Happy Little Trees

Summer is here! And so is the Houston heat. OUCH! It's hot!

At home, we love to quote an old Don Moore Chevrolet commercial. It goes like this:

Someone says,"IT"S HOT, DON!"
And then Don (either Jr. or Sr.) replies, "You can say that again!"
So the person says, "IT'S HOT,DON!"

Classic local commercial.

I still love to say, "It's hot, Don." I might sound crazy saying it away from the source, but it makes me laugh.

A friend of mine from North Carolina had to prove to me that the temperature there was just as hot. But after pondering for this for a few minutes (in the heat, the brain processes slower), I realized it's not just about the number on the thermometer. It's also about the consistency of the heat.

The heat doesn't give a reprieve in nighttime hours. Nor does it stop like clockwork with the change of what temperate climates call a "season." It keeps burning. But I wouldn't change it. I love Texas.

In my younger years, I would ponder moving some place like Atlanta, and almost have my stomach turn from thinking about the heat. I'm a redhead and my coloring is not conducive to summertime. But here I am. God has given me a big heart for the state of Texas.

God has also blessed with me this summer with some beautiful days in Seattle and soon I will be attending a conference in Colorado for some renewal time. Blessings! Cool, cool, blessings!

I have learned that when you are deprived of something like room-temperature outdoor weather, when you are in it, you relish it!

Enjoy your summer--whether the weather be hot or cold, soak it up!

I've got a visitor this week. His name is Moses and he likes slow walks in the evening. And his favorite meal is all of them.

I like to describe Moses as being Tommy Boy in a dog's body. He makes me laugh because he is a huge dog, and runs really funny. He's lost 25 pounds since my friend rescued him from the SPCA, but he's still got a bit to go. I sympathize with him. It can be hard to run with extra weight bouncing on your belly. He and I might try to do some fartlek training at the park. We probably are at about the same fitness level right now.

So far, he's been a great houseguest. He does like to bark at the air sometimes. Those barks do shake the house, but besides his dog-like outburst, he's a good guy.

Two lovely ladies who were once college roomies together at the Crack House (the house has a crack--what were you thinking?!) needed to get away to cooler weather and to catch up on life. So, they got on planes and took two separate routes.

They passed over the Rocky Mountains.

They finally landed, and quickly started absorbing Seattle.
They found Seattle to be a place with lots of cool art, so they took lots of pics.

They journeyed along the pier and spotted sailboats.

They located the first Starbucks and bought some souvenirs.

The next day, they spotted a line at the REAL first Starbucks...apparently there is a decoy first Starbucks.

The ladies made sure that they got caffeinated here as well.

They viewed cups from around the world which had been gifts from customers.

Throughout the long weekend, the ladies debated the colors of seagulls. They are waiting to hear back answers from a certified seagull expert.

The ladies also spent some time as explorers of the shore searching for starfish, shells, rocks, and urchins.

The views from their hotel rooftop were amazing.

The sunrise was even worth an early morning wake-up.

One of the coolest blessings was scoring free U2 tickets. After donating to Soles4Souls and a 1.5 hour wait at Hard Rock Cafe, a pair of free tickets were bestowed upon the deserving ladies. They will remember this concert forever and perhaps change the details so in their memories Bono would have mentioned them by name from the stage.


The ladies would like to thank the follow for making their trip so special:
Jimmy and Jen Bradbury (why didn't I get your picture???)
Indian food
Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton, Larry Mullen Jr.
Lenny Kravitz
Family airport pick-ups/drop-offs -- especially the 3 a.m. team
Continental and Southwest Airlines
Starbucks (the 1st and 2nd)
The fish market throwers
Honeybees
The Museum dude that gave us free tickets to SAM
1st Ave.
Safeway
Sardines & tuna
Ritz crackers
Ivar's
The Seattle Aquarium
Nick Cave
Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan
Macy's
Soles4Souls
Hard Rock Cafe
Qwest Field
The kind strangers waiting with us in line
The street sweepers who didn't know U2
...and finally, all the puppies of Seattle

This weekend, I have no plans. Well, I do have plans, but they aren't super exciting.

Here's my amazing Memorial Day Weekend To-Do List:

1) Get an oil change.
2) Clean up the leaves in my back "yard."
3) Borrow a friend's husband to help me connect the gas dryer.
4) Finally drop off the baby gift I bought for a friend before the baby grows anymore and can't wear the outfit.
5) SLEEP.
6) EXERCISE.
7) Spend some time praying for all the people I tell, "I'll be praying for you..."
8) Watch a movie.
9) Start selecting clothes which will go to Seattle with me.
10) Read some books.

I am most excited about Monday, because then I will finally realized that I have a longer weekend, and instead of squeezing all my activities in on a couple of days, I get an extra! I love that long-weekend wiggle room!

One of the major selling points of the Kindle for me was the "read-to-me" feature. The voice is kind of robotic, but can be adjusted to be fast/slow and male/female.

After listening to Mrs. Kindle read to me for awhile, I realized her voice was familiar. She's either a distant relative of or the actual iPhone voice command lady. It was kind of comforting that I might already know her.

I'm also starting to be able to imitate Mrs. Kindle very well. It's one of my new favorite electronic voices to mimic. In case your wondering, my favorite is the voice from War Games.

Groupons frequently get sent to my e-mail inbox, but I usually just wave them on by. My co-worker spotted a Groupon for Spanish lessons, and she asked me if I had seen it as well. I had and was trying to decide if I should finally attempt to take Spanish classes. Together, we decided to take a bite out of the tortilla and go for it!

Our first lesson was Monday. I'm supplementing my learning with listening to some cheesy Latin music from Pandora. I catch a word every now and then like amigo or aqui. That's about the extent of my knowledge so far.

I think the biggest barrier with learning a language is the fear of something foreign escaping your mouth, and the uncertainty of knowing if what you said made sense or isn't offensive. I'm hoping to gain more confidence and keep practicing by first talking to myself--of which I am an expert.

I might need a more Spanish sounding name. My name is Hebrew, but maybe I could latinize it somehow. Any suggestions? From listening to the Latino music, I kind of like the name Shakira.

I bit the bullet. I bought a Kindle. When the $114 version appeared on the market, it seemed like too good of a deal to let pass. I will be on a long plane ride to Seattle soon, and I wanted a buddy to travel with me. Since no tall, dark, and handsome man is in my life to be my travel companion, I decide to instead rekindle my relationship with books.

Right now, my Kindle is waiting at my door (per alerts from package tracking). I can't wait until we meet. I have such great hopes and dreams for our new relationship...

Stay tuned for updates on my new flame.