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November 28, 2005
Picture for Today
This was actually taken on Friday. The kids are sitting on the porch of LBJ's boyhood home in Johnson City, TX.
Posted by Julee at 08:23 PM | Comments (2)
Mariachi to Michael Jackson
Saturday night Eric, the kids and I went down to Market Square for the Mariachi Fesitval. We are learning about Mexican Culture and since we now have a limited time left in San Antonio we are jumping at every event we can find. After a mediocre meal served up by a lousy waiter at Mi Tierra we went outside to hear some music. It was so crowded we could barely make it out of the restaurant's entryway. I can handle crowds pretty well but we had the kids with us and it was just too much for them. So we went across the street to the little mall full of gift shops. It has a stage where you can often see various amateur local acts giving performances.
We got to see a local act, alright. We watched a Michael Jackson impersonator dance his way through Billie Jean and some other song I recognized but couldn't name. The kids loved it and so did the crowd of 150 or so people cheering their way through the act.
There is another Mariachi event coming up, so I'll try again. Hopefully we'll have good luck and actually hear some this time.
Also on the lousy service at dinner, it must be because we had the kids with us. It seems to happen to us a lot when we do.
Posted by Julee at 07:31 PM | Comments (1)
November 22, 2005
Picture for Today
I haven't posted many pictures lately so here is this. You may be wondering, "Where is Theo?" He was upstairs palying legos and didn't want to come down. I will get one of him sometime in the next few days and post it.
Posted by Julee at 10:24 PM | Comments (4)
Still in Limbo
The Perio Department finally accepted Eric's resignation on Friday, nearly 2 weeks after he submitted it. New Jersey is still the rumor. I won't "officially" believe it until I have official papers in my hand. It takes a while for these things to go up the chain of command and then back down again. But I guess we will be moving there in about a month...wherever it is.
In the meantime they don't know what to quite do with Eric. He has to do something because they are paying him. So tomorrow he has to report to the Perio Dept. where he will be giving various administartive duties to fill his days.
Posted by Julee at 09:43 PM | Comments (2)
November 17, 2005
Useless Baby Products
Six and a half years ago when I was pregnant with Henry I participated in the American mom-to-be rite of passage and registered at Babies R Us. I dragged Eric and my swollen ankles around that store completely overwhelmed by all of the choices, all of the things you need for your baby. Special bath tubs, vibrating seats, a new bed for every age and stage, battery-operated soothing nosiemakers. (Though I do have to admit, there is something fun about going through a retail store and making a list of your wants and knowing that there are people who will purchase at least some of the stuff.)
There is so much baby gear out there that you just must have. Seriously, how do those mothers in foreign countries survive with just their breasts and a piece of cloth for a sling? And I thought I was making a compromise by just pushing around a Graco and not that $879 stroller that all the fashionable parents have.
If we have baby #4 (which most likely will not happen)do you think it would be tacky to register again? Do you think I would be able to convince anyone to throw me a shower? Because here are some products that I weren't available the first time around:
Playing Mozart just doesn't cut it any longer. Give your child a real advantage with the BabyPlus Prenatal Education System. He/she will finish Gymboree at the head of the class and will definitely get a treasured spot at that preschool everyone is talking about.
You need the Walk-O-Long to help teach your children to walk because you know they will never learn by themselves. Whoever invented this must be a pretty new parent because they recommend using this when "going for a stroll with your 4 or 5 year old." I seriously wonder how Theo would react if I strapped this contraption around his chest next time we stroll to the mailbox a half block away. After all it feels "about the same as a gentle hug."
If you are going to play music for your baby no simple cd player on the dresser will do. You must get a special one that attaches right to the crib, the CD Crib Player with Light. It even lights up because if you use the BabyPlus Prenatal Education System then your baby will be able to read which track is currently playing. But the joke is on the baby. He won't be able to skip over the scary part of "Skin and Bones" by Raffi because of the "sliding, child-resistant cover." which, "protects the buttons and a CD compartment safety lock keeps curious children from playing with the crib CD player."
Posted by Julee at 11:06 PM | Comments (6)
November 15, 2005
So Much Going On
I haven't been very good at this lately. We have had quite a lot to grapple with.
Eric turned in a letter to resign from the Periodontics program last week. After being in school since January 1999 he has (we have!) decided that he needs a break. He just doesn't have it in him to put in 80 plus hours a week for the next 3 years. He is ready to have a normal job, a normal life with evenings and weekends. No more tests, no more studying!
