More! More!

Saturday's tailgate was all about excess! We had more people, more food and more fun!

We had our biggest crowd of the season for the Tech tailgate, with about 50 folks showing up throughout the afternoon.
We all enjoyed watching the pregame shows (Mizzou vs. A&M and Michigan vs. Wisconsin), and the kids took turns playing tailgate golf.
For lunch, we were treated to a variety of brats, spicy sausages and hot dogs:
Wow, it was SO spicy!


How spicy was it? Well, what does this tell you?

Around 1 p.m. clouds started rolling in, and we were wondering if we'd have a repeat of the K-State washout:

The clouds only cooled us off, though, giving us pleasant breezes as we all shot the breeze.
It was a perfect way to end our tailgating season. But when it was over and the tailgate tubs were packed, it left me thinking: I wish we could have more.

Only nine more months to go until the next tailgate!

You go, girl!

Katie placed fifth at Saturday's Bible Bowl competition!
She and Ryan were members of the Heritage team, which placed first at the regional event.
I'm so proud of both of them for studying the 500 questions from 1 Samuel. They endured weekly tests on Sunday morning and many hours of studying and practice.
Way to go!

Edited to add: Check out Tonya's pictures on the HCC PowerZone blog!

Who won the Texas Tech-Texas game?

I haven't had that much fun at a football game in ages! Horns win, 59-43. I have bunches more to post, but those pictures will have to wait for another NaBloPoMo day.

We predicted the win by grilling tortillas in honor of our Red Raider friends. (Tech fans have been known to fling tortillas at their games.)

Crank Dat Cheap Post.

I'm off to Austin this morning, so here's a cheap post just in case I don't get back online tonight.

Seems like everybody's doing the Soulja Boy!

Fun by the yard.

My day usually begins with these beauties at the kitchen window, meowing their morning greetings:

Even though we can usually count on seeing the cats in the yard, we never know what else we'll find in front of our house. This morning, I found art work on the driveway under my car. (It was too dark to see it when I got home last night.)
This afternoon I expected to see our kitties on the sidewalk, but I was a little surprised to find KitKat and ChaCha practically snuggling with each other:
And then there was this HUGE spider that seemed to be suspended in mid-air:

But the biggest surprise came after our dinner out tonight when I found THIS in our yard:
Who knew a light saber duel would break out on our lawn!
Such fierce competitors! What strength! What skill! The Force is strong in these two!
A busy place, our yard is.

A love/hate relationship.

I hate computers.

This has not been my best week, technology-wise. Our journalism lab at school is in its last days (literally: we're expecting 25 new computers in 11--ELEVEN!!!--days!), and it seems like we're losing another functional computer every class period. Since the November newspaper issue goes to press Monday and the first big yearbook deadline is next week, our lack of working machines is a HUGE problem. My staffers play musical chairs all day: "Is that one working?" or "I get that one when you're through." My most-hated sentence this week: "Mrs. [Dub], it says the scratch disk is full!"

We're SO excited about our new computers and server, and even though we're sure to have some networking/software bumps before we're back in business, it's wonderful to know we won't be stuck with these computers all year. Still, this week has been a real struggle, and next week offers more of the same.

Combine those hardware issues with software glitches in my usual techno haven, church, and I'm one frustrated puppy.

But I'm blogging gratitude this month! Thinking positive! Not dwelling on the negative! (Grrr...) So here's where I balance the sour with the sweet:

Even though I may hate particular hardware or software at any given moment, I just love what computers let us do! I never really kept up with my kids' baby books, and I never was all that prompt getting film photos developed (or put in albums or--sniff, sniff--in scrapbooks). Blogging has given me this visual journal, though, and I take more everyday pictures--not just special occasions--and I know these shots will be precious to our family in years to come.

Another benefit has been getting to know all of you faithful bloggers better! It's been wonderful to connect with all of you whom I otherwise would barely know as acquaintances. And it's all thanks to this newfangled technology.

I love computers!

Evidence.

So I'm walking toward Ryan's school this afternoon, and this catches my eye:More proof that yes, indeed, it's FALL!

It was so unexpected. These vines are the only ones climbing up the brick there on the building's long north facade. At first I wondered if they were fake because the colors were just too autumn-y to be real!

In any case, I'm glad they got my attention. The busier I get, the more I need little bonuses like this one to recharge my batteries!

My man.

Six days in a row! Woo-hoo! I'm already feeling like I'm running out of material, but WHEW! Pam tagged me and helped me extend the NaBloPoMo streak another day.

1. Who is your man? Brett

2. How long have you been married? 13 years

3. How long did you date? dated for 9 months, engaged for 8 more

4. How old is your man? 40! WAAAAAAY older than I am!

5. Who eats more? since March, he does

6. Who said "I love you" first? I did

7. Who is taller? Brett

8. Who sings better? Brett--if you like that James Taylor-meets-Axl Rose kinda sound

9. Who is smarter? For academics, I am. He's got me by a mile when it comes to street smarts!

10. Whose temper is worse? Grrrr. I've got this one

11. Who does the laundry? I do the kids' and my clothes, but he ends up doing most of the linens and all of his own clothes

12. Who takes out the trash? Brett and our 2 manual laborers

13. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? If you are looking at the bed, I do

14. Who pays the bills? I do

15. Who is better on the computer? I am, but Brett's catching up. And he's actually figured out how to make money off his mad techno skills.

16. Who mows the lawn? Brett

17. Who cooks dinner? Brett--99 percent of the time. Thank goodness! We'd get sick of eating spaghetti and frozen lasagnas every night if I were head chef.

18. Who drives when you are together? Brett

19. Who pays when you go out? Brett

20. Who is more stubborn? I am!

21. Who is the first to admit when they are wrong? Are you saying I'm wrong? ARE YOU? (See #20.)

22. Whose families do you see most? His

23. Who kissed who first? Brett ("Let's take a break from TV" was his famous line.)

24. Who asked who out first? Brett

25. Who proposed? Brett

26. Who is more sensitive? I am

27. Who has more friends? Toss-up

28. Who has more siblings? Do football buddies count? Those guys are like brothers to me. If not, Brett has more since I'm an only

29. Who wears the pants in the family? The cats

30. Who is the biggest pushover with the kids? Hmmm... At Target, I am. When the kids want to go ride bikes or head to the park, Brett.

I tag anybody who hasn't answered these questions yet!

Reunion at Rosa's.

It had been way too long since we'd spent time with Aunt Kelly and Uncle Mike, so after church Sunday we met up with them at Rosa's.

It was good to catch up, even if we ate our fill and then some...

After we ate, Brett and the kids went over to Mike and Kelly's house to play--yep!--Wii tennis and bowling.

I'm so grateful to have our family in town! My mom, Brett's parents and both of his siblings live no more than 15 minutes away from us. We don't always see them as often as we'd like, but it's wonderful to have everybody so close.

Sunday night blues.

Ryan: Hey, Dad, remember Friday night when I said on Sunday we'll think how lucky we were on Friday?
Brett: Yes, I remember.
Ryan: Well, it's Sunday!

Anybody else get the Sunday night blues? I worked with a guy who planned fun, date-night type activities every Sunday night for himself and his wife. Years ago I would scrapbook on Sunday nights to ward off those melancholy feelings. (That lasted until I realized I was starting every Monday sleep-deprived because I was staying up too late on Sunday nights!)

These days we head to our small group meetings on Sunday evenings for one last gasp of weekend spirit-lifting and socializing. But still, when it's time to double-check the backpacks again, we all get a little sad.

At least this weekend was super-sized thanks to the time change!

Colt McCoy.

I was a Colt McCoy fan before he ever took a snap in a Longhorns uniform. Just seeing "C. McCoy" on his jersey was a thrill for me (since McCoy's my maiden name), and I had heard nice stories about his family and their ACU connections. Since becoming our starting QB, Colt has done nothing but impress me with his skills and tough-as-nails perseverance on the field, but more importantly, his character makes me so proud he's a Longhorn.

I've blogged about him before, but I read this today (sample line: " And with that, the baddest milk-swilling breakdancer ever produced by Tuscola Jim Ned High School kick-started a craze that caught on more quickly than the Macarena.").

So I just have to say it again: This is one great kid! (Yes, he's a kid because he's a college sophomore and I'm old enough to be his--gulp!--mother!)

How do I love Longhorn football?

Let me count the ways! I love:

1. having College Gameday on in the background while I'm working on my Saturday morning projects.
2. putting on my lucky T-shirt and shoes hours before gametime--just to get in the mood.
3. getting to watch the game with friends who know how to set a table for a football party.
4. seeing the "What Starts Here Changes the World" promos for UT (narrated by Walter Cronkite).
5. exchanging phone calls and text messages during the game.
6. spotting friends in the stands (in center--turned to his left, scratching his head. Can you believe Brett spotted him in the few seconds he was on the screen?):7. cheering for the Horns even when we're down by a seemingly insurmountable 21 points.
8. watching JC and Colt and Ship and Bailey pull off the impossible.
9. firing off celebratory emails after the game, just to affirm: WE NEVER DOUBTED!*

I have just one more game in Austin to attend this year, so I'm really trying to soak in these last few weeks of the season. Win or lose, these games are tons of fun. But crazy games like today's, along with so many wild upsets all season long, make the ride that much more fantastic!

