Cardinal Sign?

Last night Emi and I were surprised to see a female Northern Cardinal scratching and pecking on the playroom window. She was perched on the trumpet vine under the awning looking right at us.
Cardinal: brings colour to your life and reminds you that all you do is important, you are someone who brightens others lives! They can also symbolize "renewed vitality" (I could use that!) and of course cardinals are long beloved as a symbol of Christmas cheer...

Other animals we've spotted at our house in the past year: skunks, raccoons (came right up to the back door), possums (yuck!), bat ("Toes"), owls, fox, huge frogs and numerous birds....

For the past few months I've awakened to 2 Barred Owls talking to each other saying "Who-cooks-for-you, who-cooks-for-you-all?"  Typically one owl is close to our bedroom window and the other owl is in the neighbor's tree up very high. It's really neat to hear them talk, but I just wish it wasn't always between 3 and 4 am....maybe the cardinal was trying to escape the owls?

Merry Christmas, Baby!

A late night with my family last night was followed by a VERY early morning with Scott's family. But first we had to wake Emi up to share with her the good news that Santa didn't skip our house this year! She got a lot of cool stuff from Santa - like a scooter and a science kit. She also got Moon Shoes from her Lola and cool pink suede boots from her Aunt Stevie! We had breakfast with Grandma Babe, Grandaddy-o and Aunt Stevie before we made the 3 hour trip to see Great Mema, Grandmother and Grandad. It was a full day and we were all tired, but it was a very nice time spent with the family. And Emi raked in the goodies again! She must have been a really good girl this past year!

Here Comes Santa Claus

Tonight we celebrated Christmas Eve with my family with a traditional Cuban dinner - Pork Roast with Black Beans and Rice, Platanos, etc. We even had some Mojitos and Cherry Cordials. The little cousins had fun entertaining us adults with their Christmas caroling. It was a nice evening with the family.  Emi got to open a few gifts tonight and was pleasantly surprised to get the Quick Gem Hair Beader she's been singing about for weeks...

Winterfest 2006

A friend of mine, Nick Wu, sketched our portraits during the Winterfest Artwalk tonight. It is always neat to watch Nick draw. I took his portrait drawing class a few years ago but I found that I enjoyed watching him draw more than I enjoyed sketching things at that time.

Check out the drawings...we look so serious....

Mile High City (*cough*cough*)

I was in Denver this past week for a conference and had a great time - made some new friends and learned a LOT! Not just about DOORS and requirements management, but life in other states and countries, art, politics, religion.  I feel like my IQ points were raised by this trip. Woo-hoo!

I didn't bring my camera, but my friend Becky took some pics:

Nolita and Becky at the Telelogic Americas 2006 Welcome Reception

On the big event night Telelogic bussed us out to Red Rocks where we got to use those handy fleece throw blankets they gave us.

At Red Rocks

Kerry apparently did some time in my home town...

Loving This Wall

We visited The Denver Art Museum's new Frederic C. Hamilton Building and its additional exhibition space (just opened Oct 7th!) The new building was designed by famed architect Daniel Libeskind, who drew up the original master plan for the rebuilding of the World Trade Center site. It doubles the DAM's space with room for 3 traveling exhibitions and the museum's own holdings.

The $90.5 million building consists of geometric, titanium-clad angles that resemble the peaks of the Rocky Mountains. A 120-foot-high atrium features sloping walls, a skylight and a grand staircase that provide easy access to the building's galleries. An additional two-story atrium houses the modern and contemporary galleries, which include an outdoor sculpture garden providing views of the Denver skyline.

(Yeah I totally ganked all of the above from the museum website)

Qbert anyone?

The second-floor Anschutz Gallery housed "Radar: Selections From the Logan Collection," including works from artists Andy Warhol, Cindy Sherman, Franz Ackermann and Katharina Fritsch.  Pulled from the collections of Vicki and Kent Logan, the show gets its title from the couple’s uncanny ability to know and define what is happening in the current contemporary moment... as if by radar!  I work with weather radars so I HAD to check it out 

I went through many emotions wandering through the exhibit. 

Very thought-provoking.... I was sure to leave with their book for a dear friend for her birthday.

We visited the outdoor art garden too...

I experienced vertigo several times as we moved through the museum ... that open bar the night before probably didn't help matters much.

Later we broke free from the crowds to dine at a really great French restaurant in downtown Denver.

Outside Le Central 

Made in Oklahoma

Today we went on a tasting tour of Oklahoma. We started off at the Canadian River Winery for the wine festival in Slaughterville.

This winery grows 20% of the grapes needed to make their wine and supplements with grapes grown only in Oklahoma. We stocked up on a few bottles of their Rio Rojo (a sweet red wine) and Sangria. Next we headed to Bedre Chocolates in Pauls Valley. The factory is owned by the Chickasaw Nation. Bedre means "better" and we can attest to that. We stocked up on lots of yummy chocolates.

