Keen Waterproof Hiking Sandals

Considering that St. Croix beaches have large sections of sharp reef, I thought it would be wise to get some footwear that I could wear into the water. I considered water socks, but they look rather nerdy to walk around in after you get out of the water. I wanted something more versatile.

After some research online, I found snorkelers and hikers that were recommending Keen brand footwear - after reading about them, I knew they were exactly what I needed.

Keen prides themselves on community and environmental responsibility. They support many charities and use fully recycled material for their packaging. But the kicker is the quality of their footwear. They have an entire line of breathable waterproof footwear - the one I chose was waterproof leather!

Initially I bought their closed-toe waterproof hiking sandals Newport H2's (here) but returned them after I realized that walking in sandy reef and closed toe wasn't a great match - too much sand getting caught up in the closed toe. So, I ended up getting the open toe version you see in the pic above.

Waterproof leather, extremely comfortable (even right out of the box), they are completely washable (light detergent and air/sun dry), have a compression molded EVA midsole, and have metatomical low durometer EVA molded footbed wtih Microban. Microban embedded into the sole = no foot odor!

I wore these sandals every day in St. Croix - in the water, on the reef, and around town. They dry quickly and stood up to very sharp reef surfaces and had great traction. Here are some photos of them "in action" in St. Croix (here) and (here).

In the end, can't be any happier with my Keen Daytona Bison Sandals.

DiCAPac Waterproof Camera Case

Today I have spent many hour processing the hundreds of photographs that we took during our vacation in St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands. I am getting groups of them uploaded to my flickr page a little at a time.

While processing the photographs, I was very excited about the underwater photos most of all. Prioro the trip, I took the recommendation of a few divers and bought an underwater camera pack to use with my Sony Cybershot point-and-shoot camera.

The pack I purchased was the DiCAPac (here) and I have to say I was extremely pleased with its performance. After many hours of swimming and snorkeling on various days, the camera stayed absolutely dry and didn't even get misty inside. The optical grade lens in the pack allowed for crystal clear images.

DiCAPac makes various models to fit all sorts and brands of cameras - chances are you could find one to fit your camera too. And the pack doesn't just protect the camera under water, it also protects the camera on land as well preventing sand from entering the camera mechanisms.

I believe I paid about $28 for the pack through Amazon, and when comparing the cost of the DiCAPac to actual underwater cameras, it is a huge savings. I recommend this pack for anyone swimming, snorkeling, diving, or just out on the beach.

Chayote

For years I have seen these "ugly" little things in our local grocery stores, but never really knew what they were nor what to do with them. Though on a recent Bobby Flay television program, one of his guests from Texas swore that these things were wonderful tossed on the grill with simply some salt and pepper.

On the show I learned that this funky looking things is a Chayote Squash. But while the chayote is in the gourd family with squashes and melons, its consistency - and more surprisingly, it's flavor - is a lot more like a pear than any type of squash I have ever had. Maybe this is why one of it's alternate names is a "vegetable pear."

I bought two yesterday, quartered them, removed the soft seed, and tossed them in some olive oil, salt, and pepper. I grilled them and served them warm. They were very tasty - and again, tasted more like a pear and had a similar texture.

These were so good that I plan to find more uses for them, although, I know for sure that I will be tossing them on the grill again. Give them a try - bet you like 'em!

Grilled Crab Stuffed Jalapenos

Yesterday I made another batch of my grilled crab stuffed jalapeno for friends. Thought I would share not only the photo of them taken with my new close-up/macro lens, but also the recipe. A larger version of the photo is (here).

For these, you will need a dozen large jalapenos, one package of neufchâtel (or cream) cheese, lump crab meat, two large shallots, salt, pepper, and a cup of crushed tortilla chips.

First, slice the jalapenos length wise leaving the stem attached (try to slice through stem too to allow stem to remain on both halves). For those that don't prefer the full heat of the pepper, remove some or all of the seeds and membrane. Grill peppers until their skins begin to darken, they begin to wrinkle a bit, and they are softer. Remove from grill and let cool.

