Merry Christmas!!

Joy - Joy - Joy !!!

Today is Jesus's Birthday!!! Happy Birthday Jesus!! Blessed be the Lord!!

Blessings to you and yours!!

Love,

MA, John, Rachel & Stephen

Christmas Busy but Happy!!

Catching up a bit on the blog for the Christmas Holiday season. We've been busy little elfs down here. There have been holiday concerts, holiday parties, finals and tests, holiday movies, finding, setting up and decorating the Christmas Tree, Christmas shopping, Christmas puzzles to put together, Christmas cookie and other yummy things to bake and Christmas present wrapping to tackle!! Well... I'm still tackling that one. My trusty Helper Rachel can't really HELP this Christmas with one arm to offer, so most of it falls to me. I believe John had Stephen help wrap the presents for me. LOL...

Kids are out of school for two weeks and are thrilled to be sleeping late!! Last day of work pretty much for the 2009 year is behind me from yesterday so I will be able to catch up on my snoozing as well!!

Oh - before I forget, one tidbit of interesting Christmas knowledge about my 12 year old son this year. He has a fascination with a Christmas Song this year - We wish you a Merry Christmas -musically arranged with farting. Yes, farting. It has begun. The strange fascination that boys/men have with bodily noises. It has been very comical to watch him this year!!

Off to wrap (more)!!

MA

Christmas Trivia 2009

Thought I'd take a moment to update the blog with a trivia exercise!!

CHRISTMAS TRADITIONS TRIVIA

Did you shop early this Christmas? ummm... not unless you count 12/6 as early. :-) I wish I could get myself into gear and get it done earlier, but it just happens this way almost every year. Maybe someday....

Are you using wrapping paper or gift bags this year? I use a combination of both depending on the size/type of gift... and what I have on hand.

Plans for your Christmas Table colour-scheme? Typically, my table is red and green.

When do you put up the tree? Usually, I try to put the tree up the first weekend in December. BUT.... this year, it'll be the second weekend! :-) Sometimes, if I'm really rockin the Christmas spirit, there will be TWO trees~!! Doesn't even match my friend Betsy who has 10 (YES, TEN) trees in her house.

Is your tree different each year or is it always the same? Pretty much always the same.

Does it have a particular colour scheme or theme? The main tree is always decorated similarly each year... lots of white lights (becoming less and less each year because it's my least favorite part of the tree decorating. We just put lots of our ornaments on the tree --- eclectic bunch of ornaments gathered over the years with no theme.

On those very rocking Christmas seasons when I put up the second tree, it's a Texas Western themed tree with all the Texas and cowboy ornaments. Very cute...

When do you think you’ll take it down? Really hope it's before February 1st this year. :-) ha ha ha.... now that it's a real one, it'll be down by then, but one year long ago when we had an artificial tree, it was still there on my birthday in February. LOL... yea.... i like taking the lights off it worse than putting them on the tree!

A real tree or an artificial one? It's been real ones for the last couple of years. Before then, it was artificial trees until it just couldn't be recovered and reshaped into a normal looking tree again! I like the real ones and the smell the best! No one is sneezing yet, so I guess we can keep doing the real ones for awhile!

Can you remember your favourite Christmas present you received as a child? A little red car

What’s on the menu for Christmas dinner? Not sure yet this year. My mom is cooking and all I know so far is the main entree is beef tenderloin! YUM YUM!!

What’s your favourite Christmas song/carol? Traditional Carol - O Holy Night by many artists, Pavarotti & Linda Eder are two of my favorites. More Modern Christmas Song - I Believe by Natalie Grant

What is your favourite ornament on your tree? I have many favorites... any that bring back great memories.

Have you got an unusual ornament? Not really... they are all pretty normal.

Do you hang lights up outside your house? Yes, we usually put some lights out around the trees and along the sidewalk. Occasionally, I get motivated to put them up along the actual roof line.

What’s your favourite part about Christmas time? Fun times spent with family playing games, putting together puzzles, and hanging out with each other over great meals!

What’s your worst part about Christmas time? The race to get everything done and bought.

Will there be snow or shine? Oh.. how I wish there would be snow on Christmas here. We're more likely to have the shine though. HOWEVER.... I just read on the Sci Guy's Blog at Chron.com that there is a little glimmer of potential hope that could bring cold and snow to Houston on or near Christmas!! That would be pretty cool!!

What would you like for Christmas? Not a lot this year... I've asked for an Epson Photo Scanner and a few other scrapbooking related items. I am so very blessed and really don't have a lot on my wish list this year other then time with my family.

Is your tree topper an angel or a star? Neither actually!! I put some pretty poinsettia's sticks up there. I never have found an angel or a star that I really loved.

OK - Who's NEXT?? I would love to hear from you.

Happy Weekend,

MA

December 5, 2009

It's certainly Christmas time!! We've even had the cold weather and SNOW to show for it!! More to come on the Historic Snowfall in Houston, TX in a moment....

Yesterday, 12/4 - Rachel had surgery to correct the socket gap problem in her shoulder - this time her right shoulder. If you remember, she had surgery last May to correct the same problem in her left shoulder. I took a lot more pictures then. This time... just one!

