Thanksgiving Ying & Yang

Before my parents divorced when I was 1- they had been married for 12 years. They had lots of stories of how wonderful their lives had been together and how great my older brother was, yada, yada, yada, then.. well the rest is history. I often wonder how my life would have been had my mother and step father not raised me and loved me dearly. To say that nature over nurture is correct or vice-versa- really doesn't make much sense to me. I have two walking, talking, screaming, sassing pitre dishes of individuality marked with likenesses too large to quantify, in my home on a daily basis, for 4 years. They can be as different as night and day- often banding together to wear their father and I out on an almost nightly basis. When it really comes down to it though- they are the wonders of our existence- the center of our "beings", our Ying & Yang... Who we are makes us all different- where we come from makes us alike too. So, on this Thanksgiving week- I have a lot to be "Thankful" for! Most of all- my children and darling husband- and equally so, the experiences that brought me to this place. Bad or good- they got us 4 here, to this place- happiness, thankfulness, fulfilled.

This is my list of 10 quick things I can think of that make you both so different, special and unique:

Brooke:

10.) You fake cry- often, even when you KNOW we KNOW that you are faking

9.) You do the "tee-tee" dance, with wild abandon, lest we experience a "world change" in the 30 seconds that you are gone from the room.

8.) You love to run, jump, play and laugh- like no other I know.

7.) You love life (even at the age of 4!)

6.) You are the "girliest" girl I know!

5.) You smile and every face in the room lights up.

4.) You sass like Paris Hilton, without a credit card!

3.) You hate shoes (which is weird, because I thought that was in every girls D.N.A.?)

2.) You will do ANYTHING to sidetrack your brother. (Even if it entails fake crying)

1.) You hung the moon for your daddy and I.

Brycie:

10.) You are the most sensitive, of sensitive boys on earth

9.) You would rather be close to a train than any other toy you posses

8.) You still like for your sister to be close to you when you go up a dark flight of stairs or go to your room, she is your stability.

7.) You are a passionate forehead kisser- (for fear of "germs!")

6.) You love to be tickled & proclaim- "I'm Done!" when you want us to stop :)

5.) You are a fantastic "helper"- and often set the table, remove your dishes from the table and love to vacuum. (thank you God, for at least one family member who loves to clean as much as I do!)

4.) You're beyond unhappy when you get sick, and usually no one can make you feel better than your sister

3.) You compliment like no other... In fact- you often tell me "You look gorgeous mommy"- even when I'm in a robe and house slippers.

2.) You love mac n' cheese- more than anything and would eat it for every meal if you could

1.) You are the stars and the moon for us- you shine like no other boy ever has. You have just the right amount of "puppy dog tails & snails"- and we adore you!

I love you!

Mom

Loved this!

