October birthdays

October was a big month in our house.

This little stinker turned 1!  We had Kevin's brother and his puppy over for a little party- we watched baseball and the dogs played and had doggy ice cream.   Sadie ate hers up this time! (last time she wasn't so sure about it, and left it unattended so Smokey got it)   Her puppy cousin Macy was the unsure one about ice cream this time - I think the metal bowl we put it into scared her - so Sadie got part of her serving too!    Another puppy is the best way to wear out a puppy, and they were both beat after a day of play.  Smokey pretty well leaves them alone, he's having a harder time getting around but he still loves the ice cream!

October was also when I turned the big 4-0!   I debated trying to do a party like we did for Kevin's 40th, but decided I'd prefer to take a trip.   I made it a 4 day weekend for myself since my birthday was on a Thursday and spent my actual birthday with my mom -- we had lunch and went to get our nails done, it was fun and a good way to spend the day with the person who really did the work 40 years ago.    We also had a short visit with my dad. 

Our trip was a road trip to the casinos in Lake Charles, we had never been!   We went to the ones in Vegas before going to the ones only 3 hours away.  It was a great get-away.  We stayed at L'Auberge and also took a shuttle over to check out the newer Golden Nugget.   We came out ahead on the craps table, and being right before Halloween both casinos had big costume parties, so we saw some great costumes - we rode the shuttle back with a very creepy Pennywise, and an impressive Jack Sparrow.  I am glad we stayed at L'Auberge - the staff and casino floor folks seemed friendlier, but Nugget definitely has more of the Vegas feel and added more dining options (we even took advantage of my Landry's membership to use my birthday $25 credit for dinner Saturday night).  It was a good short trip, and on the way back we had time to have lunch with my in-laws. 

France recap - Paris

This is part one of several pieces of trying to write up our trip, its delayed but will be a good reference if anyone wants recommendations on what we saw or did (and for when I forget the many many details of our trip).

We had to drop the dogs off the day before to be boarded and honestly that worked well so we could spend time packing and not worry about stressing out Smokey or Sadie getting hold of stuff...my fear was she would chew on a passport.

We also took advantage of no pups at home and went out to dinner with friends.

On Sunday (departure day!), we saw the French team win the World Cup right before we left for the airport, so we knew we'd be going into a country celebrating that win.

We had some food and drinks at the airport , always good to have some extra time....the plane ride was as good as it can be, watched a movie, tried to sleep, wondered how my brother did the even longer trip to Japan....choosing seats so we were in a duo row (I had aisle, he had window) was a great idea...still not real comfortable....when K flew overseas before he was in first class..sorry babe...we are economy pricing...when we landed it was about midnight to us but Monday morning in Paris -- they are 7 hours ahead of Houston.

Our first adventure was getting turned around at the airport and leaving the baggage claim area without our bags...there was construction at the airport and we didn't realize we took a wrong turn until it was too late...we found an info desk and they have a phone to go to call to be let back in....I guess it happens pretty regularly.

That first day was rough due to little sleep and the time change...we took a taxi to the hotel (shuttle I'd arranged either never showed or gave up on us we were so late coming out) and settled in a little bit and then explored right near hotel....found a cafe and had a little food and caffeine....our goal was to stay awake to get on French time. That night we watched the soccer team come home and take the same route from the airport that we did...we had considered trying to get to the parade but with jet lag, crowds and not knowing our way around (hotel worker said metro was closing early for it) it was just not going to happen...We were content with watching from our room.

Our first morning in the hotel, we woke upto realize we'd overslept...its almost 10 am...and we had only 10 minutes for breakfast....and just over an hour before timed tickets for the Eiffel Tower.  We threw on clothes and made it to breakfast, and weren't the last to arrive. I was so happy we made it to the Tower (I stalked their website for months to get these tickets), we had planned to figure out metro but with the time crunch just walked it...  The views from the top were amazing (and yes we waited for the elevator)  I had no idea that science experiments were conducted on it, and Mr Eiffel had an apartment on the top!

That day we also saw Napoleon's tomb and a little of the Army Museum.    Walking back that evening we saw a street closed even to pedestrians and nosey me looked at permits on one of many cars loaded with stuff...they were filming a show called Killing Eve...I'd never heard of it but now  I have to check it out..

