We're Back!

Well, we got back from our cruise on Sunday afternoon. Roger & I had a great time. We had so much fun. We highly recommend cruises for vacations. You'll get to see all the pics very soon. Roger is reconnecting our desktop computer as I type (on the laptop) after "blowing it up" on Tuesday in which he uninstalled the operating system and all applications and reinstalled it all. Don't worry, he backed up all our pictures and music and docs. So we'll have those cruise pictures up soon with more details regarding our cruise adventure to come!

We have been constructing cabinets and tables and shelves and a tv stand all week. We decided to redo our office. Before we left for the cruise we downloaded office planning software from Ikea, designed a new office and drove up to Round Rock to the new Ikea and bought it all. Getting it all to fit smartly in the back of our truck took some thought and patience, but we finally got it all in there, covered with a tarp and tied down. The weather has been typical Texas spring weather. Lots of rain, thunderstorms, tornado watches, all the good stuff. But we don't mind. We need the rain bad! Roger and I were just talking today about how the weather was so much better in the Caribbean. Duh! It did rain on us in Jamaica, but we were soaking wet already from our excursion so we didn't care. And a little Red Stripe on the way back to the ship helped us feel better in the pouring rain on our tour boat. I'm telling you we had a blast! I didn't want the cruise to end. We're already talking about our next cruise.

So...this is my first blog since we moved home and I have to say I love being home. Love, Love LOVE being home in our own house. We have been getting it all back in order. We weren't able to mow our grass yet. Not only has it been raining every day keeping the ground too soggy to mow, but our lawn mower which has been sitting in our garage for two years won't start at all. We think we might have left some gas in it which is bad. So we took it down the road to have it fixed along with every one else in Austin trying to mow their grass this spring. Every place we called is backed up at least three weeks with lawn mower repair. So Roger is going to borrow a neighbors lawn mower until we get ours back which will be after he returns to DC.

I also love being back in Austin. We have tried very hard to visit most of our favorite restaurants (without going out every meal) and we still haven't gotten to them all. It's so green and lush here. And so slow. I miss that the most about the South. I will say that I do not miss the Austin traffic. It has not gotten any better since we left even with the creation of several new toll roads (don't even get me started about the toll roads). I think that Austin's traffic is worse than DC Metro traffic. Roger and I got caught in traffic for the second time today and it sucked. From what I can tell so far, afternoon rush hour in Austin starts at 3:00 p.m. and ends at 8:00 p.m. Add on more time during a thunderstorm. I don't even want to know what morning rush hour is like. But I guess I will find out very soon. I return to work on April 9th in NW Austin although we live in SC Austin. I will have to use one of the worst highways traffic wise. And I don't have many other options other than adjusting my work schedule or working from home as much as possible. We'll see how bad it gets before I ask my boss to let me work from home all the time. I can already tell it's not going to be fun.

But I'm still glad to be home. I can't wait for the weather to clear so we can enjoy the outdoors more. Although it's already hot here. Actually it's been hot here since we got back. That's Texas for you.

Okay, I've been rambling enough for now. I'm going to see what else I can get done tonight. We "plan" to be finished with the office by tomorrow. We can't wait so we can enjoy all our hard work. Sunday we're going to try a new church which also meets in a local school. We're excited to see how it is. And our good friend Buddy from DC will be visiting us Sunday afternoon. He's our first visitor from DC and we're super excited about that. Okay, Okay, I know I said enough already. I'm going now. As my South African-American friend says, "Chat to ya later!"

Monday, March 13, 2007: Update on My Dad and Reflection on Being Home

My dad had a doctor’s appointment on Friday with Dr. Bond his primary care manager. His blood pressure was 87/55 and his weight was 131. He has gained nine pounds. That’s great. As a result of blood work from this visit, Dr. Bond discovered my dad is anemic and prescribed a multivitamin with iron plus an extra iron supplement. He also told my dad only 75% of people who go through what he did do not survive and 80% usually lose a leg. So my dad said he’d quit griping about his feet, but if you know my dad even a little bit, you know he’ll keep griping. At his appointment today Dr. Kirby, Cardio/Thoracic Surgeon, gave my dad a very thorough exam and told my dad that he looked good. His blood pressure was 98/65. And my dad told him no more cigarettes. My mom said she thinks he means it this time. I hope so! His legs still get tired easily and his feet are still recovering from the gout. He is on antibiotic for that and aspirin for blood thinner, plus the multivitamin and iron supplement now. He’s doing good and planning to go hunting this weekend with his grandson William. I know, he probably shouldn’t, but you can’t keep him cooped up inside too long.

Thanks again for all your prayers. I think my dad will make a slow but complete recovery and has decided to stick around a little longer. Please pray for continued healing, rest, strength, provision and peace for him and my mom.

Well, we’ve been home four days now and it feels so nice to be home. When we arrived we walked through the house by ourselves before everyone showed up to help unload and it was interesting and kind of neat. Our house is a little smaller than we remembered, but just as cute as we left it. And we left a lot of junk here! At first the thought of setting up house again was a little daunting. But that feeling has since left both of us. Thanks to de-cluttering an area before we unpacked and doing the same to what we were unpacking has made the idea of setting up again not so overwhelming. We are getting rid of tons of stuff. Part of our garage is full. Roger wants to have a garage sale, but I’m lazy so I say take it all to Goodwill or Salvation Army. That’s how lazy I am, I don’t care about making money off it. But it’s all coming together. We are almost finished unpacking everything. We really missed our house and are remembering how much we love it.

It is great being home and being in Austin. It’s still the Austin we love, but a lot has changed and we think we can handle all the changes. I was worried about all the development I read about before we moved back and was concerned the Austin I fell in love with years ago would be gone. But I don’t think high rises in downtown or an explosion of retail can take the weird out of Austin. And that’s just what we like.

Keep Austin Weird!