Great post by http://chizumatic.mee.nu/

Not the end of the world It's easy to let yourself go in despair and start thinking things like "We are well-and-truly fucked" or "This is the worst of all possible outcomes". But it isn't true. I think this election is going to be a "coming of age" moment for a lot of people. They say, "Be careful what you wish for" and a lot of people got their wish yesterday. And now they're bound to be disappointed. Not even Jesus could satisfy all the expectations of Obama's most vocal supporters, or fulfill all the promises Obama has made. I think Obama is going to turn out to be the worst president since Carter, and for the same reason: good intentions do not guarantee good results. Idealists often stub their toes on the wayward rocks of reality, and fall on their faces. And the world doesn't respond to benign behavior benignly. But there's another reason why: Obama has been hiding his light under a basket. A lot of people bought a pig in a poke today, and now they're going to find out what they bought. Obama isn't what most of them think he is. The intoxication of the cult will wear off, leaving a monumental hangover. And four years from now they'll be older and much wiser. A lot of bad things are going to happen during this term. But I don't think that this is an irreversible catastrophe for the union. I've lived long enough to absorb this basic truth: the US is too large and too strong to destroy in just 4 years. Or even in 8. We survived 6 years of Nixon. We survived 4 years of Carter. We even survived 8 years of Clinton, God alone knows how. The President of the United States is the most powerful political figure in the world, but as national executives go his powers are actually quite restricted. Obama will become President, but he won't be dictator or king, let alone deity. He still has to work with the House and the Senate, and he still has to live within Constitutional restrictions, and with a judiciary that he mostly didn't appoint. The main reason this will be a "coming of age" moment is that now Obama and the Democrats have to put up or shut up. Obama got elected by making himself a blank slate, with vapid promises about "hope" and "change" -- but now he actually has to do something. Now he has to reveal his true agenda. And with the Democrats also having a majority in both chambers of Congress, now the Democrats really have to lead. And they're not going to do a very good job of it. It's going to be amusing to watch. And the people who fell for the demagoguery will learn an invaluable lesson. Oh, the Democrats try to blame failure on Republican filibusters, of which there will be many. But that's always been a factor in our system, and many people believe it's an important check on government excess. The tradition in the Senate is that it is supposed to be a buffer against transient political fads, and the filibuster is a major part of that. If the Democrats go all in, and change the filibuster rule, then they'll have truly seized the nettle with both hands and won't have any excuses any longer. That's why they won't do it. It's their last fig-leaf. But even with the filibuster rule in place, they'll be stuck trying to deliver now on all the promises implied, or inferred, during this election. The Republicans can only filibuster on bills the Democrats have already proposed. And it ain't possible for the Democrats to deliver what's been promised. Gonna be a hell of a lot of disillusioned lefties out there. A lot of people who felt they were deceived. A lot of people who will eventually realize that the Obama campaign was something of a cult. Disillusionment will turn to a feeling of betrayal. And that will, in turn, convert to anger. In the mean time, Obama and Congressional Democrats will do things that cause harm, but very little of it will be irreversible. I would have enjoyed watching lefty heads explode if McCain had won. But we're going to see lefty heads exploding anyway; it's just going to take longer. In the mean time, those of us who didn't want Obama to be president have to accept that he is. And let's not give in to the kind of paranoid fever dreams that have consumed the left for the last 8 years. Let us collectively take a vow tonight: no "Obama derangement syndrome". Obama is a politician. He isn't the devil incarnate. So what are the good sides of what just happened? 1. It is no longer possible for anyone to deny that the MSM is heavily biased. The MSM have been biased for decades but managed an illusion of fairness. That is no longer possible; the MSM have squandered their credibility during this campaign. They'll never get that credibility back again. 2. Since the Democrats got nearly everything they hoped for in this campaign, they'll have no excuses and will have to produce. They'll have to reveal their true agenda -- or else make clear that they don't really have any beyond gaining power. 3. Every few decades the American people have to be reminded that peace only comes with strength. The next four years will be this generation's lesson. Now, a few predictions for the next four years: 1. Obama's "hold out your hand to everyone" foreign policy is going to be a catastrophe. They'll love it in Europe. They're probably laughing their heads off about it in the middle east already. 2. The US hasn't suffered a terrorist attack by al Qaeda since 9/11, but we'll get at least one during Obama's term. 3. We're going to lose in Afghanistan. 4. Iran will get nuclear weapons. There will be nuclear war between Iran and Israel. (This is the only irreversibly terrible thing I see upcoming, and it's very bad indeed.) 5. There will eventually be a press backlash against Obama which will make their treatment of Bush look mild. Partly that's going to be because Obama is going to disappoint them just as much as all his other supporters. Partly it will be the MSM desperately trying to regain its own credibility, by trying to show that they're not in his tank any longer. And because of that they are eventually going to do the reporting they should have done during this campaign, about Obama's less-than-savory friends, and about voter fraud, and about illegal fund-raising, and about a lot of other things. and 6. Obama will not be re-elected in 2012. He may even end up doing an LBJ and not even running again. One last thing: I'm not saying I'm happy with this outcome. I would much rather have had McCain win. But this is not the end of the world, or the end of this nation. We've survived much worse. And now we need to show the lefties how to lose. Our mission for the next four years is to be in opposition without becoming deranged. UPDATE: One other good thing: no one will be spinning grand conspiracy theories about this administration's Vice President being an evil, conniving genius who is the true power behind the throne.

Classic funny!

Feeling certainly ~ uncertain

All is not well in the world of financial turmoil. I arrived at work yesterday to the announcement mentioned in this article. We're for sale Now, I've been through this before- and you'd think that after going through this quite frequently in the past- I'd be "better" with the uncertainty. In honor of my past loves, and "not so loved" I'll list for you half my resume- It makes for a good chuckle.. 1.) 1999- Union Carbide/Bought by Dow Chemical 2.) 2001- Red Sky Interactive / Purchased by Agency.com 3.) 2001 - Compaq / Purchased by HP 4.) 2008 - Reliant Energy / ?? (Sniff, sniff) October has never been a great month for me. I wonder why? So what now?

Houston on the mend

I dont know what I was thinking this morning when I left my house... Most times, I hop onto Main St. and jump to I45 for a 3 minute drive to my office garage. Typically this takes no more than 7-10 minutes depending on traffic. Not this morning! It took me at least a half hour to get to work! Grrrr...!!! Not fun when you arent expecting it- and certainly not fun when your trying to get in at a decent hour!

