Retirement Time

This evening we went to a Retirement party for Colin, a longtime co-worker of Sneed's. It was held at another co-worker's lovely home in Katy. Philippe and Leslie hosted a lovely Lebanese dinner and the libations flowed freely. Enjoy retirement, Colin!


Not one of my photos = )

8.19.72 ...38 down and Forever to go

Today is our anniversary. The girls all called with felicitous wishes. Sneed gave me a beautiful bouquet and we celebrated by having a quiet (Panera's was empty at 6:15pm) dinner. Along with the cards received in the mail was a package from our friends, Judy and Tom in NJ. Judy and I had been 'talking' via email about cider doughnuts. Lo and behold, she packaged up a dozen and sent them. What a special treat. Sorry I didn't get a photo of them as we gobbled them up before you could say Jack Robinson.





Serendipitously, unrelated to our anniversary but arriving concurrently, was a package from my good friend, Deepa. Deepa and Albert are visiting their daughter and her family in CA, and brought with them from India a wonderful gift for me.

Watching A...D...O

Erika called this afternoon to see if I could watch the wee ones while she went to the Kindergarten orientation at Dickinson Elementary. Did I say 'wee ones'? That's a misnomer if ever I've heard one. Aedin and Dylin are like newborn fillies, all legs and skinny too boot. Olsin is the All American 5 year old boy. But 'wee'?...not anymore. Olsin will be joining Aedin and Dylin in school this year. How can that be when he was just born yesterday?



Dylin was at dance class when I arrived. We picked her up and she couldn't wait to get out of her dance clothes and into her brand new outfit to show me. She had Aedin help her with her prep school tie, just like Daddy's. Dorothy with her ruby red slippers can't compete with Dylin's Scottish plaid ones with ruffles. Quite the outfit, I'd say.



Erika hadn't had time to make some supper. She mentioned that bologna with mashed potatoes and cheese on top would be a good choice. That was a lunch I used to get in jr hi at the cafeteria, and introduced Erika and her sisters to when they were youngsters. Erika has updated it to healthier standards using pork and chicken bologna rather than the whole beef I used. We put it all together and popped it in the microwave for the cheese to melt. In the meantime, Aedin wanted to make me a sunny side up egg for dinner. She popped the bread in the toaster, oiled the pan, and dropped in the egg. Came out perfect and was muy delicioso. Even Chef Ramsey would have given his approval. She is also modeling her new outfit - the pretty blue top and skinny jeans.



Dylin was still hungry and Aedin was very accomodating in making her a scrambled egg with cheese.



Olsin stayed out of the kitchen and only stopped watching TV to have something to eat. = )

A Bird on the Nest ... and baby makes three

Well, I'm assuming that mama had a papa waiting nearby to witness the birth. Do they do that in the bird kingdom? witness a birth? or a cracking through the shell as it were?

Anyway, Sneed noticed a nest in the crape myrtle by the front door the first weekend in August. I had been visiting the nest daily talking to the mama, a mourning White-winged dove (I saw the baby flying back to the nest today (19 August) and realized my error in identification), and encouraging her in whatever way I could. I was surprised when I finally decided to take a photo of her sitting on the nest. Lo and behold in the second photo that day, I noticed a wee one in the nest with her. I've been talking to the chick every day trying to get it to pop up a little bit higher to have its portrait made. I think it has gotten used to seeing me drop by for a visit. It didn't even blink an eye when I went out after the 35mph wind storm to see how it was doing. It was out of the nest holding on to the branch below for dear life. It will be fun to see how much longer it stays around before flying off to make its way in the world.

Another Day, Another Game

Okay, ya gotta know by now. It's obvious. I'm crazy about our Astros. The team is practically new, mostly younguns, since the All-Star Break and provides lots of good entertainment.



Drove to the ballpark via I-10 today ~ a different approach to the high rise area of Houston. The statues are at the intersection of I-45 and the Smith St exit off I-10. The quartet of 22' statues is called "A Tribute to American Statesmanship" featuring busts of Stephen F. Austin, Sam Houston, Abraham Lincoln, and George Washington.



Michael Bourn, CF, won the Astros Heart and Hustle Award this year. Hunter Pence took home the award last year.



LOL, Happ's stats are a bit skewed. He only played one game this year and won it for the Phillies before going on the DL. When Roy Oswalt was traded to the Phillies, the Astros received J A Happ and two inconsequential players. Before today, he pitched 3 games for the Astros. His debut was a win, the second game a loss, the third a no decision. However, the Fat Lady was in fine form as she sang again today. Along with Friday's win, the Astros swept the Pirates out of town.



As we were leaving, we passed by where the Fox Sports Network Southwest Division host, Kevin Eschenfelder and Alyson Footer, Astros sports columnist, were sitting. I raised my camera and shouted, "Smile". Not a bad shot, eh?



Fascinating highway intersections on I-10 on the way home...

Night game - Pirates v Astros

Cheap thrills game night at Minute Maid Park. $39 tickets for $9 each. Penultimate section of box seats deep in left field. Brings back memories of when we first moved here 20 years ago and I was rooting for the Pirates against the Astros...after all we lived in Pittsburgh during the heyday of the Steelers and grew to love its teams. Well, the tables have turned yountz guys. I'm a dyed in the wool Astros fan now.



We drove to the game a different way since we made the cake stop (check out the next posting) in Sugar Land first. Here's some skyline photos of Houston. Love the different architecture on the buildings, especially the one with the doughnut hole on the top. That one might make a good challenge in the Red Bull Air Race.






Interesting stats about some of the players.



And the Fat Lady sang as the Astros pulled out a win.

Marque's Ignominy

There's nothing worse than having the whole world neighborhood watch Marque being toted away on a flatbed for what we now, after having him suffer this shame, know was only a stuck clutch.

Let's back up to the morning in question. Today, as is every second Saturday of the month, is the club's scheduled breakfast get-together. I got up early to make Erika's birthday cake. Poor child has an August birthday so she has been either moving somewhere to start school in a different location, having her birthday away from home while on vacation, or as in the case of her 7th birthday, celebrating on a plane as it rested on the tarmac in Bombay before the continued flight to NY as we journeyed home from Malaysia. I wanted to make sure the cake was done and down to their house in Sugar Land before she and her family returned from the Adirondacks where they go each August to visit with Terry's extended family.

Anyway, back to the story at hand. We usually go to breakfast together, but as the cake was still in the oven, I told Sneed to go ahead without me. I went about making up the bed but heard some horrendous goings on in the garage and had to stop to see what was emanating forthwith. Seems Sneed couldn't get Marque in gear. No amount of the King's English or moving the gear shift worked. So, he let Marque rest, went to breakfast, came home and crawled under the car to see if he could determine the problem. Nada, no way Jose, the car wasn't going to move out of the garage. A quick call to Pete at European Auto Works, Marque's hospital of choice, assured us that a flatbed would be on its way.

Thus the story in pictures of Marque's transferal to the flatbed.