Monday, September 29, 2008

two weeks worth...

I think it's been about two weeks since I've been able to update.  I've only been able to spend a few moments at a time online, so writing out all that has happened since my last one has been hard to even think about doing.  Because this is going to be pretty long, I'll leave out the photos.  I'll try and make a photo entry sometime this week and add all the photos, but for now, photo free.

Nick came home on the 16th.  It was really weird compared to his last homecoming, which was 5000 people on a ship with thier families meeting them on the pier.  Here, it was 20 people with their families meeting them at a hanger. Very anti-climatic.  No bands, no screaming throngs of people, no media, nothing.  But it was nice in the fact that it only took one hour to get there, collect Nick and get his bags loaded in the car.  I think for his last homecoming, we were on the pier for hours.  I took Zuri with me to pick him up, but left Aaron at school.  I wanted Nick's coming home to be a surprise to him.  Zuri was a little hesitant and tried to hide from him, she's seen him on webcam and heard his voice, but the connection that 'this is daddy' wasn't being made.  We went and picked Aaron up from school and all he could do was giggle and say 'That's my daddy,' over and over again.  He was super excited to see Nick and wouldn't leave him alone the rest of the night.

Wednesday through Friday was spent at home, hanging out and working on unpacking.  Also, we had to pack for the weekend that Nick and I planned to spend alone without kids.

Friday, we went up to San Antonio after Aaron got out of school.  Nick's parents took us out to dinner for Mexican food and Nick shared stories from the past 6 months.  After dinner, Nick and I went downtown to stay the weekend without the kids.

Saturday Morning, we went to San Marcus to the outlets for shopping.  We bought some things for the kids, some things for me and Nick some sunglasses.  I really love the outlets because I was getting normally expensive things for very cheap.  Nick even bought me a bracelet that was 70% off retail as a gift, it's flowers and pink and I have a thing for pink and flowers.  That night, we went out for sushi at a sushi bar downtown called Sushi Zushi.  They'd won 'best of the best' 6 years in a row, so we were expecting it to be awesome, but it wasn't even good.  We went home pretty disappointed in our food, our service and the atmosphere.  the only thing that the restaurant had going for it was they wore cool shirts with funky sayings on them.

Sunday, we went to Six Flags Fiesta Texas.  I'm terrified of heights, so roller coasters get my blood going.  I actually did really well on the coasters, better than usual (no threatening to vomit or calling for my mommy) but the drop ride (Slingshot) caused me to threaten Nick with bodily harm if we ever did it again.  Not cool.  They had different themed areas through out the park and one was 'The Boardwalk' where they had the older rides like the ferris wheel.  We rode one ride called 'Frisbee' and both of us nearly threw up.  Not good considering we were in a giant circle, spinning around; the vomit would have landed on us, or the poor kids sitting across from us.
After we got back from the park, we went to Mi Tierra, the best Mexican food I've ever had and I've had a LOT of Mexican food.  It's world famous and according to our waiter, Bette Midler, Lyle Lovett, Carlos Santana and George Lopez have all eaten there.  They also have awesome margaritas.  I had a large strawberry, a 'swirl' and a prickly pear, all of which were insanely good.  I think it's hard to decide which was the best part, the atmosphere, the waitstaff, the roaming mariachi bands, the food or the drinks.  It was all great and we plan on going back.

Monday, we went and picked the kids up and came back home.  We spent the rest of the week chilling at home, doing some shopping and just enjoying being a family again.
I also made a new friend this past week.  Aaron's schoolmate's mom and I got to talking outside of the school on Thursday.  I was wearing my gym clothes and said something about going to work out and next thing I knew, we were at the gym together, laughing at each other.  She got a little dizzy and we spent about an hour or so in the bathroom talking about ourselves and our families.  We made plans and got together again on Friday at the gym.  We did my first class together, Body Pump and even though I tipped over and broke a nail, it was still a lot of fun.  We left the class extremely sore but working out plans for the next week on what we'd do together.

Friday night it was back to San Antonio.  We went out to Mexican for dinner again with Nick's parents.  I told you, we eat a lot of Mexican food down here.

Saturday, we went to Sea World.  Nick, his parents, the kids and I.  Aaron was disappointed because he wasn't big enough to ride any rides, but he did have fun at the kids net area and loved sliding down the slides after climbing to the top.  We made sure to see the 'Shamu' show, which didn't go over very well with Zuri because we sat in the splash zone and that water is FREEZING.  I believe she now has an unnatural aversion to killer whale tails.

