Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout

A book set in the town of Crosby, Maine - with different chapters about various troubled townspeople. Olive is the tie that binds all the stories together as she is somehow placed in each, in a different capacity. She is a complicated woman and difficult to love, a hard mother, a prickly wife and an opinionated citizen. Yet, she does find love, understanding to a degree and does uncover some of her own redeeming qualities There is always more to a person than what we are capable of seeing. I recognized a lot of myself in Olive and it wasn't flattering at all. Honesty is important yes, but can be brutal and hurtful too (I will temper myself). It won the Pulitzer Prize in 2009. I thought it was well written and insightful but definitely not for everyone.

Siding

When Nolan was down, he and Cory decided to replace some siding on the back of the house. I was a little skeptical at first, but I think the results speak for themselves!

The 3 men taking off the old siding - Cam is inside the chimney there.

Cory told me a few days after Nolan went home how nice it was to be outside working on this with his dad. I told him he should tell his dad this and he said he doesn't usually tell people stuff like this - so I will do it for him!

Not as much inside a chimney as I would have thought.

Measuring a cutting the new stuff.

This finished product! I did the priming and then it rained for several days before I could paint. I was getting kind of impatient for this to be completed.

All's well that ends well! Cory and I are both pleased, a nice successful family project. We are so grateful to Nolan for thinking of it and then for doing so much of the work!

VIP seats!

I have wanted to see Wicked for a couple of years now. So when I heard it was coming back to Houston I was so excited! Cory and I were in the process of trying to find tickets on the computer last week (I was at my computer here and he was at work). We were just about to pull the trigger on some relatively good seats, when this guy walked by Cory's office and stuck his head in and they got into a conversation about what Cory was working on right then and the play and the guy told him he could get us some good seats through his firm. I had my doubts - and I was worried that the seats we had in mind would be sold and I might end up with nothing (horror!). I was feeling impatient about the situation and asking Cory every day if the guy came through or not. Well - yesterday while shopping at Kroger, Cory called my cell to tell me the dates and that we got the tickets. I immediately went to the computer upon returning home to look up the seats - we are in the front row!!! in the front section!!! in the VIP seats!!! I don't even need to say the word THRILLED do I? The only caveat to this is that we have to attend with this manager and this partner (plus significant others) that got us the tickets. But the upside is that they will invariably take us out to eat prior to the play to some fancy upscale restaurant where I can gorge on lobster or something equally decadent and then feel the waist of my clothes digging into my full gut the entire play (the hardships I endure for Cory's work!). Another happy ending - or it will be another happy ending on Tuesday, July 13th when I finally get to see Wicked!

Recently. . .

I haven't blogged for a while and I just wanted you to know that I am still here plugging along. Thought I would share what has been going on recently. . .

Cam got his wisdom teeth out the Thursday before Easter. He had Friday and Monday off of school so I thought it was a good time. We wanted to get it done over Spring Break, but since Youth Conference was that week and Cam had worked so hard on the Youth Committee - we had to postpone it. The surgery went pretty well. He had anesthesia so he didn't feel anything, the worst part was trying to emerge from the fog. He has decided that he really doesn't like drugs (which as his mom makes me happy). They sent him home with plenty of pain killers and antibiotics and all kinds of precautions and the process went smoothly. He had his fill of pudding, ice cream, potatoes and applesauce - but he really likes all those things so it was fine. By Tuesday when school started he was good to go. He has his follow-up today and I expect them to say "all healed up, have a nice life!".

Conference was wonderful - and if you missed Elder Holland's talk then you should watch it on LDS.org. So much was said about the youth of the church and parenting, it seemed like it was the theme or something.

Cam asked a girl to Prom and she said yes. She is in our ward - he has known her since he was 7. It was exciting to help him to do the asking and it was fun to work out the puzzle to figure out her answer. (I doubt she would have gone to the trouble of making a puzzle if she was going to say "no", but that was just a thought as we were solving it - I didn't say it out loud.) Now he is in the process of working out their group, renting limos, dress options and all that goes with the prom experience, it is fun to watch and participate when he allows.

A couple of days ago Cam had an appointment with an Ear/Nose and Throat Specialist, he has been having some hearing problems since going swimming last fall. Actually - he has had lots of ear issues his whole life! Well after they cleaned out both ears the doctor told me that he has a hole in one ear that is probably from the tubes he had as a toddler. (He has had a hole for 15 years! unbelievable that no doctor has seen this before!). Anyway, if cleaning out his ear and putting antibiotic drops into it two times a day doesn't allow that to heal up then he will be having surgery (with skin grafts) in the near future. How does a person go from wax buildup to surgery? We have a follow-up in 3 weeks so it will be interesting to find out about the hole.

Cory has been off of running for weeks due to an injury. He will not be running Boston next week much to his devastation. Qualification is good for two years though, so he can still run it next year. He may be on the trail to recovery now, since he met with a doctor who deals with this kind of muscle/running injuries. Today is the first time he has run in quite a while. He also has been very busy at work, but what else is new there? AND, his car died - so we are looking for it's replacement, or at least I am. Cam is praying for it's replacement since he had to give his car over for Cory to get to work!

Nolan came for a visit and helped around the place so much - cleaning gutters, trimming trees, replacing outdoor light fixtures and even with some of the siding on our house (photos and post to come later). What would we do without those springtime visits from Nolan?

So that is what is new around here, not that exciting but not particularly bad either.

Texas Lover

You all (or "y'all" as we like to say here) know that I LOVE Texas! When we moved here and I realized how much I love it, and how I feel so at home here I told Cory I needed one of those bumper stickers that says "I wasn't born in Texas but I got here as soon as I could!". Anyway, it has been a fabulous place to raise Cam, the church is really strong here (as are lots of churches and that is a good thing!) the people are down to earth and genuine. Sports are a big deal here, the warm climate is agreeable to me, the cost of living is great compared to most places. There are lots of trees and it is fairly tropical. I could go on and on about the different things I love about Texas!

The difficult things about Texas are - the high cost of auto insurance. We were quite surprised by this fact moving here from LA - but yes it is higher here. Traffic - again, we moved here from LA - I didn't think anyone could tell me anything about traffic that I didn't already know. Well Houston sucks for traffic! At least in LA there are several freeways that you can employ to get somewhere - here not so much - so you are forced to endure the traffic. Bugs! There are bugs the like I never even imagined - some I can't even identify! (fire ants and cock roaches are two of the worst!). Hurricanes - we have been here for a couple and they are very unsettling to say the least. But, the thing that is bothering me most at this time of year is the pollen. This is NOT the place to live if you have any allergies - the mold can be awful with all of the humidity and springtime brings horrible pollen and all kinds of junk for our lungs to deal with, not to mention our nasal passages.

This is one of the two big oak trees we have in our yard (messy, disgusting trees!) in the spring they dump all kinds of crap ALL over the yard - oh yeah, in the fall too.

This is a shot of our recently planted garden - which sits directly under said tree - you can see my plight!

This is a shot of our back patio where the gold dust gathers.

The curb out front where the other oak tree is. Pine dust and oak leaves combine to make a disgusting stew of allergy nightmare!

And now this other crap is falling from the oak trees - furry stuff which comes in on every one's shoes and all over the cat!

Some fire ants making their way to the surface on the patio - ooooh I despise these creatures!

But the temperature is fantastic and the humidity is low, it feels fabulous to be outside and the azaleas are beautiful as always!

And although you can't see them very well my front flowers are lovely. I guess we have to take the bad with the good.