The next day we had an alarm set up and got up a bit earlier, we took time to figure out the Metro to get to the Arc de Triomphe, and then wandered the Champs-Élysées, including a stop at a cafe (there were many cafe stops). We got back on metro to get to the Louvre - I'm still amazed at how many pieces of art you can see there that are in books and posters, and the Mona Lisa is so small!

For our final day in Paris we went by train to Versailles (on Kevin's must see list).  The train was an adventure in itself -- we heard someone telling another passenger that we may need to swap trains, based on announcements being made in French.    This was probably our longest line of the trip, but well worth it.  The palace was so opulent and we saw the Hall of Mirrors, where many treaties have been signed.    The palace is also surrounded by huge gardens, and when we read that we could rent a golf cart we knew that was the best way for us to see it. I think K was glad to be in a driver's seat again.    We actually had another couple join us, they were behind us in line and since it seats 4 and was the same price full or not, it made sense to split it.  They were happy to get out of line (they had not even seen the inside of the palace the lines were so long -- we had waited at least an hour and a half to get in), and it was fun to have some English speaking folks with us for a little while.

We stayed at this hotel in Paris, it worked for what we needed, hotels there are just different than here -- the day we left the elevator was broken so we very carefully got our bags down 6 flights of circular stairs.  The front desk staff were very helpful (and spoke English), and the breakfast available in the basement each morning was a good way to start our days -- the girl working the breakfast was so French and had an eager 'Bonjour' for us each morning.

We enjoyed the cafes and also found this Indian restaurant near to our hotel, it was a nice change of pace and honestly so nice to have an enclosed and a/c'd restaurant after several days of open air cafes.

Dementia sucks

I don't think I've ever written about it - my parents have been really private about it for multiple reasons - my dad was diagnosed with dementia several years ago.   He had been doing okay - short term memory was definitely affected, and his hearing and sight have been going as he has other ailments, but he's still been able to interact and go on outings, and generally seem like himself.

In May he moved to a memory care unit (same location as my mom) and since then he has declined really rapidly - physically and mentally.   Each visit is hard as we never fully know what to expect, and while I catch glimpses of his old self its hard to see him changing so quickly.

He has also been a fixer and a doer so its also hard to think of what he must be thinking, and feeling as his body fails him.

We are now working with hospice services, which is still a scary word every time I hear it, and we are navigating just day by day...and making many mistakes along the way.

I am thankful my siblings and I are close and we have each other as we go through this.

I'm struggling with how to balance taking care of myself and trying to see him and my mom as much as possible, and help out with the various decisions that need to be made - as if we didn't have enough going on, my mom is also dealing with identity theft...

I just recently started to tell my friends what has been going on...it should help me to be able to talk about it.

Beach

We introduced Sadie to the beach yesterday.   Kevin had been really wanting to take a trip to the beach all summer and this weekend was our best shot.   The weather was not the best - threatening rain and was really rainy in town - but we went anyway.    The surf was rough and it go so windy we had to take our pop-up down, but we still had a good time. 

Sadie had to be coaxed out of the Jeep, but once she was out she had a good time.  She loved rolling in the sand and chasing birds.  She also found plenty of gross things (crab shells we think (hope)) to chew on.   She got into the water once but was scared of the waves.....so we now have 2 dogs who are not big fans of water.

She did great on the car ride -- its her furthest trip yet - so that was a win in itself.  We have tried to take Smokey places but he is so anxious in the car its better for all of us if he just stays home.

Kevin did his research and found us a new cooler (Orca) -- it was cheaper and could get to us faster if he got the pink one!  So we now own a bright pink cooler.  It worked really well, though we didn't realize Sadie would chew on it (of course, she chews everything) so we already need to get a new latch for it since we left it out at our house to dry out.....I really hope she outgrows the chewing.....

I know we just got back from a vacation ,but a day away was already welcome.  Work re-entry has been rough and we've been having some family health issues to contend with since we returned.

France

We took our long awaited trip!  By the time it got here I was so happy to finally not need to plan, and just do it..we knew stuff would go wrong but it was part of the adventure.

We spent 10 days in France, and split our time between Paris, Verdun and Bayeux. 

I am so glad I didn't talk Kevin out of any of our destinations, while it was a lot of travel in between the cities, each were really different and since we'd partly chosen France for the historian perspective we really needed to hit all three.   I know it will be years before we go overseas again, but I'm already contemplating ways to incorporate Verdun into a future trip since we were there only 1 night we know there is a lot to see and do.

