HAPPY BIRTHDAY RACHEL!!!!!!!!!

OH MY GOSH!!!! Truly It CAN'T BE!!!! Rachel is 15!!!!

My little Rachel girl is 15 years old TODAY!!!.... how did that happen??? she was just a baby yesterday!!!

Hope you have a wonderful day my love! We love you very, very much! My special Halloween pumpkin girl!!! It's celebration day for Mama too - 15 years ago today, a special little girl came into my world and forever changed my life! A wonderful gift from God!! After a looooong day (well 27 hours exactly), you arrived on Sunday, 10-31-1993 at 5:00 pm (on the dot) and weighed in at 8lbs. even. Happy, healthy and wonderful!!

Now - look at you! 15 years old and just beautiful inside and out and so smart too! You are a wonderful young lady and you make your mama proud!

Love you oodles!!

Mom

Sunday morning thoughts....

It's a beautiful Sunday morning here in Friendswood. The temperature is delightful in the 50's overnight. I awoke this morning listening to the birds singing as the sun was just starting to show some of it's rays above the horizon. I just layed there and thought how wonderful this is - the cool, crisp weather and me snuggled in under my comforter next to the thermal heater (aka my husband) thinking maybe this is why everyone loves California! We slept with all the windows in the house open last night and the house is nice and cool this morning. I love this kind of morning. Sitting on the couch, no one else up yet, having a perfect cup of coffee and spending time just thinking, reading, looking at various websites, - basically - anything I want to do without anyone needing me for anything - no questions, no attitude, no work, NOTHING. It won't last long as the real world will creep in soon.... but I sure do treasure these moments and thank God that we've been so blessed so that I can have these moments every so often .... and recognize them for how special they are.

I've added a couple of more blog sites to my blog list this morning. As many of you know, we just finished the buildout of the above-garage room of which 2/3rd's of it was made for me to get back to my scrapbook fun. Well... it's been a great idea ... and I have lots of great stuff... I just haven't yet found the motivation or creativeness come back into my head or heart yet. In the years that my scrapbook stuff was packed away and unused, the scrapbook world has changed significantly and there are a ton of new supplies, techniques, papers, etc. It's truly overwhelming for me to walk into a scrapbook store and have any clue what I want to do or how to do it. It's like my brain gets a bit fried from overload of all the neat (and I mean neat) stuff. I think I have to take baby steps ... I want to get up there in my special room and get to work but I've just have not felt a creative spirit flow through me yet with any ideas. So..... i have been trying to jumpstart those juices via just taking a look at local scrapbook stores, thinking if I can find a moment to take a class, reading some blogs, etc. So, you'll see a couple blogs start to show up that are from that interest in my life.

I found one of them very interesting today and want to give some thought to it - for a number of reasons.

Heidi Swapp who is a well known scrapbook industry designer has something on her blog that made me think. Notice it says
FIX IT UP, WEAR IT OUT, MAKE DO, DO WITHOUT

Her family set a goal to use every resource to their fullest. Terms such as "re-use", "frugality", "conservation", "grateful" go with this goal. She encourages her family (children included) to make notes about the ways they have contributed to this goal or perhaps noticed when someone else has. It's fitting today for me to read this because John and I have been talking to the kids about this subject - especially in the economy we are facing and the unknown. While I'm not worried about my job and neither is John, adopting these principles is good for all of us. We'll see where it takes us and what lessons it may teach us.

On Sundays ... come Dallas football. We'll say a little prayer for them to win today so the nice mood is continued throughout the entire day!! :-)

Oh yea... UT won yesterday!! Hook 'Em Horns!! Bring on those Raiders....

Fabulous Wednesday....

Heading off to work.... but wanted to let you all know the photos have been updated with birthday pictures, baseball pictures & random pictures! Have fun viewing!!

I'll blog more later tonight (after baseball and flute lessons!).

Happy Birthday to John!!!

TODAY (10/21) is John's 43rd Birthday!! Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday to You! Happy Birthday to Jooooohhhhhhnnnnnn! Happy Birthday to you!!

We love you and hope you have a wonderfully happy birthday celebration!! (Pictures to come!)


