As you all know, Kenny’s grandfather has been struggling with his health for several months now and he was just not recovering. He was taken home to spend his last days comfortably with the care of hospice. His condition was worsening so we went up this past weekend to say our goodbyes. While we were there, he passed away peacefully Sunday afternoon. We stayed until things were arranged and we headed back to Houston that evening.

Kenny is doing well and is just glad that he is finally resting. Thanks for all your kind words and concern. His grandmother is still struggling but she is an extremely strong woman and has a lot of love to support her. She is actually doing better than expected but we also worry as time passes and it becomes more real that PaPa is gone. We will be heading back out tomorrow for the funeral and will be gone till Thursday night.

To add even more anxiety, but in a different way, I have had some good response from the 30+ resumes I sent out late last week and have already have three successful headhunter interviews (1 Friday and 2 yesterday) and today I have two interviews with actual companies. It is keeping me busy and I have no time to settle down here at home and get ready for our housewarming party Saturday night. Kenny and I still want to have it because we feel that we need to keep our normal life going and Kenny needs to be around friends this weekend but I've had no time to finish up around the house... I'm sure I'll find the time, somehow.

After this weekend though, Kenny and I are both looking forward to settling down. We are exhausted both mentally and physically. I know Kenny needs it a little more so I hope he takes a day off for himself soon as he had told me he would do.

Well, I must go and get ready for my 1st interview at 10 AM! Wish me luck!

posted at 4/30/2002 08:44:00 a. m.

R.I.P.
Lloyd Lisso
April 28th, 2002

Kenny's Grandfather is finally resting.
Please keep his family in your thoughts.
Fortunately, we were able to be with them this weekend.
Kenny was holding PaPa's hand when he finally let go.

posted at 4/29/2002 12:43:00 a. m.

Hanna sent this to me yesterday in lieu of the recent events. E.J. sent it to me a few months back as well but I thought it was especially appropriate this week. :D

Well, last night was a lot of fun - so much so that I got home around 10:30 PM and fell asleep on the couch. Kenny woke me up at 3 AM because he was going to bed! I had joined up with Dave at a Hump Day Happy Hour he regularly goes to. He was hosting his good friend Susan (a.k.a. Bob the Corgi) and I wanted to meet her. Laurence also showed up as well as my friend Phil, who had offered to take me out for drinks to lament the lay-off.
** a couple of pictures forthcoming tonight **

A great time was had by all and after 2 margaritas at Cafe Adobe, an unidentified Midori martini at The Davenport and intense discussions with Phil on topics such as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, relationships and minority issues (did you know I start to curse the more I drink?), I made it home safely - I was OK to drive after a glass of water - but sleepy. All I remember is feeding the fish, getting comfy on the couch and hearing Kenny come in from his pool league.

Of course, I felt very guilty about not having sent out resumes last night so I woke up at 7 AM (about 30-45 minutes earlier than normal) and was able to send out resumes to all the positions I had identified yesterday (ten total). Kenny had not said anything but I didn't want him to be disappointed in me so I made the extra effort to get those out. Let's hope one of my 30+ resumes gets a bite! I'll be checking my personal e-mail and the answering machine at home anxiously all day...

posted at 4/25/2002 09:22:00 a. m.

Well, I finally got my severance package and although I must keep the details confidential, I can say that I have a little breathing room. Yay! I feel a little better now... they came through for me in the end.

posted at 4/24/2002 02:44:00 p. m.

Thanks for all the kind words. I am still anxious and don't what is going to happen since my company has not given us a definite time frame (all they said was we could leave in a week or so) nor have they give me the final say on severance or if there will even be any (they are working with the NY office to see what they can offer). Still, I was a busy bee last night and sent my resume out 16 times last night. Today I'll send a few more out.

I guess the good things are 1) at least I can do this job search at work and use company time and 2) I may find something better than I had. If you know me personally, you've heard me say a million times how I needed to get out of here. I'd been looking but not very intensely since I was being picky. Of course, I would have preferred to leave on my own terms but I don't really have a choice now, do I?

