Check out Chula

Back in AZ we didn't have a nice backyard, but we had a big park in front of the house where we played frisbee with Chula every day. Check these out:

I don't even know where to start

It's been forever since I posted! We've been busy, busy, busy working on the house. Maddie and I went back to Baltimore last weekend for a Celebration of Life for my Aunt Sig. This week Maddie started to crawl!!! Then there was Thanksgiving. Since we had nowhere to go and no family to be with in Houston, I decided to make the whole shebang here in our new house. That included a 12lb turkey, gravy, sweet potato casserole, roasted garlic mashed potatoes, REAL cranberry sauce (found a recipe with Grand Marnier in it! Yum!), sausage and apple stuffing (no oyster stuffing this year), and an apple pie. I don't know what I was thinking, but it was delicious.

I'm just going to post a bunch of pictures from the last few weeks because that's what you're really here for, isn't it?

These were taken in AZ. Note the clear blue sky.





whose Aryan child is this???



"Umm, I think I like this color swatch..."


Nana Roth's hat


Grandma Mag's hat :) AKA the Joe Dirt Baby wig.


Halloween as a Little Monster


At the local BBQ place


another Nutcracker for Jeff!


After 3 hours on a plane...


crawlin'

It's flooding down in Texas...

It has rained non stop since the middle of last night. I'm sure it's surpassed 4 inches today. There was a stream in my back yard (which I've dubbed Roth Creek). The lakes are overflowing their banks and spilling out onto the main artery into my development. Now we're under a Tornado Warning! Agh!

I hope this is a freak occurrence, but I have a feeling I'd better get used to this.

Mary Louise King

This morning a wonderful mother, daughter, sister and aunt passed away after a year long battle with Leukemia. For me, she was the highlight of every family function. An oasis in a sea of chaos that was 9 siblings and umpteen cousins. She could be as tender as she was raunchy. She was tough as nails. She could answer every question you threw at her, like a walking Google. She loved country music, the Ravens and the color purple. She taught me that "you're never fully dressed without your earrings". If you stayed with her while your parents were out of town she'd make you 2,000 calorie lunches with sandwiches on huge onion rolls with fruit and cookies, even if you're only 12 years old. 20 years later I can still remember how full those brown bags were... and how jealous everyone else was at the lunch table. She was a kick ass gardener. She was the picture of health - never smoking or drinking and always eating right. She was unendingly generous with her time and resources. She was the sort of person that lives should be modeled from. I can not say enough about how wonderful she was or how she touched my life.

Sig, you are deeply loved and missed.

Election Day in Houston

Well, it's 10:48pm Eastern time and I'm watching blue spread west across the map of the U.S. I must say that I'm a little emotional. I never, ever thought I'd see a day when our country would put race aside and vote a black man into office. I'm so overwhelmed with happiness and excitement for the future I want to laugh and cry at the same time.

We officially voted in Arizona by absentee ballot, so we weren't able to go to a polling place today and thus I don't have my coveted "I Voted Today" sticker. It's a little sad, but I'm glad that I was able to cast a vote in AZ. I think I'm going to treat myself with this t-shirt in lieu of my sticker:
http://www.tshirthell.com/funny-shirts/honky-moms-for-obama/

In other news, Vanessa left today and went back to AZ after helping us immensely for the last 5 days - particularly with translating the movers, who liked to comment that we were lazy whenever we sat down and wondered if Mr. Burns was pregnant. She assured them that no, SHE is not pregnant, HE is fat. I suppose his lion cut isn't necessarily flattering...

The Roths are coming tomorrow to visit for a week and I'm going to put them to work! I'm hoping Gary can give me some advice on what to plant in this "soil" out here. I can tell by all the holes that Chula has dug in the back yard that it's at least 90% sand. Besides pine trees, what grows in that? Are there really nutrients to be had??

Once I dig out the cables to my camera and download my pictures, I'll post some of the house. Maybe I'll even include one of the metallic and rose colored paint that is smeared all over the wallpapered diningroom. (eeeek!)

Off to bed....