I’m starting to finally feel like I can breathe again.  It’s been a whirlwind past few months, that’s for sure!

I was in charge of planning our company’s big annual sales meeting… in another state.  So it’s been rather insane lately.  But the good news is that the meeting went well, everyone was happy, and I got a few perks out of it! lol

Since the meeting was in Orlando, I took Jack along with me and we visited Kennedy Space Center, Sea World, Magic Kingdom and Epcot Center!  Not bad, huh? The two days at Disney World was our Christmas gift from Mom & Dad.  I say it was to make up for not taking me as a child! lol

I finally feel like I’m starting to catch up with life now.  And hopefully that means catching up with my blog too.

So what’s around the corner… well I’m heading to Las Vegas for a tradeshow in February (first time to Vegas for me!), and then in March is Walk MS.  I’m also gearing up for Bike MS in May. I’ve moved over to help out with the SAG vans this year, very excited about that.  And pretty soon the weather will star warming up so we can hit the road on the bicycles again.

Bring it on 2010!
~Heather

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So probably each day is going to have to be it’s own post… and will probably wait until I’m sitting in front of a computer with all of the photos downloaded from my camera! But suffice it to say that I worked my hiney off to prepare for the sales meeting and it was well worth it!

My reward was two days at the happiest place on Earth – Magic Kingdom & Epcot!

But for now, I am flying home. Sunrises are beautiful, but there’s nothing like the ones in the clouds!

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Today was our Sea World day during our Florida vacation. It was chilly, but sunny, so very nice. We didn’t get too cold until the sun started going down in the evening.

We started with the sting ray and dolphin feeding areas before heading to the dolphin show. It was so fun, and very cool getting so close to the animals! The penguin habitat (photo) was neat too, as was the shark exhibit. They have a very cool “cirque” type show, and we finished the day off with the Shamu show. Unfortunately it was too cold to run the roller coasters (or at least that was the story!), so we missed out on Manta & Kracken.

It really brought back memories since I remember having season tickets to Sea World in San Antonio back when I was 12! It’s amazing to see how things have changed. Very, very cool experience today.

Oh yeah, and we topped it off with dinner at Miller’s Ale House… Awesome seafood mac & cheese!! :)

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So yesterday we went to Kennedy Space Center in Florida. It was very, very cool! We were lucky to see the space shuttle Endeavor out on the launch pad. It’s scheduled to launch in early February, but they roll it out 30 days early, so we hit it just in time.

If you’re ever in the area, I highly recommend a visit. It wasn’t so educational that it lost interest. There’s lots to do too, so definitely plan a full day! We’d love to go back and hit the Hall of Fame as well!

Pics to come… I didn’t take any with my phone, just my digi camera.

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so I finally found a wordpress app for my iPhone. hopefully this means I’ll post on my blog more! I just haven’t had time to sit down and write. yet when I do have time, it’s because I don’t have anything to write about! lol. Hopefully that all changes. welcome to 2010!!

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It’s been soooo long since I’ve posted and soooooo much has happened!

I found a job! Woo hoo!

Our dog Angel passed away.  That one was really, really tough.  Still is some days.

We decided to get another rat terrier puppy.  She was born June 1, and we should be able to get her around the first of August.

We spontaneously adopted one of the neighbor’s puppies.  She’s part shih tzu and part who knows what.  But she’s the cutest little shih what you’ve ever seen!

We’ve been doing bike rides almost every weekend.  Burleson Honey Tour, Tour de Pepper, Tour de Italia, Mesquite Rodeo Ride, Cow Creek Classic….

Had Dad’s retirement party.

Um, I think that’s it.  It seems like so, so, so much more!

Up next… who knows!  :o)

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Holy cow!  I log on to my computer, and my RSS reader comes up just like every day, and I see Margie Romney-Aslett has a new post… cool!  She’s super talented and super funny, I always look forward to her posts!  She has been embarking on a new and exciting adventure since leaving a scrapbooking company recently (Hmmm, sound like someone you know?).  A few days ago she posted a contest for a prize from her new endeavor which was still top secret! lol

Ok, so back to the post… I’m reading it and she announces she’s teaming up with her daughters for a new online kit club!  Very cool! And the prize she’s giving away is 6 months membership to that club!  Even cooler!  And then… you’re not going to believe this… she drew MY name!!  Holy heck! Seriously?!?!  The video’s even there to prove it!

