Roman's First Day of Kindergarton

Here's a few pictures from Roman's first day of kindergarton:





Here's Roman talking on the phone to me. Notice his new Ninja Turtle backpack -- it's quite exciting.

Walking up to the school.

And here's the desk at which the learning will take place. Expect great things from this little boy! =)

A new week....

Another week has come and gone. Hopefully soon I'll get into the habit of writing in this blog more regularly.

Today is my nephew Roman's first day of kindergarten. I called this morning to wish him a great first day. It's hard for me to believe that my little Ro-Ro has grown up. And as much as I've teased Shelley - I think she's cried at every milestone in Roman's 5 year life - I had to blink back tears this morning.

Lately, I've been thinking about the circle of life - birth, death, and all of the changes in between.

Close friends Bonnie and Audrey have both had babies relatively recently. They've experienced the joys and aches of motherhood -- something I long for but am patiently waiting for. Another friend is experiences the heartache of infertility and is currently going through IVF.

My close friend Sarah is halfway across the world in Ansbach, Germany -- an exciting time, but also scary. I know that communication is much easier these days than when my grandparents were missionaries in Guatemala -- cell phones, text messaging, email, even video over the computer. Yet I know there will be days that she is homesick, days that she wishes she could be at home for birthday parties, family dinners, and girls night out.

My Uncle Bryan was recently diagnosed with cancer in several of his lymph nodes - indicating not long left for him here on earth. I made a trip to East Texas this weekend - wanting to spend some time with him before the Lord take him home. Although he has declined treatment through chemotherapy, he did purchase a light machine that is supposed to "kill" the cancer. To me, this idea seems ludicrous. But it's something that he's excited for - placing his hope in. So to me it makes me think that maybe he is not ready to die-?

It's amazing how quickly we speed through life and wonder if I really take the time for the things that matter.
Does my husband know how important he is to me? Do I show it with my actions?
Do I take the time to make the people around me feel loved?
Does my aunt Chris know how much I respect what she's done with my autistic cousin, Trey?
Do my parents know how much I love them?
Do my niece and nephew know that I think about them each day?
Do I encourage people around me like I should?
Do my friends know how special they are to me?
Do I pray for people like I should?
Do non-christians get an idea of God's love through the way I treat them?

I remember in high school - my dad would tell me to "slow down" and take care of responsibilities. I think that I need to make the above questions into responsibilites - something I am conscious of - not just hope that they happen.

God chose to take my friend Curtis home on October 23, 2004 in an airplace crash. Curtis had a t-shirt that said "Life is short... fly hard" and he lived his life by that motto - I know that Curtis touched everyone he met. And I want to do the same.

I know that I don't have a guarantee for tomorrow. I'd like to think that I have a full life ahead of me - but cannot know for sure. So instead - I want to make a point to make each day count.

Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring forth. Proverbs 27:1

Boxing In the Ballroom

On Friday, August 17th - J.T. and I attended the "Boxing in the Ballroom" gala at the Worthington Hotel. I have to admit that I enjoyed it more than I expected to - thanks to excellent front row seats and a friendly bet with one of J.T.'s co-workers (more on that below). First, a couple of observations:

• The ring was "regulation size" -- I was suprised how small it looked in real life. I've seen boxing a time or two on t.v. On the screen though, I thought the ring looked much bigger. I certainly would not want to be in that small ring -- there wasn't much room to get away.
• The sweat --I have a couple of friends who regularly practice kick-boxing. I've never doubted that it is a good work-out. But now after watching boxing up close and personal - I am convinced that it is an incredible work-out. I was amazed at the spray of sweat that would fly with each punch (If our table had been any closer, I probably would not have thought it was quite so interesting... but I was just far enough to stay dry).
• Male vs. female -- there were 5 male fights and one female match. Perhaps the males had better technique. Perhaps their blows were harder and more precisely aimed. But when the girls fought - it was much faster paced. They were out for blood and the audience loved it. J.T. had told me ahead of time that the women were more agressive - and he was right!

Who would have thought that I could choose boxing winners? Not I. But, it seems that I have a certain talent for picking out champions. On the 2nd match - J.T.'s coworker put $5 down on his pick - which started a 5 match winning streak for me. I came home at the end of the night $80 richer -- all by making the highly educated picks such as "I choose the guy in the red glitter shorts".
Although I'm not ready to claim boxing as my favorite sport - I do have to say that I enjoyed it more than I expected (although I did miss the biggest excitement of the night while I was in the ladies' room - a knock out.... see the amusing quote highlighted in the below article.)

