Joe's Birthday Celebration

On Saturday May 3rd, Joe and I celebrated his birthday with a day full of surprises. He hasn't written about it, so I'm going to go ahead so we'll remember it in a few years. If you don't really care / have time / have already heard the story, you should at least read the last paragraph with the picture - it's fun.

I wrapped many hints for Joe to open throughout the day to guess where the next place we were going was - we got in the car around 8am with a backseat full of boxes for him to open. He guessed every place before he got there by asking a bunch of questions and guessing. The first clue was easy - a picture of a chicken biscuit. We got a quick breakfast at the new Chick-fil-A in town. Next he opened a pinata (it was less than a foot across and said Happy Birthday on it... a dollar store special) full of yummy candy and I started driving. He knew we'd be doing a bunch of driving, but not where we'd go. After an hour or so the next clue was a tortilla warmer (believe it or not, he's wanted one for a while... since our last one melted... another story). Then as we were getting in town, the final clue was a picture of people celebrating Cinco de Mayo. We went to a Cinco de Mayo festival and State Menudo Competition in San Marcos. Though we didn't brave the menudo (I didn't know until we were there what it was made of), we had some yummy fajita tacos. We also enjoyed traditional Mexican dances put on by local elementary through high school students in a folklorica club. The little girls were beautiful with big dresses and ribbons in their hair - and you could tell they knew it and were savoring it.

We got back on the road and Joe opened the next hint - a beer mug and piece of sheet music of German songs. It was only about a 20 minute drive, so he got to open the final hint for that leg pretty soon, which was a picture of German food. We went to the Wein & Saengerfest (German for Wine and Song - fest) in New Braunfels. They had a one of those walls were you put on a Velcro suit and jump up to stick on it. After my pleading, Joe tried it. It was full of air - like the moon bounces you jump on as a kid (or older) - so he didn't get enough bounce to get himself up on the wall. He was trying to stick upside down, but after three tries kept falling off and got a nasty cut on his neck from the suit. After that, he couldn't convince me to try, but I admired his battle wound. We decided against the actual wine tasting (it was $15 a person and neither of us has very discerning taste), but Joe did get a German beer (light in color). He liked it. There was an independent artist singing country music - he wasn't bad, but also not great, though he was really trying to connect with the crowd... too bad most of us had some sort of German meat-bread combination in our mouths. It was also funny because we were expecting German music. After trying some German food for lunch (I had grilled pork chops - how can something grilled be so greasy? German cooks are truly inspirational. Joe had some sort of sausage, both served with bread all on a stick. Can parenthetical statements have multiple sentences in them? They can on my blog!) and some chocolates and ice cream, we headed on to the next stop.

Joe opened the next clue - it was an Innova Star Starfire Disc. Joe had wanted this disc for a while, and had some sneaky collaborators to get it here from Dallas (thanks mom and Christy!). This one was easy to guess - we were going to play disc golf! A second clue was a cartoon of a girl who looks like me playing frisbee. What Joe didn't know is that we were headed toward a huge course in Live Oak (near San Antonio) - 30 holes!!! We ended up needing a break (both of us) about halfway through, so we had a little Sonic drink break and then finished the course. Several of the first holes had both the tee and the basket right along the water - we both lost a disc (though we half-expected it and were throwing bad ones). Overall, we had fun but were sick of disc golf (I know, I didn't know Joe could get to that point).

On the trip home we stopped in New Braunfels at Ryan's Steakhouse to eat dinner. It's like a Golden Coral with plastic surgery and on steroids (and without the old people). It is an all-you-care-to-eat buffet, and they will cook steaks to order right in front of you. I'm starting to drool just thinking of it.

I had one last surprise (no clues for this one) when we came home - there were lit candles, wine and cream puffs (Joe's favorite that he rarely gets... and only the candles were lit) waiting for us when we walked in. Thanks Lauren, Jennifer and Jonathan for putting them out! We got home earlier than I expected, and they must have been driving away from the house when we were driving up, but it worked out.

I leave you with the only pictorial memory we'll have of the day, actually taken two days later. While Joe burns easily and reapplied sunscreen throughout our day in the outdoors, I didn't put a drop on (okay, the facial moisturizer that I put on every day does have SPF 15, but that's only on my face). What I didn't think about is that I am VERY white where the sun doesn't shine (not meant in a vulgar way), and my shirt, although very cute, had a wider neck than I usually wear. The result was my best Neapolitan ice cream look EVER (see the chocolate, strawberry and vanilla layers... why do they always skimp on the strawberry?):

Edit from almost a month later: yes, I have a horrible semi-circle tan line now.

