Easter in Houston

I see posts all over Facebook today with families dressed in their Easter finest - little girls in their Easter dresses, kids holding their Easter baskets.  Lots of "He is Risen" posts, reminding us of the resurrection of Jesus Christ and the true celebration of Easter.

I think it's pretty traditional for most when I say that Easter is also spending time with family and loved ones.  I feel the absence of our daughter today, who is in Minnesota with my family.  I also feel the absence of our boisterous family - lost of noise and laughter. 

Looking forward to having our first holiday meal in Houston, I prepared a traditional Easter ham, cheesy potatoes, corn, sliced watermelon, dinner rolls, and deviled eggs.  I wanted it to be nice, so I brought out the China that we received from Chad's great Aunt Evelyn, along with all of the accompanying serving dishes that match the China set.

We sat down to our meal, and I said a prayer.  I thanked God for resurrecting Jesus from the dead and giving us hope for an eternal life.  I asked him to bless our family, especially our loved ones who couldn't be with us today.  I asked him to bless our Minnesota family and friends, and I asked him to especially keep Courtney safe.  I thanked him for the food we were about to receive in Jesus' name.  We all said Amen.  That's when my little perfect Easter meal went not so perfect at all.

Corbin does not eat Easter food.  Because he has autism, he only likes about 5 different foods, and let me tell you, what I served today was not on his extremely limited list.  We have always been understanding of this, but it is hard enjoy a zesty meal when he's sitting there with a dinner roll on his plate and nothing else.  As usual, he asked to be excused very early from the meal.  At least he was polite and asked to excuse himself.  Carly got upset and said "that's lame."  Thus, an argument ensued between the two of them, causing Corbin to meltdown.

I tried to continue having our nice meal.  Carly rudely burps.  I try not to let it get to me.  Then, she farts.  Whenever she farts, she calls it a "safety" - thinking that it makes it acceptable, because hey, she said "safety".  I glare at her and she starts to laugh.  I look over at Chad and he's smirking, trying hard not to laugh.  So then I glare at Chad, and he stops and puts on his serious face.

I then begin preaching that we do NOT burp and fart at the dinner table, especially at Easter meal!!!

Not two minutes later, Chad leans over, raises a butt cheek, and lets one rip.  I'm thinking, Really?!?  I'm sure that showed on my face because Carly busts out laughing.  They both think it is very humorous.

I decide that since my perfect Easter meal has been tossed out the window, I might as well lighten up and enjoy the fun.

See, I know many of you think I'm uptight and can't have fun, but I have my moments.  I picked up a forkful of my cheesy potato and flung it across the table right at Chad's face.  THWAP!  Right in Chad's eye.  He never saw it coming.  Carly is of course now howling with laughter.  I feel victorious.

Life is what you make it.  :)  Happy Easter from Houston!

Calico Glen Lane

Well, as of today, it's been 76 days at our Calico Glen Lane house in Houston.  We are finally settled in.  I am officially looking for a job.  I guess it's time to post pictures of the house. 

Disclaimer #1: I took these photos with my crappy cell phone camera.  My good Nikon is still in my closet. So, the quality of the photos is not the best.  Some are unintentionally blurry.

Disclaimer #2: Cali followed me around the house while I was taking photos.  She's in a few of them (sort of like, Where's Waldo?).

So...(Ahem.  Best tour guide voice:)

LOWER LEVEL

Here we have the front door entry way.  From this view, to your left is the garage door and the laundry room door (not visible).



Entry way view from hallway

Aeriel view of the foyer from the upstairs landing

 

To your right, you have the "formal" living room.  As you can see, the formal living room is empty at this point.  If we decide to extend our lease after our year is up, we may decide to fill it with furniture.  However, at this point, it is just an empty space.

Expanded view of front entry/living room space

Here is another look at the living room, from the dining room location.

Living room space from dining room location

Now we're going to flip things around a bit.  Here is the view from the front entry way, standing in the foyer looking into the house, as if you just walked in the front door.



View from foyer

Here is the view of the dining room, standing in the empty living room space, facing the kitchen.

View of dining room from the living room



Peeking into the laundry room.  This is on the lower level, in front of the stairs leading up, next to the garage door.

Continuing on the lower level, if you were to walk straight from the foyer, past the formal living room and dining room that was on your left, you will walk into the family room.



 

View of family room standing in front of the fireplace

 

View of family room from kitchen/eating area

 

Aerial view of family room from upstairs landing

 

Aerial view of family room from landing, showing vaulted ceilings and windows

 

Another aerial view of family room, showing vaulted ceilings and windows

From the family room, to the left is the kitchen and eating area.  This is where we plan to put a small kitchen table.  (Our home in Burnsville only afforded us a combined kitchen/dining area, so only one table was needed.)  This is on our "to-do" list.  Sure would help if we won the lottery. ;)

 

Empty eating area...waiting for a kitchen table

To the left of the eating area is the actual kitchen.  Nice countertops, and you can see my long awaited pantry door for food storage!  Yippee!

