LOST

Gordita is lost. The same one who gives me hugs and kisses every morning before I get up. The same one who cant wait for me to walk through the door in the afternoon. That Gordita is lost. There is a hole in my middle that I cannot cry enough tears to fill. My Gordita is lost.

Finally

Busy, Busy, Busy. That has been me. I have had more pressure from the classes I am taking this semester than in a long while, but the good news is one will pay off with a trip to the west coast and a publication. Speaking of publications, my master's research was distilled lumped with that of many others (I was a minor contributor), to produce an article published in mycolgia last week. If I knew how to post a pdf here I would, so that you all could enjoy. I recently registered for MSA this summer, which is in August and will be hosted by the beautifully humid LSU. It will be even better than Hawaii I expect! (read sarcasm in previous sentence.) In the meanwhile, I have found an appartment for rent while Charity is in Texas without me, and the best part is I can keep Gordita with me. (She coddles me.) It will be a small consolation for living apart, but anything helps. What spare time I have has been spent playing GW (insert shameless plug for everyone to join me here), but soon softball will start up. I still dont know if I will be teaching this summer or not... though I should find out soon. I am looking forward to coming south.

It's not just a smelly town in North Louisiana

Bastrop State Park is one of the most developed state parks in Texas. We took a hike around their long loop and camped in the "back country" (read - pine trees). Interesting fact though that this area is one of the few remaining habitats for the Houston Toad. Not much elevation change, but it was a good strenuous 8 mile hike. Yeah, I know Nathan you could run that in an afternoon. Here are some pics.

Campsite in the pines.


Hikers in the meadow.


Soft dirt+running water = steep muddy wall.

I believe the puppies are our future...

This is our new puppy. We got her on Friday the 13th, so I had to counteract that by naming her Clover.
I wanted to name our future daughter Clover but Nathan said no way, so I have to settle for a doggy. That's ok. She's great and super smart. I'm posting some video on our other blog at www.fivelettersdown.blogspot.com, it should be up by tomorrow.

Chef Arkansas

Diamond Don's 2007 MX had Chef Arkansas in house, cooking Brisket, Chicken, Hot Dogs, Sausage, 300 lbs. of Crawfish and all the fixings. They fed about 1000 people on Friday night (March 30) before the racing began on Saturday.
I on the other hand went with sane people to the Quilt show in Tyler. Went on the Azalea Trail in Tyler. It is beautiful there and I really hope some folks we know and love settle in that area. I plan on going back in mid May to see the Rose Garden.
All the excitement from Jefferson. Happy Easter to all!
Love, Pat

One Step Closer

For those of you who don't know yet, I've been rebuilding my mustang for a while now. The new engine block took a step toward running again today. It's all machined and ready for reassembly, but first it needs paint. I spent the morning taping and painting. The color is Ford Blue of course.






Next up, piston ring filing. The ends of the piston rings need to be filed to an end gap tolerance of about 0.001" It promises to be a boring, repetitive endeavor.

Harbinger

When you see this rolling in over your backyard, you could be in for a crazy night.
Thankfully, it didn't get to that level. I managed to get back from the grocery store with all of my new perishables safely in the fridge before it started raining and the power went out. (No, just kidding, it didn't go out, but I was definitely prepared for the universe to unleash that irony on me...)
The scene: Me and the dogs curled up on the floor in the hallway while the storm raged outside and Nathan sat at the computer working on his resume. I was reading a "Get Fuzzy" compilation to take my mind off the storm. Our house is in an area delightfully termed "tornado alley" because more than a few have come through here in the past few years (but I'm sure it's nothing compared to Kansas...). The biggest and worst here was in 1997, and apparently people haven't forgotten. So, naturally, I'm a bit paranoid.

The hat helped him score

Here's a pic of Nathan before he left for Nashville last weekend.
He played two games of rugby and scored a try in the second game. We're all so proud! And his name was in the paper. (Yes in the sports section!) We can send signed copies for $29.95 plus $3 shipping and handling.
I keed, I keed.
I didn't go, so this is the only pic I have.