Just wasn't in the snapping mode I guess. We made our way up to the hospital at 6 am yesterday and she was home snoozing on pain pills by 10:00 am! She slept most all of yesterday and will be again today I would guess. The doctor said the gap on this shoulder was even larger then the gap on the left shoulder. She's such a trooper though and I'd love to have her pain threshold. She didn't have the nerve block (she didn't last time either). A shot for pain afterwards - not morphine as we found out she was allergic to it last time. Something the nurse said was better with not as many side effects. Wonder why the go to morphine first then? Anyway.... Looks like just oral pain meds are doing the trick and keeping her comfortable right now.

Now... on to the Historic Snow of December 4th in Houston, TX

Wow... we had some snow. Not just a little flurry, but real a real snowfall. It started early on our side of town (South of Houston) and stuck around until about noon and then melted. We had another little snow band come through in the afternoon which dropped a bunch of snow, but none of it stuck around that time. Schools all let out early (not Friendswood!). Companies/cities let employees go early. Not that there was really any need to until later last night when all that wetness on the roads froze over with our 25 degree night.

Amazing for there to be snow in Houston and then even more amazing for it to come this early. First time ever for it to happen.

Check out these pictures.

Our House with Snow

Neighborhood Playground


My Favorite place - Starbucks....


See... we really were getting a good snowfall!! If the ground had been cooler than 70 degrees, we might have actually had some good accumulation!!

Not sure what we're doing today... but it might involve a few things.

FRIENDSWOOD faces DAWSON (our Pearland friends) again today in Football, but this time for the Quarterfinals on the Path to State!! We probably won't go with Rachel's recovery, but we'll be thinking about them and anxious to hear the outcome!!

UT faces Nebraska this evening for the Big 12 Championship on the way to the National Championships!! HOOK EM HORNS!!! Will definitely be watching this one.

Christmas Decorations - need to get them up in the house and perhaps get a tree decorated soon.

Have a great Weekend!!
MA

December 1, 2009

Happy Holidays everyone!! Hard to believe it's already December!! The next 24 days before Christmas are filled with decorating, great christmas music, events, concerts, and all sorts of other festivities!

My first task of the holiday season was to give my blog a festive holiday update! Let it Snow!! Not that we get a whole lot of snow here in Houston, TX, but we've seen a bit here and there the last few years. The forecasters here today are even saying we might see some snow on Friday! We'll have to wait and see if it actually happens!! I like seeing a little bit of snow. Not sure if I'd want to really have to actually live and work in it regularly though.

Our weather here is so wacky though so we'll be looking at potential snow on Friday and back into the 70's soon thereafter. That's why we always have to have both seasons of clothes in our closets and flip flops nearby. It just doesn't stay one way or another for us in the "winter"!! LOL

Here's the lyrics for a song that gets played here in Houston during this time of year by our wonderful Christian radio station - KSBJ.

http://www.myspace.com/brandedtheduo for the link to the music; look on the right side in the box, may have to scroll down

White Christmases in Houston by Branded

If you dream of horse-drawn carriages
Dashing through the snow;
Before you move to Texas
There's something you should know...

That they don't have White Christmases in Houston.
I've lived here most my life and I should know.
I've prayed and I've pleaded for way too many years
But they just don't have White Christmases down here.

I've heard of winter carnivals in Aspen.
It looks just like a winter wonderland.
But remember while you're freezin' throughout this Christmas season
We'll be down here with Christmas cheer and flip-flops in the sand.

I've seen all those Christmas shows on TV.
Blankets of white powder; my, how grand!
But while you've got snow and holly, I'm feastin' on tamales;
Sittin' on my back porch with an iced tea in my hand.

That they don't have White Christmases in Houston.
I've lived here most my life and I should know.
I've prayed and I've pleaded for way too many years
But they just don't have White Christmases down here.

Hope your December 1st has been happy!

MA

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!

Happy Thanksgiving to all!!

I am truly thankful this year for many people, places and things!

• Loving family - My husband, John and Rachel, Stephen, Ariane, Laila & Justin
• My parents, Austin & Walter, my sisters, Perry & Stacey, and my nieces & nephew - Macie, Holley, Allie & Scott
• Thankful for my friends!
• Thankful for our health this year and the availability to choose our own medical care. We've relied on access to great doctors and hospitals this year. Pray that doesn't go away with a government run option.
• Thankful for our jobs and abilities to earn a living to provide for our family & children without a great deal of worry.
• Thankful for our service men and women who are out there every day trying to fight for our country. Praying for their safety and security!
• Thankful for coffee, cheese & chocolate!! My favorite "C's".
• Thankful for a husband who cooks, cleans and otherwise keeps us organized! (of course, I have to leave extra early for cowboy games in exchange!)

Where are you spending your Thanksgiving today? With whom?

I'm up in Dallas spending my Thanksgiving Day with John, Laila & Justin currently sitting in the 45 degrees with my coffee in Blue Lot 15 tailgating for the Oakland v. Dallas Thanksgiving Day Game. On tap for Thanksgiving lunch is Ham, Turkey, Stuffing, Mashed Potatos and gravy, mac & cheese, and pecan pie! All very expertly cooked/warmed on a Old Smokey Grill. Along with bloody mary's & beer. Game time = 3:15 pm. Yes, we were here at the parking lot at 9:00 am with many, many other people!! After the Dallas game comes the Longhorn v. Aggie game this evening!! Football... bring it on!

Here is a question for you to consider! I am hoping if you are a member of my family, you will join in with answers to this question! However, would love for anyone to join if they'd like.

What are 10 of your most simplest pleasures in life?

