Christmas has come and gone...

...but I did have an excellent time. There were a few pitfalls but nothing we can't recover from! I got enough Christmas money to purchase an iPod and got a really nice leather purse. Saw a several friends, Roger, Cara and Chris; and saw family as well. The bummer of the trip was that Mom was diagnosed with breast cancer. Please keep her in your prayers!!! The treatment will be chemo first and lumpectomy second (cross your fingers). Updates later on...

The nieces were in good form as always!

Ridiculous lights....but cool!

This Christmas light show is ridiculously long yet somehow very mesmerizing. Check it out!

X-Men 3

Can not wait for this one to come out!!! Click here to watch the trailer!!!

Christmas Decorations Finale

Ok, I got the apartment decorated...check it out (Be sure to watch the Christmas Decorations Part 1 first!!):



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Christmas Decorations Part 1

Hey!!! I found a way to post videos on my blog. I wanted ya'll to see what my apartment looks like after the decorating since ya'll won't be able to come see it.



Free video hosting, video codes at www.vidilife.com

Thanksgiving 2005

Yeah! It was great to see family and friends again! I had a great time. Watched movies and ate good food and of course the nieces! My favorite time was jumping on the trampoline with Alex! She loves that!

Emma

Great Grandma and Alex


Drew and Alex touching the sky


Jessica and Alex on trampoline; Roger holding Alex holding Emma


The trip back was almost uneventful. I was a little sick (scratchy throat...) and only one place was there traffic stopped.

THANKSGIVING

Hmmmm....looking forward to this year's Thanksgiving. This is probably my favorite holiday. I love the cooler weather (except when in Texas where it was 89 degrees yesterday!!!). I also love the trees turning different colors. What I think I will enjoy is the drive home. This drive I plan to take my time and am in no rush. I usually leave right after work and that is just too stressful and I arrive at night. I plan on leaving early in the morning the day before Thanksgiving and arriving during the day. I like to travel to places because I have a destination to get to. Something good is at the end of my trip. The something good this time is my family and friends. Especially Alex and Emma (and if you don't know who they are yet, you're missing out! Check out my other postings). I'm looking forward to it! Now the bad thing about going home for Thanksgiving is coming back. The traffic will be terrible and I am always depressed when I get back to Texas (just for a little while). WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO THIS THANKSGIVING?

Never Ending....

There seems to be a never ending stream of work, which, by the way, I don't mind. But what I absolutely hate is paper work! It just seems to pile up, up and away! (I wish it would go away). I'd rather be doing one task at a time instead of multi tasking. It would be a lot simpiler and the quality of the work would be better. I just finished putting up an exhibit for the museum. It makes me happy and it turned out better than I expected. I'll show you a preview in a moment. I'm lethargic today, but glad tomorrow's Wednesday. Wednesday's I don't swim and I can sleep in a little. It makes me happy. This week is gonna be good. I get paid, tomorrow is Wednesday, and my apartment is getting cleaned from top to bottom AND it's finally fall. I love the fall season because I get to go home and see my family. I got a picture of my nieces dressed up for Halloween. They are tooo tooo cute!!!

Here is a tangent:

I hate Halloween. Well, hate is a strong word but rather I hate the economics of the seasons/holidays. It is utterly ridiculous. Our economic culture has dictated which holidays are important and which aren't and really what the holiday is about. What is Halloween? Anybody know anymore? I checked around on the Internet and found at least what I would consider a reputable source...the History Channel. Here is what they say about the orgins of Halloween. What's even more interesting is that they have a link to the evolution of holidays...check it out too. Here is a quote from the link: "Today, Americans spend an estimated $6.9 billion annually on Halloween, making it the country's second largest commercial holiday. " So that brings me to a philosphical question. Is Halloween a valid holiday today? I checked my Franklin Covey calendar and indeed All Saint's Day is listed, but looking at my wall calendar, it is not, but Halloween is on both. Very interesting... I guess I can't say too much on the subject. I did put out my glass jack-o-lantern last night and I did run to Target last night to get a mask for "Fall Festival" at church. But that was all I promise!! Today I feel utter remorse for contributing to the $6.9 billion dollar industry. Baah Humbug!!! Don't get me started on Christmas; that post will come later.