So what does this mean? Well, he will work 40 hours a week as a general dentist in the US Air Force for the next 4 or 5 years. (The exact length has yet to be determined) They haven't accepted his resignation letter yet. They keep giving him more time to reconsider, hoping he will change his mind. In the meantime he has gotten an unexpected vacation because they don't know what to do with him. He meets with the base commander on Friday and it will probably be official then.
Who knows what will happen next? We have heard rumors that we will be reassigned to McGuire AFB, NJ before the end of the year. Oh, the excitement of the base assignment!
I will keep you posted.
Posted by Julee at 10:41 PM | Comments (4)
November 08, 2005
10 Reasons Why Gay Marriage is Wrong
It's certainly not a surprise but unfortunately it seems that Texas has officially defined marriage as a union of one man and one woman. I know that this has been out there for a while, but I wanted to psot this list:
10 Reasons Why Gay Marriage is Wrong
1) Being gay is not natural. Real Americans always reject unnatural things like eyeglasses, polyester, and air conditioning.
2) Gay marriage will encourage people to be gay, in the same way that hanging around tall people will make you tall.
3) Legalizing gay marriage will open the door to all kinds of crazy behavior. People may even wish to marry their pets because a dog has legal standing and can sign a marriage contract.
4) Straight marriage has been around a long time and hasn't changed at all; women are still property, blacks still can't marry whites, and divorce is still illegal.
5) Straight marriage will be less meaningful if gay marriage were allowed; the sanctity of Britany Spears' 55-hour just-for-fun marriage would be destroyed.
6) Straight marriages are valid because they produce children. Gay couples, infertile couples, and old people shouldn't be allowed to marry because our orphanages aren't full yet, and the world needs more children.
7) Obviously gay parents will raise gay children, since straight parents only raise straight children.
8) Gay marriage is not supported by religion. In a theocracy like ours, the values of one religion are imposed on the entire country. That's why we have only one religion in America.
9) Children can never succeed without a male and a female role model at home. That's why we as a society expressly forbid single parents to raise children.
10) Gay marriage will change the foundation of society; we could never adapt to new social norms. Just like we haven't adapted to cars, the service-sector economy, or longer life spans.
Posted by Julee at 10:11 PM | Comments (5)
November 05, 2005
Little Things
A few days ago we received our 3rd set of phone books since we moved here 5 months ago. How many phone books does one household need? I don't even really use them since I can look everything up on the internet. Also the phonebook delivery person must have lost some of his load. In the middle of a nearby major intersection there are a couple dozen ripped-up, driven-over phonebooks that have been there a few days now.
When we go out as a family, Eric is the driver and I'm the navigator. (He has no sense of direction at all) Today we were in the car and with my eyes on the far right lane, I told him to get in the lane behind the pickup. He got flustered and when I looked up I saw that there was a pickup in all four lanes. Ha! Texas.
We had a high of 87 degrees today. Don't get me wrong: I love the weather here. It just feels really strange to have it get dark early and yet still have summer-like weather. It just doesn't quite register.
Posted by Julee at 08:53 PM | Comments (4)
November 04, 2005
San Antonio Missions
The kids and I went to the San Antonio Missions National Historical Park a couple of days ago. I'm not going to categorize this outing as a field trip because it was really for me. The kids had a fun time, but the lessons to be learned were way over their head.
There are a total of four missions spread out over a few miles. In additon to the regular National Parks cancellation stamp, each mission has its own special stamp. Seeing two was enough for the kids for one day but I plan on going back in a couple of weeks to finish the tour.
Our first stop was Mission Concepcion.
We then went to the main mission, Mission San Jose
I was excited to see to many Dia de los Muertos displays. We had purposely skipped the many events around town because one of my children gets freaked out by the sight of skeletons since seeing a particularly gruesome neighborhood Halloween display.
Posted by Julee at 09:41 AM | Comments (3)
Friday Random 10
Shuffle Those MP3s
1. Soul Rebel - Bob Marley & Peter Tosh
2. White Noise Maker - Frank Black
3. Father to a Sister of Thought- Pavement
4. When they Really Get to Know you they Will Run - Pedro the Lion
5. Only in the Past - The Be Good Tanyas
6. Dazed and Confused - Led Zeppelin
7. Beyond the Sunrise - Belle & Sebastian
8. Explain it to Me - Liz Phair
9. Taking People - Cat Power
10. Dollywood - Tullycraft
Posted by Julee at 08:05 AM | Comments (0)
November 02, 2005
Links (The Republican Edition)
Dubyaspeak
"We record the damage"
Viking Kittens
Okay, it has noting to do with Republicans or even politics. But with Vikings, kittens and Led Zeppelin you cannot go wrong.
Posted by Julee at 01:31 PM | Comments (3)