Mine -

1) Coffee w/half-n-half

2) Quiet house with taped DVR programs to watch

3) My fabulous MACbook Pro

4) Mobile broadband access

5) Watching the kids march or play ball

6) Sitting outside on a Friday evening grilling & sipping some wine

7) Reading a good book on my Kindle

8) Chocolate Kiss - dark chocolate of course

9) Driving in my Jeep with the top down.... going anywhere

10) Time to scrapbook and write.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving!!

MA & John

Thankful for........

I am starting off easy with my thankfulness this morning......

Today.. I am thankful for being blessed with loving friends and family members!

Sunday, November 8

It's been a quiet weekend here at the Cox house! We haven't had a quiet weekend in a long time with all the marching band and baseball stuff that goes on in the month of October. We've been taken a really needed deep breather the last few days.

Coming back from the State Contest at 3:00 AM on Wednesday morning put us all very behind in the sleep category. It took a few days to catch up really. Friday night was a football game with Friendswood defeating LaMarque in the last regular season game and advancing to the playoffs next weekend. Friendswood will be hosting it's first ever playoff game at our stadium. It's a small stadium so this should be interesting!! The good news is all the extra concessions monies that the school and band will get because of it. That's a good thing!!

Trying to find the newly minted 16 year old a car to drive. That's a tough thing to do when you don't know a whole lot about cars. She hopes to get her license sometime this week so geez... here we go right?? I'm really not sure I'm ready for it. No... I know I'm not ready for it. Although... getting her to go the grocery store for that ONE item we need will surely be nice!! :-) I'm sure it just will take her 30 minutes to do that and drive by all her friends on the way there and back.

Updated my blog design with a Fall Design!

Ok - back to the Dallas Cowboys vs. Eagles!!

Have a great week!!

State 4A Marching Band Contest - San Antonio, TX

Friendswood competed in the State 4A Band Competition today at the Alamodome. I am chaperoning and we left yesterday and rehearsed last night in San Antonio. The Band did great placing 2nd in the State after all was said and done. Dripping Springs placed First, then Friendswood second, then Poteet third.

We are now on the long bus ride home to Houston where we will arrive somewhere around 2:00 am or so. More to come about the past few days - need sleep now!!

Night all!

16th Birthday Report & Halloween

Just didn’t have time to get to more blogging last night but with all the Halloween preparations and birthday happenings. It was a busy day and evening!

16th Birthday Report



A flock of pink flamingos landed in our yard on Friday bearing a message wishing Rachel a Happy Sweet 16th! They were very cute and a public announcement of her birthday!! They arrived Friday morning and left on Saturday late morning. Unfortunately, Rachel’s schedule on Friday was such that she left for school at 5:45 am and didn’t return home until almost midnight from the Away Football Game. She saw them in the dark at that point. She got to see them for a few more seconds the next morning as I took her back to the school for Band Practice on Saturday at 7:30 am. By the time she got home later in the afternoon, they flock had moved on to celebrate another event! Mom was good though and was able to capture some pictures!



Rachel’s day was a busy one as you can read from above. She started out getting up early to head to Band practice at 7:30 am. I decided she needed a tiara for her special day so she wore it for the most part. I think it bothered her head a bit, but she was a trooper!! It looked so Rachel!



Off to band practice! Only a couple of more days and the Band performs in the Stand Band Marching Contest in San Antonio!! Their show is really, really good. The kids are working very, very hard to make it the best it can be. Hence... the practice on Saturday from 8 - 1 pm (with bus rides to Dickinson stadium to practice as it’s bigger than ours) and again on Sunday from 2 - 4 pm. We (I’m chaperoning) leave tomorrow for San Antonio. GO BAND!!

After band practice, I picked her up and one of her friends, Alex, and we went to Hobby Lobby. The girls want to make some shirts to wear to school on Monday showing their excitement for the State Competition! We grabbed a few items - zebra striped fabric seemed to be a hit matched with pink and purple shirts accented by blue and green paint. Should be quite noticeable!! I’ll take pictures no doubt and share!

From there we returned home (thank goodness) and everyone took a bit of a breather for a couple of hours. Cleaned rooms for friends coming over to spend the night (uh hmm... Rachel), etc.

Her friend, Kayla, brought over a pretty balloon birthday greeting!! Very Rachel - the Disney Princesses!!



Alex came over and everyone got ready to go trick-or-treating!! We were trying to squeeze it all in on this Halloween Day!! So, Rachel, Alex and Stephen all left while it was still light and went out to trick or treat for about 1 hour. LOL... funny.

Halloween 2009




Stephen was Gene Simmons from KISS mixed with a Ghoul. Rachel was a bumble bee and with the crown on her head could have been called Queen Bee! Alex was an Indian Girl! They were funny.

Scary Stephen!


Silly Rachel!


Rushed back home at 7:15 pm so everyone could do a quick change into their really nice clothes and we could head off to a very special dinner for Rachel.

John & I gave Rachel a pretty silver and pearl drop necklace and pearl earrings for her 16th birthday!! Something that hopefully, she’ll take care of and put up for special occasions. It’s jewelry that you can wear forever.



Everyone looked so nice!! We went to Killen’s Steakhouse which is a really small, but very nice steakhouse in Pearland. The Chef was the runner up for being the Executive Chef at the Whitehouse and was offered the job of Assistant Executive Chef. He grew up in Pearland and chose to come back to open his own restaurant and it’s doing quite well. They also have a really nice wine list which I was happy with of course!!