I want to do a recap, both for myself and for if friends want ideas of what we did, I just haven't made the time.....I did put our photos together -- that was my goal before heading back to work.

We had an amazing time, and have stories and memories for years to come.

This weekend we get to give our niece and nephew their gifts, we missed both of their birthdays so promised to bring them something back...and they are really the only ones we shopped for!

I keep meaning to write a post, instead..a hybrid list/post:

• I'm living vicariously through our puppy.....I get a taste of what it's like to go through life being really cute...she has literally stopped traffic!
• We saw Hamilton!  and it was even better than I'd thought it could be.  I'd given up hope of seeing it, but as we're getting ready for bed we get a call from K's cousin saying he had tickets he couldn't use for the next night, did we want to buy them?  K was like, we can think on it and let him know - and I was like, call him back now..we want them!    It made for a whirlwind few days (I was also about to head out of town), but so worth it!    My husband is not big on musicals, but one on history is right up his alley -- he even references the musical in his class!
• We are getting excited for a long awaited trip!

Washington on the Brazos

Kevin sponsors a Historical Society at his college, and they have started doing field trips to historic sites in the area.    I wasn't able to join them for their trip to the Battleship, but was able to join them for the trip this weekend to Washington on the Brazos.   I'm not sure how, as a native Texan, I've never made the trip before, but neither of us had!  

I didn't even realize the significance of the site -- its where the Declaration of Independence for Texas (from Mexico) was written and signed.   We were able to see a reconstruction of the building where it happened -- and we were even there the time of year that it had happened.  I am glad the temperature wasn't in the 30s when we were there like it was in 1836.  The town is gone, but we were able to walk the site and see where the ferry crossing (across the Brazos River) was -- the drawings of the ferry look like not much more than a flat bottom boat, a rope and a pulley.
  

We also saw the house where the last President of Texas lived - smaller and more rustic than you'd expect for a president!   Surrounding the house we were able to see living history exhibits with people to explain and answer questions - seeing cooking and plowing how they were done at that time was humbling..I didn't get to see it demonstrated, but just the tools for laundry on display make me want to give my washer and dryer a big hug!

It was also quite a treat to get to meet some of Kevin's students and really see him in his element.  We toured the site and then all had lunch together in Navasota before going into our separate cars to head home.

Spring Breakin'

Kevin is on spring break (and NOT at a conference like last year so he can actually get some R&R).  I took the week off from work so we could both be off (loving no alarm clock!) and we did a quick beach trip.   It was our first time to Crystal Beach and we loved it!

Kevin found a great rental beach house, close to the water and close to places to eat - I wanted a no cook vacation and we did it, we had breakfasts at the beach house and a picnic lunch on the beach but had dinner out both days,.

It was definitely a first for me to be at the beach and need a jacket - I was torn between stay in the shade to prevent sunburn and get in the sun to warm up!    Even chilly it was great to be on the sand and near the water, very relaxing...and we'd boarded the dogs so I got to sleep in a little, my furry alarm clock wakes me at 7 never fail at home...

Sadie

February...already?    I am glad to leave January behind but find it hard to believe one month of the new year is already behind us.

January can be summed up for us in one phrase - SECOND DOG!

We have been talking about getting an additional dog for a while, and decided that the time was right now that we are not only moved but settled into our new house.   We knew we wanted to get a female dog and that we needed one that is submissive to get along with our grumpy, only child dog Smokey.

We did some research on breeds, looked at lots of rescue groups and just couldn't decide what to do.  I looked at a local rescue group's adoptables that a friend of mine works with and while looking at grown dogs (what we were planning to get), I showed a photo of a puppy to Kevin and we were like why not a puppy?   Once we decided on an animal our process moved pretty fast -- we met her, including Smokey and adopted her within a weekend!

She is 3 months old, and we are not sure what breed she is but she's a sweetheart.  trust me, she's also a challenge - she's a biter, and can get up on the table if we don't watch it.  but we are loving having this little one (Smokey won't admit it but he likes her too).   

We named her Sadie.

We brought her home on MLK day, probably not the smartest idea to get her on a Monday night right before Kevin's semester starts.    But we unexpectedly got to be at home with her for the next 2 full days due to very cold, icy conditions.    The second semester in a row delayed due to weather (its becoming tradition), but it actually helped us to get some time with her and a couple of days to try to figure out our new routine with 2 dogs (3 weeks in we are still figuring it out)