In large bowl, blend together the lump crab, thinly sliced shallots, cheese, seasonings, and 75% of the crushed chips. Once blended, using hand, roll small logs of the mixture and place into the open half of each pepper. Once all peppers are filled, sprinkle the remaining 25% of the chips onto the top of the peppers - lightly push them onto the mixture to make sure they stick.

Grill stuffed peppers for about 15 minutes being careful not to burn the peppers. Remove from heat and enjoy ... a nice tequila margarita or sangria goes well with them.

For those that may not like crab, I think this could also be made with salmon in place of the crab. Also, lately I have been using more interesting chips such as sweet potato corn tortilla chips - better flavor and more interesting color variation.

The Digital Photography Book

Since purchasing my new dSLR camera back in December, I have had few opportunities to play with it other than some nice photoshoots in and around my hometown in Marshall County, West Virginia. Since then a myriad of new projects, deadlines, pestilence, and sucky weather had pushed the photography fever to the backburner. But now with new growth in our gardens and a soon approaching vacation to the Virgin Islands, I am all about it again.

Some time ago, I purchased a few books about digital photography in an attempt to get a better sense of the various settings that can be used on both my digital point-and-shoot and my new dSLR cameras. Some were quite detailed in the theory and physics behind photography optics - while one other was the "perfect" how to get the shot book.

Scott Kelby is a professional photographer and author of other books such as The Photoshop Book for Digital Photographers. He is also president of the National Association of Photoshop Professionals and editor-in-chief of two magazines.

His book The Digital Photography Book is perfect for me as often I want a quick education on how to obtain certain types of shots. Kelby describes the book as: "If you and I were out on a shoot, and you asked me, 'Hey, how do I get this flower to be in focus, but I want the background out of focus?' I wouldn't stand there and give you a lecture about aperture, exposure, and depth of field. In real life, I'd just say, 'Get out your telephoto lens, set your f/stop to f/2.8, focus on the flower, and fire away.' You'd say, 'OK,' and you'd get the shot. That's what this book is all about. A book of you and I shooting, and I answer the questions, give you advice, and share the secrets I've learned just like I would with a friend, without all the technical explanations and without all the techno-photo-speak."

I do feel compelled to learn the science behind the art, but in the essence of time, I can't always do that first. His advice on my favorite - macro shots (close-up shots), motion shots, studio shots, etc., are right on. And even better for me is that each page covers a different "trick" of photography.

If you want quick tips on how to take better photographs or achieve specific photo styles, I highly recommend this book as I have found it to be very helpful. In fact, I will probably be taking this book with me to St. Croix in a few weeks as a quick-reference manual.

My Thread of Life

Some weeks ago, I swabbed my inner left cheek, swabbed my inner right cheek, swabbed the front of my mouth, and sent the three off for DNA testing. Today I received my results.

The photo in this post is just a small section of my 46-marker Y-chromosome DNA chart. It turns out, my siblings and I belong to haplogroup R1b via our paternal Lewis lineage.

The R1b group is also known as The Artisans, who first arrived in Europe from west Asia about 35,000- 40,000 years ago at the dawning of the Aurignacian culture. This cultural was remarkable for its subtle yet significant technological progress, like the shift from random flint collection to the use of a single stone core to shape flint tools as needed. Aurignacian decorative beads and jewelry could also be the first sign we have of the uniquely human quality of self-awareness and adornment. Additionally, some anthropologists believe that the Aurignacian culture was the first to paint. Either way, the people of this time period left behind fascinating cave paintings in France, Spain and Portugal. Currently, about 70% of the R1b group lives in Southern England with other large populations of the group living in Wales.

Having just received my results, I can't say I have done much with it - let alone really know what to do with it. But I am excited and beginning the quest. Having been descended from Lewis on both my paternal and maternal sides of my family, the Lewis' lineage is of great interest to me. My first activity is to provide my results to the Lewis Surname Project - one of the largest DNA and genealogical studies in the world.

Susan Boyle. Voice of a Diva.

The network talent shows aren't something I like nor watch, which is probably the main reason why I haven't watched the numerous online video clips of Susan Boyle's performance on Britain's Got Talent.