OK...

So here a picture of Alex (ladybug) and Emma (flower) and a picture of the title of the new exhibit:

Friends

This past weekend I had a friend come down for a visit. We had a great time! Some adventures, like getting pulled over for speeding, late for the wedding and eating wonderful weird food. We ate dim sum at Kirin Court in Dallas. There are a couple of words that I know in Cantonese (mainly food words) so I got excited when I heard the servers say cha siu bow (bread with pork) and gai lan (Chinese broccoli). It was great. We also got to see a friend of Roger's who just had a baby, literally. Everyone was speaking Cantonese but me. I thoroughly enjoyed it. That also brings me to the point that I am going to China next summer to do a kids English camp for a week. I'm sooo excited. Then I'm gonna go to Hong Kong and visit Roger's sister. Can't wait!!

Roger and me at the Zoo

Maui

I made it back from Maui. Let's think about Maui. Hmmmmm.

It was great and beautiful. I had to come back because I started running out of money. Everything is expensive, however, the tax is great! 4% I did get a little tan and the snorkeling was great. I have to develop those pictures soon.

The Delta

I went to my cousin's wedding a couple of weekends ago in Memphis. Both sets of grandparents used to live in a town about an hour from Memphis in the east Arkansas Delta in the middle of cotton, rice, wheat and soybeans. We stayed with my other cousin before we went to the wedding. Before I left I took a couple of pictures of the cotton fields ready to be picked:

Maui & a New Do

Well a week from now I will be on my way to Maui...yes you read right, I'm going to Maui. I'm pretty excited. I've made my reservations for the spa and to go snorkeling. Why am I going to Maui you ask? For work of course! I know it doesn't sound like it, but I have to write the more important details first. I am actually going for work. It is the annual Dr Pepper Bottler's Meeting. The Museum is going to promote itself with the merchandising and licensing booth. It's gonna be good. We're going a couple of days early to check the island out. Make sure it's cool. It better be! Anyway...I will give a full report when I get back. In the meantime I got a hair cut that 's a little different from my normal coiffure.

Classmates

Well I survived it. My high school reunion that is. I'll say not much really changed. There were a few suprises of classmates marrying classmates, so that was fun. The highlight was eating lunch with my friend from 1st grade! Cara. It was really good to see her and catch up. I did see other friends like Rhonda and Laura. It was fun but the actual party was lame. Good DJ though. Oh well. We'll see if anyone changes 10 years from now! Check out my friends :

10 Year High School Reunion

Well this weekend I will be attending my 10 year high school reunion. GO BULLDOGS!!! It will be very interesting to see how everyone turned out since then. I hope it won't be too depressing. Just to get ready for it, I watched Grosse Point Blank. A pretty hilarious movie. I'm pretty excited. Hopefully next week I will have some pictures of the event!

Injury update

The swelling has gone down, however, now there are some lovely looking bruises that have emerged. Someone described it as an Italian sunset. Nice try.

I know, I know...the eyebrow needs some serious attention...

STITCHES ARE NOT COOL!

Ouch! Stitches are not cool. At first they don't hurt because the doctor puts a numbing agent on the area. But when you wake up in the middle of the night, propped up on pillows, and your head hurts and you forget why so you brush your hand over where the stitches are.....DANG!!! Also, your arm hurts too, where you got your tetnus shot because you can't remember the last time you got one.

So why did I get stitches?

Racquetball can be a dangerous sport. Things to remember if you play.

1. When it is the other person's turn to hit the ball...GET OUT OF THE WAY!!!.
2. Wear your goggles.
3. If you hurt someone...make sure they are ok.
4. Duct tape will not work on such a cut.

PS: Sorry about the eyebrow...it's out of control, I know. I'll pluck when it won't hurt!!!

Progress!

Today was a pretty good day! I got a project almost done at work that has personally been hanging over my head for awhile. I went to lunch and had some errands to run. Errands that solved minor irritations. I am learning to become a little more assertive when things don't happen the way they are supposed to. For example, I took all my college diplomas to get framed on 5/21/05. Two weeks tops to complete. I call, they have one done, the other two had to be shipped to the main office for something special. "We'll call you when they're done." Ok, no problem! Today I called to check on the "status" of the framing. "Oh yeah, they're ready. It looks like they have been here awhile." One can be assertive without being agressive! The guy was very apologetic.