Sunday we had a BBQ at the in-laws where Nick grilled some of the most perfect ribs ever consumed.  They were just awesome.  Nick's aunts, uncle, cousin, grandparents and some family friends all came out.  Nick's birthday recently passed so his High School best friend brought him a present; a painting of Yankee's Stadium.  It's pretty big so we're still trying to find a place to hang it.

Today, I met up at the gym again with my friend.  We did the body flow class, a combination of Tai Chi, Yoga and Pilates.  Since the body pump on Friday, we have both been so sore walking was an issue, so the body flow really stretched us out and loosened up our muscles.

And to end it all on a high note:
I haven't been to the gym in nearly a month.  With Nick back, we've been eating a lot of junk food and I was really worried about weighing myself because I figured I'd gained all the weight I've lost and then some.  Nope.  I maintained my weight loss. Didn't gain anything in a month.  That has me really encouraged and happy.  Now that I have a gym buddy, I feel like I can lose even more.

Monday, September 15, 2008

Bringing you up to speed

I know it's been a while since I've blogged and also a while since I've read anyone else's blog.  Sorry about that.  We had to evacuate for the hurricane and I've also had a ton of things on my plate since Nick is coming home soon.
Getting ready for a return from deployment is nearly as stressful as getting ready to send them on deployment.  I've had to turn on a cell phone, clean out the cars, clean the whole house, find an outfit to wear and do some 'personal maintenance' that I've been neglecting for the last few months.  I also have a baby blanket needs to be done in the next month and plans for another one plus a matching stuffed animal and a scarf that I'm hoping to be able to give as a Christmas gift.  Good thing I'm learning to type while crocheting so I can still maintain a level of activity on the social site I frequent and on the crochet/knitting forum that I like to use for ideas.
I'm hoping to get updated on reading some other blogs in the near future (maybe after things have settled down) because I really miss hearing about how my friends are doing (ps, if you know my number, just call me, I can talk and clean at the same time, but can't type and clean at the same time.).
And for you random strangers who read this... Sorry I'm not more entertaining.  Next time, I'll juggle flaming bowling balls while covered in honey, standing over an ant hill.  Get your cameras ready :)

Saturday, September 6, 2008

Dolphin Pee

I took the kids to the TX State Aquarium today.  They had a lot of fun running around looking at all the fish.  We also watched the dolphin show (again).  We sat in the very front row, in the center.  I've seen this show maybe 10 times and every time they tell you 'If you're in the blue row, you might get wet.'  I've always sat in the blue row, and I've never gotten wet.  Today was different though, we got soaked.  One of the dolphins splashed us three times.  Zuri loved the water and was licking it off her hands.  I made the mistake of saying; 'Yummy, Dolphin Pee' and Aaron freaked out.  I guess Dolphin Pee is nasty.  Hehe.

I didn't bring my camera because they haven't changed the exhibits since the last time we went.  BIG mistake.  On the way down to see the underwater dolphin exhibit, we caught them playing with a large cat.  About the size of a bobcat, but with spots.  When they noticed we were watching, they told us it was an African Serval.  So beautiful.  I can't believe I missed out on getting a picture of one.   


*photo was found on photobucket.

Monday, September 1, 2008

Finished it!

For a month, I've been working on an afghan for Andrea.  It's the largest project I've ever crocheted and I am so happy to say that it is done!  I can't wait to send it to her so she can see it.  I also learned a lot while working on it.  Nick's aunt taught me how to join blocks with a crochet stitch instead of a whip stitch and I also learned a few new stitches.
It's been a really fun project and I'm going to start a new one, a baby blanket, as soon as the yarn comes in that I've ordered.

Here's the finished project:
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Saturday, Planes, Trains, Tigers and bears... What?

Saturday, we kept the kids really busy.  First was a trip to downtown San Antonio to visit the Children's Museum.  Right now, they have a big exhibit on trains and Aaron was super excited to go.  He got to 'drive' a train, fly in a plane, see fish and be in a bubble.
Zuri just had fun chasing after him and running up and down the stairs, but she did enjoy being in the conductor's seat of the train.

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After the museum, we went to the Rainforest Cafe.  It's a 3 story restaurant with waterfalls, fake flowers and anima-tronic animals.  The one in San Antonio is the only one with the Panda Bears, so it was cool to hear them and see them during dinner.  Also, every 15-20 minutes, there was a 'thunder storm' where the lights would flicker and thunder would sound.  The food was also awesomely good but more than we could eat.  We treated the kids and got each of them a rainbow Icee.  Zuri's was almost as big as she was.

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