This 47 year old Scottish charity worker takes the stage for the short pre-performance interview with the judges. Her plain looks and cheekiness is immediately met by the audience and judges with scoffing and some jeering. She announces the song she will be singing is "I Dreamed a Dream" from Les Misérables - probably my favorite song from that musical. Immense doubt poured over the faces of the judges and audience alike.

What happened next was indescribable - and actually brought a tear to my eye. If you haven't watched the video clip, you must. You can view the video (here).

Phantom - the Las Vegas Spectacular

During our visit to Las Vegas last week, Jim got us tickets to see The Phantom of the Opera at the Venetian Casino Hotel. Being a total Phantom of the Opera geek, I was ecstatic. I have seen the tour more times than I can remember well enough to count, and have enjoyed both its music and technical production since 1989.

The theatre in which Phantom is playing was designed and built specifically for this show. It is reminiscent of the Paris Opera House - the location of the story. The theatre was pretty amazing, but, of course, as all attest, the jewel of the theatre is the infamous chandelier. With modern theatrical rigging technology employed, sections of the chandelier swirl above the audience after the opening auction scene and eventually assembles itself into a single fixture high above the audience before falling later in the show at free-fall speed to just feet above the audiences heads. Even I - a theatre production person - gasped at its speed, closeness to the audience, and was given goosebumps when the theatre went completely dark just before what appears to be the chandelier slamming into the audience.

Other upgraded production effects include more pyrotechnics - bigger flames and the addition of fireworks over an exterior scene of the Paris Opera House. The traps and elevators in the floor seems to be much faster than I have ever seen during the Los Angeles run - which makes for a very effective, and surprising, curtain call at the end for the Phantom.

Seated in the front row, I was able to see all of this wonderful detail - but not all was so great. I was disappointed with the fabrics used, especially for the proscenium curtain. The detail looked to simply be printed onto the bottom hem of the curtain - a curtain that was so thin it bled upstage lighting. Also, I was disappointed with the sparseness of the Phantom's organ. If it were not for the moving bellows, you really couldn't even tell it was an organ. The Daae crypt inside the mausoleum was also very flat and unconvincing. Further, I felt that the costumes for Masquerade greatly lacked the color and interest found in the original production.

As for the talent, I was very surprised. Those that really stood out were those in the roles of Phantom, Raoul, Madame Giry,

Phantom: I had been spoiled having heard Michael Crawford many times in the role of Erik (the Phantom). While I still think I prefer his voice performance (knowing that feeling could be due to hearing it more often), I must readily admit that I felt Anthony Crivello's physical performance of Phantom is much better - in fact, the best I have seen. He completely sold me on the character, convincing of Erik's madness yet garnering heartfelt sympathy for him all the same.

Raoul: Honestly, I have never really loved this character in the show, probably because I tend to root for the underdog - and in the end the Phantom loses the girl to Raoul. But in this production, Andrew Ragone captured my attention from the very first scene we see him in his box seat. Manly rather than goopy-sweet, his performance caused me to "switch sides" and secretly root for him during the show. Both in voice and acting, he was right on.

Madame Giry: While not necessarily in the production, Madame Giry is actually quite a part of the core of the whole story of Erik. The actresses that have performed this role have never left a mark in my memory. Tina Walsh certainly broke the mould. Her build, her height, her voice, and her fascinating facial expressions mesmerized me and made me really take note of her participation in the story.

Messieurs Andre & Firmin: These two characters are often rather lost as well, though very much a part of the story. John Leslie Wolf as Andre was fantastic an elicited much laughter from the audience while Lawson Skala facial expressions were exceptional. Both vocal performances quite good.

I should also mention that I was very concerned regarding the running length - only 95 minutes versus the 2 hour 30 minute run time for the original production. I was a bit worried which numbers were being cut to make such a short production. As it turns out, every single musical number still remains in the show. In putting together the Vegas production, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Hal Prince, and members of the original creative team greatly tightened up the show - and they did it in such a successful way that I left the production not even realizing it was shorter than the original. All of the tightening resulted in a well moving show. Never once was there a lull.

In the end, I left mesmerized, "full of Phantom", and wanting to see it again. Just when I thought I had gotten my fill the last time I saw it in Los Angeles. You can visit the Las Vegas Phantom of the Opera website (here).

