allowances on how much they can actually work at a time; safety improvements; things like this, which seems to be in line with the "mandatory seat belt, smoking is bad for you" generation. And so it goes. It seems at least from my perspective that while this can be a nuisance for the oil companies at times, the people I met at least respect that. They do lack a generation of engineers who know how to get their hands dirty though :) I'd be one of those.

3) We got a new cat. Well she's not new but she's new in the house. I have threatened KC that even though she's perfect in every way, if she didn't start exhibiting some cuddle time, I'd have to get another kitty for just that. I've been too busy to follow up on the threat. Plus part of me thinks it could be a bad thing to disturb the awesome harmony in our household. Alas, while I was in Alaska, I learned that a friend who is undergoing chemo found a sweet, cuddly cat that was left for abandoned outside her house. As she's already got a houseful to take care of and is extra fatigued these days, she was looking for a home for this kitty. So we took her in. She's around 2 years old, black with gorgeous eyes. We got her Saturday and she and KC still don't get along. It's the first time I've ever heard KC hiss. We're waiting for the epic battle to settle things but Blackberry still has claws and so I'm trying to push this off until we get back from our Colorado vacation next week. During which Blackberry will be boarded so KC can be at ease. So we're still on a trial period with this cat. Just as I was googling "Second Chance Pet Shelter" to look for an exit if I needed one, Blackberry hopped into my lap. What a booger. She did keep walking though. She does let Anna carry her everywhere. So we're in a trial period. No guarantees. But we certainly have disrupted the harmony in the house.

4) Anna starts dance class tonight as a trial class. As I was paying $70 for her latest gymnastics outfits a few weeks ago, she caught sight of the dance clothes and begged for dance class. She's been balleting all over the place and keeps begging so I told her she'd have to choose dance versus gymnastics. She's choosing dance. We'll see how this goes. We are NOT a dance family but maybe Anna will love it, and if so, we will too.

5). We are going on our annual vacation to Colorado. Let the driving begin! On Saturday, that is.

6) Contractors begin constructing our patio this week. Or so they say. Woo-hoo! Bring on the shade! Also we have really been enjoying the pool this summer. I spent this weekend in it with Anna for a bit and afterwards she said she'd let me read her books that night at bedtime. So apparently it's good for bonding time. Alas she changed her mind later again anyway.

7) I start teaching again August 22. Oh, also I am going to Denver tomorrow morning for a meeting and right back home tomorrow night. See how efficient I have become at travel?

8) Remember when I said I have a plan to pay off my student loans in the next two years? I haven't forgotten. I'm formulating it now. Hoping it works. It's a big leap for me. I'll only tell you about it if it's successful. Why would I blog about failure? HAHAHA.

9) I bet there's a #9. I just can't think of it right now.

10) I have tons of pictures to go with each of these little lines. One day I'll post them

Gotta run, Anna's dance class will start soon!