I also want to publically thank my wonderful husband who has supported me by inundating my mailbox with potential job openings and by cooking a wonderful dinner while I busy e-mailing all those resumes. I know I'll make it and he will be my best support.

I'll keep you posted on how things go!!

posted at 4/24/2002 09:52:00 a. m.

I...just...got....laid off.

And I don't know what to do. Four years next month. 4 years of the same drive, same company. It was comfortable, even if I hadn't been happy for a while now.

Do I cry (trying not to right now)? Do I panic (I just bought a new house and I haven't even made the 1st payment)!? Do I reassure myself it will be OK. *sigh* I'll get back to you on this.

posted at 4/23/2002 11:54:00 a. m.

Hope everyone had a good weekend. I had a good one with a nice mix of fun and play. Friday and Saturday nights were spent with friends - dinner (BBQ Friday, sushi on Saturday) and a movie (Heist on Friday, Kiss of The Dragon on Saturday) back at our place. We also had delicious home-made pho Sunday for lunch at another friend's house. It was especially yummy!!!

But the weekend wasn't all play... I actually got stuff done around the house as well. The fish tank is finally set-up and has it's first batch of fish but the fish store would only let me get 6 (it's all they recommend for an initial tank set-up) so it still looks empty. Plus, the plant I bought has already been half-eaten by the snail who has been going at it like a logger! I intend to go to another pet store today after work though and add 4 or 5 more fish.

In general, I just did little things around the house - tidying up, putting things away, hanging things up. I took a few pictures but they are a bit dark. Still, Chris really wanted to see pictures so here they are:
-- My office: My desk, the shelves (I sit with my back to these), walking in (that's the snake's terrarium, my desk is to the right).
-- Front entryway (those are the doors to my office).
-- A very dark picture of Kenny's "Lounge" (complete with chess board). Eventually we will hang my black and white photography above the chairs and add halogen spotlights.
-- The gorgeous Tiffany-style lamp hanging in the lounge - 1, 2.

I'll post more as I get each room more completely set-up. I would have pictures of the living room and kitchen but they came out too dark and I need to wait to do them during the day. Having now spent a few weeks at the house, I can say that I really like the lighting in the house. It's very airy. Sure, there is a glare on the TV in the afternoon but I shouldn't be watching that much TV anyway! :D I am also very happy with my office. It's roomier than I thought and I didn't realize how much I would like having a room that is completely *mine*. All it needs now is a ceiling fan to help circulate some of the air.

I am really sorry to keep boring you with all the house stuff but I think it will be keeping me occupied just a few more weeks. I'll slowly get back to posting more mundane things in the next month!

posted at 4/22/2002 11:22:00 a. m.

This is a really good article about an interesting topic:
"Long before Western pop psychologists coined the concept of 'he said, she said,' the women here [Southern China] were putting it into living, daily practice. Using their special form of communication—called nushu, or women's script, in Chinese—they carved out their own private linguistic space in a world dominated by men."

A couple more links: World of Nushu and AncientScripts.com: Nushu

posted at 4/19/2002 10:34:00 a. m.

Sent to me by my friend Julian in Austin, also a former Aggie like me: HoustonChronicle.com - DeLay's advice: Don't send kids to Baylor or A&M

An excerpt: "DeLay, R-Sugar Land, urged his audience ... to pressure state legislators to 'throw the P.C. out and bring God in' at Texas' public universities."

Umm... whatever happened to separation of Church and State? They are *public* universities after all, not private Christian universities!!!

posted at 4/18/2002 01:52:00 p. m.

David Hasselhoff is hooked on a feeling...

A frightening music video featuring the "Ooga Chakka" song, dachshunds, Eskimos and weird gyrations by David himself. Watch with caution - you've been warned!

posted at 4/18/2002 01:26:00 p. m.