Our guests with us this evening were Kayla & Alex!



All the girls looked lovely. Unfortunately, in all the rush of the evening, I didn’t get several of the pictures I wanted this evening. But, the ones I did, were beautiful!! It was all very grownup! We had some wonderful food and our dinner lasted about 3 hours!!

Picture of the waiter, Chad, with all the girls.



There are more pictures in the Flickr Gallery. Feel free to peruse!!

Off to watch the Dallas Cowboys play Seattle!!

Later!

MA

Sunday, October 31, 1993 - Halloween

Continuing our story.....

I spent the night going through contractions that were getting harder and closer together as well as reliving the 2:00AM hour as we set the clocks back an hour that weekend. Some time early in the morning, we made our way back to the hospital (Woman's Hospital of Texas) and I had progressed some - enough for them to keep me in the hospital and agree to provide me with an epidural. None of this fast labor stuff... oh, no. Slow and steady like the turtle. I thought it was painful enough and wanted the relief that comes from that wonderful epidural. The anesthesiologist was my best friend. Loved him.

Dr. Leeds, my OB GYN, was not on call for the weekend. Never fear, Dr. Mark Jacobs did a great job and we had some wonderful labor and delivery nurses as well. Everything was going pretty much as it should!

Labor progressed with me happily enjoying the epidural for the most part. It was a Sunday afternoon. I remember the Cowboys were playing someone on that day (Eagles maybe?) during the time I was working to bring her into the world. 3 hours of pushing to be exact. She was just a stubborn little thing. Probably was just so smart even then, she knew it was better to stay comfy and cozy in my tummy then come out in the bright world!! Eventually, at 5:00 pm on the dot, she was born and entered the word crying! I was crying too. We were both a mess. This was a good thing!

Total time in labor = 26 hours (when you count the 2:00 time reset)

Rachel Austin Harlow born at 5:00 pm on October 31, 1993. She weighed 8 lbs even and was 20 inches long. Beautiful baby girl with dark brown hair. Loved by lots and lots of people. Beautiful Baby!



There are only a few truly amazing moments in life. This was one of them. She was here. She was healthy. Everything was good. Everyone was happy.

In the waiting room was a crowd waiting on her birth. They were getting a little rowdy in the waiting room sitting with anticipation! There was a really funny movie made by all the family in the waiting room at this time. I would really like to get it converted from VHS to digital. It was so characteristic of our family with all the funny thoughts & actions. I am so blessed to have such a wonderful family and great friends. God is good.

In attendance waiting with anticipation at the hospital at the time of her birth were my parents, Austin & Walter, Rob’s parent’s - Betty & Tommy, my sister Perry, and Rachel’s Godmothers - Susan & Shelley. Stacey wasn’t able to join us until the next day and she drove all night to get there! Within 20 minutes of her birth, everyone was crowded into our hospital room to meet little Miss Rachel. The nurses had cleaned her up a bit, wrapped her up and put a little pumpkin hat on her head to recognize the date of her birth on Halloween! My little pumpkin. She was passed around from person to person greeting everyone!

Here are some pictures! (click on it to see it in a larger format)


As I go through the pictures from this time, I truly wish I understood more and thought more ahead for scrapbooking. While I have a good many pictures and love them all, there are several more pictures I wish I had now. Reminds me why I am so diligent about taking pictures and trying ot capture the memories. Love them!

Stay tuned for more later.... she’s 16 now!!

October 30, 1993 - One Day Away

On this day 16 years ago, I was ...

• One day away from one of the greatest achievements of my life.
• One day away from God showing me one purpose for my life here on Earth.
• One day away from being a Mother.
• One day away from assuming the responsibility for raising another human being.
• One day away from meeting this wonderful little baby girl named Rachel.

Today, we are one day away from the 16th anniversary of this amazing event and my little baby girl Rachel has turned into an amazingly wonderful young lady.

*********************************

16 years ago on October 30, 2009 (Saturday that year), I was pregnant with my first child. I was still pregnant on October 30, even though she was really DUE on Friday, October 29th. I was big, fat, uncomfortable and praying this child would make her way into the world soon. It had not been an altogether great pregnancy. The baby was great and healthy. Her mommy’s system didn’t take too well to all those pregnancy hormones causing a lot of nausea and the resulting praying to the porcelain gods on a very consistent basis. :-)

The day started as any other normal day (except for being 9 months pregnant of course). It was a normal day. No inkling of labor starting. Nothing. Nada. Decided to go take a walk around the Galleria in hopes of jump starting the labor process. Walked... waddled... walked... waddled .... and walked some more ..... ate lunch. Came home and collapsed on the couch. Was tired from all that waddling around the Galleria. Somewhere around 4 pm, I started to feel something. Something that seemed like it got a little more regular. Hmmm... maybe this was the time?? It started to get a little bit uncomfortable too. It would be awhile later (and actually a few years later) when I really understood what labor pain really feels like. This was just baby stuff but heck, I didn’t know that. This was my first!! It was something to me.

I called my Mom & Dad who were at a conference of some kind. Called Perry & Stacey. Everyone was on baby standby just waiting for “the time” and “the call”. We had all sorts of plans and instructions of phone numbers to call to reach everyone. This was the first grandchild you know. A very special event. We have since celebrated the birth of every baby in the same way. Everyone has made it for each one!!

