Tuesday, November 21, 2006

Happy Thanksgiving

Tomorrow after Travis gets off work we are heading to Lufkin to have Thanksgiving with his family. I'm really excited! This will be my first Thanksgiving without my family so it will be a little different but also a new adventure!

Safe travels to everyone else and have a very Happy Thanksgiving!

Monday, November 20, 2006

Humbling/Humiliating Experience

Through our relationship Travis has learned that I am a little clumsy. On one of our first "outings" (tour of A&M) I kept tripping over my feet. I have on occassion accidently hurt Travis because of my clumsiness--knitting needle to the head, fork to the arm, elbow to the eye, etc. And last night was another clumsy blunder--actually a pretty big one.

Travis came over after evening church service to do his laundry. Before heading to the laundry area I had to put money on my laundry card. Travis waited in the truck while I ran up to the machine near the main office. Once I was done I thought it would be fun to Make a graceful leap off the curb. Well, I think I leaped a little too high because when I came down I completely wipped out! I lost my footing, fell on the road and rolled into Travis's truck. Travis jumped out of his truck so quick to make sure I was ok. I felt bad for making him worry. I was laughing as he came around to help me. I had a few little red spots but nothing serious. The main thing that was injured was my pride--I was so embarrassed!

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Saturday Travis brought me flowers! They are pink with yellow tips and they are so beautiful! I was so surprised and excited!

Saturday, November 18, 2006

Worst Service

Thursday night as everyone was leaving the museum, Virginia noticed that I had a flat tire. I hate when that happens! There was a big, fat screw stuck in the middle of my tire. So my boss, Houston, put my spare tire on for me. I had to drive 50 on the highway as I traveled back to College Station. The only place I thought of for tires was Wal-Mart but I found out it would be a 2 1/2 hour wait. I opted to come back at 7:00 in the morning.

I arrived at 10 minutes after 7:00 to give them time to open everything up. Well, apparently that was not enought time because all of the garage doors were locked. So I left my car and walked all the way to the front of the store (this was the morning it was in the high 30's/low 40's. By the time I got to the automotive section the manager was there to open the doors--sheesh! They told me it would take 20 minutes. After looking at the store for awhile, mainly getting a warm feeling from looking at the Christmas items, I ventured back at the allotted time. The two mechanics were inside talking and laughing with the cashier lady. When they saw me they went back outside. I asked the lady if any cars were ready and she said no. So those guys were having a little break after being at work for maybe 30 minutes! A few minutes later I heard my name and I went to pay for the patchwork on my tire. As I exited I noticed my car was still in the work station dock. I stood there expecting the mechanic to back it up for me. Then he said "Oh, you can come and back it out." I was floored--I had never even seen another customer have to back their own car up. While in my work clothes, I stepped over the different items on the ground and proceeded to back my car up. I made sure not to thank the mechanic or even look at him. I don't think I will be using Wal-Mart any more for my car needs.

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Wednesday I gave a Native American Program to a group of kindergarteners. This program is always fun because the kids always say something funny. I pointed to a map of Texas and asked the kids what type of food the Indians who lived on the coast would eat. One little boy said buffalo. I then iterated the fact that they lived near the water. The same little boy then said water buffalo!

Wednesday, November 15, 2006

Happy Feet



Is anyone else as excited as I am to see this movie?? (In theaters this Friday!)

Tuesday, November 14, 2006

Weekend in Disney World

I arrived home safe and sound from a quick but fun trip to Disney World. On Friday I had all of my maps and easily found the parking lot for the airport. I got through security just fine--I guess I don't have one of those faces that screams terrorist. I had about 2 hours to wait so I looked at some shops, ate some Wendy's, and did a few Sudoku puzzles. The flight was on schedule and went very well. I sat next to 12 year old girl who was going on a cruise with her family.

On Saturday we made it out of our resort by 10:30ish (The Crawfords are not early birds...scratch that: the Crawford girls are not early birds...scratch that: My mom and I are not early birds). We spent the day at Magic Kingdom. Our first ride was Pirates of the Carribbean. While waiting in line we took our picture with Captain Jack Sparrow! We climbed up the Swiss Family Robinson house, saw a really fun 3-D show with Donald Duck, and rode space mountain and big thunder mountain.
That evening we went to Downtown Disney which is a big strip of stores and also clubs. We ate at Planet Hollywood--I had never been in one before.