Well, I've been busy! The guest bedroom is finally organized (you can see the bed once more) and the pantry is also organized (I had just thrown in all the cans and stuff in no particular order so I had no idea what was in there). We also have - drum roll please - our cable modem set up! What is even neater is that Kenny hooked us up on wireless within the house so he could avoid having to drill holes in the walls and drop wires between the rooms. I am on-line without any wiring! It's actually really cool. It also means that we could grab the laptop, plop down on the couch and surf the internet without being connected...

We did all that last night but we also managed to sit still for a couple of hours and watch Zoolander (Kenny fell asleep halfway through it). It was cute and entertaining but not the funniest movie I've seen. Robert had came over earlier and brought a yummy pizza from a local restaurant so it turned out to be a very pleasant evening.

Tonight Kenny and I have tickets to see the satirist David Sedaris speak at the Wortham's Cullen Theater in Downtown and I'm looking forward to it. I'll tell you about it tomorrow since I'll need to leave soon...

posted at 4/17/2002 05:32:00 p. m.

I have a new e-mail address so please take note! Click on the circle with the telephone to the left to see it.

posted at 4/17/2002 09:47:00 a. m.

	You are Kermit! Though you're technically the star, you're pretty mellow and don't mind letting others share the spotlight. You are also something of a dreamer.
Take the What Muppet Are You? Quiz!

(Seems appropriate since I like froggies too!)

posted at 4/16/2002 04:47:00 p. m.

Well, I think I'm going to change things up around here this month including a new template. We have switched from DSL to cable modem, hence our ISP also changed so I am going to take advantage of the switch and go ahead and get my own domain. I'll still keep the blogspot.com address but all my other sites will be getting moved. Maybe a new e-mail can help clear out some of that nasty SPAM... one can only dream!

So, look for the updates in the upcoming weeks...

posted at 4/16/2002 04:29:00 p. m.

Time for Tuesday's This-or-That (link thanks to The Neurotic Fishbowl)

* Do you eat food if it hits the floor? Yes or no? If it falls somewhere inside, er, yeah, sure. If my dog Ginger is anywhere around, I call her over to get it. If it's outside, then no.
* Chinese food or Italian? Totally depends on the mood. I am partial to both.
* Ice cream or yogurt? I'm with Kymberlie - ice cream. Yogurt is an acquired taste that I have not completely acquired yet (it use to make me gag).
* Do you eat breakfast? Yes or no? Weekdays it's a glass of chocolate milk that I drink on my way to work in the car. Weekends does not involve breakfast at all.
* Have you ever eaten a bug? Yes or no? Not on purpose or that I was aware of.
* Soft drink from a can, bottle, or glass? Glass w/ ice.
* Do you consume 5 fruits and vegetables a day? Not all all. I'm lucky to get that in a week!
* Apple or orange? Apples. I don't particularly like eating fresh oranges (although I do love OJ)!
* Pork rinds or sardines? Occasionally, pork rinds - good for the long trips out to West Texas.
* Caviar or grits? Caviar of course! I don't even really know what grits are!

posted at 4/16/2002 11:35:00 a. m.

Well, I didn’t think my weekend was productive but as I thought back on it, I realized it really was!

* We finally open a 3rd bank account for all of the house bills (we’d always had separate accounts till now).
* I organized the master bathroom.
* We put away most of the remaining boxes and stuff up in the attic, opening up the dining room area once and for all.
* Kenny found an affordable chair and ottoman set for the dining area – he is creating a “lounge” instead since we do not have a formal dining set (our new dining table seats eight and is nice enough for formal dinners). He intends to have a chessboard set up between the two chairs as well as showcase my framed photography and eventually put our liquor and wine in there.
* I added some color to the front yard with some new plants (including bluebonnets, my favorite wildfower).
* I was also able to cleanup the garage enough to put my car in (this is the 1st time it’s ever been garaged). We should be able to get Kenny’s in there soon as well.

