Month of July, 2003

Vacation

Finally, vacation begins tomorrow! I feel like a little kid waiting for Christmas. I've got everything taken care of (that I can think of) and I'm almost ready to go. I just have to pack. Yup, I'm totally a last minute packer. Guess I'd better get to it considering we're leaving the house at 5:30am tomorrow.

See you in a couple weeks!

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Engagement

Karen and J got engaged today! What a big moment for the Lucci family! It was very, very special to be apart of their moment. I'm very happy for my sister who is very happy with J. I'm very happy that J is going to be a part of this family. It's all very happy!

Though a couple hours after the big event, I was thinking about it and I finally got hit with the reality that someday Karen won't be living in the same house, or even the same state as me! It makes me very sad to think of losing the daily contact we have. I never knew how special it would be to live with my sisters. I never knew it would work out so well and that I would never want to see it end.

It's pretty selfish of me to be thinking about my loss when Karen and J are gaining so much. It's a good move for them and in the scheme of things, I know it will end up good for me to. Everything always works out for the best. I just know that when the day comes, I'm going to miss my sister a lot. I'd better start saving for plane tickets right now!

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Packing List

My mother is awesome. She just sent a suggested packing list for the cruise. It definitely helps, because it's hard for me to think about packing warm clothes when it's 100 degrees here (but only 55 in Alaska). My favorite thing on the list was "business cards"...because you never know when you need to schmooze.

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Insurance

Erica says: Can we insure my brain? I'm spending so much on school right now I want to make sure my investment is protected.
Karen says: Definitely. I think JLo insured her ass.

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Cruise Coming Up

I feel like I'm perpetually tired. Always wanting/needing more sleep and never getting it. I can't seem to catch up. Can someone please add a few more hours to the night?

Good thing I'm going on vacation next week. Yep...a real vacation. I'll be gone for 9 days! Going with the family on a cruise to Alaska. We leave Tuesday for Vancouver then get on the boat on Wednesday. We cruise up the coast of Alaska (stopping at various towns along the way) and finish in Anchorage where we'll fly out of on the following Wednesday. Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful. This vacation is all I can think about right now. A whole 9 days without the worries of work or school or the state of the world. I'm just going to relax...and sleep.

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Rub My Belly

All of the dogs like their belly's rubbed, which I admittedly don't understand. But for a dog it must be really nice. I love the dogs, so I don't mind rubbing...it's the least I can do in return for the love I get.

Tiger is especially happy to have his belly rubbed in the morning before I go to work. As I patted him on the head goodbye this morning, he rolled over asking for belly-rubbin. I indulged for a few minutes (of course, I'm a softie). Even after the rub down, he stayed like this long enough for me to take a picture. Then he was sufficiently embarrassed to roll over right side up again.

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Crop Circles & Ranch in Utah

I'm not sure how we got on the conversation last night, but Kevin and I were talking about strange phenomenon. He followed up this morning with a couple good articles. One about crop circles, which in my opinion sounds like a good theory. And one about a ranch in Utah (part 1 & part 2) that has some pretty freaky things happening. It's way easier to read about these things during the day than it is at night.

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Expensive Cities

Ten most expensive cities to live in. I wasn't surprised to find New York City at the top of the list.

-link via Cameron

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Dinner at Buca De Beppo

Saturday night was girls night out. We met at Buca De Beppo for dinner, an Italian place that serves family style. I loved that all the tables sat at least 8, finally a restaurant made for groups! Karen and I came in a few minutes late only to find a man sitting at the table with Tina, Connie, Christine, Leia, and Amanda. I almost started in on whomever brought the boy with them. Thank goodness I realized it was the waiter before I really embarrassed myself. Food was great and the conversation even better.

Did lots of shopping, cleaning, laundry, and laying around this weekend. Also saw The Hulk, which was an excellent movie.

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Friday, Blessed Friday!

I'm so glad it's Friday. This has been a really long week for me and the end is a relief. All day long I was having a hard time staying awake. So when I got home from work, I decided to take a nap. Ended up being a 3 hour nap and I feel like I can go back to bed for the rest of the night.

I think the week was long because I didn't get enough sleep. If there is one thing I know about myself it's that I require 7.5 to 8 hours of sleep a night. No excuses. When I don't reach my quota, I become very unpleasant to be around. (I'm sorry, Kevin, for being difficult.) It all started Monday night when I stayed up late writing a case for homework. Then Tuesday night I had class. Wednesday night I went to DFWBlogs happy hour which kept me up later again. And had class again on Thursday. Yep, too many evening activities and not enough sleep caught up with me.

Thank goodness I don't have class in the morning (we had to go Tuesday this week instead of Saturday) so I can sleep in. Then I plan on doing regular Saturday stuff around the house - mow the lawn, clean my rooms, laundry, etc. Since it's supposed to be really hot this weekend, I'll probably head over to Mom and Dad's for a swim. Then in the evening, hopefully some hanging out with the girls!

Before it gets too late, I'm going to find my way back to bed again. Thank goodness it's Friday!

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What a stinker!

Karen called me at work today to report Tiger's latest exploits, but of course I didn't know what she was calling about.