*This is what our football group says after we win games that we honestly expected to lose. In fact, those three words showed up in two emails and a text message sent within minutes of each other this evening. And I readily admit it: I REALLY thought we'd lose this one! Whew!

Friday family fun.

Ryan and Katie know they can count on it. Brett knows to look forward to it. I don't know that I could get through the week without it. Even my yearbook students know to clear the journalism lab so I can get home for it.

It is our Friday family night, and usually it means dinner out and something fun to do together--even if that's a trip to Target. No matter what we end up doing--going out or just coming home--our Friday nights make the most of our collective ebullient attitudes.

Tonight we headed to one of favorite Tex-Mex hot spots: Frijoles. We just love the heated salsa, and Ryan and Katie are prolonging their love affair with the dinosaur-shaped chicken nuggets. Many a dinosaur story has been told with those chicken nuggets!

Dr Pepper... MMMMmmmmm!

SO full!

But not too full for ice cream!

After dinner tonight, we headed home for some Wii-time. Ryan just pummeled me in a tennis match, and now he and Brett have hit the lanes for another round of bowling. When she's not tango-ing across the living room, Katie's looking through an old scrapbook. I'm on my laptop, super happy just to be here. To quote Jesus Jones, right here, right now, there is no other place I want to be.

Happy November!

I'm challenging myself to post every day for the month of November. Why? Because I don't think I can do it!

Actually, I'm up for this because it's National Blog Posting Month (NaBloPoMo). Some NaBloPoMo participants are going with a particular theme, and I've realized I could benefit from blogging some gratitude. I have a million things to be thankful for, but I manage to focus on the negative. So I'm going all Partridge Family this month: "Come on, get happy!"

Here we go!

Skull Boy and Buffy Girl.

Ryan and Katie have recently discovered the greatness that is Buffy the Vampire Slayer. With that in mind, it's not surprising that Katie's rock star costume from last weekend transformed into a Buffy costume by the time Halloween rolled around.

Ryan, who wasn't too eager to pick a costume for the elementary school festival now that he's a middle schooler, picked a creepy mask for the big night o' Trick-or-Treating.

(Maybe I shouldn't have said PICKED.)

The kids hit our neighborhood and then headed to a bigger subdivision with LOTS of candy.
We rounded out our evening at Nana and Papa's house. Loaded down with goodies, both kids posed for their traditional portrait shortly before collapsing in exhausted heaps on the living room floor!

Happy Halloween from ChaCha Dub!

How could we live up to our reputation as crazy cat people if we didn't dress our cats for Halloween! (This lasted, oh, about 30 seconds!)

Who won the Nebraska-Texas game?

In honor of this week's opponent, the Nebraska Cornhuskers, we feasted on roasted corn on the cob!

Another football Saturday: Children of the corn edition.

Scenes from our next-to-last tailgate for this season:

Perfectly seasoned steaks

Some corn shucking

Our Section 1 buddies

A grill full of goodness

Double the pleasure

Roasted corn (to symbolize the impended torching of the Cornhuskers)

Roast 'em, Horns!

COOK 'EM, HORNS!

Texas hospitality

With temps in the low 70s, we FINALLY had some good football weather for our tailgate. The pleasant breezes, combined with the best food ever, made for a wonderful gathering. But joy of joys, our friends from New Jersey were in town for this one! These extra-special guests made this tailgate especially memorable.

Greg and I first started getting season tickets (with another Texas Ex) WAAAAAY back in '91. As the seasons passed, we lost and gained football buddies as friends graduated, gave in to their Longhorn addictions, or moved. It was the love of a great woman who took Greg away from our wild-and-crazy group and to the Big Apple. Since making the move, Greg hasn't made it to Austin too often. I hadn't seen Greg and Dana since those glorious Rose Bowl days in LA in January '06, so it was absolutely fantastic to see them this weekend!

I can't wait until the next reunion. Next time, how wonderful would it be to have K&D and Wall with us, too? In spite of our residences in New Jersey, California, Amarillo, Houston, Breckenridge, Fort Worth, Mansfield and good ol' Austin, our group has stayed in touch thanks to email and our common love of the Horns--and each other!