Happy Halloween

Here's a picture of our "spooky" house.

This year we were in Corpus for Halloween so went did it in true south Texas style. We went as Dia de los Muertos. The Mexican tradition of Day of the Dead.

Wedding Season

Neal and I both took off Friday because we had a wedding to attend down in Corpus. We slept in until about 7:00. It's funny that 7:00 is "sleeping in" to us. We took Mack for a run and and then ran a few errands. We went to vote and had to stand in line for about 45 minutes. I didn't mind and it made me happy to see such a big turnout. We got on the road about lunchtime. I drove while Neal worked from the passenger seat (on his vacation day). The wedding was at a nice outdoor venue. It was pretty with a big oak tree decorated in lights. I have moments where I get really excited about our wedding in March. That happened a few times at the wedding. It's open wedding season. We have a couple more weddings to go to in November, and then ours. We have one the week after our wedding but our honeymoon will determine if we're able to make it. I think its funny how you go to a lot of weddings in your early 20s because all your college friends are getting married. Now, 1o years later, we're going to a lot of 30-something weddings. I guess we were all just waiting for the right one to come around. Unfortunately, some of those weddings from 10 years ago no longer exist. I thank God that my life panned out the way it did in my 20s. God has his plan and its not our place to question it , no matter how frustrated we may get.

Houston, We have a tenant!

On Thursday, we met our new tenant at the condo to give her the keys and let her ask any questions. First impression was that she seems nice and I'm hoping she will take care of the place. She's a single mom with a 3 year old little boy. We're still taking a small loss each month but at least most of that mortgage will be paid by her rent. Here's hoping for awesome tax write offs too!

After we met her, we went to McCormick & Schmicks for dinner. We have this very bad habit of messing with our phones while we're at a restuarant eating dinner. We made a "no phone" rule during dinner. Had really good conversations and a yummy dinner. I love technology but it really can take over your life if you let it. We thought about continuing our date night by going to have a few drinks but decided against it. Bedtime 9:30!

It's the Dash that Counts

I'm reading One Month to Live by Kerry & Chris Shook, again. It's one of those books that I've already read once and will probably read again and again. There's a chapter for each of the 30 days teaching you how to live your life as it were your last month. Here's a thought that stuck with me. Why wait until you know you only have 30 days left? Wouldn't it better to start living now like you would if it were your last days? In all truth, we don't know when our day will be up. The happiest people live with no regrets. Day 1 talked about how people are usually defined by their date of birth and their date of death. For example, when you see tombstones, they say something like 5/5/40-10/25/10. The beginning and the end aren't as important as what happens in between those dates, better know as the "dash". I'm trying everyday to make my "dash" something to be proud of.

On a side note, Neal is cracking me up right now singing "Ice Ice Baby" in our living room. Just after he came in from watering the backyard. I love to look out the window and see him doing yard work. I love our house! I have a feeling we're going to be here for a long time. We ate at Otilia's tonight. Authentic Mexican food. Love the Tex Mex but this is totally different. Not as greasy and cheesy but still very good. Somehow we are in the middle of a major workout funk. We used to be so good. I did run yesterday morning but couldn't muster up the energy to work out today. Maybe if I try on my wedding dress, I'll get a wake up call and get back in the program. I know I'll feel better if I exercise, so why is it so hard to just do it? Ugh!

Peace Be With You

Plan A for today was for Neal to do the last triathalon of the season. That didn't happen because his registration was not completed and instead of paying the insane last minute registration fee, he just didn't race. Plan B was to get up early and go to the beach so he could surf a little. God didn't make the waves this morning so that didn't happen. We went with plan C. Woke up early (before the sun came up), got a little breakfast from Chaco's, and worked on the condo for a couple of hours before church. As we were leaving for church, Neal couldn't find his phone. After looking everywhere for it and calling Chaco's to see if it was there, he thought he may have left it on the side of his truck while we were unloading stuff. Sure enough, we found the phone in the middle of the road. Someone totally ran over it. First stop after church, Apple store for a new phone.

Today was our 4th Sunday to go to Holy Spirit. I was actually a little bummed when I thought we weren't going to be able to go today. The senior priest preached at the contemporary service today. I'm still a little uncomfortable with the whole priest thing and calling them Father. I do like though that in the Episcopal church, the priests are allowed to marry. There's this one part of the service when he blesses us and tells us to share the peace with everyone. So everyone walks around and shakes hands and says something like "Peace be with you." We usually shake a few hands and just hang out in our seat until someone else comes to us, which they always do. Well today we were sitting there and the priest came up to us and said, "Young People! The Lord's peace be with you." We both laughed a little that he called us young people. We talked to him for a little bit after the service. I like it that they're not pressuring us to join the church but make sure we know that we're welcome there. They're letting us do it on our time.

After church, we tried a new Chinese restaurant that we've seen advertised not too far from our house. Bad doesn't even describe what it was. I've never seen egg drop soup that glowed bright green. Some of the meat was also a grayish color. We did not stay long at all. Didn't want to take any chances with the so called Chinese food.

Now I'm off to Leslie's to celebrate her birthday and engagment. Neal is going to finish up a few things at the condo since our tenant will be getting the keys this week.

Candy Corn=The Devil

Candy corn season is among us. There's usually one certain candy I like for each season for my guilty pleasure. Peppermint nougats for Christmas, conversation hearts for Valentines, Cadbury eggs for Easter. We are smack in the middle of one of my favorites, Candy Corn Season! It always seems like such a great idea and its sweetness hits the spot. Before I know it, I've eaten a whole bag and my teeth have magically grown fur in the form of a layer of sugar. It also makes my stomach feel darn right yucky. Like a big blob with no energy. Reminder-too much sugar is not good for you. At least now I've gotten it out of my system for this season and I can go work out tonight to feel better. Until next year my sweet candy corn!

Funny Randomness

Here are a few funny things that have happened today.

One of my Life Skills kid was eating lunch and he said he didn't like his hamburger because it had too much cow in it.

Today I'm wearing a pair of Neal's black socks because the laundry fairy hasn't come to our house yet. They're too big and the ankle is in the wrong spot. They also say Kenneth Cole on the bottom so I have to keep rearranging them so the words don't show. But I'm thankful I have someone I can borrow socks from.

I was just talking to our school nurse about something when we were interrupted by a teacher with a kid who had done #2 in her pants. She asked me if I wanted to switch jobs. Guess my job isn't so bad after all!