I think my biggest and most satisfying accomplishment was finally cleaning up my office and setting it up my way. This room is completely *mine*. All the pictures on the wall are up (my A&M diploma is next to my original Bugs Bunny animation cel, my bullfighting poster and my HTML color chart are also up, all alongside the cigar-smoking, martini-drinking sequined lion – don’t ask) and my computer with its various peripherals (printer, scanner, Handspring hot sync cradle, photo card reader) are all hooked up! My books are on the bookshelf and my floaty pens are prominently displayed. The room just feels comfortable… I still have lots of things left to do but the house is coming together. I’ll post pictures soon...

posted at 4/15/2002 04:05:00 p. m.

Time for this week's Friday Five:

1. What is your favorite restaurant and why? Houston has so many good restaurants (over 11,000!) so it's hard to pick . It all depends on my mood and what I feel like eating but I'll go ahead and say either Cafe Piquet (Cuban restaurant) or Cafe Red Onion (more general Caribbean food).

2. What fast food restaurant are you partial to? I love Schlotzsky's Deli.

3. What are your standards and rules for tipping? Anywhere from 10-20%. I try to double the tax which is 8.25% here in Houston.

4. Do you usually order an appetizer and/or dessert? I don't but usually if I'm going out with the usual large group of friends, they do and we all share some calamari or some cheesy fondue. I also hardly ever order dessert because I don't have that much of a sweet tooth and I'm always stuffed from dinner already.

5. What do you usually order to drink at a restaurant? I typically order some sort of lemonade (I love raspberry lemonade) or just a Coke if they don't offer lemonade.

posted at 4/12/2002 11:27:00 a. m.

So – it’s been a while since I blogged! Let’s see. I guess you haven’t really missed much. As I said already, Kenny and I moved this past Saturday thanks to the help of about a dozen of our friends and we managed to avoid the rain. The house is still a horrible mess and there are boxes everywhere but I’ve been too busy to do anything about it! Here’s a quick run-down:

Sunday: Went out and spent some more money at Linens 'n Things (where we got this nifty 30 piece glassware set), The Great Indoors, Bed, Bath & Beyond, Cost Plus, IKEA and Home Depot . Had dinner with friends and came home to organize my study a bit. I need a cabinet from my Mom’s to complete the room so hopefully it will be done this weekend.

Monday & Tuesday: Cleaned the apartment and finally turned in the keys Wednesday morning!! Also organized the master bedroom.

Wednesday (last night): Went to the H-Town Blogs Happy Hour at Kenneally’s Irish Pub. I also finally got to use the whirlpool tub last night and found out that just a bit of bubble bath can actually get out of control in a whirlpool. I was able to control it but barely… Note to self: Use half of what the bottle says.

So, as you can see, tonight is our 1st night to really stay home. I’ve been trying to set little goals like finishing one room at a time so tonight’s goal is the guest bedroom and master bath. I work each room till everything has found a place.

This weekend will involve a few more errands and I plan to organize the bar area and utility room, finish with my study, plant 2 or 3 pretty perennials out front to give it some color, shove stuff into the attic, clean out the snake cage (yes, I have a small albino king snake named Livia) as well as scrub down the fish tank and maybe even get it started with some basic fish. Kenny is working on his study so maybe we’ll be relatively organized by the end of the weekend. (Edited 4/15/02: strike-throughs were actually completed)

Once it is organized, I’ll take a few shots around the house so you can see it with our furniture in place.

posted at 4/11/2002 11:36:00 a. m.

Yay!!! I'm finally back up with all of my graphics!!!
I'll be posting a catch-up entry later today...

Thanks for being patient!

posted at 4/11/2002 09:49:00 a. m.

*** ON HIATUS **
I am waiting for my service provider's servers to be back up so my graphic files can be restored.

Quick update - We moved into the house this Satruday and have been working really hard unpacking and setting the rooms up. The "green room" looks great and so does the rest of the house!

Hopefully I'll be back in business soon!

posted at 4/08/2002 10:54:00 a. m.

*** ON HIATUS **
I am waiting for my service provider's servers to be back up so my graphic files can be restored.

Quick update - We moved into the house this Satruday and have been working really hard unpacking and setting the rooms up. The "green room" looks great and so does the rest of the house!

