Happy September!

It happened again… maybe I should call this “the very occasional sometimes updated but not very often blog from the boring life of…”

Here I am looking at my calendar and wondering how it happened. August went by and we are 1/3 of the way in to September and I have not been able to keep up. I know that the Olympics took up about three solid weeks of my life, but can not account for the other couple of weeks in there. OK, maybe I can. I will try to update you as best I can.

I apologize in advance (sorry mom) for the lack of pictures. Seems I have been slacking on my picture taking duties this past month. I have charged my camera batteries and renewed my vow to be a better keeper of our history. Look out!

Where do I start?

School started.

I can not believe I have a 7^th grader and a 2^nd grader. I think my disbelief comes for many reasons. First of all, my mom just celebrated her 39^th birthday – so it seems impossible. Second, I talk to my 7^th grader and some days get a response I would deem more adult than most adults I know. Third, I look at my 2^nd grader and remember a time when his little heartbeat was visible on a sonogram screen and it seems like only yesterday. I could go on and on here, but I will spare you.

The kids both seem to truly enjoy school so far. Homework has been light and it seems to be a review year vs. a learning year for both of them. We will see how things go. I am looking forward to a great year for both of them. I really like M’s teacher and believe she has the right kind of organizational ability to keep M on task. I may need to ask her for some tips. ;)

The Summer Olympics.

What can I say? I put my life on hold to watch them every 4 years. I am fascinated with every sport and with every athlete story. Of course the aquatic activities are what I anticipate more than anything. Memories of my days as a swimmer come flooding back every 4 years . . . and I feel even more out of shape each passing Olympics! Although, I would like to mention that I am in better shape than I have been in years. I have lost a considerable amount of weight in the past 10 months and am quite happy about it. I may even put on a swim suit and get in the pool for some laps (when I find the time and a swimsuit that fits). Back to the Olympics – I am proud of Team USA. This was a great Olympics for America and the individuals that went to China represented our country well. This was also a great showcase for China. I was fascinated with the venues and enthralled with the Opening and Closing Ceremonies. It was truly amazing to watch the artistry in motion.

New Adventures of an old Kelly

I have always loved the water and the outdoors and have recently learned to do something that combines both in a very exciting manner. My friend Brandall was brave enough to take me kayaking. He has two kayaks, an orange one named Orange Peel and green one very appropriately named Speedwell by his oldest son. I have decided that I love kayaking. I love the ability to get out and be in the middle of no where even when you are in the middle of somewhere. The beauty of Texas is seen from a completely different perspective when seen from the river. I am a fan for life of river sports (easy slow flowing river sports).

We went on two different kinds of trips. The first was on a faster flowing river where there were some small rapids, some long slow places to paddle and some exciting places. For a very short period of my life I was a dam. I was perpendicular to the river at one point, stuck between some rocks and a tree. I even had a cute little fish jump in my boat to mock me and tell me to speed it up. I eventually muscled (stop laughing dad) my way out of it and was cheered on by Brandall. I laughed more than I had in a long time when trying to get out of some interesting stuck places. The trees and small fish are magnetic and really liked Speedwell. It was beautiful; it even rained a gentle slow rain while we were on a quieter part of the river. Likely one of the most serene moments of my life.

The second adventure was on a somewhat slower river between Lake Ray Roberts and Lewisville Lake. We did get to do some paddling and some pulling of the kayaks. I learned that I am not as scared of the unknown depths as I thought I was (otherwise described as I watched too many horror movies as a child and am scared of the things you can not see under water). The fish here were much bigger and thankfully none of them jumped in my boat this time. I will have to invest in a waterproof camera for future kayaking trips; there is just too much beauty to not capture some of it on film.

Now for some photos to go along with story time....

This past weekend was the September Birthday Bash Extravaganza! Of course I brought the camera.

The Birthday Boy - 14 already!!

Mom, Kim and Ryan all have birthdays in September – so we try to get together at some point to have a little celebration. Kim was kind enough to host her own birthday party and let us meet at her house. We went to lunch at Trudy’s where Kim’s boyfriend Jay and our other sister Kim (Sasser) met us to eat. After lunch we all went back to Kim’s (sister) to open presents and eat cake and baklava.

Ryan got a steering wheel thing (see how much I know….) that he was super excited to get. The thing is, they gave him the box 1^st as a little birthday hoax. It was filled with all kinds of awesomeness like underwear and socks and books and movies. Ryan was so gracious and truly happy with what was in the box even after he realized what he really wanted was not in the box. Then after a few moments – the steering wheel and parts were given to Ryan – much to his excitement. The pictures tell it better.

Surprise surprise.

A lovely bunch.

We love kisses!!!

Then there is the trip to IKEA . . . all I can say is "Can you hear me now?!?!?!". If you want to know the full story - Kim S has video. =)
Update: The video. . . Thank you Kimberly!
Check out Kim's amazing photography at www.firedancer9.deviantart.com

Proof that technology will be the death of some of us.

Baseball

I did get to go to another Rangers game this year. I was thinking I would miss going to any more games this year, but was able talk Brandall in to going this past Sunday. We scored some amazing seats at a steal. The game was not so amazing, the Rangers lost to the Red Socks unfortunately. The ballpark is one of my favorite places to be, so win or lose, I am happy to get to experience one of the greatest team sports I can think of live and in person.

The new Cowboys Stadium being built next to
the Beautiful Ballpark in Arlington.

The view from our seats.
I love this place!

I do hope to have more frequent shorter updates as life becomes slightly more settled. The house is still on the market. We have not had too many showings, but certainly a great motivator to keep the house neat, clean and tidy. I will keep you posted, if even only once a month or so – I will try.

Blah blah blah. I did it again, didn’t I?