We went to the hospital not long after that to be told it was too early and that I wasn’t in real labor yet. So... home again we go. Mom & Dad & Perry had made it into town by that time and we all met back at our house. It turned out it was real labor - just early labor. More to the story tomorrow.....

For now, I’m enjoying the day before the big event!

Happy 6th Birthday Allie!!

TODAY is my littlest niece, Allie's, 6th birthday!

Isn't she just a sweet one!!


Sweet & Sassy Allie -

You are such a sweetheart, Miss Allie! Very smart and very happy. John, Rachel, Stephen and Aunt MA wish you the happiest of Birthday Wishes today on YOUR DAY!!


In other notes today........

We are on Countdown for Rachel's 16th Birthday tomorrow..

Friendswood is going to STATE!!

Friendswood Marching Band placed 1st yesterday at Area F UIL Marching Contest earning them a spot at this years 4A State Marching Contest in San Antonio on Tuesday, Nov. 3. YAY FRIENDSWOOD!! Friendswood received all 1st place votes and their scores were really, really high! They did very very well yesterday.

I'm chaperoning the trip to SA week after next. Long days/nights. We leave on Monday around noon and don't get back until the early morning hours of Weds. Fun stuff!! They have a really good chance at winning.

Laila came in this weekend as well, so John, Laila, Ariane and I went out for a great dinner last night. Laila and I tried to scrapbook today but we got a little bit of a late start and then had to detour to watch the Dallas Game. They won which made for a great evening around the Cox house tonight.

We have a birthday coming up next weekend... Miss Rachel will be turning 16!! Wowzer.... unbelievable!! I'm savoring the last 6 days of the non-driving age of 15. :-)

Have a great week!

Happy Birthday John!!!

Want to take this moment to wish my wonderful and fabulous husband a MOST HAPPY BIRTHDAY TODAY!!!

I'm so glad and thankful you are in our lives!!

Have a GREAT DAY!! I Love you!!!

MA

Positive Thinking.....

Today as I was doing my normal blog roll reading, one of my scrapbooking favorites (Ali Edwards) had posted her weekend giveaways. Her sponsors have some of the cutest and most fun stuff. Love it. In order to be entered to win, you leave a comment on her blog and each time it's a little bit different. The topic to comment on today was to leave something positive about you right now.

I made my comment, but it got me to thinking so I'll share that and more about what I am positive about right now.

POSITIVE THOUGHTS

• I'm positive that my daughter is going to be turning 16 in two weeks (yikes).
• That positively makes me feel old.
• I'm positively ignoring that feeling because my mind doesn't think I'm older than 25.
• I'm positive my body doesn't agree with my mind.
• I'm positive that this weekend is going to be absolutely gorgeous outside for the first time in 5 months.
• I'm positive I'm going to have the top down on my Jeep this weekend with the wind in my hair as I travel to/from kid's sports and band marching events!!
• I'm positively thinking that UT (Texas) will beat OU today!! :-)
• I positively will put about 200 miles on my car this weekend between driving into Houston for a cross-country meet and up to Conroe for a band contest.
• I positively was proud of Stephen this morning for running 1.5 miles on a hilly course in 12:54! Best time ever!
• I'm positive that my husband bought me a coffee cup last weekend that said "51% Good Witch, 49% Bad Witch, Don't push it!!" ...... hmmm......
• So.. I'm positively going to dress as a Witch for Halloween. :-)

More Later!

Have a wonderful weekend!!

Kansas City Adventure

John and I took a little trip this weekend. John's Birthday is coming up here soon on the 21st of October and for his birthday, he wanted to go to Kansas City and see the Dallas Cowboys play the Chiefs yesterday. So, we planned a little getaway all centered around the Cowboys!!

Neither John nor I have ever been to KC so this was an adventure of sorts!!

The first adventure (and I really wish now that I had a picture) began just getting on to the plane. We were on one of the Continental Express Jets. You know them... the 50 seat plane with one seat on the left and two seats on the right. Little plane. Well... we found out that John doesn't fit very well on an Express Jet. Not only could he not even stand up straight in the aisle, but his head barely fit when seated without touching the lights/air conditioning above you! Not to mention the fact that he barely fit in the seat by width or by length. I felt so very sorry for him and thank goodness, the trip was only 1.5 hours. He really couldn't move. Have to see the humor in there somewhere!!

Planning clothes for traveling is so hard sometimes when you are going from one temperature to another. We left Houston and the temps were around 70 degrees and we arrived into Kansas City to 38 degrees. I wore sandals and kind of a light sweater. I hate to be hot on planes and you just never know what it's going to be. I pulled a sweater out pretty quick once we got there!!



We checked into the Ameristar Casino Hotel which is on the north side of Kansas City. We think that Missouri allows gambling on the rivers... much like Louisiana does. However, we wondered if it must be technically within a certain mileage from the river because the hotel and the casino, while right on the banks of the river, were not on the river. There was a good distance between the two. All the staff refer to the casino as the boat however. Very strange because it isn't a boat. One difference is Missouri doesn't provide you drinks while you are gambling unlike Louisiana or Vegas.



We were quite hungry when we got there so we decided to go to a traditional KC BBQ restaurant that also just happens to be at the hotel! Arthur Bryant's KC Barbeque.



Whenever we asked the locals, they told us go either to Arthur Bryants or to Gates for KC BBQ. So... we did! It was good.


