We have air!

After five days, the air conditioner has been fixed. Yeah! Thursday night the fan on the air conditioner went out. Dad took a look at it, but there was nothing that he could do. We needed professional help. We called to have someone come out, but it wasn't until Tuesday that our guy showed up. The only downside to the long weekend was the humidity. Over the past few days, the weather has mimicked the Amazon and its many jungles. The upside was the chance the fall asleep to the rain and crickets. At night, I felt as if I was camping...the gentle, warm, wet breeze coming through a screen with the crickets serenading me to sleep.

What the #$*! do we know?

Today I got up and went to see a movie with Ari, What the #$*! do we know? The movie was based around quantum physics and the pursuit of knowledge…why do we exist and what are we to do? In so many ways, what many of these people believed is so close to what you teach Lord. And yet, they don’t see the big picture. What if there was an ultimate creator? What if we were created in him image? What if he loved us so much that he created us and gave us characteristics of himself? People see you as a God who created in order to be worshiped. Since people don’t understand God and do not seek to better learn about God, they have to create this other being who made everything or has all of this under his control…there isn’t a God, just the universe who is all knowing, or a Great Spirit. I have always found it fascinating to study you, to study what you have made, to study who we are…in the pursuit of knowledge we can come to know you better…the creator who made everything and who made me. It is easy to focus so hard on the universe and how it works, or the human existence and what it is, or the earth and the reality it provides us…that focus is actually lost. No longer do you see the whole, but only a part. God becomes lost in our pursuit to understand ourselves and the world around us. That is truly sad. God did not create us to worship him. Christ did not come to do something God could not do on his own. Christ did not come to condemn those who his father had made. God’s love was so great that he created in order to share his love. Everything he created was a gift to us. Yes, even the tree of life. In that gift, he gave us choice. Do we choose to live with Him or apart from Him? It was our choice. When we chose the second choice, God did not rearrange his plan. His plan has and always will be to be with his people, so Christ was sent. He came to bridge the gap that we had created… a gap between the Creator and creation. He came out of love for us…not to condemn as so many believe. We have been given so much….we have such a wonderful life to live…eternal life that begins here on Earth if we accept. And again, it is our choice. Out of love, he again allows us to choose…do we chose to be with our Creator or live apart from God?

Girls Night Out

Friday night was girls night out…well, with the exception of Craig (Cherissa’s gay coworker, who joined us for dinner). We ate at Patrizio’s…great Italian food with really good drinks. After dinner, it was Cherissa, her best friend and I who headed to La Madeline’s for dessert and wine. We all shared a fruit pizza with coffe or wine. The conversation moved between guys, health, sex, love, back to guys, jobs, careers, did I say guys? We talked until restaurant closed. It was so refreshing to spend time with sane, intelligent, straightforward women.

My place...

Well, there is a little bit of work to do, but this is where I live. It took a dozen tries before I got the funiture just where I wanted it. Right now I am still bringing in boxes from the garage, but I only have three more boxes to get. I've also been through every box in my room and am ready to go buy new storage containers, begin organizing and placing everything in its place. The next pictures you see will be a drastic improvement!

My walk in closet.

Where I sleep.

The view from the door.

I'm finally feeling better....

After a week and half of being sick, I am finally feeling better. Yeah! Though I only had a cold, it felt just as bad as the flu!

A few highlights from Corpus...

