Better Late than Never

Jake and I managed to get a few pictures when our CRV odometer turned from 99,999 miles over to 100,000 last week. We pulled onto a side street and snapped some exciting photos. It was around that time when Jacob noticed that the oil change reminder sticker on our windshield stated that our previous service visit had been at 93,500 miles. I couldn't believe that we had possibly gone that long without bringing the poor CRV in for an oil change. Was I really that careless? Jim checked his "vehicle maintenance spreadsheet," and advised me that - sure enough - over 6,000 miles had elapsed since our last trip to the service center. Oops. It is a good thing that the 100,000 hullabaloo brought our attention to the mileage. The CRV is happily sporting new oil and rotated tires as of yesterday afternoon.

Almost there!

There!

Segway Spin

Recently, Steve discovered a business near his house that rents Segways. He invited Jacob to try out the personal transportation gizmos with him, and Jacob was very eager to give it a whirl. They made reservations for an hour-long tour this afternoon. Both Jake and Steve got the hang of riding the Segways rather quickly and soon they were zipping around the practice area like skilled professionals. Their guide said that they did such a good job that he was even able to bring them on some advanced trails. The two had a great time and now highly recommend the Segway as a fun & entertaining way to get from one place to another.

Jake and Steve on their Segways.

100,000

Jim, Jacob, and I have begun looking for a new car - well, actually a small SUV. We visited numerous dealerships this weekend in an attempt to narrow down our choices. Our stops so far have included the showrooms of Honda, Jeep, Mitsubishi, Dodge, Kia, Ford, Subaru, and Hyundai. We always get a good chuckle from car salesmen, and this shopping trip was no exception. We came across two sales people - both women - who, despite saying that they had many years of experience, didn't know some fairly basic facts about their particular brands. The funniest guy we encountered, however, was at a Honda dealer. He asked us tons of questions, even though we explained that we were just beginning our search and simply wanted to check out the sizes & colors of CRVs. We started to walk outside to the lot, and, in an attempt to make us stop, he told us to just sit back and "circle some of your favorite colors" in the brochure until he returned with some keys. Jim, Jacob, and I looked at each other and burst out laughing. I don't think any of us have been asked to circle our favorite colors since first grade.

Soon our 2006 CRV will hit 100,000 miles, which is one of the reasons that we are shopping for something new. During our drive from Michigan to Texas in January, Adam, Jacob, and I traveled in Adam's Jeep Liberty. We knew "Libby" the Jeep would hit 100,000 miles sometime on our journey, and vowed to pay attention so we wouldn't miss the milestone. Adam wondered exactly what we should do to mark the achievement, and I suggested that we take a picture of the odometer. Sarcastically, I added that maybe we could also pull over to the side of the road, get out of the vehicle, jump up and down, and shout woo-hoo. The first time we passed a car broken down on the side of the freeway, Jacob quipped, "They must be celebrating 100,000." I found the "celebrating 100,000" line absolutely hilarious and each time we passed a vehicle pulled off the roadway, I kept the joke going. Much to the chagrin of Adam and Jacob, I repeated it over and over again - all the way to Texas. By the way, we missed seeing "Libby" turn 100K by two miles, so we have no pictures of the event. Hopefully, I will get a shot of the CRV odometer when it reaches 100,000!

What's in a Name?

When Jim's job was transferred to Houston, his company required him to establish a legal residence there. That included getting a new driver's license and registering his car in the state of Texas. He complained endlessly about the horrible lines he encountered at the Department of Public Safety office when he first went to get his license two years ago. In Michigan, everyone grumbles about long waits at the Secretary of State office, but seldom have I actually been there more than 30 minutes. Jim said at the Texas DPS, the lines were out the door and it took him almost two hours to reach the counter. To make matters worse, once he made it to the front of the line he didn't have all of the proper identification he needed so he had to make a second trip back to the over-crowded and under-staffed DPS. He did have his passport with him the first time, but the workers insisted on seeing his birth certificate, which is odd because in order to obtain a passport you need to present your birth certificate. Anyway, after two attempts and four hours of waiting time, Jim received his Texas driver's license and new plates for the car.