Lightweight turns heavy hitter in second-round KO
By TRAE THOMPSON
Star-Telegram staff writer
Justo Vallecillo had his hands full early but took care of that.
The San Antonio lightweight landed a one-two combination, capped by a right hook to the head that took Allen's Antonio Reyes off his feet and gave Vallecillo a second-round knockout Friday night.
The undercard fight was one of six featured on the Star-Telegram's eighth annual Boxing at the Ballroom card, held at the Renaissance Worthington Hotel and benefiting the Boys & Girls Clubs.
Vallecillo (3-3) had a clear height advantage over Reyes (1-1), who was tenacious early and landed two great shots despite having to punch up. In the second round, Vallecillo rallied and said he knew he had Reyes the second his punch landed.
"Once I caught him with the right, that's all she wrote," Vallecillo said through an interpreter.
Reyes was helped up by ringside physicians.
The main event didn't last one round, as Lubbock super featherweight Lupe Guzman (3-1) got a technical knockout over Rudy Paz (2-6-1) of San Antonio. Guzman landed a looping overhand right for the first standing eight-count. Seconds later, Guzman got another. The fight continued, and Guzman landed more shots near the ropes before the referee stepped in.
In other fights, Fort Worth's Anthony Smith (2-0) dominated Charles Aguilara (0-3) of San Antonio with strong overhand lefts and got a third-round technical knockout when Aguilara's corner threw in the towel. Bantamweight Jose Garcia (1-1) used straight lefts and rights to decision Jeremy Valderez (0-2), and lightweight Esteban Almarez landed better power punches to decision Clemente Hernandez. Houston female lightweight Crystal Delgado won a majority decision over Elizabeth Tavarez.

Busy Weekend

It's 9:30 in the morning on Friday and already I feel overwhelmed by the weekend. It is not often enough that I have a weekend where I feel *relaxed* after the weekend.

Tonight - J.T. and I are going to a charity event "Boxing in the Ballroom" benefitting the Boys and Girls Club of Fort Worth. It is a black tie gala featuring dinner, professional boxing and live and silent auctions. According to the Fort Worth Business Press: It features "hand-rolled cigars and six bouts of boxing by professional fighters. Five of the bouts will be male fights, and the fifth will be a ladies’ fight. " This will be my first experience with boxing - I'll let you now what I think!

Once again - this cinderella feels that she has nothing to wear. I've learned that the phrase black tie - has one meaning for males, and a plethora of options for females: Long dress or short? Strapless or more concervative? Demure black or more colorful? And the list goes on. Is it sad that I've started compiling a list for different events? What's that...you think I'm kidding? No sir. It's currently a word document titled "Attire List". Although I'm beginning to think Excel might be a more efficient format. Column for I Wore, column for I Felt (example: over-dressed, under-dressed, perfect), Others Wore. Etc.

Saturday night we are going to a wedding in Dallas - friends of J.T.'s. Apparently most people from Lake Highlands marry other people from Lake Highlands and settle down and live in Lake Highlands. And send their kids to Lake Highlands Schools... I'm so very glad that J.T. broke the mold! But of course he's always been one to follow his own drum beat.

I remember when I was getting married - someone made a "helpful" comment about the invitation -

Don't bother spending a lot on the invitation... it just goes in the garbage anyway.

Well, I am here to say that I cannot bear to throw wedding invitations away. I have file folders - "Wedding Invitations", "Shower Invitations", "Wedding Programs". And if the invitation for this wedding is any indicator - it should be a great one! Apparently she is a designer of some sort (graphic?) and designed the subtle patterns on the invitation to match her dress. Now *that* is attention to detail!

It should be fun - J.T.'s parents and his brother David & girlfriend are going. I'm expecting it to be a Lake Highlands reunion.

Now as readers - you may be thinking "That doesn't seem like such a busy weekend". In addition to the event & wedding, I'd like to make it to tennis drills on Saturday morning at Colonial. Also - at some point during the weekend, J.T. and I will go to a Bikram Yoga class. One of J.T.'s college friends, Kyle, will be in town for another wedding. He'll be crashing at our house both Friday and Saturday nights.

Then Sunday night, my best friend Sarah will be coming in town. She's moving to Germany on Monday for 2 years. We'll spend the night on Sunday at a hotel in Denton near the Vehicle Processing Center - so we can deliver her car on Monday morning by 8 a.m. to be shipped overseas. Then I'll drive her to the airport. I feel very fortunate to get to see her off but also feel very heavy hearted to say "Auf Wiedersehen".

Have a great weekend! Guten tag!

Weekend at Juniper Hills Farms

The last weekend of July, my mother-in-law Debbie, Julie and I spent the weekend at Juniper Hills Farms to celebrate Aunt Julie's 50th birthday. The weekend consisted of visiting local entrepreneurs' stores/markets, cooking school at Onion Creek Kitchen, and delicious food and wine. The setting was serene, the weather enjoyable, and the company superb.

If you'd like more information about the weekend, you can pay a visit to my travel blog.

Here are a couple of my favorite pictures for your viewing pleasure: