Trip to Texas

We had a wonderful 2 ½ week visit to Texas recently. Highlights included my cousin Dale’s wedding; seeing all of our siblings, parents, nieces, and grandmothers; floating down the Comal river; and going to North Padre Island for our five year anniversary. I also went to a Rodeo for the first time at which I saw a man dislocate his shoulder, a woman dislocate her hip, and a sheep run over a small child. I didn’t know how much I had been missing all of these years! A few things learned during this time:

1. There is a reason people do not ride the train often in the U.S. We took a train that was supposed to get us from Temple to Indianapolis. It was 4 hours behind schedule by the time we made it to St. Louis, so they put us on a bus from St. Louis to Indy. While on the bus, somewhere in the middle of Illinois, we looked at each other and asked, “why didn’t we fly?” We couldn’t come up with a good answer.

2. Sunscreen is no match for the Texas sun. I didn’t get burned as badly as I have done in the past, but even with reapplying every two hours, I had a few lobster looking streaks. I guess that shade is the only thing guaranteed to work.

3. Other people keep growing up. My cousin who was married recently was always the oldest of our “little” cousins, but even the littlest will turn 18 this year. It’s fun to see them grown and to be hopeful for and proud of the adults they’re growing into.

4. Vacations are good. Especially for two people who for some reason are finishing a dissertation, growing a baby, trying to sell a condo, finding a home for a sweet kitty, and planning an overseas move in a very short amount of time. We’re definitely back to reality now and have been reacquainted with our friend stress, but that break sure is a nice, sweet memory. It’s also good to visit people you love outside of your day to day life. You see that they aren’t even aware of the things that seem so immediate and important to you, and I think this helps break self centeredness to some degree, even if that doesn’t last very long.

I hope to have some pregnancy pictures soon, as Summer requested, but right now the view isn’t too impressive. We do have an ultrasound appointment in just under two weeks, and we hope that they will be able to determine if we have a he or she on our hands. I think I’ll see if I can get the blogger polling tool to work so that you can cast your vots. I've been taking an informal survey -our parents and my sister think boy. Ryan's brothers think girl. It's a toss up! Place your bets, and I’ll let you know if you’re right soon!

Love and blessings to my blog friends.