Update on Things to do

This one is dedicated to those of you who write lists and have trouble not thinking of the success of the day as dependent on how many things you checked off.

For that "5 things" blog, I hardly got anything done on that list. I thought that writing that may make some of you feel a little better. Here's the run down:

What are 5 things on your to-do list today (not in any particular order)?
1. Get pictures to upload to blogger or complain about it enough for someone else to figure out my problem.
I actually did this, but it just magically worked one time when I tried it. So no complaining was needed (not that I didn't try).
2. Write and start filming a new video.
This has been difficult. Joe and I have very different visions for what to do, and it's frustrated me so much that I often lose any will to try making one. We did play a game where we made up a bedtime story. First Joe was alone with the camera and recorded the beginning of a story for 1 minute, and when the timer went off he wrote down the last sentence as well as three clues. I read the 3 clues and sentence, and then continued for another minute. I wrote down the last sentence and three clues and we switched. We ended up with 6 segments making up very possibly the worst bedtime story ever (okay, excluding the ones where someone dies - no one died in ours). When watched the whole thing together and cracked up. I don't know if I'll post it - it's really, really, REALLY dumb, but maybe some of you who know us would like to laugh at us. So I'll count this one as done, too.
3. Paint bamboo for our wall.
Totally didn't happen. We have EVERYTHING we need for this project, but it just sits there. I'm going to have a dream tonight where I read a spell and the paint brushes will spring into action and gracefully create a masterpiece, but then I won't know how to stop them and everything in the house will be painted to look like bamboo. (Actually, as you would know if you've had to listen to any of my dreams, that's way to normal and predictable. Oh well.)
4. Finish the laundry.
Pretty much, as long as you don't count folding it - hey, it's clean.
5. Get at least one more verse mostly written for the song I'm working on for Joe. (My days are not usually quite so creative, but today is a holiday, so I've set it aside for some projects.)
I didn't get any of another verse, but I did work more on the music, and I'm having fun with it. In my inexperienced opinion, I think that's the way it works sometimes. Some days I feel like writing the story, some days rewording lyrics is a fun challenge, some days playing with a melody comes more naturally, and some days reading what I've got and setting it aside is just perfect. But I can't wait to finish it and sing it for Joe! He'll love it. It's so hard to keep it a secret! Joe's knows I'm working on it, and he knows the title is "Didn't He Notice?" That makes him nervous, but it's gonna be perfect for him! And he already knows to fake it at first if he doesn't really like it. :)

catching up (again): part two

Happy "tomorrowish"! I'm continuing on the run-down of what we've been up to... this one has pictures!

May 8th - Joe officially turned 28. We got some errand-type things done (including Joe getting a new driver's license picture for the first time in ten years) and then headed to Houston. We spent the evening with some friends from college - Jennifer and James. Jennifer and I were roomies before we both got married, and she had their oldest, Emma, while I was still in school and got to spend a lot of time with them. I was sad that she wouldn't remember me, but despite that she was super-sweet (wanted to sit by me at dinner, told me she loved me). They've also had another kid, Andrew, who is only 10 months old. He was cute. I had a great time catching up. It's so nice to spend time with people you've lived with - there is just a different level of comfort and "making yourself at home" comes easy. Oh! She also remembered that Joe is allergic to cats and dogs (especially cats). I found out that she had steam-cleaned the carpet and couches the day before and kept the cats in the garage since then until after we left!!! People are almost always considerate of Joe's allergies, but I don't think I've never had someone go to THAT much trouble for him... it really meant a lot and I'm glad I got it out of her. :)

May 8th (night) - That night we stayed at a hotel (2.5 stars on Priceline for $35 - nice!). Look, Joe even got his own bed for his birthday! ;)

May 9th - We went to the new outlet mall in the Houston area - it's on our way to Joe's parent's house from CS, so we've been driving by while it was being built and were curious. It was okay - a lot of clothing stores and several athletic (Nike, New Balance, Adidas, etc.) stores. Not so many kitchen or home stores. It is more like a promenade (a mall that is open to the outdoors - NOT a strip center) than any other outlet I've been to, which made it nicer to walk. We took pictures with Buzz and Spidy.
We joined Joe's parents for dinner that night at Johnny Tamale's. We tried to convince Joe's sister (Emily) to come and took this picture to make her sorry she didn't (it's Joe's mom "having a good time").May 10th - We planned a surprise party for Emily - she's never had one before! While she was out looking at houses we got in and decorated. Here are some pictures....