WOW!!!  Thank you Margie!!  This is so awesome! I am so excited about this, and here’s why… over the past year I’ve kind of lost the “spark” for scrapbooking. I’ve been needing a swift kick in the pants to get me back in the groove.  And on top of that, there’s the whole unemployed thing going on, so it’s an awesome, awesome, awesomely exciting thing! 

~Heather

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I got laid off. 

It was quite a shock, I have to say.  I’m not looking forward to having to start over at a new place with new co-workers.  But it is what it is, and I’ll move forward.  Would love your thoughts and prayers as I embark on this new journey.

~Heather

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This past weekend was Bike MS, a 150 mile bike ride from Frisco to Fort Worth. To say it was eventful is an understatement! lol

First of all, the City of Fort Worth cancelled all outdoor public gatherings due to the swine flu!  Well the ride was supposed to finish on Sunday in Sundance Square in downtown Fort Worth.  After some scrambling, the route for day 2 was changed to be out and back from Texas Motor Speedway.

So Friday night was the Expo at the Embassy Suites… very awesome! Jack and I decided not to stay at the hotel this year since we had Angel recovering from seizures and Spaz recovering from his surgery.

Saturday morning started bright and early.  Jack had to be at the SAG meetup at 5:45 AM, so yeah, very early!! lol  I was lucky enough to be driving a loaner Toyota Highlander since Toyota was a sponsor.  Woo hoo!!  Once Jack was loaded up with his SAG driver, I headed out to the first rest stop.  The day was full of driving between rest stops, picking up lunch and running it back to other rest stops… thank goodness for that Highlander and my GPS!!

All day long it was overcast and threatening rain.  At one point in the afternoon you could feel the temperature just plummet! I was passing the Tour Director on the road, and the next thing you know she’s pulling up next to me and her driver is waving me to her car.  I got in to find out that hail was moving into the area, and they were calling the ride.  We had to clear everyone off the road.  We were at the only rest stop with no shelter, so they immediately got moving clearing out that rest stop while I headed to the last one to help the SAG coordinator from that end.  Not long after I got out on the road, it was raining.  I felt horrible for those cyclists who were riding in the rain.

I got to the rest stop, donned my poncho (thank goodness I remembered to throw it in the car), and we directed cyclists to cover until we got the official word that the road was clear behind us. As I was heading back towards the finish, I came across about 50 cyclists huddled under an overpass.  Police were with them and they were waiting for SAG vans to come pick them up.  No one was willing to leave their bikes, so I left empty handed.  The same thing happened a few minutes later at a Valero station.

It was such a relief when we finally heard that everyone was safely off the course. Now the question, with the threat of more weather, what would happen to Day 2?? When we left the Speedway there was a weather meeting about to take place, and on the way home we drove through a monsoon!

It wasn’t long after we got home that I got the phone call… Day 2 was cancelled. It was a bummer, but I knew we couldn’t put people out there knowing that we’d be having bad weather again.

Well, we woke up Sunday morning, and it was a great day!  The sun even came out at one point!  Apparently the weather that we were fearing came through faster than they thought, and passed through overnight.  So we ended up with a nice Sunday, and got lots done… including cupcakes! :o)

Next year will even be bigger and better! And I think I may try to get my HAM license before then so we can be a better part of communications.  But we’ll see!

~Heather

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Here’s the photos that go with the last post!

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So this is going to be my catch-up post for the past week!  lol  Get ready, it’s going to be a long one!

Last weekend was the BP-MS150.  Day 1 was cancelled as previously reported.  We spent Saturday waiting around for instructions and then carting a team to Schulenburg where they were staying.  After that, Jack and I took a side trip to Waelder to see M&S’s new place out in the middle of nowhere!  lol  Sorry, M… it really is!

Day 2 was interesting, fun, stressful and everything you can imagine!  If you’re reading this and you rode in that ride, I’m going to say the same thing I said inside the van to other cyclists… We try REALLY hard not to hit you guys, but some of you are just nuts and make it really difficult!  I mean, riding on the wrong side of the yellow line?  C’mon people!!  Anyway, I didn’t hit anyone, and I only got yelled at by one cyclist and one DPS officer!  A good day!  lol  The coolest part of the day was after the last rest stop.  At that point, if they’ve made it that far, they’re making it to the finish.  Well we picked up one very emotional lady who was devastated when her bike had a catastrophic failure.  She’d worked so hard, and this was her first 150.  Well Jack and I broke all the rules and a couple of barricades and got her to the finish line where she was able to walk her broken bike across the finish line!  THAT was a very cool feeling!