From there we headed to Krebs to eat an early dinner at Pete's Place and that was a slice of heaven - family style Italian cuisine. We (37 of us) had a private room and the wait staff kept bringing us food: salad, meatballs and ravioli, sausage, grilled lemon chicken, spaghetti, etc. It was all so wonderful and the Choc beer was a nice treat too. Similar to Boulevard Wheat but a little stronger.

Tickled and Satisfied

We wrapped up the tour in Okemah at the Grape Ranch for another wine tasting. We were given some cool souvenir wine glasses with "Beat Texas" etched in them (just in time for the Red River Rivalry next weekend). The Country Rose wine was a nice treat served frozen!

We are spiritual beings having a human experience...

Right before dusk I was sweeping our alley which was littered with pecan shells and leaves and I thought I saw one of the pecans move. I looked closer and thought the pecan was actually a mole or shrew. When I poked the animal with a stick, it open its mouth and then I spotted a wing. It was still alive but wasn't taking to flight so I secured the area from the cats and hopped online to see what I should do. Rabies was a concern. I found a great site which basically said to leave the bat alone.

I contacted a "bat lady" (from Wildcare Foundation) who explained that the bat could be sick or injured or just in deep torpor, a daily sleep state in which the heart rate and body temp go way down -- this happens at my office every day after lunch.

When she arrived to retrieve the bat, it was dusk and the bat was still very lethargic. She picked it up to hang it in her pop-up bat carrier and it got a little more animated. When I cat came by to investigate, the bat got even more lively so it looked like maybe the bat would make it.  Carol told me the bat was a Colonial bat (evening bat) and could find its way back home...pretty cool!

"Toes"

Havana Night

Tonight marked the start of our local dinner club. We kicked it off with a Cuban dinner at Casa Morgan. We even had mojitos just like Hemingway enjoyed in Havana with Cuban rum, lime juice, mint from the garden, dash of sugar and club soda. Very refreshing and complimented nicely with the Avocado Shrimp Cocktail.

We served Cuban roast pork marinate in mojo, black beans with rice and platanos. "Dessert" was simply guava paste with cream cheese on crackers. Later we hung out by the fire bowl enjoying good company and conversation on the last day of summer.

Boomer Sooner

One of my good friends, Dee Anne and I went to the OU-Washington game today and it was a fun time. She won free tickets and we had some really great seats for what turned out to be a really good game. After the game (which we won) we headed to O'Connell's for some post-game refreshments and ended up getting Josh Heupel's autograph at the post-game wrap up show. How sweet is that? I immediately surrendered it to my hubby when I got home.

Tribute to John

This morning Emi (who has had the Beatles in her life all of her life) was asking Scott about going to see the Beatles sometime. This is because we had the Concert for Bangladesh playing while we cleaned house. Scott told her that two of the Beatles were dead and she started asking about how they died. He explained that George got sick and died and that John was shot. She asked who shot him, his name and she even wanted to see a picture of him (which Scott showed her in one of his Beatles books).

He thought that after he answered her questions, that would be it, but a few minutes later she started crying. I heard her howling from the kitchen and she was so upset. He filled me in on what transpired and I told him that even though John's been dead all of these years, she's JUST finding out. I completely understand her sadness & emotion.

She kept going over to his picture on the wall saying "John, you were my favorite Beatle" with tears streaming down her face. I went around her room with her and showed her how many things of John's she had, that he had originally doodled for his son (like her rug, lamp, book ends, rhino plush animal, etc) but she was upset for a while. I got her to draw a picture for John to get out her sadness. I know that kiddos are curious about death at this age, but I was surprised to see her so upset about someone she's never met, but then again, it is a Beatle! For the record, Paul is her 2nd fave.....

Where do I start with the updates?

Well, since my last post we survived the holidays, attempted to adopt a baby into our family in January, returned the baby to her birth mom in February, survived another birthday, survived my twenty year reunion .....yada yada yada

I guess you can say I've been in "survivor" mode for some time now....things are easing up a little, but now I've caught the bug to do some remodeling/decorating around the "new" place.... I hope to get back into the postings again!

7th Annual Lake Party

Yesterday we had our 7th annual lake party and it was so hot!

Beaver's Bend

We spent the weekend at Beaver's Bend with my parents, brothers and sisters and their kiddos. Was a fabulous relaxing weekend and I wish we were still there....

Me and my Brothers and Sisters

Bamboo

Emi with her Aunt DeeDee in Bamboo Stalks

Emi Caught a Fish

Grandkids

Winos

Tonight we hosted a Chilean wine tasting at our house and had about 40 people bring wine and snacks to the house. We hadn't been to a monthly wine tasting since before we moved so it was a nice change. The weather was nice enough to mill around outside in between wines, but because there were so many people present, it was easy to get sidetracked from Nicole's very educational presentation. We look forward to the next!