Tuesday night's fun: Dinner at the local Oyster Bar. We started off with oysters, shrimp (coconut fried, and peel and eat), and seafood quesadillas. Of course, I'm not a fan of shrimp or oysters, so I decided to wait until the main course. The main course was mesquite grilled chicken with steamed veggies and rice. It was so good to eat a great meal! Yumm! ///

Wednesday: The vendors arrived! I had gone to some of the preconference seminars and was able to take a sneak peak at the vendor booths. The best free bees...manicure set and a back pack. Of course, there was much more things...lots of pens, paper pads, post its, notebooks, calculators, calendars, letter openers, bags, and the list could go on. /// Wednesday night we were envited to a dozen shin digs...the night began with drinks in one of the lenders room, then we the TASFAA President's party to attend...there was a live brass band and, of course, more drinks and lots of food. After the president's party, another lender was taking us to dinner. The seafood restaurant we went to was closed especially for us and several other attendees. Again, there was enough food to feed an army...more shrimp, nachoes, fried mushrooms, salad, mahi mahi and more shrimp, and then there was dessert! So what did we do after dinner...two of my coworkers headed to the Padre Island for a beach party. My other coworker and I headed upstairs to the bar for drinks. Of course, that was only after I had decided not to attend the beach party, the party hosted by wells fargo, the other party hosted by costep, and a personal invitation for a night out on the town by one of our servicers.

Thursday: After the evening of parties, we all slept in. Sleep...hallelujah! The big party was thursday night....the costume party hosted by TG and TASFAA. Only through God's grace was the party not rained out. For food we were served my favorite...tex mex! Yeah to fajitas! (can you tell we ate a lot!) There were many good costumes, but the winners were Lucy, the Flinstones, and Scooby Doo and Gang. Also, we had a live band. They were great....music was played from the sixties, seventies, and eighties. As the decades changed, so did the singers costumes and dancing. It was a lot of fun!

Friday: Pam and I got up and headed to the beach. My coworker, Pam, had wanted to ride the hotel's tandem bike all week. We finally got the chance. And the best part of the day... leaving to come home!

A row of seagulls

The Lexington and a seagull

Me and Pam riding the tandem bike

Me on the Beach

View of the bay

View of Corpus From the Hotel Room

Corpus Christi

I left Monday, October 4th, for Corpus. Due to a huge thunderstorm making its way through the DFW area, I was awoken at six am on Monday. At 6:40 I gave up on sleep and decided to start the day. By eight am, I had finished packing and was ready to go. By nine am, I was on the road with my three coworkers. ///

The drive was long! Very long! We chatted for part of the way and I did finish one book on tape. One of my coworkers is a smoker so we stopped every two hours for her. The stops were very nice; they broke up the long car ride and gave me a chance to stretch and breath real air. ///

The most interesting aspect of our trip was our last stop for food. We stopped at a Mexican Restaurant. Though I thought it was questionable, Pam noted how many vehicles were parked at the restaurant...it had to be decent if so many people were there. The restaurant served authentic Mexcian food...not tex-mex but Mexican food. And let me tell you, there is a distinct difference. None the less, we did manage to eat a few bites and finally decided we would eat again once we had checked into the hotel. ///

At seven, we arrived at the Omni Bayfront Hotel and checked in. The first night all four of us would share one room. Never had a full sized bed looked so small! ///

After check in we made our way to dinner. We ate at Pier 49 overlooking the Lexington. The best part of dinner was our view...the Lexington was all lit up and it was gorgeous. The Lexington was encompassed by blue lights that made the ship glow. It was amazing to see such a large ship completely lit up with the waves knocking against the side of the boat. ///

Once back at the hotel, the girls headed for the hotel bar while I got ready for bed. After a long day in a car, the only thing I wanted was a hot shower and some sleep.

The Omni Bayfront Hotel

I'm back

I am finally back from Corpus Christi. Yeah! I had a great time and can't wait to tell more stories. Right now, I am heading to bed for a good nights sleep. :)

Tumble weed

Yesterday, I was driving down the road and saw a tumbleweed. I very much felt as if I was in a Western movie. How often do you see that in Dallas?

I'm gone...

Moday morning I leave for Corpus Christi and won't be back until late Friday night. All week long I get to attend the state association for financial aid advisors. I am hoping that it will be interesting and that my coworkers will not require too much extra grace. /// Though I will be staying on the beach at a four star hotel. Not bad. That I can deal with. :)