Sweet Georgia Brown

For those of you that have any knowledge of basketball at all, you will recognize that as the theme song of the world famous Harlem Globetrotters. Sidney and I attended the game Saturday evening, and we had a great time.


We saw one of my all-time favorite Globetrotters, Curly Neal. He was on the team back when I was a kid, and was even immortalized in several episodes of Scooby Doo. We also saw many of the talented players of today (they have more than one team on the road at any one time.)



Of course, the Globetrotters won the game. They haven't lost a game since 1971. The antics were as good this time as they always were on television, and Sidney really enjoyed herself as well.





After the game, Sidney was able to meet one of the players, "Dizzy" Grant, and get his autograph. If you have kids and can make a Globetrotters game, I would certainly recommend it. It is great family fun, and they do an excellent job of making the kids part of the event.

Kimber is on her way to Norway as we speak. This is a short trip - one week. She will be home in time for the Super Bowl next weekend, so I will be stocking up to make hot wings and cheese sticks for our own little Super Bowl party.

We will probably also make some attempt at riding the newest addition to our "stable" - a tandem bicycle. We want to do some longer rides as a family, and this affords us the opportunity to attach Sidney's trailer bike and roll down the road like a semi! It will take a little practice, but we are looking forward to the Bluebonnet Ride (54 miles) in March.

A little catching up

It isn't that Houston is a boring place, or that we never do anything here. It is just that our lives have returned to "normal." This is the reason there aren't as many posts here as before. Now, our definition of "normal" may not seem that way to others, but I will try to explain.

Kimber works a 9-80 schedule, meaning she works a total of at least 80 hours every nine days, then earns a flex day. She takes the van pool to work on days I am not working, meaning she is up at 5:10 and out the door by 5:40. She gets home around 5:00 p.m., unless she goes to the YMCA to swim or take a class.

I am currently working as an agency nurse, and most of my shifts have been 7 p.m.-7 a.m. in an ER close to our house. I really enjoy the work, especially since it seems you accomplish more on night shift. By that, I mean it usually starts busy then gets slower as you clear the ER out overnight. It is exactly the opposite on days, so it seems like you are running behind by the end of the shift. The agency stuff isn't bad, but not very predictable as to how much I will work during the week.

I am also interviewing for a couple of positions that would allow me to work a regular day shift, meaning I could take Sidney to school and pick her up, and I could continue to work when Kimber is traveling. As it is now, when Kimber travels, I cannot work a 12 hour shift because of the times Sidney has to be dropped off or picked up. The interview process is going well, and I hope to hear more by the beginning of next week on at least one of the positions.

Sidney's "normal" is going to school every day. She goes to the YMCA before- and after-school program, and one of us usually picks her up around 4:30 to come home, do homework, play a little, eat and get ready for bed. Many would say our 7:30 bed time for her is too early, but I believe the sleep does her good. Sidney continues to do very good in school, but also has an issue with staying on task. We are working on that issue.

If Sidney does well with her behavior chart during the week, we all go for frozen yogurt on Friday evening. It is a nice 20 minute or so bike ride from the house, and the yogurt is good.

On the weekends, we try to do something fun on Saturday. This past week, we went to a local store that was having a "Bike University". We all attended a roadside maintenance class, and Kimber learned how to change a tube. Sidney, of course, provided her own coaching and cheer-leading while Kimber practiced. Kimber also went to a concert with a friend on Saturday night. Sidney was a bit under the weather Sunday, so we stayed home from church, though that is our usual Sunday activity.

This coming weekend, Kimber leaves for Norway for a one week trip. She is taking over lots of things for friends there, and I am sure everyone there is anticipating her arrival, much like Christmas! Sidney and I are going to see the Harlem Globetrotters on Saturday night. Sunday, she and I will go to church and get ready for the week ahead. It is supposed to be cool and rainy Sunday, so it will be a good time to finish up homework.

I will try to post pictures from the Globetrotters in the next post.

A White (Sands) Christmas

Well, that was as close to a White Christmas we got this year, but more on that in a moment.

We haven't posted in a while because I have been working (yea!) and Kimber and Sidney have been doing the exciting stuff. Now that the holidays are over and we are back to what we consider "normal", I thought it would be about time to update everyone.



First, Kimber and Sidney did some traveling over the holidays. They left Houston and went to San Antonio, where they spent a day at Sea World. They caught the orca and dolphin show while there. From San Antonio, they drove up to our old stomping grounds in West Texas and saw the house I lived in in San Angelo, the house Kimber and I owned in Sterling City, and had dinner in Midland at Wall Street Bar and Grill (probably one of the best steak houses ANYWHERE!)



After a night in Midland, they headed west to Carlsbad Caverns, where Sidney earned her Junior Ranger badge and the two of them took in the spectacular formations. There are no bats this time of year, so they didn't get to see them leave the cave in the evening.



The next morning, they went through Las Cruces, home of Kimber's alma mater, New Mexico State University. Then it was on to White Sands, the beautiful dunes that dance their way across the desert, for some "playtime" for Sidney. She slid down the dunes, made "sand" angels, and generally had a good time. Unfortunately, this was as close as any of us got to having a white Christmas this year, as it did not snow in Colorado while we were there.

From White Sands, it was north through Santa Fe and on past the cabin Kimber's family built in Westcliffe, Colorado, before heading into Colorado Springs. I stayed in Houston and worked until Christmas Eve, when I flew to the Springs to join everyone.


We spent a very nice holiday with Kimber's parents and got to see many of the nieces and, sisters and others while we were there. The weather was quite temperate for this time of year, and we even spent Christmas afternoon at a park, which provided this view of Pike's Peak.






































We also visited the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo (thanks to Julie for the guiding and helping us with all the animals actual names!) We fed giraffes, saw a porcupine up a tree, and Sidney got to pet a snake, proving that it isn't just her mom that lets her do that (Kimber just lets her play with poisonous ones.)

I headed back to Houston the Monday after Christmas so I could go back to work. Kimber and Sidney stayed in Colorado Springs a couple of more days.



One place they visited while there was Garden of the Gods, a beautiful group of rock formations on the north side of the Springs. In the first picture you can see the "Kissing Camels" formation on the top of the rock. It is named this because it looks like two camels laying face-to-face and kissing. Sidney also took advantage of the large open areas for a game of hide and seek.



Kimber and Sidney were going to travel north to Wyoming before heading back down, but the weather looked like it was going to take a turn, and Kimber had not felt well, so they headed home by going east through Kansas then south into Oklahoma. They spent the night in Oklahoma City and visited the National Memorial to the Oklahoma City bombing victims the next day.

They finally returned to Texas and we spent the New Year taking down and organizing the Christmas decorations.

We are now back at work, school and normal home life, for a little while at least. Kimber travels to Norway at the end of the month for a week. There is also a trip to Chicago coming up in the next couple of months which I think we will all do.

In the meantime, I will try to be a little better about keeping this updated, though our lives here are not as exciting as Norway.