Survived Another Year

Not quite unscathed, but definitely for the better.

Maybe I'm Amazed

This morning Emi and I took Mickey and her mom to the airport and said our "goodbyes". It was a very difficult thing to do, but we never tried to talk her out of her decision. We never wanted to cause any pain for her and I think she understood that. We had a nice time with her and the baby here this week and she seemed to take to caring for the baby with ease. We had some really nice talks and last night she let the baby sleep in our bed with us. Both girls slept in between us. McCartney had some really sweet smiles for us on this last day.

Emi and I went to the Waffle House after we left the airport to have some quality time with just us. She seemed happy to have me to herself again. She asked me if I was sad and I told her I was....that I missed the baby. On the way home we were stopped at a redlight and "Maybe I'm Amazed" (Paul McCartney) came on the radio. It really hit home....

Tonight when I asked Emi if she missed the baby, she said "no". She then said "I miss no one." and a few seconds later said "I miss mommy and daddy". We are so thankful for our precious Emi. I can't imagine going through this without her.

Wisdom of Solomon

This morning after prayer and lots of talk, we contacted Mickey's birth mom and asked her to come stay with us for a few days. We wanted to be sure that she felt comfortable taking care of the baby and we wanted to have some sort of transition. After all, we have grown attached to the baby and it's the least she could do in consideration of our feelings.

We were not looking to adopt another baby when she had called us, but we had faith that God wanted us to adopt her and went through the effort and time to do the paperwork, pay attorneys, get physicals, fly to NY and stay for 2 weeks, as well as caring for the baby since she was born.

We had been home for 2 weeks and were moving forward with our lives as a created family and she did not understand the ramifications of her actions at this point....she was very emotional, which is totally understandable. We felt like we understood her situation and were the most sympathetic to her needs than any of her family or the birth father's family. She agreed to stay with us for a few days.

Devastation Day 2

I woke up with puffy eyes this morning and Emi kept asking me why I was crying. I told her that the baby was going back to NY to live. Emi told me not to cry because the baby was still right here. Every time she caught me crying, she'd try to reassure me that everything was going to be fine. Later, Scott talked to McCartney's birthmom and tried to piece together what was going on. She wanted us to meet her at the airport tomorrow to drop off the baby. He told her that we were not going to do that - that we had concerns about the welfare of the baby. We were not trying to keep the baby from her, but we needed some time also - this was happening too fast.

Smiles and Shellshock

Today after church we gathered at my dad's house for lunch as usual. Uncle Gabe who is usually working got to join us and meet Mickey for the first time. She had a bunch of smiles for him.

Later today when we got home, I was checking my e-mail and got the message that the birth mom had changed her mind. My attorney called us to let us know as well. We feel like we've been punched in the gut.. I don't think I put the baby down the whole night.

Invasion of the Grandparents

We were graced with a visit from Scott's mom, Mema, Grandmother and Granddad today. They all wanted to see and hold the baby and give her gifts. Grandmother made a blanket especially for Mickey and Mema got her some precious outfits, one of the outfits had Minnie Mouse on it. It was a great visit and we were proud to show off precious baby girl.

McCartney looks like she's so content in Mema's arms. We have the same picture of Emi in Grandma Babe's arm when she was just a tiny baby...

Home Again, Home Again..

We are so glad to be home again. You would not think that staying in a hotel and room service would get old, but it does after 2 weeks.We had some really good time with Mickey's birth family spending almost every night with them. It's a time we will never forget. Emi was so glad to be home that she has already spent the night with Grandma Babe. She actually met us at the airport and Emi went home with her. It was funny when Emi came in the next day she saw the baby laying on her blanket and said "What's McCartney doing on my blanket?" Well, there are only a few things she could be doing and I told Emi that she was just laying there. Emi promptly asked for a bottle....little regression going on here?

I had ordered the "McCartney" CD before we left for NY, so it was waiting for us when we returned home. I opened it up and flipped it over to see the back cover and was amazed. There was a photo of Paul McCartney with a full beard and his baby tucked into his jacket. Daddy had stopped shaving when we were in NY so he had a full beard. We decided that the baby announcements would consist of a photo of Scott in his new leather jacket holding the baby. How cool!

Happy Birthday!

We missed McCartney's birth because we were stuck at the hotel with no transportation, but we got to see her within the hour when her grandma picked us up. She was crying under a heat lamp and she seemed very upset. The nurses let Scott and I (Emi was asleep) put on gowns and hold the sweet baby. She immediately calmed down once she was held. She hitched here and there as she kept calming down and we soothed her by talking to her. We were seriously tired from the excitement and the adrenaline flowing. We stayed with her for a few hours, then we left so that the birth family could spend some time with her.