The Monday after the MS150 was Cyclists in Suits day.  A lobbying day at the Texas Capitol for bike safety laws.  We visited the House and Senate chambers, then went off to visit our lawmakers.  I had appointments scheduled with both our Senator and our Representative.  Our Senator didn’t bother to show up that day.  I still have issues with that, and the fact that he didn’t show up for the vote on the bike legislation, but that’s another issue for another day.  Our Representative however… his office was awesome, and he even came off the House floor to meet us and hear what we had to say.  I was TOTALLY impressed with him!

We came back home, and I was in super solder mode to get a bulk custom order done by Friday for an event.  In the midst of that we had the Rest Stop captain training for the DFW Sam’s Club MS150, which is this next weekend!  It’s already here believe it or not!!

Jack and I both had doctor appointments this week.  He’s lost about 60 pounds as a result of his surgery, which is fantastic!!  I’m so proud of him!  He rode in the Muenster Metric Century bike ride this weekend.  He did the 65k route, which is about 40 miles.  And he’s been riding to work everyday when the weather or wind isn’t nasty.  He’s my studmuffin cyclist! :o)

Friday we had a bit of a scare.  I was letting the dogs out when Angel stumbled, fell and then had a seizure.  We took her to the veterinarian, who did bloodwork and reported that she has autoimmune hemoglobin anemia.  Basically her body is attacking her red blood cells.  We’re starting her on some steroids this week, which will compromise her immune system, which means no more dog park for her.  I’m going to call the vet and see if it’s ok to still take Spaz, or do we have to worry that he’ll bring something home.  He’d be devastated if he couldn’t go to the park anymore!

So it’s been pretty eventful around here.  We’re getting ready for the Sam’s Club MS150 this weekend… Jack is a HAM operator in a SAG van again… I’m helping with rest stops on Day 1, and captaining a rest stop on Day 2 (If you want to come help… I need the help!  Sunday from 8am until around 2:30 pm… you get a shirt, and I’m really desperate!!).  I’ve got to do some charms for that, and we have the last committee meeting this week.  Plus I’ve got a couple of events that I’m working on, so it’s going to be a busy, busy week!!

I’ll post some photos soon!

~Heather

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This weekend is the BP MS150.  It’s a cycling event that raises money for the Multiple Sclerosis Society.  A 150 mile bike ride from Houston, TX to Austin, TX.  Day 1 is about 75 miles to LaGrange, then Day 2 is about 80 miles from LaGrange to Austin.

Jack and I volunteered to drive a SAG van in support of the riders.  Basically if someone has a problem and needs to be driven to the next break point, that’s what we do.  We cruise back and forth between break points picking up riders who need help.

So this morning we dropped Spaz at the vet’s for the weekend, and took off for the BP MS 150.  First stop, Austin to pick up our van. 

We had just passed Waco when the rain started.  And it never stopped.  It poured so hard that at times we were only going 30 miles per hour on the freeway!  We finally made it to Austin, got the van, got everything transferred from our car to the van, dropped our car at the hotel parking lot, and headed for Houston. I didn’t think it could get any worse… oh but it did!

It was raining so hard, and so constantly that by the time we got to Houston my arms were sore!  As we drove through LaGrange we saw mile after mile of flooded fields.  At times, the highway was even starting to get covered by water, flooded over from the drainage ditches.  The Colorado River was swollen.  As we drove through seeing all of this, Jack and I looked at each other and said “uh oh!”

See, LaGrange is the overnight location.  LaGrange is where 13,000 riders are supposed to camp (yes, CAMP) and spend the night Saturday night.  13,000 cyclists were supposed to ride in on those roads that were being covered by water!

We arrived in Houston with much anticipation of how this weekend was going to pan out.  We arrived around 4:30 pm and it wasn’t long before rumors started to fly.  “Cancelled?  The weekend?  Just the day?  Are you riding anyway? It can’t be that bad. They just don’t want to get wet! How do we get home?  Where are we going to stay?”  We heard it all… in the lobby of the hotel, at the bike shop we ran to, on twitter, the SAG yahoo group…

Then the official word came via the event website.  Route is dangerous.  Day 1 cancelled.  Day 2 will start as planned.

Which brings on a whole new set of issues… What about those who were dropped in Houston from out of town and don’t have transportation?  How are they going to get to LaGrange? What about the next line of storms coming tonight and tomorrow that are as bad as the ones today?

