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.