Our Somewhat Relaxing Weekend

Jeff and I have been so busy every weekend that we just wanted a weekend to RELAX. We have been slowly fixing up our little apartment, so we were very excited when our faux wood blinds arrived early Saturday. We’ve been going slow as they are a little pricey, and now have our bedroom and living room complete. The second set of blinds was much easier for Jeff to hang, although I left when they arrived because he has a tendency to get very frustrated. I returned home to find the blinds up, the house spotless, and Jeff smiling. Note to self: Leave house when Jeff tries to be a handy man. Saturday night we cooked steak and ate outside, and just spent the rest of the evening relaxing on the couch.




We were able to sleep in this morning, and woke up to another beautiful day! We loaded up Sam, and headed off to the dog park. On the way home we stopped at Subway to get lunch, and then to the store. When we opened the car to put the groceries in, we quickly noticed that the subway bag was demolished. Sam had eaten a foot long BMT and a turkey wrap in their entirety. All that remained was some lettuce and onions strewn about the front seat of the car!! Jeff and I were speechless, and pissed off because we were really looking forward to our lunch. Needless to say, Sam will not be eating dinner tonight, or breakfast in the morning. As if he’s not fat enough, right?

I'm Back!

Hey Guys! I just wanted to share my trip to St. George, Utah with everyone. I'm doing a car dealership in St. George, and I visited to finalize all of the finishes. St. George is about an hour and a half outside of Las Vegas. So, we flew into Vegas, and don't worry, I didn't gamble away the rent money. I'm way too cheap for that! Anyhow, I arrived in St. George Sunday night, and it was absolutely beautiful. Texas is so flat, so I was in awe when we started driving down the "gorge". Anyhow, I didn't have time to see the city, but the weather was great, and the change was nice. Here are some pics.



I took this picture from inside the dealership looking out the front door. There is still a lot to be done, but nonetheless, the architectural elements are amazing.

Still Here

Hello! I just want everyone to know that we’re still here. Jeff has found a new blog, and this one gets no love, so I decided to take charge. I feel like we’re finally settled into the new apartment, and it looks A LOT better than the pictures Jeff posted. We’ve encountered a few setbacks including the bathroom ceiling caving in, Lloyd dying a few weeks ago and then Lenny passing away last night. I know….how hard is it to keep a fish alive? But, apparently we have bad water, or at least that’s what I’m telling myself. Sam got a new “fancy” bed, and he loves it, hence the picture. I know it’s probably not very interesting, but we’re still here.

Sometimes historical just means old

Remember when I posted about the history and uniqueness of our neighborhood? Well today Lauren and were victimized by the antiquity of our apartment. The day was going great and we had finally gotten everything out of my apartment and into the new one. Sidenote – no one is allowed to buy me a book ever again. Anyway, despite being sweaty and exhausted, we were proud of how well things were coming together and pleased that we were finding room for everything. This should have been an ominous sign.

Suddenly it sounded as though it were raining outside. Lauren, in fact, asked me, “Is it raining?” I walked toward the bedroom to look out the window and noticed that the sound of falling water grew louder as I approached the bathroom. I peaked in and got a bit of a surprise as water was dripping running pouring down from the ceiling above our bathtub. I quickly evaluated the situation. “Um, Lauren we have a…leak.”

By the time Lauren made it to the bathroom Tropical Storm “Ceiling” had advanced from downpour to deluge. My immediate thought was to grab a bucket or something to catch the water. Finding a bucket at this point would have been akin to trying to put out a forest fire by blowing on it. As we watched the scene unfold, Lauren noticed the wet ceiling tiles buckling and said they looked as though they could fall. Nary a second later, her words proved prophetic.

Lauren screamed and we both jumped as the first tile crashed to the ground. With fewer tiles to slow it, the water gained force. Soon more tiles fell into the tub followed by dirt, muck, and whatever else lives between the floors of a 90-year old house. Our bathroom had not fared well in this battle and Lauren was visibly shaken by the whole experience. My reaction was one of bewilderment. For the first time in my life I felt just like Tom Hanks in The Money Pit.

From the start it was evident that the water was coming from our upstairs neighbor and Lauren and eventually went up to see what was going on. I couldn’t imagine how this conversation would go. “Hi, we live downstairs. Could you please stop playing with your rain-making machine? Thanks. Oh, and we can borrow some towels?” It turns out that our neighbor wasn’t feeling well and had decided to take a bath. She usually takes showers, so how could she possibly know that trying to fill her tub would also simultaneously fill ours? She finally gave up on her bath and turned off the water. This slowed the stream into our apartment to a slow trickle.

We called our landlords in Texarkana and explained the situation. As luck would have it, the landlords’ daughter was in Houston and stopped by to survey the damage in person. Her husband eventually checked it out and made some type of repair to the ancient pipes. Lauren and I cleaned up the bathroom and life has returned to normal…well, other than that giant hole in our ceiling.

A Republican Party...Party

So I attended my first-ever political bash…and it was with Republicans. Saturday night Lauren’s family hosted a fundraiser for Ted Poe. Poe is the United States Representative for Texas’ 2nd Congressional District. We had a great evening of BBQ, drinks and conversation. In addition, Poe spoke to the crowd and also answered a few questions. I was actually very impressed with Judge Poe, both in meeting him individually and in hearing him speak. He is able to “play to his audience” very well, and is a considerably better orator than our current president.

Anyway, here are some pictures of the occasion.



Here we have Lauren and I with the guest of honor.




The barbecue pit was housed in an old fire engine that simply drove up to the backyard. It also made an excellent backdrop for photos as you can see. Oh, and aren't we cute?



This is Lauren's mom and Keith posing with us. For some reason, we were the only one's so impressed by the fire truck.



And finally, Capt. Lauren Fayle behind the wheel of the big rig.

Here We Go Again

Because I feel this this blog gets a bit messy when I can't decide if I want to use it to post academic stuff, life stuff, or sports stuff, I have decided to start a second blog. That's right folks, A SECOND BLOG!!!!

And I know what you're thinking, "But Jeffie, no one even reads this one". I'm aware of that, which is why I will now force them to not read two blogs. Get it?

So to get to the new blog click here. And don't forget to bookmark it and spread the word.

Something to Keep an Eye On

A student in the course I was a TA for last fall is suing the University of Houston, and my supervising professor for failing to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act. I don’t want to discuss this too much here (considering our family does not have a quality attorney on retainer), but I will mention that the news articles only tell one side of the story. I was aware of the situation at the time and believed it was handled in an appropriate and just manner that was inline with the university’s policies. That being said, there is no way the university wins this lawsuit and the policy is sure to be changed.

As best I can tell I was not named in the lawsuit, but was mentioned at least in passing:

"The four teaching assistants assigned to the class refused to take notes for Bradford, the lawsuit says.”

Or so Bradford claims. But, um, any publicity is good publicity…right?

Anyway, you can read more about it here and here.