Hurricanes are the bane of my existance

OK so 2008 has been crazy right? Wouldn't you agree? I think its been a little crazy so far and now Hurricanes are really starting to tick me off! First Gustav ruined our cruise, and now Ike is threatening to ruin our Phi Beta with husbands reunion.

We've been planning this for months and now Ashley and Tyler can't make it in because they are closing the Houston Airport and because they fly standby, they wont be able to make it.

ARrrrrrrrrrrrrrgghhh!

Oh well, we're going anyway and we will hang out and have a good reunion and Ashley and Tyler and co. will be with us in spirit. Maybe we can set up a web cam. Hmmm good idea.

I promise I will post pictures from the cruise next week and from the reunion too. And I'll put up pictures of Ike too.

(I do completely realize that people are having much bigger problems than mine, and I am definitely praying for all the people affected by the Hurricane in large and small ways, I just wanted to whine a little.)

Stupid Gustav

Well, its Tuesday, and sadly I am not cruising along on the high seas. Because of Gustav, they changed our cruise to a 3 day cruise to nowhere. We'll be leaving tomorrow and coming back on Saturday. I'm still looking forward to it and I know that Mom, Pop, Granddad, I-ene, Jay and I will have a great time!

We are going to Landa Pool today - a spring fed pool in New Braunfels to cool off and get some sun. We're going to pretend it is the Caribbean and that we are snorkeling.

Louisiana

Well, I know that I promised pictures earlier, but I am just a bad blogger! Things have been pretty crazy lately and I'm just now taking the time to download my pics and get them up here!

First things first, my trip to Louisiana was great! I drove 6 1/2 hours there on Saturday morning alone, Jay's dad Jim was in the hospital so we split up and he went there and I went to LA. It took me longer than I thought it would but that was probably because I stopped too much. It probably wasn't as long as it seemed, either because I was so excited! After 18 long years I was going to see my baby brother and I couldn't wait!

I got there in the afternoon and saw Austin, his Step dad Judson, and step sister too... Carol was at work still in town. It was a trip down memory lane, I hadn't been to that house in LA in 20 years... that is a looonng time. But it was still so familiar to me. The house was built by Austin's Grandparents and although they have done a lot of work on it since the last time I was there, I still remembered so much. The land out there in LA is gorgeous, green and wooded.

Austin gave me the grand tour and again I was excited to see so many familiar things from my childhood... it was very comforting! We had a good time catching up and filling each other in on the last 18 years or so. Jud, Austins step dad is a funny guy and educated me on many things including Gar Balls... that's right, I said Gar Balls. If you want to know what they are, call me and I'll fill you in.


Carol came home that night and we had a great dinner and continued to catch up. We had a great time talking about old times and old neighbor and all that good stuff. The next morning we pulled out the baby books and she made me some copies and I'll post them when

we get a scanner!) and cooked for us, again, a great big breakfast.

Austin took me through the big town of Evans and out to their camp on the river. The pics of him and the big tree are of a tree that fell in the road that we (well, really him) pulled out of the way. It was an adventure. The camp is really nice, on a sandy beach by the river and I can see why they love it so much, it reminds me of our ranch in South Texas. A nice little retreat.

Austin reminds me so much of Dad. When he was little he favored Carol and now that he's a man, he's definitely taken on characteristics of Dad... which is cool! And, he's taller than me... for real! He's getting a degree in Electrical Engineering at LA Tech in Rustin. I couldn't be more proud of little bro!

I was sad to leave and wished that I had more time. Carol loaded me up with goodies for the road... Amish Friendship
Bread starter, juice to make Mayhaw and Muskydine jelly, canned Chow-Chow, a relish for beans and such. They invited us back this fall and we are planning to go spend some time with them soon.


As for the working out, I have been bad these last 2 weeks. I had about 30 days in a row then our birthdays come around and I used that as an excuse. I've lost 9.9 with weight watchers so far and a total of about 13 since I began so that is good! I'm going to get in 5 more workouts before we leave on our cruise next week. I'm so excited about our cruise!!! We're going to Austin to help Jay's mom and dad with moving into and settling into their new house before heading to my Mom and Pops house Sunday. We'll drive to Galveston together and meet up with Granddad and Aline and sail away. One big happy dysfunctional family on the high seas!!!


I will take tons of pics and blog about our whole trip. We are planning a snorkeling excursion in Cozumel and a trip to the ruins in Progresso.

Oh Brother!

I had an absolutely awesome weekend! I got to see my little bro for the first time in 18 years!! It was really awesome to see him and Carol, and meet her hubby and daughter. I'll post some pics tonight...

Day 23

Yes, thats right, I am still chugging along! Walking, Baliwood-ing, Carmen Electra Strip-Teasing my way to skinny town. Well, I did miss 1 day but that counted as my Birthday day off.

This weekend I am going to see my little (half) brother. I haven't seen him or my Step-mom in 18 years. I am nervous and excited about it! Pray that we have a safe trip and a great time hanging out! I'll post pics when I get back!

Day 17

Yes, that is right, 17 days of working out in a row. That's what I have been up to! Some days are definitely easier than others... Yesterday was hard. We did Evening Stars last night, which I absolutely love, then got home at 10:30 and had to go walk. But we did it! Go us! I'm so tired today - and at work - booooo.

To help my workouts along I bought a couple dance DVDs which are great... I got a Baliwood dance DVD, a Carmen Electra Strip Tease one, and like a Modern one. So far I have dont he Baliwood, and Strip Tease one and they are both very fun and very good work outs. I look like a complete fool in my living room, but that is OK. I just make Jay go in another room.

My cousins, Peter and Amy, are having their baby today! I'm so happy and excited for them. Everyone I know is pregnant or has just had a kid it seems like. I guess we'll be next!

Day 9

My exercise routine keeps changing... I am no longer going for the Sprint Triathlon, or 5K at this time. The reasons are that 1. I wasn't going to have enough time to train for the Sprint Triathlon, so I decided to do the 5K. 2. I started to train to run 5K and realized that maybe I should learn to walk before I run, literally. So that brings me to my current plan that I didn't even want to tell anyone about until I started it because I don't want to be a quitter.

So now I am on Day 9. That is, 9 consecutive days of exercise. My commitment is to work out every day until we leave on our cruise on September 1st. That's a total of 53 days of working out. The rules are simple. I have to do 30 minutes daily of some sort of exercise. Right now that means walking up and down the hills around our neighborhood, or doing a really cheesy Salsa Dance video that makes me very sweaty. I already feel better and more fit, not to mention the fact that I am sleeping VERY well. My biggest challenge thus far was Wednesday night when I worked, then went to a Birthday dinner, then Bible study and didn't return home until a little after 11 and had to work out before going to bed. I think my DH was surprised that I actually did it. I was a little surprised myself. My other challenge is that I have developed something called Plantar Facitis (SP?) that makes my foot hurt real bad - but I will work through it!

Jay and I have devised some incentives to keep each other going. This all started when he and his brother decided to work out every day for a month. Then I opened my big mouth and said that I would just do it all the way to the cruise... what a dummy. So if I miss a day, I have to do the trash and kitty litter box for a month. If Jay misses a day, he has to do laundry for a month.

So we'll see what happens... I am trying not to set my expectations too high. You know, like being disappointed if I don't fit in a size 2 by September 1st. I'm trying to be realistic and so my goal is to drop a size. I have been doing better with WW and am down 6 lbs... I'll keep you posted!