***********************************
Prior to John's Fabulous Birthday......

It was another busy week last week capped off by a medical issue for MA. Alright.. my reason (excuse) for not keeping my blog up last week was due to the fact that I am having elbow and hand problems on my right arm. Numbness in my fingers and throbbing/burning in my arm - kind of like your hand is asleep and you can't wake it up but more annoying. It gets worse working on my computer with my arms bent. It's been an intermittant problem on occasion before but lasted only a day and went away. This time it hasn't gone away for several days. Making it difficult to do my job right now. Went to see a Ortho, Dr. Holt, who diagnosed it as Ulnar Instability and gave me an elbow brace to wear mostly at night but whenever I need to force my arm to stay straight which causes the least amount of compression of the nerve. Apparently, my ulnar nerve doesn't exactly stay in the same place but rather enjoys moving around and becoming compressed when I bend my elbow. Isn't that fun. I'm supposed to go and have an EMG nerve test this week sometime to determine to what extent there is damage to the nerve. More news to come.

Friday night - Rachel marched in the game and I took video of the whole thing. Well, I thought I took video of the whole show. When they finished, somehow (hmmmm) there was no video. I could kick myself as I must not have pressed the RECORD button at the beginning. Held my arm up in that position for 15 minutes...... darn the luck.

Saturday - Rachel did not march in the competition, but unfortunately, had to spend another entire day (8 am to 11:30 pm) doing something she was not involved with directly. She missed the homecoming dance which was a bummer. Friendswood placed 4th in the Lonestar Preview.

Stephen spent Saturday selling popcorn to unsuspecting folks at the Lowes here in Webster. Apparently, he may have found a natural skill of selling. Apparently, of the $1200 dollars they earned between 10 -2 on Saturday, he's responsible for about 1/3 of it all by himself. He was very good at approaching people, explaining what they were selling and how it benefited the Scouts and asking for the sale. Who knew??

Sunday - well, Sunday was a bummer around here. We unfortunately had to watch every disappointing play the Dallas Cowboys made on Sunday against the St. Louis Rams. I had originally considered getting tickets and taking John to St. Louis this weekend to watch that game in person for his birthday. In hindsight, it's a VERY good thing that didn't transpire as their loss was awful to watch. John just went to bed afterwards..... if that tells you how he was feeling about it.

However - the good news... in the battle of the football picks, John and I tied this weekend, but I'm still ahead overall -
MA: 62% Winning Average; 5 Winning Weeks
John: 50% Winning Average; 1 Winning Week

Later!!
MA

Sunday's Events....

Well, we all survived the band contest and slept in a bit today. Tired doesn't even begin to explain how exhausted we are. We didn't get home and to bed until about 12:30 am last night. Thank goodness the contest was nearby in Pearland. The poor folks from Woodlands, Spring, San Antonio (Churchill), Hurst (LD Bell), had much further to drive than we did. Long day & night. They did really well. One might think 9th isn't all that great, but it really is. The Bands of America contests reward bands not only for how they play and march, but also their creativity and "entertainment" (how loud the crowd claps) value for the general public. Contrast that with UIL which still rewards more traditional marching more highly than the creative sort. So, the BOA winning bands generally did things that FHS would probably not do - at leat not with our current director. FHS marching style is more traditional and doesn't use a lot of props or crazy movements. The other bands dance around a bit more, bend down on their knees, stand more relaxed, use interesting props and the like. The last time FHS competed in our regional BOA, we placed nearer to the bottom. We made the finals this year which is great. I've marked where Rachel is in most of the pictures with a big red arrow! It's like "Where's Waldo" with trying to find her on the field. :-) I'm just thrilled that she actually got to march!!



Our other major task for the weekend was to find THE PERFECT Homecoming Dance Dress for next weekend. FHS Homecoming is next Friday and the dance in Saturday. The common thing today is to go no matter whether you have a date or not. It's just a dance and everyone goes. It's semi-formal so we went out looking for a nice dress under $100. That was the goal. Rachel's friend Kayla went as well to look for a dress. We made our way over to Baybrook Mall to Dillards in search of dresses. As you can see from the pictures, the girls didn't have any problem finding dresses to try on. Make note of all the BRIGHT colors. They really like the bright colors. More pictures in the gallery.



