recap

So...it's been a while. I'm here to recap the last 3 weeks events.

September 8th was my brithday. We slept in and then went to Steven F. Austin state park for a bbq. It was very beautiful, shady, and quiet there. We cooked some chicken sandwiches and then threw around the football for a while. Soon afterward, some little kids who were playing on nearby swings asked if they could borrow the ball. We said OK, expecting them to throw it amongst themselves, but the boy who asked just backed up and lobbed one at Sam while he wasn't looking. So, we all started throwing the ball together. The smallest little boy always watched Sam's throw in awe. He'd say great things like, "Wow! What a bullet!" or "It's scary for a little boy like me to have a fast ball like that coming at me!" My favorite comment was, "Do you watch TV? 'Cuz you throw just like Vince Young!"

Eventually we left and came back home to change. When I got the mail, there was a package waiting for me in the office, from Sam. Inside was the Dark is Rising series in a boxed set and the DVD of "Newsies." I was so happy. Sam wouldn't tell me where we were going next. We went to a great Thai restaurant for dinner called Red Basil. It was very chic and yummy. It's owned by the NY Group and apparently got a great review from a very important reviewer. We definitely want to go back.

Once we got in the car, Sam couldn't hold his surprise any more. He told me we were going to the opening night of the Houston Symphony! They play at Jones Hall, which is very beautiful. It was neat to see all of Houston's high society out in the lobby in their evening gowns and jewels. But of course, the best part was the music. They played Tchaikovsky's piano concerto first. It was AMAZING. The pianist was incredible and the sound in the hall was so warm and lively. It was easily the best symphony performance I've ever seen. I also loved watching Sam enjoy the piano concerto so much. He would have loved to have played a concerto while he was at his piano prime and said, afterward, "I've only ever heard one other pianist play a concerto without a mistake..." Their second piece was Pictures at an Exhibition by Musorgsky which I'd never heard all the way through. I enjoyed it.

The next week we worked a lot, though I got to go to a fun evening with some of the other new sisters in Relief Society. Sam got sick early in the week, and then I caught it from him and by Friday night I was feeling pretty awful, so that week was fairly uneventful. Saturday night was fun though. Our friends and neighbors, the Bonds, invited us over for dinner and once they put their son to bed, we played Cranium-- boys vs. girls. We girls were just stomping our competition but since the game was about to end and we all wanted to play more, we changed the rules and the boys made a great comeback and eventually won with one card. We had great fun making fools of ourselves trying to hum and guess and draw and sculpt. The great triumph of the night was when Leighanna and I had to write down 3 comfort foods each. To win, 2 of them had to be the same. I wrote down "ice cream, chocolate, and pot roast." Leighanna wrote, "milkshakes, chocolate, and mashed potatoes." The boys were stunned.

The next week of work was tough, still being sick, but I had some easy and fun days with the kids. MV (those are his initials), my favorite, wanted lots of tickles and and at the end of the day when I was tired and my head and body ached, he said, before getting in the car, "Gimme a hug, Heather." He's so squishy and big and cuddly.

Sam picked me up from work early on Friday and we headed straight to Dallas. He had brought with it a package from Amazon that had all the things I had bought with my birthday gift certificate from Sam's parents. I bought my own copy of Anna Karenina, Anne of Green Gables, and The Prince of Egypt. Sam's never read either of the books, so I started reading Anne of Green Gables to him, though I didn't get very far because my throat hurt so much from being sick. I think we'll enjoy working our way slowly through it.

We got to Flower Mound around 6 PM where a delicious dinner of steak enchiladas and chips was hot and ready for us. Then we all changed and went to Dallas to see The Lion King!! The costuming and dancing was as incredible as I remember and I loved seeing it again. The next day we helped Sam's brothers with their homework (though mostly distracted them from it by joking and telling stories), played the new game Joseph got for the Wii, and watched some Cosby home videos. It was very relaxing and lots of fun to see the Cosbys.

Sam and I independently were asked to play the organ and conduct the music, respectively, in Sacrament Mtg. We got lots of comments afterwards on how cute we were doing the music together, and on how talented Sam was. He also accompanied the special musical number, so his piano skills were also displayed. The ward was very, and rightly, impressed. I have such a great husband.

And now we're back to Monday! I got off work at lunch time today since the power had gone out and only two rooms had light from windows, and the building was getting hotter and hotter, so we sent all the kids home. I don't mind since I needed to clean up the house for a dinner we're having tonight with my VT companion and teach-ee and their husbands. They're both couples without children, so it'll be nice to get to know them better.

Sorry to just spit all this out without any breaks or pictures. We'll try to come up with something a little more interesting and timely in the next post...