 

View of kitchen from eating area

Another view of kitchen

 

Opposite view from kitchen, standing in the doorway from the dining room (next to the pantry door)

Now we're going to head over to the master bedroom area, which is adjacent to the living room.

 



View of family room standing in front of powder room/doorway to master bedroom (Hello, Cali!)

Quick peek into the "powder room."  It's just a stool and pedestal sink.

 

Heading into the master bedroom (still lower level):

Master bedroom (standing in doorway looking in)

Another view of the master bedroom, standing in the corner looking out towards the doorway.  You can see the entrance to the "ensuite" bathroom (fancy name for bathroom that connects to the master bedroom).

Master bedroom view

Bedroom view standing in the suite doors

Walking into the master bath, we have double vanity on the right (only one sink is showing, but there are two), and garden tub on the left.  What isn't really shown in the photo is the glass shower (before the garden tub on the left - you can see part of the glass doors).  Three doors: one is the linen closet (left), one goes into the walk-in closet (middle), and the one on the right goes into the "water closet".

Master bathroom looking in from bedroom door

Bathroom vanity (two sinks)

"water closet"



View of walk-in closet from doorway/master bath

 

 Okay, that was the lower level in a nutshell.  Let's head to the upper level!

 

 

 The stairs to the upper level start from the foyer:

 

 

Stairs leading to the upper level

UPPER LEVEL

Here's the top of the stairs.  I am standing in front of the game room.  To the immediate left is the door to Corbin's bedroom.  The railing to the left overlooks the family room.  The railing on the right overlooks the foyer.  Going down the hall, the doorway on the left is Carly's bedroom.  The middle door is the bathroom.  The door to the right is the "beach room" (guest bedroom/Courtney's room).

View at the top of the stairs on the landing

 

Turning things around, here I am standing on the landing looking towards the game room.  The doorway to Corbin's room is on the right.

Game room

Turning things around, here is a view of the game room standing in the corner.  The door straight ahead goes into Corbin's room.  The railing overlooks the family room.

 

Family room

 

Going through Corbin's door - here is his bedroom (right off the game room):

 

View of Corbin's room standing in the doorway

Corbin's room from the corner, looking out into the game room.   The white door is his closet.

 Taking a virtual walk across the landing, going into the left-hand door is Carly's room:

Carly's room from the doorway

Carly's room from the corner.  The white door peeking from the lower right-hand corner goes into her closet.

If we walked straight from the landing we would go to the kids' bathroom.  Excuse the mess; teenagers live here.

Upstairs bathroom - Corbin and Carly share this bathroom.

View of the upstairs bathroom shower/stool room (tiny - not much to see)

 

 Last but not least, there's the beach room. 


The white door goes into a walk-in closet.  Inside the closet is another half door (looks like a door for a little person).  Chad jokingly called that small door inside the closet the "door to Narnia".  Ever since then, that door, and the space behind it (above the garage) has been called Narnia.  It's also jokingly referred to as the "father-in-law suite", because Chad's step-dad has volunteered to come live above the garage. ;)



View of beach room from the hallway - ahead is the closet door (and the smaller door to Narnia)

View of beach room with closet door closed (and dog walking through)



Beach room (a/k/a Courtney's room/guest bedroom)

 

 

 Exterior Google street view:

 

 

 

 

 We don't have a basketball hoop in the middle of our driveway.  The Google street view shot was taken before we moved in.

 

 

Well folks, that concludes our tour for today.  Please return your trays to their upright position, tip your waitress, try the veal, do the hokey pokey, and have a fabulous day!



AIN'T!

Corbin and Carly both have started using the word "ain't".  Even as I type it, it comes up on my spell check because (as the old adage says) "Ain't ain't a word and you ain't supposed to use it!"

It drives me CRAZY because obviously this is not a word that was used in Minnesota.  I told Corbin that it makes him sound uneducated.  He told me that everyone in Texas uses this word, even his teachers!  I was like, what? Your teachers use this word?!?

I talked to Chad about it, and he too said that it's probably going to be hard for me to get them not to use the word, because he even hears it being used with the adults at the plants he goes to.  (Obviously the higher-up executives don't use this in this company, but it is a common word here.)  Then, he admitted to me that he has caught himself using it because it is so commonly used, you just pick it up without realizing it.

I feel like I find myself complaining about Texas more than I should in this blog, but I'm trying to keep it real.  I'd rather they start using "y'all" more than "ain't".