Another thing. I got a notice saying my rent was late. Uhmmm, excuse me, but I have never been late on my rent payments! (there's always a first time...) So I went and talked to the management. "Oh we're sorry! We must have lost it!" Good grief! They said to put a stop on it and would reimburse me for the fee to stop the check. So I had to take care of that today at the bank...since I didn't lose it, I didn't have to pay a fee. :)

Another thing. I made an appointment to go see the doctor. I haven't been to the doctor in years (literally). Just a regular check up. My mom will feel better too.

All that to say I feel productive...success...progress...has been made in my life.

It's really the little things that make life what it is...tomorrow will probably have it's own quirks to succeed through...it's all how we deal with them.

Cute girl in her hat and chaps!!! 

Kitty's Blahhh

Hoh humm. I really don't want to be at work right now. I was out sick yesterday which wasn't fun but was a better alternative to work. Not that work is boring! No, no! It's just that sometimes I don't want to go. Anybody ever feel that way? The other reason I don't want to be at work is because I'm going home Thursday to Arkansas!!! Yeah! I get to see family and friends. Drew, Mandy the girls and I are going to the rodeo. It will be fun. Yiiiieeeehaaaaw! Alex says that sometimes. Emma can roll over now. Oh how they grow fast. She is only 4 months old. I must upload a picture of Alex on her "horse." She is adorable with her pink chaps and cowgirl hat!! Can't wait to go home!!

Feel The Burn!!

Sunburn that is...I got one on my neck (and arms) on Saturday. A group of my friends helped out at Rebuilding Together, an organization that helps repair homes for those who cannot do it themselves. It was fun, except the heat. I have done this several times and you'd think I'd get proficient at installing new screen doors...but noooo! It took me several hours to do it (with help, of course!!). I may have to drive by the house just to see if the door is still standing. It really wiped us out. I had to go home and take a nap. Now I have to even out my "tan" because I'm going to Hawaii in September. In fact, I went swimsuit shopping just for Hawaii and found a real doozie on sale! Watch out Hawaii, here comes Jessica!!!

Anyway, I'm very excited about this summer and travel. Are you traveling anywhere interesting? Let me know!!

Aaahh!! Summer Is In the Air!!

Today is the 1st of June and rent is due...BUT it's summer (not officially, but summer starts early in central Texas). Hmmm. What do I have planned? I have a lot of big trips coming up. New York at the end of July and Hawaii in September (Yipee!). Next year I hope to go to China for a mission trip and Hong Kong for vacation. This past weekend however, marked many dates for me to remember! My oldest younger brother had a birthday on Friday and then the youngest younger brother has one this Saturday. The Harris brothers and sister will all be in their twenties...*sniff* We are all grown up! Drew and Mandy's anniversary is this Friday as well as the anniversary of Papa's passing. I also remembered those who fought and died to keep this country and other countries safe and hopefully for peace. Most of my male relatives have been in the military but the one that effected me the most, of course, was Drew who went to Iraq for a year. I am so proud of him for doing his duty. Don't forget that you enjoy many freedoms today because of what men and women have done for this country. Thank you!

Memorial Day Weekend

Whew! Thank goodness the weekend is coming up! I'm looking forward to some days relaxing. I'm supposed to go to an Open Water Swim meet in Irving on Saturday but I'm not sure the weather will allow it. Then I'm headed over to Brownwood to do some camping in Brownwood. If it's cool enough, I'll sleep outside, but if not, I'm gonna be indoors. Lately the temp here has been in the high 90s!! Eeek! Hope everyone has a good one!! Keep safe!

Star Wars

Today is the big day! Have you seen it yet? Post your critique. I am. I'm going today at 4:20pm Yippee!

Indy (no, not Indian Jones)

Hello! It's been awhile since I've posted. I've been in Indianapolis for American Association of Museum's annual conference. It was probably the best conference I've ever been to. Indianapolis isn't bad either. In fact it has a lot of cool buildings. I went exploring one afternoon and saw some great architecture and sculputre. We also had some great food. I highly recommend Thai House, The Scholars Inn, Rathskeller and Elements. I'll post some pics. We also brought along Puss No Boots, but that is another story...