WCG Changes Name

The final separation of the new Worldwide Church of God from "all things Armstrong" occurred recently with the official announcement from WCG's new headquarters in suburb Glendora, CA that the church's name will now become "Grace Communion International."

This name change not only seems to finalize WCG's destruction of Armstrong's church that started shortly after his death, but also seems to make both current new-WCG members and pro-Armstrong followers happy! For the new-WCG, changing the name is important to make final separation from all things Armstrong - and this name certainly does not ring of Armstrongism whatsoever. For the pro-Armstrong followers (and believe it or not, while very, very small in number, they still are out there), this has taken far too long. Since the former name was so connected to Armstrong, pro-Armstrongites felt strongly that WCG should lose it's name as nothing of any significance still remains in the current WCG that has anything to do with Armstrong except for a common history of some of its members.

As for me, I couldn't care less about either side of the fence, but I have to admit that the new name sounds like the Amway of Evangelical Churches. Many of the new WCG's have already renamed their own local churches - which has been allowed by the new denomination - to much more catchy names. But alas, somehow the new name was the choice of the majority. Or was it? Who knows.

One thing that the new WCG or Grace Communion International does still have in common with Armstrongism/old-WCG is non-transparency of finances to the public and a church leader that has no end to his term of office.

In my opinion, correcting these two issues would make the new WCG truly separate from its Armstrong roots more than a sticky-sweet name change.

You can read the announcement and the comparison of the name change to God's changing of Saul's name to Paul (hrrmm... not sure that really is a good analogy) (here).

Thunderstruck

If there is anything good about a sinus infection, it was that I had extra time to finish a book that I picked up before my flight to Las Vegas last week.

Perusing the books at Hudson Book Store, I came across another book by Erik Larson — who is quickly becoming my favorite author. The book is entitled Thunderstruck — and as with his other books, it is a non-fiction book based on true history that is written in such a talented way that it reads like some of the best fiction one can imagine for the time period.

In July 1910, a sensational news story spread around the world: An American doctor wanted in London for the gruesome murder of his wife was fleeing justice on an ocean liner headed from Antwerp to Quebec City. He was accompanied by a young woman, his lover, who was disguised as a boy. Another ship, bearing the Scotland Yard inspector in charge of the case, gave chase. Through the new technology of wireless communication, which miraculously allowed ships at sea to communicate with one another and with people on land, newspapers far and wide breathlessly reported the chase as it happened. In Thunderstruck, Erik Larson tells the story of the events leading to this moment.

The book begins in late 1800's during a time when science was charmed by the magic of wireless communication and the electromagnetic waves that make it work. The book follows the life of Italian-Irish Marconi during this time and tells of the ups and downs of his attempt to achieve cross-oceanic wireless communication. Having a background in electricity and sound systems, this aspect of the story was absolutely fascinating to me. Despite many failures, Marconi's successes impacted organizations and governments worldwide. He gained the attention of England, Germany, Russia, Italy, and more. Sometimes hard to believe when considering he had very little formal education and was certainly not educated in science and physics - and he was horrible at mathematics.

The parallel story in the book is Hawley Harvey Crippen — a homeopathic doctor and a purveyor of patent medicines. Crippen was a quiet, docile man, short in stature with large bulging eyes that were exaggerated further by thicker-than-normal glasses. This meek man married a brazen, larger-than-life, domineering woman who believe herself to be destined to be the next big star of the stage. Towering above him, she demanded — and received — an unfathomable amount of expensive dresses, jewelry, and shoes. She exploited Crippen for most of what he had continually threatening to leave him for another man.

When the couple finally settles in London, after moving about quite often, he falls in love with a kind, gentle typist at his office. To "fix" his marital situation, he uses a powerful poison to do away with his abusive wife in order to marry the typist.

Unbelievable to all that knew Crippen could have done anything unkind to anyone, Scotland Yard eventually finds his dead wife buried in the cellar and the search — and race — was on. Crippen and the typist change their looks and leave England to eventually sail across the Atlantic Ocean. Through the use of the new wireless technology, the ship's captain learns of the true identity of his passengers and alerts, wirelessly, Scotland Yard. Inspector Dew boards a faster trans-Atlantic ship, the ship overtakes the other ship and arrives prior to Crippen's arrival in Quebec where the arrest takes place.