John had the Burnt Ends (I'm not sure what that is) and I had pulled pork. They smoke their meats over Oak and use a BBQ sauce that is more vinegary than the ones we use in Texas. I did enjoy mine though quite a bit but elected for the less vinegary sauce. They gave you a lot of food!! Couldn't even begin to eat it all.

We played a bit in the casino and relaxed the rest of the day. Watched the Longhorns/Colorado and the LSU/Florida games.

Sunday - Cowboy Football Day!! 36 degrees, overcast, light wind - Mary Austin was cold!!

I did manage to talk him into not leaving the hotel until 8 am instead of the 7 am timeframe he had originally hoped for. An hour is an hour in my book. We got into our Cowboys garb and made our way to the Chief Stadium. We still had to wait an hour before we could get into the parking lot and park.


Picture of me getting in the car - so very excited to be in the cold that early in the morning! :-)


This is Arrowhead Stadium. An older stadium for sure, but there isn't a bad seat in the place. When looking at this picture, we were in the right upper part of it - pretty much on the Goal Line. You could see the players and you could see the game without having to watch the TV's which in my mind was pretty good.


Here I am.. posing as a Freezing Person.... which I was. No fakers here. Just so you know what I had on at the game.... hot chilis long underwear, jeans, two cowboy shirts, cowboy jersey, Cowboy Jacket, Cowboy scarf, Cowboy hat, and Gloves. I was still chilly and could have used a few more layers.



Here's John - my handsome and happy husband....where's his jacket you might ask? well... being such a manly man, he didn't even feel the cold!! (Technically, I was wearing his jacket... his scarf... his warm hat. :-)


These were the really nice KC folks who were tailgating next to us in the parking lot. Take notice of how these guys (who are the regulars here) are dressed!!! Blankets... head scarves... major jackets/gloves. My husband... short sleeve shirt. They kept asking him if he was cold. They were very nice folks and shared some of their KC BBQ with us prior to the game.


Warming up with a cold beer! ha ha ha He's showing off his new Bob Lilly shirt. His other one, worn every game for 13 years, finally needed to be retired.


A view from our seats! Miles Austin made the game winning touchdown right in front of us!! YAY COWBOYS!!

As a note - the stadium was probably filled with 50% Dallas Cowboy fans. Lots of Blue were in the stands!!

Luckily - the Cowboys pulled out a win in OT so the rest of the day, the trip home on Monday and the rest of the week will be nice around our house!!

Have a great week!!

MA

Trying to get Motivated

So.. I've been a bad blogger of late. Have had to play the catch up game from my time spent on Jury Duty but really, have just been tired and not very motivated and not a lot to say!! Although.. I'm sure there were things to say.

This past weekend was fun with my parents visiting, sitting in the rain at band competition, traveling to the Woodlands to watch a cross country meet, and the Sunday recovery from the really busy day on Saturday! I have pictures too!! Ok.. I'll get them out here.

Good thing - today is Friday. We're going to see a lot of rain today and THANKFULLY, cooler temps as this week has been just like July here with the heat and humidity!! YUCK!! Can't wait for a little cooler, less wet air. Have to go through a bit of rumbling thunder and light show to get it, but it'll be here soon.

Friday Night Lights are sort of questionable around here this evening waiting on the storm. But, if possible, we'll be back out watching the incredible marching band (their show really is REALLY good!) and supporting our football team!!

Trying something new here:

TEN THINGS ABOUT TODAY:

1) I will work a lot today!

2) I will talk to my Mom on the phone.

3) My daughter will wear her pretty Homecoming Mum today at school and the game!

4) We will make our pilgrimage to the High School Football stadium this evening, barring any rain.

5) We will watch the Band march their great show (if no rain)

6) It will get much wetter and cooler today! (YAY)

7) Our 90+ degrees and 99% humidity will end today!! (YAY)

8) Stephen wrote an email to KSBJ to ask them to play his favorite song this morning - Wait & See by Brandon Heath

9) My husband is plotting to create the perfect plan for the Cowboy Game on Sunday.

10) I will think about scrapbooking.... but not actually get to do it today!


There you go!

Jury Duty Summons... turned into 4 days on a Jury Trial!!

So - I haven't been able to talk about it until now.....

I mentioned on Sunday that I was summoned for jury duty for the first time ever in my adult life. 42 years of age and I had never been summoned for this civic duty before now. I was asked to show up at the Galveston County Courthouse at 11:15 am. At that time, all the potential jurors are checked in and then we get to view a video about how important being a juror is to our judicial system. Interesting... ok, so I feel empowered!! :-)

From that point, we are assigned to a specific court. We then go to lunch and come back directly to that court. At that time, we are shuffled around and put in order 1 - 37 in our case. The first time they did this, I ended up as #8 on the panel and that really wasn't good. Would have a high likelihood to be on the jury. Darn it!! Then, for some reason (learned what it was later), they shuffled the deck again and I ended up #21 on the panel. Seemed to be a better place to be because they would have had to strike at least 9 people in front of me to end up on the jury. Obviously... it didn't turn out that way in the end.

The attorneys then go to work asking general questions and then more specific questions if they wish. I was asked two questions specific to my job and John's job. That was it.

The attorneys struck 10 people in front of me so I ended up being seated as Juror #11 on this civil trial. Go figure... first time ever called... get seated!! Amazing.