The first pic is of course, Alex, my niece, she did not go to Indianaoplis with me. I just wanted to show off.

How can I NOT show off this cute girl!!! (Alex) 

Introducing Puss No Boots 

St. Mary's Catholic Church 

A view of the Capitol building from the War Memorial monument. In the foreground you can see a special exhibit of sculptures placed all around downtown Indy by Tom Otterness. This one is "Speak No Evil, Hear No Evil, See No Evil" 

Indiana Repertory Theater

This is Indy's version of the circle with a War Memorial in the middle. 

Now What Do I Do?

Now that I have successfully turned in my thesis for binding, all I have to do is walk across the stage. Now I have all this "free" time. What do I do with it? Well I have a list of things to do by the end of June like clean out closets, air filters, deep cleaning...just get my house in order along with some other things. I'm planning on some trips; some work related, some not. I'm looking forward to what is in store for me in the future. It will be exciting! Some future self-improvment goals include but are not limited to: painting lessons, some continuing education classes, maybe working on my German language skills, serving in the community, saving some money for a major trip next year (Hong Kong? that would be awesome!!!). Serving others and self-improvment is my life goal. Always a never ending process.

This is our starting point at Wyman Bridge. 

White River. You can see the tip of the canoe my Dad made!! 

White River with me and my bro! 

Drew's fish. 

I caught the first fish! 

Article on the exact area of the "River Incident"

Check out the link above. It was written three days before we went on our trip. It will give you a good idea of what the country side looks like!

The Weekend

Well I finally got home to see Emma. She is adorable!! However, all she does is sleep and eat, so she wasn't much fun. I had a blast with Alex! We played dress up and she made me wear the tiara, boa, necklaces and fairy wings. She laughed the whole time. Alex points to Drew and says "Daddy", points to Mandy and says "Mommy" and point to Emma and says "My baby." She pointed to me and said "da da da." (Jessica)

Well I had an adventure on Sunday. Dad, Drew and I planned on a lesiurely fishing trip down White River to the Twin bridges in Arkansas. Drew and I were in one canoe and Dad was in the canoe he built. I caught the first fish and Drew caught two and Dad caught one. We were all having a great time until the river split and then met up again. We decided to take the left fork because the right was too shallow. The left fork was deep, cold water and had a good current going. At the bend there was a half submerged tree that Drew and I slammed right into and then tipped over. The first thing I thought of was "No tipping!" which is what Drew said to me before we started this trip. Then I thought, "Oh, I'm gonna drown!" Then I popped up and started down stream. I couldn't touch the bottom, which really frightened me and somehow Drew got in front of me. He was trying to catch the canoe. Thank goodness it didn't sink to the bottom! Well I couldn't get my bearings very well and then I remembered to put your feet in front of you so you can stand when it gets shallow enough. So I made it out of the water in one piece. I did slice my finger open. I don't know what on though. I think the canoe. Drew said when we tipped he was sucked under and his shirt got caught on the branches in the water, but got free. He lost his fishing pole. The one he got for his first anniversary :( And his work cell phone is now ruined. "oops"

Dad went the same route but got out before the turns. He lost his paddle but we retreived it a little while later (along with all our other stuff that floated down the river, including bloated trailmix).

We all said we were done fishing for awhile.

My other brother Patrick and his friend David were fishing at our stopping point and he was going to take us back at the starting poing to pick up the trucks so we could load the canoes. Drew, Pat and I crammed ourselves into Pat's tiny Ford Ranger. I drove Dad's truck and Drew got his and Pat had his truck. We took a route that would bypass a steep incline (I didn't want to drive it). After watching Pat struggle with the alternate route Drew and I took the original and saw that Pat was stuck in a major mud hole. By that time it was about 7pm. Thank goodness Dad's truck had a towline. In the process of hooking up the line Drew fell in the mud. Drew dealt with that while I called Dad to let him know why it was taking so long. Finally Drew pulled Pat out of the mud hole. When Drew and Pat drove back to where I was parked, I heard a hiss. Pat must have run over construction staple because his back tire was leaking some major air! So Drew and Pat had to change an almost flat tire. I went to get Dad and David. By this time I think it was almost 9pm. Good grief!! We were all tired, smelly, wet and hungry. We hadn't had lunch or dinner.