While the two stories are not woven together quite as seamlessly as the two stories in The Devil in the White City (here), they are none the less quite fascinating. And again, it is hard at times to keep in mind that this book is non-fiction as vividly as the stories are told. The lengthy bibliography of historical articles, writings, and memoirs is a quick and significant reminder.

Now I am anxious to read his next book.

Thanks Amy & Bridgett

“... those who grew up with sisters were more likely to be happy and balanced.”

~ University of Ulster

Interesting article over at CNN (here).

New Wolverton Bible

For those with a Worldwide Church of God / Herbert W. Armstrong background, many will recognize his artwork. Remember those grotesque cartoons of Lot writhing in pain with boils oozing .... ooze? Or remember those horrifying images of deathly emaciated people pleading for mercy in the Revelation sketches?

Herb's official artist for so much of his printed material was Basil Wolverton - a name many may recognize. What they may or may not recognize is the similarity of these drawings in WCG literature with that found in MAD magazine and even Marvel Comics. Basil was actually not only an illustrator for the Worldwide Church of God, but an artist for MAD and Marvel as well. He has been called the "ugly artist" of MAD and was known for his grotesque illustrations in the magazine.

I grew up fearing not only the Great Tribulation story told in the Book of Revelation, but also downright scared to death of the Bible's God as well - and no wonder! If Herb's horrifying diatribe wasn't scary enough to read, Basil's illustrations definitely drove the point home that God is to be feared, he creates evil, he is jealous, and he will cause horrifically grueling death to many (actually God says that of himself in the Bible - Herb only emphasized those stories).

Sadly, the world is full of psychologically damaged people that listened to, read, and looked at these stories from Herb.

While my opinion of Herbert Armstrong being a charlatan (successfully preying on the fears and pocketbooks of his little sheep) and a false apostle, my opinion of Basil Wolverton is quite different. For WCG, Basil did his job quite well. In fact, I think Basil was a brilliant artist, illustrator, and cartoonist.

One of Basil's most "famous" projects with the Church was "The Bible Story" - something all church members cherished. Now, decades after Basil's death, his son Monte (another name those with WCG backgrounds should recognize) has published a revised version of this work entitled "The Wolverton Bible" which has been authorized and commissioned by the current evangelical Worldwide Church of God.

You can find The Wolverton Bible at Amazon (here) and a biography of Basil Wolverton in many places such as Basil Wolverton Fan Clubs (here) and Wikepedia (here).

Caribbean 40th

One thing we all know is that time moves forward with little regard for anything in its way. I turn 40 years of age this year. Where did the 30's go so quickly? Hell, where did the 20's go even more quickly? As I begin to prepare myself to embrace a new decade of life, we decided that we should drop the usually birthday celebration here at home (although all have been quite fun) and do something different.

Our original idea was Hawaii - and it was nearly booked, but in the end, the particular travel package was breaking the bank. Disappointed, we began looking at other locations such as Las Vegas, Portland, Pensacola, Key West, and Los Angeles.

We had a few people suggest doing a resort in Mexico such as in Cancun or Acapulco. I have been, and can't say that I ever really felt like going back. Living in Texas, these resorts were just glamorized versions of Texas to me with local culture that wasn't all that different in many respects to life here.

Orbitz, though, popped up a Virgin Island suggestion that immediately appealed to me - a week long stay in St. Croix. The views, the water, the abundance of reefs perfect for snorkeling and scuba, not to mention the abundance of rum! So now we are booked and off to St. Croix we will be in early June.

This is the first trip that I have ever purchased travel insurance - and I was surprised what all it covers for very little more money. Coverage for baggage delay, baggage loss, flight delay, emergency medical and medical travel, trip interruption, and even trip cancellation.

First Day of Spring

Today is officially the first day of Spring - although our spring flowers have been blooming since early February. In fact, sadly we have already had a few 90+ degree days down here.