I won't go blow by blow through the whole thing, but the basic gist of the case was the Plaintiff and Defendant were involved in a Motor Vehicle Accident and the Plaintiff was suing the Defendant (actually insurance co - although we weren't allowed to know that until afterwards) for back/neck pain & suffering, medical bills, etc. They took until Weds afternoon to present the case and all the arguments by the lawyers and then close. The jury received the case to begin deliberation on it Weds at 3 pm. We were there Weds until 6 pm and again today from 8:45 am through 4:00 pm when we finished and had a verdict.

In the end, the Plaintiff didn't really make his case well. He was awarded a small sum of money but nothing like what several members of the jury wanted to award him. I was pretty much the cog in the wheel because the evidence was really not there nor was the plaintiff a very credible witness. I just couldn't get much beyond -0- for the most part. I felt pretty good in the end because after it was all said and done, the Judge came to talk with us. One of the jurors asked how he thought we did in our analysis and verdict, and he basically corroborated everything I had said about the case being weak, not enough evidence, no expert medical witnesses, and a plaintiff that is not very believable. YAY ME!! I really was on the right track!! I thought so and felt a lot better about being as difficult as I was.

Now it's back to the real world and my P.A.Y.I.N.G. J.O.B.!!!! I have tons of stuff to do after this unexpected 4 days off!!

Meme & Poppy are coming in tomorrow to run around with us in our busy weekend coming up. Football Game Friday, Marching Contest Saturday, and Cross-County Meet on Saturday.

See ya!!

MA

Last week.....& Jury Duty!!

We survived another week. Stress at work. Running around escorting kids every which way.

It was a blessing to get to Friday night. Friday Night Football Game at Texas City - Friendswood won handily.

Saturday - Stephen had a cross-country meet up at Houston Christian High School on the north west side. He didn't do all that well this week because he didn't fuel his body correctly. Hopefully, he'll "get it" for next weekend.

We had a great lunch at Pappas Burger - yummy!!

Then headed home where I turned into a couch potato and watched ALL the shows I had DVR'd all week long. Loved the premieres.... House, NCIS, Grey's Anatomy, CSI, and the new show - Flash Forward. Another week... more DVR'd shows at some point since I don't get to see many of them in real time. :-)

Stephen had a baseball game on Sunday afternoon and did VERY VERY well!! Made a couple of great plays at his 2nd base position. AND .... had a great line drive down over the first baseman's head to get on base. YAY Stephen!!!

For the FIRST TIME EVER - I have Jury Duty today. 42 years old and have never before been called for Jury Duty. Weird huh? So... headed to Galveston (live in the northernmost tip of Galveston County) this morning to see if I get picked. YUCK!!! Best wishes ok... don't have time for a jury, but will do whatever I'm asked.

See ya!!

MA

Where or Where has the Cox Family been? Where o where??

We’ve been here.

Last Sunday it began as a cough. Then a headache on Sunday night. I went to bed early really hoping that I wasn’t getting sick. Unfortunately, that indeed was the case. Woke up on Monday morning and added fever and body aches to the list of ailments. Yuck!!!

I haven’t been really sick - as in miss work too long sick - in a long, long time. I missed three days of work this week. Really couldn’t get out of bed for very long for three days. By Thursday, I was feeling more human approaching nomral, but still running a low fever. But, felt well enough to work from home both Thursday and Friday.

Felt much better by Friday, perhaps 85%, and even ventured out to the Friday night Friendswood Football Game against Nederland. Friendswood was victorious 42 - 7 I think. More importantly, was able to see Rachel performing in her her football training duties giving water to all those football players and then watch her march in the really fabulous Band show. It was really good. They performed Movements 1 - 4 of their show Converge and it was really good. Can’t wait to see Movement 5 and I hear it’s better than 1 - 4 all together! chop chop kiddos. First competition in two weeks.

Thank the Lord for my husband - he took care of everything and everyone this week while I was Miss Sicky. The kids did their thing... school and activities.

Stephen had a cross-country meet this weekend up in the Woodlands. I don’t have any pictures because I didn’t make the drive up there since they were with their Dad this weekend and it’s a really, really long way up there 6:30 am. However, I hear he improved on his time from the first meet by about 20 seconds which is fabulous! His run was 1.5 miles and he did it around 13 min 30 sec. Very proud of him!! He’s working so hard and pushing through all the new runner aches and pains. Good job my son!! Another race next weekend!

Last night, John hosted his annual New Teacher Meeting (aka Party) at our house. While this sounds all altruistic and such, it’s just an word play to make it through all the work filters and is actually a party for all the teachers.. not just the new ones. Wild party at that. They were here until about 2:00 am folks!! When was the last time I saw 2:00 am with people still awake at my house??? Um.... wait.... I can’t remember. Yea.. that long. As usual, my fabulous, wonderful, and amazing husband did all the prep work for this party - cooking, cleaning, shopping, etc. Me... I just sat here and ate bon bons all day. :-) Ok Ok ...lest you think I don’t do anything.....of course, I helped. :-) He cooked some absolutely fabulous BBQ last night - brisket, ribs, chicken and sausage. As well as his famously good beans. We have tons of left overs for the week which is wonderful as well!! Makes the evenings so much easier.