how we decorated
an example of the posters we hung around the room
how we decorated the floor (confetti had been banned... this was Joe's idea)
Emily had to run through this to get in

the birthday "kids"

what happens when you tell Joe not to close his eyes in the next picture

May 11th - Happy Mom's Day! We went (for the first time) to the church Joe's parents recently started going to. It's the same type of church Joe grew up in (non-class church of Christ) and two of the other families Joe grew up with (but hadn't seen as much since their church disbanded) are going there. Then we came back to College Station!

May 12th week... Recovery and back to a busy work week for me! We've got an MD student who is during summer research in our lab and I'm in charge of her (teach her, give her stuff to do), so that just started on the 14th and will go all summer. She's nice, but that means I'm really busy.

Tagified

Remember when adding "ified" to the end of a word used to be cool? Me neither.

So, I've got about 5 posts I should have finished long ago, but get too frustrated trying to upload pictures. I was trying to get those done before responding to a tag by this beautiful woman, but I'm getting left behind by friends in a later generation of tagging, so I've got to hurry up and do it.

For the record, I'm pretty sure my husband has already done this, but I haven't read it yet.

Here are the rules:
1. The rules of the game get posted at the beginning.
2. Each player answers the questions about themselves.
3. At the end of the post, the player then tags five people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they’ve been tagged and asking them to read the player’s blog.
4. Let the person who tagged you know when you’ve posted your answer.

What were you doing 5 years ago?
1. Starting our personal webpage (joeandkathryn.us ... I thought "dot us" - how cute!)
2. Just starting work at a research lab at the medical school (I'm now in a different lab, but same school)
3. Adding a degree in "pure mathematics" so I would have options other than medical research.
4. Wondering how my baby sister could be old enough to be graduating from high school (she's now married and done with college).
5. Discovering life after Aggies for Christ (some of you will know exactly what I mean).


What are 5 things on your to-do list today (not in any particular order)?
1. Get pictures to upload to blogger or complain about it enough for someone else to figure out my problem.
2. Write and start filming a new video.
3. Paint bamboo for our wall.
4. Finish the laundry.
5. Get at least one more verse mostly written for the song I'm working on for Joe. (My days are not usually quite so creative, but today is a holiday, so I've set it aside for some projects.)

What are 5 snacks you enjoy?
I made some categories, depending on my type of desire for the snack:
1. sweet: cinnamon-sugar anything (preferably toast or soft pretzel)
2. want a good taste in my mouth: cheese (sharp cheddar is my favorite)
3. really hungry but need to wait to eat a meal: Nature Made Oats & Honey Granola Bar (it works!)
4. slightly hungry: Pink Lady Apples (the best!)
5. "hungry" only because I happened to see it: bread of ANY type!

What 5 things would you do if you were a billionaire?
1. Ask people I love what I should do with my money, and do what's good from that. I'd probably ask some "educated" people I don't know, too... I think you're supposed to invest money or something like that so you can keep getting more.
2. Pay off my debt and that of loved ones who are trying (or will start to try) to make better choices with how they deal with money. (Apparently I like attaching strings more than my more generous friends.)
3. Have a homestead. Build at least one big house and some little ones nearby, and let my mom design them. There would be an orchard and a big garden for us (everyone who lives there) to share.
4. Only work in ways I really believe in and not get paid to do so.
5. Have some extended (at least 6 months) stays in several countries, becoming fluent in multiple languages and learning from their cultures.