Among with getting our new fence done, we have also replaced and added to the tropical plants on our lanai around the seating area and spa as well as picked up a few new specimen to plant in our gardens.

Among some herbs, we picked up an Asian Iris plant at Lowe's last week. I have always liked irises, but this version has narrower and fewer petals and looks more like a type of orchid than it does an iris. Liking shade, we plan to plant it as part of the backdrop to our larger pond.

The photo is of an asian iris. While our plant has new blooms on it, they are closed up at the time I write this, so this replacement photo will have to suffice. Our iris is white petals as in the photo, but rather than a stripe of yellow, ours has a stripe of light purple with a narrower stripe of yellow.

As for other things growing, our daffodils have finished their blooming and our roses are producing lots of blooms already, although not quite as fragrant as they normally are yet. With high's in mid-70's this weekend and sun, it is going to be perfect to do some lounging on the lanai enjoying the spa, do some grilling, and relax. It's not often that the temperature is perfect here, so we have to take advantage of it whenever possible!

New Fence

Spring is the season that we are most energetic about getting outdoor work done - before the 7 months of oven-like heat. This year has been no different. We got a wild hair on a Thursday to replace our old, ugly chain link fence along the west side of our backyard property with a taller wooden fence. The next day I dug the post holes and within a week, the fence was finished. We don't dawdle around getting most projects done - it's my grandfather Hyde's blood in me, I suppose.

We added a portion of the side yard into the fence near our back door and finished the fence at 5'-6" high. This prevents Titus from jumping up (or over) the fence, reduces their barking at walkers-by, and is low enough to help prevent burglary.

Speaking of burglary, we have read and have been told by police that tall "neighbor-hater" fences are an invitation to burglary. The tall fences allow easier break-ins into homes because nobody can see the crime being committed. Just a heads-up to the burb people who insist on the tall fences (although, sadly, in most suburbs homes are crammed up against each other so closely with no real trees that tall fences are required for any type of even-semi, fake privacy).

This was the first wood fence I have ever built from scratch and am quite pleased with it. The trim I designed along the top really finished it off. Next is to get the area between the sidewalk and fence landscaped with most likely creeping jasmine ivy and some flowers. My goal is to not have to mow there ever, ever again!

The Squiggly Thing in an Egg

I have a particular member of my family that is seemingly disgusted by the squiggly, wormish-looking white thing inside a raw egg; and in fact, I have been told that she removes this thing before cooking the egg.

While I don't know exactly what she thinks this thing is, I do know that many have perpetuated old wives' tales such as: it is sperm from the rooster, the early stages of a developing embryo, and even an umbilical cord for an embryo.

The squiggly white thing is none of those, and actually, it is a very benign thing called the chalaza. The chalaza is simply comprised of many strands of egg white that anchors down the egg yolk within the egg white to help prevent damage to the yolk. Chalaza has no impact on the flavor or cooking of an egg.

Tuna & Lamb Sunday

Today was a beautiful 70 degrees - just warm enough to heat up the spa, do some grilling, and enjoy the patio. With a myriad of deadlines over the past couple of weeks, it was nice to do some brainless cooking today.

For lunch, I did a quick sear of some ahi tuna on the grill that I rubbed with thai-ginger infused sea salt. We devoured this cold, red tuna with a nice Italian prosecco.

For dinner, I encrusted lamb sirloin steaks with lavender blossoms and espresso infused sea salt. With it, we had roasted beets in yogurt and a side of roasted brussels sprouts in white truffle butter. I and topped the steaks with a chilled curry yogurt sauce. In the end, dinner was good, but once again, I am reminded that Mom is the only person that I know of who can make palatable brussels sprouts. I try - lord knows I try - but they never are as good as her's, and usually worthy of nothing but the garbage can.

Mental Time Out & Sabbatical

Well aware am I that I have posted maybe three times in the past couple of months on my blog. With an extended holiday vacation and three big project deadlines, I have put the blog on the back burner and focused my attention elsewhere. It's proved to be a nice mental time-out type of sabbatical from blogdom.

