Our blog has followers! I wish I had more to say, and more time to say it for our followers. Work is incredibly busy, in my line of work its always busiest in the fall, and its even busier because I'm still learning some of it - I started in November of last year so I'm finishing up the first cycle of getting through all of the various reports we have to do (and getting a better understanding of some that I saw the end of last year), and since its a legislative year there are some extra ones. I also see that in the spring they have some earlier deadlines because the legislature is in session! I feel a little silly but sometimes have to forward stuff to my boss and ask - is this something I need to complete or send to someone else? oh well, comes with the territory of learning a different job. There are more reports to the state then I could've ever imagined. We'll get them all done, it just seems like a never-ending task to get all of the information and make sure its consistent across the reports.
Today at work was Sustainability Day, so in the morning there was a small farmer's market and giveaways of some earth-friendly items. In the afternoon I went to see a short video and panel discussion about consumption and sustainability and the school's and my own role in it. From Wikipedia: Sustainability is "meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs" The ideas of reduce, reuse, recycle all go along with the ideas of sustainability and living in a sustainable way. I am by no means an expert on it, but am interested in ways to make my footprint a little smaller. The video showed an artist who depicts how much we consume using photography and Photoshop. It is an interesting way to get the point across and eye-opening to see how much we all consume. It makes me wonder what I can do, I try to do what I can in small ways - bring reusable bags to the grocery store, recycle plastic at work, use an insulated cup rather than disposable cups. I'm not a tree-hugger by any means, but definitely want to do what I can to leave this Earth in good shape for those who come after me.
I also have to make sure to sustain myself, so I'm taking a vacation day on Friday to fully enjoy my birthday weekend. Probably not the best idea with how busy we are, but I wanted to take the day off and the work I don't get done will be waiting for me on Monday. We're going to a Weezer concert tomorrow night, so by taking the day off I can enjoy the concert and get to sleep in a little bit since it'll be a late night. I'm looking forward to having a day off and have plans to go and early vote (I really know how to live it up, huh?)
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Halloween party
This weekend we went to a Halloween costume party, and for the first time ever we did coordinated costumes. I went as a referee and Kevin was a football player. We had fun with it. I even made a yellow flag like the refs have so I could throw penalties on K all night. The only one I actually threw was a "party foul" when he was playing with the gooey eye balls and threw it on the ceiling, and it stuck! The party was a lot of fun, this picture is of Jay, Gwendolyn, me, Kevin, and Laura.I didn't think about it until Kevin said so, but I also looked like a Foot Locker employee. If I walked into a mall dressed like that, I'd probably get some strange questions.
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
He's a Survivor
Congrats to Kevin, he won our Survival Football League! It is a fantasy football league where each week you choose one football team that you think will win and you can only choose each team once. I made it to week 6 (down to 3 competitors), but lost that pick. Carol plays fantasy football? yes, yes I do. I also have two teams, and one of them is tied for 3rd right now, woohoo!
I will never be a football fanatic like Kevin, but it is fun to play and gives me something to cheer for (or against) when we watch the other football games on Sunday and Monday. It can also be frustrating when your players don't do well, or those you benched do REALLY well. The funniest thing about fantasy football is it has the same premise as a game I played following MTV's Real World/Road Rules Challenge. You also selected players and got points when they did well or did certain things, but their points weren't limited to the contests, they also got points for crying, fighting, etc. It is probably for the best fantasy football isn't like that - you'd lose points for arrests, celebrations, etc. I haven't watched that show in years, I like to think my taste in tv shows has improved (Kevin might disagree). I still have my silly shows that I watch just as a way to relax at the end of a long day, my current favorite: Samantha Who. Our newest show we watch together: Fringe
I will never be a football fanatic like Kevin, but it is fun to play and gives me something to cheer for (or against) when we watch the other football games on Sunday and Monday. It can also be frustrating when your players don't do well, or those you benched do REALLY well. The funniest thing about fantasy football is it has the same premise as a game I played following MTV's Real World/Road Rules Challenge. You also selected players and got points when they did well or did certain things, but their points weren't limited to the contests, they also got points for crying, fighting, etc. It is probably for the best fantasy football isn't like that - you'd lose points for arrests, celebrations, etc. I haven't watched that show in years, I like to think my taste in tv shows has improved (Kevin might disagree). I still have my silly shows that I watch just as a way to relax at the end of a long day, my current favorite: Samantha Who. Our newest show we watch together: Fringe
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Whirlwind weekend
This was the busiest weekend in quite a while. I felt like I needed a weekend to recover from my weekend. My friend from college, Stacy, was in town for her 30th birthday, so we hung out on Friday night, had a BBQ at Delena's on Saturday, and brunch at my place on Sunday. The brunch was to celebrate Stacy being in town but also a surprise baby sprinkle (smaller than a shower) for our friend Gwendolyn. She and hubby Jay are expecting their first baby, congrats! We did a great job at surprising her and had a good time hanging out and watched them both open gifts. Gwendolyn was my college roommate, hard to believe that it was 11 years ago we first met and I don't even know how long I've known Stacy since we actually went to elementary school together.