There is a lot left to be determined (or from what I’m finding out… communicated).  So we shall see what happens.  All I know for sure right now is that Jack and I report at noon with our van to the park & ride we were supposed to be at 5am, so at least we get to sleep in.  But we’re going to need that sleep for the (expected) chaos that will be Saturday, April 18th.

Goodnight, y’all!!
~Heather

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Yeah, I know.  Strange title!  But that was our Easter weekend!

On Saturday we had our big family Easter Egg Hunt at my parents’ house.  We had a lot of fun, both hiding and finding the eggs.  I’ve posted some photos from the day.

My parents live near a creek and there are several trails along the creek.  They’d been seeing some “suspicious” activity, so we took a walk to investigate.  And what did we find? Someone had been planting marijuana in the woods!  We found a hole dug out with potting soil and several plants.  Then further along the trail was a plant pot, with (no pun intended) pot planted! In a neighboring mesquite tree was a shovel and gallon jug of water.  Very interesting!  We called the police and they came out, took photos, etc. Unfortunately the cops got there in the middle of the Easter Egg Hunt dinner.  Mom was slightly embarrassed that there were two police cars parked in front of her house! lol

Anyway, here’s some photos from the weekend.  I’m getting used to a new version of Wordpress, so I hope this works.  You should be able to click on the photo to make it larger.

~Heather

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As promised, here’s some pics.  they really do make the blog prettier and more interesting, huh? :o)

Grandpa’s 97th Birthday.  This is the cake I made.  The top was chocolate and fondant (the brim was fondant), and the bottom was lemon with buttercream icing.  My grandfather doesn’t leave home without his hat!  He’s had it for as long as I can remember.  It’s a little old, a little worn, but hey… so is Grandpa!  I really need to get a new camera because mine was not happy in the low light when I took this photo of grandma & grandpa.  But I know I will treasure it forever, faults and all!

And here’s some pics from the Tour of Dallas this past weekend.  My studly, cycling hubby! :o)

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I’ve decided that I’m not going to call it “busy” anymore… just active! lol

Last weekend was the celebration of my grandfather’s 97th birthday.  I made him a cake that looked like his cowboy hat that he wears to church every Sunday.  I’ll post a photo soon.  Most of our extended family came up for it, so it was a great time of visiting and catching up with everyone!

This past weekend Jack rode in the Tour of Dallas bike ride.  20 miles!  I’m so proud of him!  I’ll post photos later once I get them off the camera.  I was supposed to ride too, but had some mechanical issues.  Instead I was his personal SAG vehicle. :o)

Later that day we took the dogs to the off-leash dog park (which is becoming a daily thing), and since I didn’t ride that morning I decided to walk them to the park!  It’s 2.05 miles… gulp!  Cool thing though, I bought the Nike+ sensor thing that you can put in your tennis shoes and it feeds information about your walk to you iPod.  I don’t have the Nike shoes, but there’s all kinds of ways to use it with other shoes too.  When I plug my iPod into the computer it uploads my walk/run information and keeps track of it online.  Cool, huh?  Even cooler is the little avatar thing that I can put on my blog so that YOU can see how far/fast/etc. I’ve walked/ran and keep me accountable!  Right now she’s on the right sidebar, down towards the bottom.  Check her out, my mini me is pretty rockin’!

This month is going to be super, super ACTIVE!!  Next weekend is Easter and we’ve got family egg hunts, and more.  The next weekend we travel to Houston and Austin to drive a SAG van in the BP MS 150 bike ride.  Monday, April 20th we’ll also be in Austin for the Cyclists in Suits lobbying day at the Capital.  Then there’s a soldering class I’m helping out with.  Then the next weekend (the first weekend in May) is the Sam’s Club MS 150 in Dallas/Fort Worth where Jack is HAM’ing, and I’m helping with the rest stops!  Whew!  So basically, if you don’t see me, don’t get responses to emails, etc. during the month of April, don’t send out a search party just yet!  lol

Today, I’m chilling out at Panera Bread, taking advantage of their free wi-fi while waiting to go to my doctor’s appointment, then heading to the office after that.  Also working on a new website for Jack, but more on that later.

Lots of stuff for “later!”  So I’ll definitely be posting again real soon!
~Heather

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Pizza!