One bright side of the story is I got to see my beautiful city from a different angle this morning and it was BREATHTAKING! ;) It was hard to capture just how pretty it was on a camera phone- but you get the drift. Thank you Houston for making me so happy!

Day of Giving Back

Have I told you lately how much I love working here? When they say they want "giving back to be a part of our core values" they MEAN it!

Here's a list of the values that each employee must live by:

Values We Live By How we act: Acting with absolute integrity Collaborating, supporting and respecting one another Communicating openly, honestly and frequently How we work: Creating value for every customer Ensuring a safe, healthy and enjoyable workplace Caring for our environment and communities How we create value: Developing a highly motivated, valued and diverse workforce Optimizing our financial and physical resources Simplifying and improving our processes continuously

Pretty Princess

Just thought I'd share how cute this was. Thank goodness for camera phones! This shot was taken of Brooke at the Children's Museum last week in College Station Texas- since we were "evacuees" we ended up trying to find fun things for the kids to do each day. This was her favorite (dress up)

Did I also tell you that we found quite a bit of refuge in Chick-fillet? in College Station? They ROCKED! We basically went there each day for lunch and the playground, oh, and to get some work done too! (Bill spent all day there most days) WE LOVE THEM! Thanks Chick-fillet!

Looks Like the JPM Chase Bldg is on the "fix"

Check out this pic I took from my car yesterday on the way home. Look closely-there still remain a lot of boarded up windows!!! They have replaced over half of what was broken out on the South side of the bldg. This shot was taken of the West side of the bldg. going down Travis Street in downtown houston.

The privacy of strangers

We've fared well through the storm- now its back to business. I cant help but take a few moments though to mention a post by a complete stranger about my neighborhood and our home. I'd like to set the record straight that we left town FOR A WEEK on Saturday, had no electricity through the week we were gone. We returned home and had to deal with the sad loss of one of our beloved family pets, the loss of most of our trees and our fences. All of this coupled with the fact that my 4 year old twins had no available childcare other than moi and my precious husband worked from a Chic-fillet for the week we were gone! (Thank God for wi-fi, electricity and a playground which allowed me to work a little as well!) All of this made for a tough week! (I've edited this post to speak to the sincerity of a reply I got from my earlier rant on Houstonist.) I appreciate your writing me back. I appreciate your explanation. Stepping down now (off my soap box, that is!)

Hurricane Ike

Hey y'all- we've gotten tons of calls and emails wanting to know if we'll leave town for the storm. We've decided to stay around Houston. We're not in a mandatory evacuation area, in 77008. The storm looks to be speeding up a little (5mph) but breaking up a tiny bit. Check out this website for updates.

Yesterday- Reliant let us go about noon. They shut down the whole Houston & Corpus Christy operation Friday. Here are some shots from downtown about 1pm yesterday. There were lines of people lining up for the buses to take commuters back home from all of the suburbs. You never really see lines like this. I guess everyone in Houston got released around 12:00? Check out the lines at the gas station I stopped in at. They were out of regular unleaded too! (That was Thurs @ noon!)

Will post more as the day progresses!

Working Moms Syndrome

I had to post this latest article by Michelle Malkin. Again- She hits it on the head with a well written article about the inequity between liberal and conservative working mommies in the newsroom. Obviously you can draw your own conclusions- but isn't it funny how we, as parents, just tend to do the best we can? Slighting Palin for "needing" to spend more time with her new baby who has Downs Syndrome isn't the least bit fair. The liberal media is acting as if there aren't TWO parents present to take care of family life. If she were working in a highrise in Corporate America, she would be incredibly busy. We do the best we can! Laura Ingraham handed one of these criticizers his ASS on her talk show! AWESOME!

Best Pic this week!

I couldnt resist! Check out this cute little fella! (this is not my kid by the way.)

Stealth Socialism

Great article- Barack Obama's Stealth Socialism- "He's disguising the wealth transfers as "investments" — "to make America more competitive," he says, or "that give us a fighting chance," whatever that means. Among his proposed "investments": • "Universal," "guaranteed" health care. • "Free" college tuition. • "Universal national service" (a la Havana). • "Universal 401(k)s" (in which the government would match contributions made by "low- and moderate-income families"). • "Free" job training (even for criminals). • "Wage insurance" (to supplement dislocated union workers' old income levels). • "Free" child care and "universal" preschool. • More subsidized public housing. • A fatter earned income tax credit for "working poor." • And even a Global Poverty Act that amounts to a Marshall Plan for the Third World, first and foremost Africa."

1 Day of Vacation and his Jeep will never be the same!

Little Brycie wanted an Art Car- after seeing them in this years Art Car parade here in Houston. I decided to give him one ;)

Gig Em!