Sunday we headed off to MGM Studios for the day. Our first stop was the Muppets 3-D show--we are a muppet-lovin family! After that we rode the Star Wars ride which was very enjoyable. We watched the Indiana Jones stunt show which had Harrison Ford's stunt double! My mom and sister bought some very nice looking postcards of Harrison. We rode The Great Movie Ride which we thought was going to be really neat but was actually kind of cheesy. The ride takes you through scenes from famous movies which was enjoyable. The part we didn't enjoy was we had this perky, annoying tour guide who came along with us and made really cheesy jokes. We spent quite a bit of time in the Animation Studio. My sisters are both into art and were very excited to visit this part. Inside there were lots of little interactive item. One of the computers allowed you to record your voice singing or acting out part of a disney movie. Jennifer and I spoke for Jafar and Iagoo and all three of us sang Hakuna Matata. Another computer had a questionaire to see which Disney character you were. I was Tinker Bell, Traci was Ursela, and Jennifer was Nala. My dad and sisters rode Tower of Terror while my mom and I snuck off to get some chocolate. I can do roller coasters just not the ones that go up and down--my tummy can't take that. My sisters and I also rode Aerosmith's Rockin Coller Coaster which was quite thrilling.

What we didn't know was that the weekend we were at MGM Studios it was Soap Opera Weekend. There were all these parades with soap opera stars--of course we had no idea who these people were. But women were going nuts as they came down the street. The only one I recognized was Susan Lucci. Also when I was right outside of the animation studio I happened to see Rosie O-Donnell. I was a good distance away from her but my sister Jennifer was about 5-10 feet from her.

And before I left Disney World I had to get my own Mickey Mouse ears with my name embroidered on the back :)

For our trip home we had to get up at 5:45 a.m.--blech! My plane was scheduled to leave at 9:25 but it then got bumped to 9:45. Once we all got on the plane and were situated the pilot came on and told us the reason we were delayed was because they were waiting for a part. Well, the brought the wrong part and it would take an hour and a half for the new part to come. They gave food vouchers for everyone but I just stayed on the plane and slept. We finally left the airport at noon and arrived in Houston (with the time change) at 1:00. It then took me an hour and a half to get my luggage and get to my car. Then I had a two hour drive back to College Station. I arrived at my apartment at 4:30--I was pooped. Needless to say I went to bed last night at 8:45.

It was a great trip but I'm also happy to be home.

Thursday, November 09, 2006

A Little Bit of This...

Tours never go as planned. Yesterday the farm called me wondering if the morning group (who was 30 minutes late) had called in. I hadn't heard from them but I was sure the buses with 100 kids would be late. A little later I received a call to tell me the kids were fine...they were in class in Houston! The secretary said their trip wasn't until November 14th. I got a little frantic after hearing that--I was afraid I had said the wrong date but all of my paperwork said the 8th. Later that day I found out the teacher has been out for 3 weeks with a family emergency and forgot to cancel the tour with us. Sheesh. My afternoon was a lot quieter.

Last night was my turn to teach the kindergarten class at church. There are some days when I just don't feel like going through with teaching. But it is amazing how that feeling goes away as soon as I am in the classroom with the kids. One of the little girls brought a picture she drew for me! I was so excited--I have to figure out where to hang it...on the refrigerator or on the wall next to my desk.

Tonight I have to pack for my trip to Orlando. I will leave work after lunch and head down to Houston. This is my first time ever to go to the airport and ride on a plane all by myself! It's going to be a fun adventure! My flight doesn't leave until 7:00ish and I should be at the airport around 3:00. I want to give myself plenty of time in case something should happen that is not in my plan. I'll probably bring a book...maybe some sudoku puzzles!

Wednesday, November 01, 2006

Trick or Treating

Last night Travis and I went Trick or Treating for Cans with the Aggies For Christ. We went from door to door asking for canned food donations for the Brazos Church Pantry. And...there was a contest to see which group could collect the most cans.

I had already planned to dress up like a cat. I enjoy dressing up...as can be seen from the numerous late night trips to Whataburger when everyone dressed up crazy. One time I wore a raincoat and had a dustpan tied to my head! Travis was unsure what to dress up as but after an email I sent him and a discussion with Leigh on IM I had an idea. And so he showed up at the church dressed in all black with a piece of paper attached to the front. The paper read "Catnip." And may I say that he was some of the best looking catnip I've ever seen!

We teamed up with Whitney and Katie (dressed as ketchup and mustard bottles) and hit the road! We split up to cover more ground. Travis and I received many odd looks when people opened their doors expecting to see little kids. Some of our favorite experiences were:

* One college-aged guy opened his door and said "Tell me you aren't Trick or Treating." When we said no he said "Good because I don't have candy, anyway." It didn't come as a shock to us that he didn't have canned goods either.

* After giving us some cans one lady gave us a ziplock bag full of different types of gum!

* There was one apartment we went to that reaked of cigarette smoke. I think I might be in danger of lung cancer just from standing outside.

* As we walked down the road 3 people came out of their apartment and said to come trick or treat. So we yelled from the street that we were trick or treating for cans. One of the girls said "Oh I have a can" and poured out the remaining beer in her can. Hmmm....

* Whitney and Katie brought us rice krispie treats from one of the houses they visited--yummm.

Our group ended up tying for first place! We collected 142 cans in about an hour. But truth be told we really won: our group only had 4 people and the other group had at least 7. Take a look at the winning group!