Fast forward to six months after the DPS debacle. Jim was at a blood drive at work making a donation. When it was his turn to head to the table, the nurse called out, "Anthony." No response. Again, "Anthony." Jim realized she was speaking to him and told her that his first name was James and his middle name was Anthony. The nurse said that, nope, his driver's license had his name listed as Anthony James. When Jim double checked, sure enough it was backwards. I have to admit that even I had peeked at his Texas license and didn't notice the error. Jim didn't think too much about it and, though I urged him to get it fixed, he had no desire to stand in line at the DPS again. Luckily, he had his passport to use every time he flew somewhere. Whenever he needed to show his driver's license, however, he was Anthony. It apparently posed no problems when Jim was selected for jury duty in Houston. At the casinos in Vegas, his player's club cards were printed out with the name Anthony. I even started calling him Tony. When we attended the "Price is Right Live" show, his name tag was written as Anthony. Time and time again, he was referred to by his middle name. Finally yesterday, Jim - aka Anthony - returned to the DPS and waited the seemingly-requisite two hours to have his name corrected on his license. I'm sure it was a fun ride having an alias, but today he is back to being James Anthony.

Jetway Jinx

On our recent flight from Detroit to Las Vegas, Jacob and I had to change planes in Houston. During our layover at IAH, Jim planned to meet up with us and join us on the Houston to Vegas leg of our journey. We were scheduled to leave Detroit at 5:30 p.m., but our departure was delayed when the maintenance crew had to board our aircraft to "fix a seat." Luckily, the workers were pretty speedy and we took off at 6:00 p.m. I was a bit concerned about making our connection in Houston, though, because we only had 40 minutes between flights. When the captain announced the flying time between Michigan and Texas, I did the math and figured that we would have about 22 minutes to deplane and run to our next gate after landing. I was relieved when we finally arrived in Houston and I assured myself that we would be able to make it to our Vegas flight without any trouble. Jacob and I jumped up as soon as our plane was parked at gate C21 and patiently waited for the throngs of other passengers to get the heck out of our way. We waited. And waited. The aircraft aisle was clogged with people, but nobody was moving. After 5 minutes, an announcement was made that the jetway was broken and the maintenance crew was on its way to take a look. We had made it to Houston with minutes to spare, only to be foiled by a jetway. We were stuck on the plane; so close and yet so far away. Long story short - the jetway was eventually fixed and we made it to the Vegas flight as it was in the final boarding process. Jim was waiting for us there, unaware of our quandary and the mad dash that we had to make through the humid halls of IAH's United concourse.

Following our return flight from Las Vegas to Houston, we pulled up to gate E8 to deplane. Lots of folks were catching connecting flights, but we were staying in Texas for a few days so we were in no rush to get off. Everyone hopped up and waited for the door to open. They waited. And waited. The aircraft aisle was clogged with people, but nobody was moving. In a wacky coincidence, an announcement was made that the jetway was broken and the maintenance crew was on its way to take a look. Of the hundreds of flights I had taken prior to these, I had never before come across a damaged jetway. I don't know what that says about United's jetways at Houston Intercontinental, but I found it slightly strange to encounter two broken ones at the same airport within days of each other.

Drought Results

The 2011 drought in the south was pretty devastating for farmers and ranchers throughout the Lone Star state. The final tally of agricultural loses in Texas alone amounted to around 10 billion dollars. It was really sad to see completely dried-up fields while driving through the state last year and to hear stories of livestock dying of dehydration right out in their pastures. With over 300 miles of Gulf coastline, I would think that the state would look more into seawater desalination. I don't claim to know a lot about the subject, but I do know that Texans are not eager to build desalination plants because they are quite costly - about 1 billion dollars each. Perhaps some young whipper-snapper college students will figure out how to lower the price of desalinating seawater so future droughts won't have such tragic results.

The lakes and rivers around our house in Houston are beginning to refill since there has been a normal amount of rain this spring. Last year's drought took a heavy toll on the trees and plants in our area, though. Many large, mature trees paid the ultimate price and had to be cut down. This is especially evident along our community's "Greenbelt" walking/biking trails. While strolling down the paths this week, I was dismayed to see that about one third of the trees have been chopped down. In addition, almost all of the beautiful fan palms that adorned the trails have turned brown and/or shriveled up. Hopefully this summer will bring average rainfall so we don't lose any more trees. Besides looking nice, the foliage provides much needed shade when the temperatures reach 100 degrees around here.

I was shocked to see how many trees were actually affected by the drought.

The poor Greenbelt trails look almost barren this year.

What Happens in Vegas . . .

Jacob and I met up with Jim, Adam, and Richie in Las Vegas late Thursday night. The five of us have been having a blast here the past few days. On Saturday afternoon, we had tickets for "The Price is Right Live" show. Although none of us were beckoned to "come on down," we had a great time watching the chosen contestants play games and win prizes. Last night we went to see the Australian Bee Gees, an awesome "tribute band" who not only sounded like the real Brothers Gibb, but they looked like them as well. In between, we have been swimming, eating, drinking, shopping, etc. Oh, we have done a little gambling, too - Richie much more than the rest of us. Adam has to head back to Colorado tonight and Richie is off to Michigan Tuesday morning. Jim, Jacob, and I fly to Texas tomorrow afternoon, so our Easter break will continue at our Houston house.

We received a photo of our group in front of the Price is Right wheel. Notice anything amiss in this picture?

Richie and Jacob next to the Price is Right stage.

The view out of our hotel window - New York New York's roller coaster, Excalibur, the tip of Luxor's pyramid, and Mandalay Bay.

I love the dancing fountains outside of Bellagio. So pretty!

The boys posed with the Eiffel Tower in the background.

The bums around here are quite the characters. This guy's sign read, "Why Lie, Need Beer." A few years back, another Vegas hobo shouted at Adam, "I thought I told you to get a haircut." Street people are always so entertaining!

Back to Normal

I ventured back to the doctor's office recently to see how my hypothyroidism was doing. It had been seven weeks since I first started taking generic Synthroid in order to lower my extremely high thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) level. I donated a vile of blood, then waited patiently while my numbers were evaluated. Much to my surprise, my TSH had returned to normal. The doctor recommended that I remain on my current dose of medication and have my blood rechecked in three months to make sure that I stay in the correct range. Strangely, I feel pretty much the same as I did when my TSH was super-high. After reading tons of information about under-active thyroids, however, I have discovered some minor symptoms that I could actually attribute to the disease. I suppose I can be thankful that I never felt the awful fatigue and some of the other nasty things that are so often associated with hypothyroidism. I just hope that the meds keep my thyroid regulated and that I again test normally when the end of June rolls around.

The Winter that Wasn't

The weather for much of March has been just crazy in Michigan. We broke many high temperature records, even reaching the mid-80s one day while the calendar said it was winter. It was so warm and sunny and beautiful last week that I have finally abandoned the idea that it might actually still snow this year. We kept the condo windows open for 7 or 8 days straight. Everyone dusted off their shorts and flip-flops, and the weather here seemed like March in southeast Texas. In fact, Detroit's temps were even higher than Houston's for a few days. I suppose if we can't have snow, it might as well be warm outside.

Ironically, now that it is officially spring, the temperatures have started to drop. Last night we dipped into the mid 30s and tonight the forecast calls for a low of 27 degrees. Jacob has not worn his winter coat yet in Michigan, although he did wear it during our ski trip in Colorado. I have not put on boots for over a year, and only needed gloves a few times in January. This was one of the strangest winters I can remember and, to be honest, I was disappointed - especially in the lack of snowfall. Unfortunately, this also meant that Jacob got very little driving experience on slippery roads. Maybe we will get a bit of ice or something this spring so he can practice in hazardous conditions with me in the car before we set him loose on his 16th birthday in December.

Whirlwind Weekend

Adam was on break from school last week and came to town from Colorado on Wednesday. Jim flew to Michigan from Texas late on Thursday night, and Adam graciously offered to pick him up from the airport. The two got back to the condo at exactly midnight and came clamoring up the stairs at 12:01 a.m. I missed seeing my husband on our 26th anniversary by only minutes. So close!

Jim, Adam, Jacob, and I spent the long weekend visiting with friends & family, and attending parties. Adam saw some of his old group on Thursday and Friday. On Saturday evening, all of us headed out to Char and Hollie's place for a St. Patrick's Day party with our "Bear" friends. Baby Marley made an appearance there and met some people for the very first time, including Adam. On Sunday, we gathered at Jean's house for the March birthday celebrations. In between, we managed to go out to dinner a couple of times, take some long walks, play tennis, shop, etc. Adam went back to Denver this afternoon and Jim flies down to Houston tomorrow morning. (Early in the morning - we are waking up at 3:55. Ugh!) It's back to work and school for everyone after some incredibly fun days!

Bundle of Joy

On February 10 - after 37 hours of labor (Yikes!) - Cobra's daughter, Marilyn, gave birth to a darling baby girl. I have been in such need of a baby fix lately that it was just wonderful to go to the hospital to meet precious Marley. Last Tuesday, Jacob had the day off of school so the two of us headed over to Cobra's house to spend some more time with the little peanut. Marley is simply adorable and, on top of everything else, she is a happy and content child, too. Now if only the nine twenty-and-thirty-somethings in our family would get a move on, we could all enjoy even more baby time. Meanwhile, Marilyn, thanks for letting us play with your Marley. She is such a beauty!

Grandpa Fatty snuggled with Marley at the hospital.

Marley waited patiently for Jacob to make some more silly noises for her.

Marley snoozed in her beautiful circular bassinet.