I went by Mom's to say goodbye (I was leaving the next morning and wouldn't be able to see her). She poured Hydrogen Peroxide over the gash and bandaged the finger. Thanks Mom!! I probably needed stiches.

Drew and I still had to return the borrowed canoe and I had to pick up my car at Drew's place. I didn't get back to Dad's until 11pm where I promptly eat dinner, took a shower and went to bed. A relaxing five hour afternoon turned into a ten hour disaster. The moral of the story? Keep your cell phone in a plastic baggie or back in the vehicle. It would have taken a lot longer to coordinate our efforts. We could still be stuck in the mud!

*sigh* Of Relief (no not Rolaids)

Today is a red letter day in my life. I have successfully turned in my Master's Thesis to the graduate school for approval. It has taken me a long time to finish it, but it was worth it. I was at the Museum til 11pm last night and then came in at 7:30 to print off the last few pages. Whew! However, I won't be totally satisfied until I walk across the stage and receive the diploma! May 14th here I come!!!

Women's NCAA Basketball Championship!!

GO LADY BEARS!!! They were awesome last night!! They smashed Michigan State 84-62. Whoo Whoot! Yeah Yeah!

LADY BEARS DO IT AGAIN!!

I'm so proud of the Lady Bears!!! They whooped up on LSU. YES!!! It looks like we will be playing Michigan St. Sorry Lady Vols!!! There's always next year!!

SIC 'EM BEARS!!

Even though I am not a huge sports fan, I have enjoyed the success of the Lady Bears, Baylor University. They have made it to the Final Four and I am anxiously waiting the outcome. This is what I hope to come true: Baylor vs. Tennessee with, of course, the Bears winning. My Aunt and Uncle live in Knoxville and are going to the games, they are HUGE Vols fans. We shall see... we shall see... :) HA Ha Hah ha haa HA!

I DID IT!!!!!

HALLELUJAH!!! Mark your calendars folks. The day has arrived. Yes, that's right I have defended my thesis and my committee passed me! I thought the presentation went very well and I answered all the questions that were posed to me. Too bad the President didn't have time to listen to it! Hah! ;) Now it's just a matter of correcting a few things and handing it in to the Graduate School!!! Whoop! Whoop! Thanks everybody for encouraging me to finish. You know who you are...

SHE'S HERE!!!!

Yes, my niece has arrived on this earth. I know it is several days late. I was hoping that I would be sent some pictuers, but not yet. Mom has to figure out her new digital camera first. Emma Page Harris was born at 10:15am Saturday, March 19!!! Congratulations to Drew and Mandy and Alex! (Not to mention the grandparents!) Yeah! I'll see you all April 15th.

My Coach Anita and Me with our ribbons!!! 

Swim Meet Results

Ok. I did it! I actually competed at Tune Up Meet in Austin. I swam faster than I ever have before. For the 50 freestyle I swam it in :39 seconds AND my goggles came off when I dove in. For the 100 freestyle I swam it in 1:23 minutes. Cool! For this particular meet I won second place in my events for my age group which is Women 25-29 years. Whoop Whoop! Thanks Anita for being my coach!

Thesis Defense

Well, the time has finally come. I will give my defense a week from today. Yeah! One of the last steps to graduation! Hallelujah!

Swim Meet

This Saturday I will be in Austin participating in a swim meet! I think I'm going to do the 50 Freestyle and 100 Freestyle. First race ever...it will be interesting.

Chinese Characters

According to this website above the Chinese characters say my name. Look for yours!

Margie Kinney

Margie Kinney called today and really needs us to pray for her! She has some health issues that really have her in a spin!!!

My Soon to be Niece...

Any day now we are expecting the arrival of my niece Emma Page Harris...she's due March 20th! Take it easy Mandy!!! Love you!

Can't be from Arkansas and not be a Razorback!!!