I think Kayla made her selection pretty quick - maybe after only 5 dresses. It took Rachel a bit more time (and trying on about 10 dresses) to make her perfect selection - she's a bit more specific! Finally though, they have their dresses. Kayla selected a really pretty royal blue halter type dress which is beautiful. Rachel selected a strapless red dress which also looks dynamite on her and what just slightly above our $100 limit. None of which I have pictures of so we'll have to wait until next weekend!!



We finished our trip to the mall with a quick run into the cheap jewelry store for some earring that only cost $5. YAY!!

Decided to stop for nourishment after all that shopping and enjoyed some Italian gelato at the end of our trip.

Homecoming Events... Parade on Thursday afternoon/evening down our Main street (518), Homecoming Game on Friday evening, and Homecoming Dance on Saturday night. I do hope Rachel actually gets to go to dance next week. The marching band is participating in another contest on Saturday up in Conroe - the Lonestar Preview. If they were to make the finals, they would probably not be back for the dance. If they don't make the finals, we'll have to see if the director lets them come back or if they have to stay to watch it. If she's not marching... I may just go get her so she can at least have some fun that evening at the dance with her friends.

Stephen came home from his Scout camping trip to Camp Strake this weekend and had a good time. They did a lot of mountain bike riding which he has decided he really likes. He finally decided that it would be good to learn to ride a bike a couple of months back and now he's going gangbusters on it. Apparently, his chain broke while they were out riding bikes about 1 mile away from the base, so he and his dad had to walk quite a ways back. Rob got a new chain and everything is better now, but he loved the riding so much that he now wants a new mountain bike for Christmas!


Dallas is playing Arizona right now and it's not pretty at the moment. Currently, Arizona is leading Dallas by 7. We'll see how this ends up. I may be glad John is out of town tonight instead of here. :-)

More Later!

Friendswood placed 9 th in the Bands of America regional contest

Picture of band

Friendswood made the finals! the top 10 performed again tonight. Rachel marched in both the prelims and finals. GO BAND!

My favorite word is FRIDAY!!

Wow.. what a week it's been around here. I've never been so glad to see a Friday roll around for some rest and relaxation.

Week started off pretty busy with a business trip for me to Phoenix Monday returning Tuesday. I was asked to speak at a training session for future Sales Consultants (like me) about Treasury Roles & Responsibilities and go through a day in the life of a Cash Manager on the practitioners side. It was a nice honor and I enjoyed sharing my experiences of corporate life. Came back on Tuesday evening tired! Long way to go (3 hours flight) for an hour and a half but it was worth it.

John held down the fort while I was gone - band practices, getting the kids ready for school, and scout meeting. He always does such a great job and I appreciate him so much!

Rachel wasn't feeling so well mid week having some sort of allergy problem or cold. She's recovered. She also had her first physical therapy appointment this week on Thursday. Her shoulders are messed up so the orthopedic dr. has her going to physical therapy three times a week for the next month. We go back to see him in a couple of weeks and there may be a surgery in her future for her left shoulder which is really loose and pops out of socket regularly. She is just hoping we can get her through soccer season from December through March before any surgery.

I'm having a quiet weekend at home. Rachel is going to the football game tonight with the band but is not marching. I'm just not going there right now. All day tomorrow is marching band contest (Bands of America) in Pearland. Literally, ALL DAY - Rachel has to be there at 8:30 am and won't be done until 11 pm tomorrow night. She IS marching tomorrow, so I'll go and watch them march. Stephen is off camping with the Scounts and John is off at the Ranch until Monday. So.... it's a quiet weekend for me. Catching up on my shows from the week that I've TiVo'd.

Later!

Football Day!!

Grilling our Lunch....
Originally uploaded by maryaustincox

It's that day again.... a lovely Sunday in October. It's a Dallas Football Game Day. We have selected today's perfect GameDay food - grilled (smoked) chicken legs and pork poppers. The pork poppers turned out to be my favorite!! They were so yummy!! Pork pieces, slice of serrano or jalepeno, wrapped in bacon.

Dallas won today so this evening's mood at the Cox house is a happy one!! It was an ugly win, but a win it was!! We'll take them any which way we can get 'em.

Today was also the first day of Fall Baseball. Stephen is playing in the majors this year on the Portland SeaDogs!! He played second base and outfield today making some good catches and throws. He also scored with a good looking slide with a close call.

Update for Friendswood's Outcome at competition yesterday. They won 1st for 4A schools, Best Overall Percussion and Best Overall Group (includes both 4A and 5A schools). Definitely liked their show. Hopefully, Rachel will be able to march in next weekend.