*Ring, ring*
E: Hello.
K: It's me. Hey, did you buy some sort of red furry thing last night?
E: Yeah, it's a red fur scarf for the cruise. Why?
K: Well, Tiger had it in his mouth just before I was leaving today.
E: That stinker!
K: Yeah, it was pretty chewed up. He must have dug it out of the shopping bag, didn't he?
E: Yup. I can't believe him...at least it was only 3 bucks.

I still can't believe he went to the great lengths of actually digging it out of the shopping bag! What a dog.

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Connections

I've had some really good opportunities to connect with friends in the past couple weeks. These connections were definitely something I needed. Sometimes I forget that the spice of life is below the surface. I'm lucky to have friends who will go there with me.

Thank you, Jeff, Autumn, Peter, Summer, and Cameron.

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Holiday Weekend Recap

How does time escape from me so quickly? I've been meaning to write, but I guess that hasn't gotten me anywhere. So much to catch up on.

Kevin was here for the weekend of the 4th. We did lots of stuff! Friday night we had dinner with Karen and J. Then watched fireworks from afar. The spot we picked didn't allow us to see any one show up close (darn trees in the way), but we did see bits of 4 shows total. As we were sitting on lawn chairs in the back of J's truck (can you say, redneck?) watching the fireworks, I was thinking about this country I live in. With all of the craziness going on in foreign policy, I can't say I was feeling very patriotic. But since it was Independence Day, I decided I should focus on the things I like about the US. The one thing I am very, very thankful for in this country is the Interstate highway system. The one freedom I am so grateful to have is the ability to get in my car and just drive.

Saturday, July 5th, class was cancelled due to the holiday so I made all day plans. Kevin, Mom, Dad, and I drove out of the city and rented kayaks to go down the Brazos River. We drove out to Palo Pinto and rented from Rochelle's right on the river. The trip was about five and a half hours total, but we went at a fairly leisurely pace. It was a fairly eventful trip. We stopped to swim, we had to get out and pull our kayaks in a really shallow spot, we ate lunch in the boats, and we were attacked by a snake!

The snake attack was definitely a surprise. We were stopped in a tranquil, slow moving part of the river to eat lunch. Because most of the property along the river is private, we decided to stay in the boat to eat rather than trespass. (Note to self: when I have river front property, post a sign next to my picnic table on the shore that says everyone is welcome.) So we're eating and talking when I look up, I see this snake slithering along the top of the water right towards us! Mom was the closest to it and she yelled at Dad to do something. I was in so much shock, all I got out of my mouth was "Look!" Dad grabbed a paddle and hit the water near the snake. But much to our surprise, that didn't scare it away! It kept coming. True panic is setting in (and the snake has only been near us for a total of 5 seconds at this point). Dad saves the day by getting the snake on the end of his paddle and throwing it a few feet away from us. The short flight the snake took must have been enough for him, because he slithered up a rock on shore and disappeared. After we all caught our breath, we had a good laugh at how freaked out we all were.

The rest of the trip was uneventful in comparison, but I think we all liked it that way. I really enjoyed being outside in a quiet and calm environment. It is so good for my soul to get out of the city. The neat part is we only drove an hour and a half to get there. Kevin and I are talking about a canoeing/camping trip next time.

Naturally, after spending a whole day outdoors rowing a boat, we were pretty exhausted when we got home. Kevin and I vegged out watching Best in Show and Finding Nemo. Sunday we slept late and enjoyed lunch over at Mom and Dad's. That evening we went to Theatre Three to see "I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change." It was a very, very cute show.

Kevin was here until Tuesday morning, so I still have to write about Monday's activities. Unfortunately, tonight is not the night. I'm supposed to be reading about negotiations for class tomorrow. Too bad the reading isn't more engaging or enlightening. School and work are keeping my plate pretty full these days. I'm not complaining though, because I really enjoy what is going on in my life right now. I just need to remember to take time out to relax and slow down. That's definitely on the agenda for Saturday night and Sunday morning.

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Dangerous Intersections

10 Most Dangerous Intersections

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Cute, cute, cute

The Dog - Club.

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4th of July

It's a holiday and the most important thing to do on a holiday is sleep in. So that's what I did this morning. I slept in until 8:30am!! I know, I know, I shouldn't indulge quite that much, but it's done now. (Note to self - you're old when you can't even sleep in until 10am anymore!)

Kevin arrives today!! Since it was such a busy week and I didn't get anything done around the house, I'm cleaning house, doing laundry, etc this morning. Then Tiger and I will head over to Mom and Dad's for lunch and a swim. I'm also going to help Dad install the outdoor speakers by the pool. (How richville is that?!) Then I'll pick Kevin from the airport and maybe go back to Mom and Dad's for more swimming. Tonight will probably be fireworks at the Ballpark. Tomorrow is canoeing down the Brazos River!

Enjoy your holiday!

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Hooping

Another fad I was completely unaware of - hooping.

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Larry v. Lockney

Tonight at 9pm on KERA channel 13, the documentary Larry v. Lockney will be showing. It's a film about Larry Tannahill who "was the only parent in Lockney, TX to object to the school board's new mandatory drug-testing policy."

It looks to be a fascinating account, but I'm also interested in it because I know one of the filmmakers. He's married to Robin, a former professor and current friend of mine. Though I don't know Jim well, I do know that this is a huge opportunity for him (and really any filmmaker). I'm really excited to finally see his work after all these years of hearing about it!

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