The other reason for my absence is my activity on Facebook (the social networking site that isn't as full of self-centered high schoolishness as MySpace is). I have read a few people's statements that facebook may take over blogging, but honestly, I see both as two very different outlets. Granted, now that I am on facebook, I tend to let people know more about what I am up to on Facebook whereas I tend to let people know what I really think on my blog. Facebook just isn't a blog - at least not at this point.

So, where to begin ...

First, I am blogging from the patio in shorts and bare feet. We are filling the spa and enjoying the warm weather - I guess. Yes, warm weather is nice, but considering we have had only a month of winter (and only a few days of really cold weather), I am constantly reminded of how much I miss seasons, despise 9 month long summers, and that I really do hate living in Texas from a weather standpoint. Hell, it is January 31 and I have irises budding and will bloom soon. That just "ain't right"! We really do hope to get out of this hell hole/oven called Texas ASAP.

For my family, I want them to know that we put our Christmas gifts to work (or more appropriately - on display) at an impromptu cocktail party we threw last weekend. We used my new modern cocktail high-ball glasses for drinks, the wine chiller, bamboo serving bowl, the Fostoria champagne goblets, the stainless steel chopsticks, and of course, my new camera at the party. How wonderful it was!

Titus is continuing to grow. For those that may not read the Titus blog, as of two weeks ago, he weighed 61 pounds at 6 months of age and Bentley weighed 64 pounds at 4 years of age. He is about the same height as Bentley and we know he has at least two more years of growth to be had.

As for the state of the country, I couldn't be more hopeful that the U.S. won't continue on a downward spiral. While I am not happy that G. W. has decided to make Dallas their home (whatever that really means), I am soooooo thankful that cocky, cowboyish, idiot is out of office. What a waste of eight years. We have alienated ourselves from most of the world, created a war that had nothing to do with the attack on our country (he absolutely failed in vindicating us), and destroyed our economy on this senseless war. Not to mention, I am so thankful we have a president that can conjugate verbs, that can pronounce 4-grade level words correctly, and isn't a total embarrassment to me. Though time will tell, things could change, but honestly, I can't imagine our new leader could all of the sudden become as ignorant as our previous.

This is going to be a big year - for so many reasons. Work, personal, health, birthday, growth, and probably even some disappointment and pain from time to time. Such is life. Stay tuned.

Where Do We Stand?

“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.”

~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

Home for the Holidays

Most of my closer friends know that I grew up without the celebration of Christmas. Long story short, grew up in a christian-oriented cultish church that condemned such holidays.

That being far behind me, this was the first year that my entire immediate family celebrated (to the best of our ability) Christmas - and New Year's - together as a family. The photo in this post is actually Mom's Christmas tree - the first time I have ever seen a tree at my Mom's house! It was beautiful and gave me ideas for next year.

I left the cultish church in about 1995, my Mom left a year or two prior to me, and my sisters followed suit sometime later. But despite us all leaving that church and beginning to keep the holiday, we never kept it together until this year. It was wonderful, strange, and exciting all at the same time. Due to our history, we don't really keep it with any zealous religious reason, don't usually keep it on time, and don't have any real family traditions following the holiday. This year was no different.

Due to family schedules, we exchanged gifts on December 24. It was truly a wonderful day. I personally received some wonderful gifts such as two incredible books from my mother (one of which I will be quoting in my future blog posts), jewelry, as well as some very fine glassware; a wine chiller from my sister; and two fantastic pieces of Fostoria glassware from my other sister, just to name a few things.

A few days later, we traveled with my sister to her newly built house in Philippi, West Virginia - the town that found itself to be the location of the very first battle of the U.S. Civil War. We spent the evening with our trip down to her house being spent hunting down some very small, and some quite large, family cemeteries in Wetzel and Marion counties of the State.

While in West Virginia, we also were able to spend some very wonderful and special time with cousins, aunts, uncles, and my cousins kids.

The trip was truly amazing and special. Reconnection with my immediate family as well as the cousins was incredible and only reminded me of how much I want to leave Texas and move closer to my family. Whle I don't ever see myself living anywhere near the Ohio Valley, I would like to be at least half way closer than I am now.

I miss the family and having had such a wonderful visit only reminds me of this fact. We'll see - Chicago and Nashville are two options at this point. Who knows.