What are 5 of your bad habits?
1. getting sick of things / people
2. getting in bad moods & withdrawing
3. reading for very long periods of time (though sometimes it's nice)
4. getting very frustrated when interrupted while typing (I just threw Joe out of the room) - this seems to be the one time I hate (and can't do) multi-tasking.
5. being sad / disappointed about things instead of letting them go

What are 5 places you have lived?
(I'm writing them in order)
1. Dallas, TX (first almost 18 years)
2. College Station, TX (2 years, then again Bryan or CS since 2002)
3. Bangkok, Thailand (1 summer)
4. Malibu, CA (1 fall semester)
5. Agoura Hills (one of the millions of LA suburbs, past Burbank then Thousand Oaks), CA (9ish months)

What are 5 jobs you've had?
(not all paid positions)
1. Junior Camp Counselor at Pettijohn (where I met Joe)
2. Volunteer at Presbyterian Hospital in whatever they call the area with the overly moody women who just gave birth ("Look at this sweet miracle... this is the best day of my life. No, I said juice half-full of ice - this is nearly 2/3 full of ice! Nevermind, I hate juice anyway.")
3. Proofreader for a publications company (Where their favorite game was "Pin the Blame on the Ass")
4. Cosmetician (no, it's not a real word, but it was my job title) in Malibu... imagine me helping the most vain people I've ever met with makeup? yuck.
5. Waitress for one week at a friend's family business... they didn't let me keep any of the tips, who's dumb idea was that?

What 5 people do you want to tag?
note: I picked people a while back, so they may have already been tagged by someone else, but I took off the people (like Joe) who have already responded.
original note: I first thought "I don't know 5 other people who blog who I can ask to do this" but then noticed on Google Reader than there are exactly 30 blogs I read. Busted.

1. Christy: She's awesome and does way more cool things than her blog reveals. This will at least get one more post up!

2. Shelley: Who I didn't get to catch up with when she was in town this weekend... this can be your penance. I know summer's busy, but you've got to get back to posting - inquiring minds must know!

3. My cousin, Bobby (though I think he just goes by Bob now): He's lived a lot of cool places and done a lot of cool things. I don't think he will want to post this, but I know we've got tons of family members who rave for weeks every time he does post something. Bobby, if you post, I'll let you out of the whole "tagging 5 more people" thing - so you don't have to worry about bad luck or a giant zit or whatever this sort of thing threatens if you don't pass it on!

4. Jenny: I'll pretty much do anything to hear again how you were paid to dance wearing Vegas-style feathers. That's so awesome.

5. Thad: Because sometimes it's just fun to jump on the (tagging) bandwagon.

Good News!

I read this article on nytimes.com and was interested by this idea:

What accompanies the vegetables can also be important. Studies at Ohio State measured blood levels of subjects who ate servings of salsa and salads. When the salsa or salad was served with fat-rich avocados or full-fat salad dressing, the diners absorbed as much as 4 times more lycopene, 7 times more lutein and 18 times the beta carotene than those who had their vegetables plain or with low-fat dressing.

So throw out that fat-free ranch!

I'd also like to take this opportunity to complain that I can't upload pictures for some reason and that's what is holding up several of my blog posts (okay, two).

I'd also, also like to take this opportunity to help you out with Joe's blog. He tends to use big words a lot of the time, and I'd like to help you understand. For example in his latest post, I think the word "clandestinely" means something like secretly... it's a word in my favorite song from my second favorite musical-I-haven't-actually-seen. And, as I found out last night, in the blog's title "Making it all up as I go along... sundry tales and wails" he didn't really mean to type "sundried"... that's actually a word. I think he told me it means something like various or assorted. Even if you don't have time to make it through the most recent post, you should check out the video clip at the end, I helped! The second paragraph explains more fully what is exemplified. And I'm happy to say that my ad-lib actually caught Joe off guard at the end and made him really laugh. :)

NKOTB

If you know what that stands for, then you probably already know...

New Kids on the Block have a big tour coming up this fall. (I'll wait for your sounds of disgust or swooning to stop.)

They performed for the first time in 15 years this morning, and here's how that turned out:


Instead of flashbacks to the early 90's, I'm having flashbacks to bad karaoke nights...

catching up (again): part one

Okay, so I haven't had a "real post" in a while, and this time it's not all because I haven't uploaded pictures.

I was in a bit of a funky mood April 22 - 25 and just didn't feel like writing (or thinking, or talking). That passed, but it really only takes me a week away from thinking about blogging to stop making an effort to post. But I'll try to catch up now. Also, you can look forward to a mini-series called "The Mexican Doves."

(note: this was getting way too long, so I've made it two parts... expect the other tomorrowish)

April 18th-20th - Some ladies up in DFW area hosted a ladies retreat for the married ladies and/or mothers in our church. The women who organized it were mostly our parents' ages and were neat to be around. I had two favorite parts: one, seeing women who have been close friends for so long - we're talking 27ish years (longer than I've been alive)! I have hope that I'll have good friends who've known me that long when I get older. Two, having time to just talk with other women and share meals with them! It is fun to hang out when no one is distracted by thinking of things they need to get done - including me, but especially my busy friends with young kids. Its good to talk and work on things together, but this was nice, too. This was the weekend Joe watched his cousin win a basketball championship.