I'm off to Phoenix tomorrow for work for the next couple of days. Have a great week!

Totally Frustrated.....

I am extremely frustrated with FHS Mustang Band at the moment.

Bottomline: The marching band has their first contest today and Rachel was not selected to march in today's competition. The other kid who shares the one spot they have both been competing with is marching. However, she has to show up and spend the entire day from 8 am to 6 pm going through the motions, but not marching.

As most of you know from my prior rantings August and early September, the Band experience for Rachel and us, for the most part, has not been a good one as of yet at the high school. The fundamential reason is because for whatever reason (and perhaps I'm just too dense to catch on to it yet) not everyone who wants to march, gets to march. Now, I don't mean there are just 10 Alternates, which in my day would have been those that didn't show up to practices or were screwups or just simply couldn't put one foot in front of another. No, there were 80 kids not given a spot in the Marching Band this year . (I'm told they had roughly 240 in band and only a show for 160). I guess that isn't an accurate statement.... they were given (offered) a spot. The spot was either as an Alternate or a Shadow, but NOT MARCHING. Most of these kids were Freshman who were only given about 3-4 days of marching lessons prior to the BIG tryout date. The sad thing is at least half of them have just quit. Which makes me wonder really what happens next year when you don't have many Sophmores around who know how to march? Anyway..... For those that stayed, however, their parents were asked to pay a lot of money and spend a lot of time transporting their kids each and every day as either an Alternate or Shadow along with all the other kids. So, technically, they are in the band and I, as a parent, have forked over nearly $700 for registration fees and various other fees, but NO, my child MAY not get to march. Ridiculous!

On top of that - the story just keeps changing....
When Rachel was put as a Shadow (which is better than an Alternate), she was told she was competing for a spot. She was told there would be a date in the future when a selection was made between her and the other child as to who had the permanent spot. She was told she still had a chance to actually make the program and march each and every show. Because she wanted to keep going and because I didn't want to ruin those chances, I did not say a word at this point (as I SOOOOOOO wanted to). She kept going and working hard trying to win this position. She WANTS to march! She's at every practice! Unfortunately, the director keeps changing the rules of the game. So, now, it appears that in practice, no one will actually get the permanent position. He'll just make selections on Fridays of each week and determine who will march. Is that the final ruling or will that change again too??

So.... Rachel may get to march, may not get to march. Who the heck knows each and every football game, each and every competition. I do know though that Rachel works hard to meet the expectations of her band directors. She wants to be an active member of the band and wants to have the experiences of marching at football games and competitions. This is frustrating for her and it's frustrating for me. I know what this experience can be like - it should be a wonderful time in her life. Full of fun experiences and serious ones as they compete and win. As a parent, I had envisioned being able to enjoy my child's high school experience through many ways including going to football games and competitions and watching my child participate in a meaningful way in an organization (band) for which I have always had such high respect(across the board). It's extremely sad to see how it is turning out so far for us. Definitely, not a positive experience so far.

Later....

Cowboy Football Update

Cowboys 24 - Redskins 26

Unfortunately, the Cowboys record is now 3 -1 with their loss to the Washington Redskins on Sunday. Heartbreaking loss to a hated rival according to their most devoted fan, John Cox. Lose to the Redskins?? How could you? I'll let John disect the reasons for the loss at a later time. Suffice it to say, with the loss, there was a grey cloud over the Cox house on Sunday afternoon. But, the silver lining is, it wasn't a black cloud!! Luckily, his true devotion and neverfailing love for the Cowboys won out and logically, we were able to grasp that their record is still fabulous at 3 and 1. It's only 1 loss!! We'll beat up Cincinnati this weekend and be back on the road to the Super Bowl!!

On the NFL Pick Contest results, MA was the winner of the Week 4 NFL Pick Contest in the Cox House! My Record is now 3 to 1 as well. Overall Percentage: 65% MA; 56% John :-) I have to boast when I can because there are many more weeks left and it's early yet. John will probably catch up and kick my booty! Too bad there isn't any money resting on these picks. Well, I suppose if there were, I probably wouldn't be winning as gambling with real money & winning don't go together for me! I think my prize for winning is I get to pick our dinner spot for Date Night on Thursday!!