Originally uploaded by dacriscloset

One of the challenges with Jack’s recent surgery is… What do I
eat? :). Jack is on liquids only, so he takes care of himself. I’m
having to be creative though. I don’t want to fix a full meal, because
then I either eat too much, or it goes to waste (sorry, I don’t care
to eat the same meal every day!). It’s almost like going back to being
single!

The other thing is, I’m trying to just use what we have in the pantry
rather than spending a bunch of money on groceries. So last night i’m
looking at my options… We have a package of pilsbury pizza dough
that really needs to be used. Great. No pizza sauce, so I pulled out a
small jar of spaghetti sauce. Grated some cheese (colby jack!). Now,
toppings? How about some diced ham? Toss it in the oven and voilà!
Pizza! And it was tummy too! I definitely don’t mind having
leftovers of this one!

And isn’t it just so pretty??? :)

Sent from iPhone.

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I miss  having Spring Break!  I could really use a break right now!  Yes, I know that I was off last week with Jack’s surgery, but that’s not really a break.  I don’t remember the last time I really took a “vacation” with vacation time!  It’s usually me taking a day off because I’m behind on something, or have a committment to something else!  Oh well! :o)

Jack is doing really good!  I’m seriously impressed at how good he’s doing.  He’s also been updating his blog (needlegeek.com) a lot, so be sure to check that out!

I’ve been creating a new website and online identity for a top secret event that we’ll be announcing soon.  Trust me, you’ll get all the scoopage here!  And if you’re a crafty person, you’re gonna want the scoopage!

This week is a Bike MS steering committee meeting, I need to get some fondant pieces started for a cowboy hat cake for next weekend, I finished some MS charms tonight (yay!), and there’s some more designing to be done.  There’s always designing to be done! But I love it!

Oh, one more thing, we upgraded the OS on our Mac and with it came the new version of iLife. SO COOL!  It recognizes faces!!  That’s just awesome!  And I can’t wait to see what Apple has in store in tomorrow’s announcement for the iPhone!

~Heather

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If you haven’t heard the song, or seen the video, check it out.  I’ve loved the song on the radio, and just saw the video tonight!  So cute!

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So I had all these good intentions of blogging during the day while hanging out at the hospital and Jack got his surgical stuff done.  Instead… I tweeted.  A lot.  So much so that I think I annoyed my greatest friend in the world, but I digress.

The surgery went well.  The doc was pleased.  As pleased as he can be… he’s a man of few words and even fewer emotional demonstrations.  The COMPLETE AND TOTAL opposite of Jack plastic surgeon!  But again, I digress.

We got there around 5:15 AM, surgery was supposed to happen at 7:15 AM, however said doc was “late as usual” (nurse’s words, not mine!), we wondered if he forgot to change his clock! lol  Finally went into surgery around 7:45 AM.

Around 10:30 I finally asked the desk clerk for an update, and after a few terse words (which involved me not checking in with her, to which I replied, “I’m sorry, YOU weren’t HERE at 5:00 this morning for me to check in with!”), the doc came out, said everything went well, he’d be in recovery soon, and have a nice day (minus the have a nice day part!)

Jack was in a regular room around 11:30, then down to radiology for a gastro x-ray to make sure his pouch pooched like it was supposed to.  Jack was surprisingly mobile!  Even when they brought him back into the room, he got up off the gurney (slowly of course!), and walked to the bed.  Then for the trip to radiology he got up, walked to the wheelchair, etc. etc.  Doc’s orders, he has to walk as much as possible.  We made three trips down the hall tonight before he went to bed, and we’ll be making more, and longer trips tomorrow (so prepare yourself, Jack!!).

I came home around 10:45 PM, for some sleep and to let the dogs have some normalcy, although they immediately started hunting for Jack.  Sorry guys!  I’ll go back in the morning, and he’ll be released at some point, probably before lunchtime.

I left for a few hours in the middle of the afternoon for my own doctor’s appointment across town.  But I’ll blog about that later…. maybe tomorrow… over at the Build-A-Family blog.

So for now…. hello bed!
~Heather

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I added a feed of my tweets from twitter on the sidebar.  I tend to tweet more often than I blog!  lol

Spending the weekend getting things in order before Jack’s surgery.  Laundry, cleaning, etc.  He goes on clear liquids tomorrow and Sunday. It’s going to be strange cooking for one for a while!  I’m stocked up on cereal and turkey sandwich stuff!!  lol  No, really, I cooked some chicken breast tonight and froze it in single serving portions so it’ll be easy to get out just what I need.  It’ll be a few weeks before Jack is able to eat real food again!

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