April 20th - Joe's soccer team started the playoffs! We had beat the team before, but were at a disadvantage because we only had 10 players (instead of 11) show up. Here's how it went: With only minutes left in the game we are down 2-1. The playoffs are single-elimination, so the pressure's on. (This would sound more exciting if I knew more about soccer...) We have a corner kick, it goes to one of our guys who took a shot, the ball bounces off a couple of their players and then to Joe, who is standing with only the keeper* between him and the goal. Joe shoots, GOOOOOOOAL! (Wouldn't have this been a bad story if he missed?) Just like that, Joe tied up the game. We ended up scoring one goal in the 10 minute overtime to clench the game. Since he doesn't play forward, it was Joe's only goal this season, and I was very proud of him. :)
*I like calling goalies keepers... it makes it feel more like Quidditch.

April 25th - We got to hang out with the Sewells! I don't write down every time we hang out with friends, but this may interest you more because we tried out the new miniature golf course in Grand Station Entertainment (the former Wolf Pen Bowling / Skating). It was actually really cool! You should wear something that looks fun with black lights if you go. The pictures on the website are accurate - lots of bright colors. I would have been somewhat scared if I went as a kid, and if they just changed the sounds to spooky music, I would have been jumpy even now (I bet it'd be really fun if they do it up for Halloween). That being said, we have a friend who took their 6 year old, and it didn't bother him. So check it out if you like putt-putting in the air conditioning!

April 27th - May 2nd - I was VERY busy at work this week, and had to pretty late several days... not my cup of tea. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday night we had (different) people over, so that was fun. Thursday night I got things ready for Joe's birthday surprise (on Saturday). I've been working on microRNA arrays. One night I left at 7:45 because people were going to be at our place at 8:00; a professor who was also still around told me to tell them I was saving the world one tiny dot at a time. Friday I worked until 6:45, and Joe came up briefly to see what it they looked like. I explained a little bit about what they were and Joe replied with "I don't know why I get paid more than you do" which made me smile. Joe brought us food and we went to VizaGoGo at 7:00 on campus. It's basically a showcase for students who do computer animation / effects, and it was fun. We have a friend in the masters program, so we went last year, too. I think last year actually had some weirder stuff, but also more funny stuff. After than we rushed home and I finished decorating a cake for a baby shower a friend was throwing for her neighbor. I actually didn't take get any pictures of it because I was in such a hurry.

May 3 - Joe's birthday surprise! I hope to do another post about this one (unless he beats me to it).

May 4th - 5th - My sister was in town and spent the night with us! :) Though time was short, it was good to see her and Kevin (her hubby). We saw Made of Honor with them (and her friend Jennifer) on Sunday - it was good (in a predictable way)... not EXACTLY the same as My Best Friend's Wedding.

May 5th - 7th - Joe and I took off of work all week! Woo hoo! We used the time in the first part of the week to relax and catch up on a few projects around the house, as well as watch a couple of the Batman movies.

stay tuned for part two - Joe's birthday and celebration time in Houston!

Happy Mother's Day

Well, happy belated Mother's Day to all you moms out there! Please enjoy this video from Mr. T's heart to yours.

Happy Birthday, my love!

Sorry for my lack of blogging, I'll make up for it soon.

Today is Joe's birthday! Can you guess how old he is? Here's a hint: this driver's license picture was TEN YEARS AGO!

We've taken off all week from work, and it's been great. Today we're headed to Houston where we'll see some old friends and then stay at a hotel. We'll join up with his parents and sister to celebrate Mother's Day and the two "kids" birthdays (Joe and his sister) this weekend.

Joe's birthday doesn't make me think much about how old he is, but more about how long we've known each other... it's getting closer to 10 years, which seems like a very long time for someone who thinks they are still about 24 (though this year will bring me to 27). Think about it - I met him only about a year after that picture!

We celebrated his birthday last Saturday (which was planned before we knew we could take the week off). One of us will post about it soon.

Joe, I've had a great week vacationing at home with you.... AND I look forward to spending this birthday and many more with you!