Hopefully I'll be back in business soon!

posted at 4/08/2002 10:54:00 a. m.

*** ON HIATUS **
I am waiting for my service provider's servers to be back up so my graphic files can be restored.

Quick update - We moved into the house this Satruday and have been working really hard unpacking and setting the rooms up. The "green room" looks great and so does the rest of the house!

Hopefully I'll be back in business soon!

posted at 4/08/2002 10:54:00 a. m.

*** ON HIATUS **
I am waiting for my service provider's servers to be back up so my graphic files can be restored.

Quick update - We moved into the house this Satruday and have been working really hard unpacking and setting the rooms up. The "green room" looks great and so does the rest of the house!

Hopefully I'll be back in business soon!

posted at 4/08/2002 10:54:00 a. m.

*** ON HIATUS **
I am waiting for my service provider's servers to be back up so my graphic files can be restored.

Quick update - We moved into the house this Satruday and have been working really hard unpacking and setting the rooms up. The "green room" looks great and so does the rest of the house!

Hopefully I'll be back in business soon!

posted at 4/08/2002 10:54:00 a. m.

*** ON HIATUS **
I am waiting for my service provider's servers to be back up so my graphic files can be restored.

Quick update - We moved into the house this Satruday and have been working really hard unpacking and setting the rooms up. The "green room" looks great and so does the rest of the house!

Hopefully I'll be back in business soon!

posted at 4/08/2002 10:54:00 a. m.

I heard this NPR commentary last night on my way home and thought I would share since I've done the same, although not for dating purposes. If I were single, I would though!
AUDIO: All Things Considered for Monday, April 01, 2002 : "Googling"

posted at 4/02/2002 07:58:00 a. m.

Again, sorry the site’s slowness and its lack of graphics – the mail server is back up but the regular servers aren’t yet.

So, where do I start? No boring details but like I said earlier, closing finally finished at 10 PM Thursday night. *big sigh of relief* Friday I had off so I picked up my Mom, had lunch with her and brought her to see the house for the 1st time. I managed to sweep and mop almost all the rooms that day as well. When there is no furniture, there is a lot of surface to cover (almost 2000 sq. feet)!!

Saturday Kenny and I got up before noon (a weekend rarity for us) and headed out for some furniture shopping. We hit a few stores and I picked out a new bedroom set (king-size bed & mattress, dresser with mirror and 2 nightstands) in a relatively efficient manner and then headed to IKEA to buy the dining table I’ve been coveting for 3 years. Also bought 8 matching chairs – we figure we often have 4-6 friends over and I’d rather have the extra chairs so we can be prepared when we start having everyone over for dinner, something we plan to do on a very regular basis from now on.

Sunday we headed back out and hit Home Depot where we bought a large outdoor trash can, a folding ladder and a timer for the outdoor lights. We also bought what we needed to fill in the nail holes and touch up the dirty spots. While Kenny & Robert dealt with the painting, I cleaned the fridge, the bathrooms and some shelves. Nothing was really dirty but it all needed a quick wipe-down. I also changed out burnt out bulbs (3 out of 4 were out in the front). We finished the night off by putting together the IKEA furniture, including ALL 8 chairs. Yep, that took some time but the end result was nice…

Tonight we go back to Home Depot for some more paint supplies because after checking all the available paint cans left behind by the previous owners and matching it with the rooms, we figured we need to paint 2 of the rooms (no matching colors). I’ll write more on that tomorrow. It should be interesting because I’ve never painted a room before… I’ll also get a chance to see if the light mint green I’m going to repaint the master bedroom in will look nice (the yellow in there was just too much after having the whole living area yellow). I think it will! Of course, I’ll take pictures and continue to share the stories…

posted at 4/01/2002 03:49:00 p. m.

Hi guys - yes, I'm still alive and yes, I'll be updating throughout the day but I wanted to say that my graphics are all missing because it seems that my service provider's server has crashed and all my stuff is loaded on it. I can still update through Blogger but the page will be blank... Sorry!

posted at 4/01/2002 09:16:00 a. m.