During the day on Saturday we went to see Kevin's grandfather (Paw-Paw). He lives in Bridge City (near Beaumont) so he was evacuated for Hurricane Ike to Paris, TX (any connection to Paris, France? - still not sure) and was just now able to return home. Kevin's aunt Danise put together a 'welcome home' party for him, a really great idea! While we were there we went to see PawPaw's house, where Kevin's mom and sisters grew up and all the grandkids spent time over the years. Driving through Bridge City was like a war zone, there were piles of stuff everywhere (carpet, all sorts of household belongings, and appliances - including taped up refrigerators). We even saw some people still adding to the piles. Danise described it well, saying it looks like a giant flea market, with stuff outside of all the houses. We drove over to PawPaw's house, and nearly every house in the neighborhood has a a POD storage unit outside (for what they could salvage, or my guess for tools and supplies). His house had had 4 feet of water inside. Kevin's parents had been there earlier and said that it now looks better because the pile outside his house was there, but much smaller. We walked into the house and it is stripped down to the studs. The only things that make you realize it was a completed house are that the ceiling fans are still there, and there is one place between the kitchen and living room that has finished wooden vertical bars (amongst the studs), aside from that and some remaining linoleum it looks like a house under construction. Very surreal to walk around and see whats left of the house he lived for 40+ years. Thankfully he still has a place to live, but its devastating for him and so many people on the Gulf Coast, it will take some so long to recover and as our lives are largely back to normal its easy to forget.
During the day on Saturday we went to see Kevin's grandfather (Paw-Paw). He lives in Bridge City (near Beaumont) so he was evacuated for Hurricane Ike to Paris, TX (any connection to Paris, France? - still not sure) and was just now able to return home. Kevin's aunt Danise put together a 'welcome home' party for him, a really great idea! While we were there we went to see PawPaw's house, where Kevin's mom and sisters grew up and all the grandkids spent time over the years. Driving through Bridge City was like a war zone, there were piles of stuff everywhere (carpet, all sorts of household belongings, and appliances - including taped up refrigerators). We even saw some people still adding to the piles. Danise described it well, saying it looks like a giant flea market, with stuff outside of all the houses. We drove over to PawPaw's house, and nearly every house in the neighborhood has a a POD storage unit outside (for what they could salvage, or my guess for tools and supplies). His house had had 4 feet of water inside. Kevin's parents had been there earlier and said that it now looks better because the pile outside his house was there, but much smaller. We walked into the house and it is stripped down to the studs. The only things that make you realize it was a completed house are that the ceiling fans are still there, and there is one place between the kitchen and living room that has finished wooden vertical bars (amongst the studs), aside from that and some remaining linoleum it looks like a house under construction. Very surreal to walk around and see whats left of the house he lived for 40+ years. Thankfully he still has a place to live, but its devastating for him and so many people on the Gulf Coast, it will take some so long to recover and as our lives are largely back to normal its easy to forget.
Sunday, October 5, 2008
Debris Pile
I had never thought much about where all of the trees and branches that are torn down by a hurricane end up after they are gathered up, put at the curb and picked up by the city/county. But, I now know where some of Hurricane Ike's debris is going. On my way into town from home on highway 288, I pass by this open area that is now a huge debris pile. Look at how tall the piles are compared to the truck and other equipment around it! It makes the vehicles look like toys. I'll have to keep an eye on how big this pile gets. I wonder how many piles there are like this in the area. The photo quality is not very good, but its the best I could do - I pointed my camera towards my passenger window and hit the button to take the photo several times in quick succession. I will give up a lot of photo quality to give more attention to driving :) A better idea would've been to take the photos when Kevin was driving, but I didn't have the camera with me then...
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