We had fun watching the Longhorns win over the Texas Tech Raiders!! YAY!! HOOK EM HORNS!! and then proceeded to attempt to play Guitar Hero!! It’s pretty funny watching the older folks playing the teen game. Began with just trying to figure out how to turn it all on and link up the guitars and went downhill from there... LOL

It’s Sunday ... so that means... it must be Dallas Cowboy time..... Dallas plays tonight in their Home Opener at their incredible new stadium against the NY Giants.

John won Week 1 of Football picks! He’s very proud of himself. 1 of many I tell him.... just 1 of many.

Here are a few pictures I gathered from this past week.

Enjoying the first season game!!



Rachel's place for the game.


Stephen's place for the game


Rene was visiting with his boys to watch the game!


Me!


Friendswood's Game Last Friday...


Where's Rachel?? She in the dead center - short one in the grey shirt amongst the big football players. This is her "Sports Training" gig she signed up for this year. You may need to go to Flickr and click on this picture to really see her.


Have a Great Week!!
MA

Football... Band... More Football....

It’s that time again folks. Time for us to become engrained in both the Friday Night Lights of high school football as well as the Sunday Fun of NFL and the Dallas Cowboys!!

Let’s start with Friday Night Football ..... Friendswood Mustangs vs. Brazoswood

Away game down in Freeport, TX. It was threatening to rain all day and evening but the football game went on and so did the band. I chaperoned this game for the band kids and it was the first game I had attended which is the second game of the season. I was having flashbacks all night long with all the great memories I have from my band days 25 years ago. It’s truly amazing that it’s been that long because it just doesn’t feel like it.

Long bus ride and luckily, the weather was actually pretty nice down there in Freeport with the wind blowing somewhat nicely keeping the air feeling a little cool. Unfortunately, the actual football game was pretty boring the first half with the score at the half Brazoswood 21 Friendswood 0. Halftime was great watching the kids march their show albeit backwards since they were facing the Home side for their show. Second half was better for the Mustangs - scoring 18 points. The game ended with the Brazoswood Bucs winning over the Mustangs with a score of 28 -18.

Football is on tap each and every Friday through the first Friday in November, barring any post season play.

I took lots of pictures of the Band on Friday and here are a few. More in the Gallery.

Miss Rachel


Warming up for their performance!


Storms were Looming at the Friday Night Lights


Football!!



NEXT....... Dallas Cowboy Opening Game today against the Tampa Bay Bucs in Tampa Bay!! Noon game which means John started cooking the Game Day Meal yesterday and it’s been slowly cooking all night. Rene and his boys are coming over to watch the game and we’re all going to be feasting on John’s Menudo and Carnitas very shortly!!

Our special Game Day Cowboy clothing for each of us has been packed away until this morning when it was pulled out and placed very lovingly on our beds for each of us to wear once we have eaten!! No eating allowed in the special clothes according to the Dallas Task Master.

Our family wagering has begun as well and John is telling me the only reason I won last year was because he just wasn’t paying attention last year. I wonder what the excuse was for the year before?? :-) Anyway.... we’re making our picks again for this year with weekly winners and awards (not sure yet what those are, ideas welcome) and end of season awards. Let the games begin!

Back later with pictures and comments from the day!!

PS - The Cowboys thankfully won today so it was a good evening at the Cox House!

One Year Ago THIS Weekend - Hurricane Ike
This weekend a year ago, we were scurrying around every day looking for gas to fuel the power generator. We were living off grilled foods and hurricane supplies trying not to open the refrigerators or freezers very much. We were very lucky to have a generator too!! We didn’t have air conditioning and while Saturday was a miserable day and night without it, God blessed us on Sunday with a cool front that made it very bearable to be without the comforts we are normally accustomed too. We were blessed in that our power came back up on Monday evening and while we had already made the necessary plans to be able to power the TV with generator for the Monday Night Cowboy Game, we didn’t have to in the end with our power coming back up! Luckily, AT&T had their network up and running.

We were blessed to not have any major issues to deal with in the aftermath of Ike. If you’re interested in reading about our experiences with the hurricane, go back through the Archives to September 11 and start reading forward. I went and read them again. I wouldn’t have been able to do that had I not been keeping a blog. I wouldn’t have all those memories written down like I do without it. I’m so glad I started this blog!!

Stephen is a Cross-Country Runner!!

Stephen has taken on a new sport as 7th grade begins. He hasn’t given up baseball, but at school, baseball is a Spring sport. Thus... he wanted to be involved in a Fall sport as well. Choices - soccer, football, cross-country. He can run for a very, very long time and keep up and he is actually pretty fast. We’ve noticed this in him. So, perhaps cross-country might be a good thing to do.

John thinks it’s too bad he won’t try football... he’s fast enough to run right through a lot of folks. Unfortunately, he weighs pretty much next to nothing and any little bump by one of those big boys would send him flying. I don’t blaming him for saying absolutely not.

He’s been running for a couple of weeks and had his first meet on Saturday. He did very well for his first meet. His feet and knees have been bothering him as his body gets used to running. We also found out (on the day of the meet) that he had taken out the insoles in his shoes for some reason and perhaps, that might have been contributing to his sore feet and knees! Have no idea why he took those out....

Anyway... he did well on Saturday for his first 1.5 mile run. Finished about mid pack. He felt as if he was going to throw up after he was done! Poor thing. He still wants to run again, so it must not have been too awful!!

We’ll have to keep him eating though if he’s going to start running!

Here are some pics from the Cross-Country meet! There are plenty more in the Flickr gallery link on the right. Enjoy.