.... people have McCain/Palin signs on their front lawns (did see a few Obama ones, too)
.... you go to the restroom of a famous Houston steakhouse and hear praise and worship music ("Lord, I lift your name on high")
.... the iced tea is PLAIN, none of that fancy flavored stuff!
.... Tylenol, an iced tea, and a bag of animal crackers costs $1.99.
.... you drive on a 12-lane highway!!!!
.... you want to come back to NYC after a few days...

The stars at night, are big and bright... deep in the heart of Texas!

There were still trees and branches everywhere from Hurricane Ike - and a huge tree uprooted in our backyard.

Things I did this weekend:
Happy Grandmothers!

Happy 1st Birthday, Ezra!

Scholar Ezra..

And fun big sister, Lydia!

Classic Engrish:
On an apron package -

On a handkerchief used to wrap a Japanese bento:
(I didn't realize the Japanese could be rude enough to enjoy MY lunch.. every day!)

And oh.. no... Washington Heights, are you sure you want these guys residing in your 'hood?

And my EX-QUI-SITE outfit:

All items (except bicycle shorts) were purchased at various 99 cent stores:

More from the Montreal Jazz Festival:

Canada, I like you!

My last few weekends have been full of fun, friends, laughs, international travel, cakes, trains, music, flowers, bunnies, bath mats, and other such wonderful things.

Boston with TLG

It doesn't really make sense to anyone outside of our circle, but...

Most of us have known each other 20+ years!

Oh what fun it was to travel ALL the way to Chico, California (my SECOND time in Chico, if you can believe it) to see dearest Lisa Graupmann become Lisa McLaughlin. 

I loved this quote on their program:

An outdoor ceremony - with perfect Cali weather:

Lisa was EXTREEMELY happy to see the Tashkent 5 (minus one) at the wedding:

It had been several years since we had all been together...

10 years of friendship later...

Lucky!!!

Drinking and dancing.... always a fun combo when there are missionaries around...

Our belated bridal shower gift to Lisa... according to Matt, who we saw post-wedding night,
it stayed on for... 3 minutes.  TMI!

After the wedding, Angie, Helena, and I ate...In-n-Out: SO GOOD

... and ate... sausage platter and the beer sampler at the Sierra Nevada Brewery..

We spent the day in SF:

And then took our tired butts home.  I left Sacramento at midnight at arrived in NYC at noon.
But it was worth it just to be part of this picture (taken in the backyard of the newly married couple!)

Congrats Matt and Lisa!!!!

I spent a lovely week in Hawaii for Gene & Mina's wedding.
Unfortunately, I have no pictures of their wedding because I forgot my camera on the day of the wedding.

So, instead, here is my presentation of things that existed in Hawaii, but are not present in NYC:

1. Regina and Tae


Ridiculous

But sometimes loving...

What happens when they fight...

2. Regina and Me


3. Tae and Me

4. Madeline
A very rare unhappy moment...

She loves chewing!


5. Pineapple-themed things





6. Snorkeling


7. Pearl Harbor




8. Giant anchors

9. GORGEOUS beaches and clear blue water






10. Happy Soo with Lau Lau..

11. Cute, pensive Kaitlyn

12.DELICIOUS shaved ice!


13. Ginormous turtles


14. Rigorous hikes on steep steps and dark tunnels



At least the view was gorgeous!

Doesn't the picture below look fake?  I look pasted on.




15.  And... the world's most beautiful...

....

(and seriously, it was kind of pretty).

Other fun random pics:

Yes, in fact I am so I ate:

Poor Madeline. A feast before her eyes and all she can do is sleep..

Icky crab (I didn't eat this!)

Transparent water

And finally, the best flag EVER:

Birthday Prom...2008...
Anh and I, celebrating our March birthdays together.

Aren't we lovely?

Some people got busy...

All hail the prom queen!

All hail the prom king!

Stickers to identify your high school self...


Sisters... posing...

The REAL prom queen...

We really ARE at the prom...






The prom after party...

A nice lunch with my coworkers at Joe's Shanghai!

Then more cake, including tres leches cake:

Nothing says "Happy Birthday" like a chicken meatball: (eaten with Janet at Yakitori Totto)

Or flowers...

An exquisite six course meal with wine pairing at Daniel with my sisters,
where even your purse (!) got a seat!
(I'm sad we didn't get a picture of this,
but when we sat down, they brought STOOLS for our purses!)




The food was complicated; delicious; sometimes strange; and way too fancy...
but the end of the meal fresh mini madelines were DIVINE:

More to come, including pics from ... prom...?

So, I decided to give up bread and bread products for Lent. 

What falls into this category? I've been thinking about it and decided that this category includes:

Bread of all kinds, obviously
Bagels
Doughnuts
Tortillas
Pitas
Pizza
Biscuits

as well as...

Cakes
Muffins
Scones
Cookies
Brownies

So I guess I should also add cake and cake products!

EEKS.  I think I can do it.  I am glad to hear that technically, Lent does not include Sundays - which means I could eat the Redeemer mini-muffins or cookies. But I am going to try not to eat them then, either. 

Here's a hint:

After a HARROWING experience getting through the crowds to the barricades flashing my City ID, getting LIFTED by an NYPD police officer onto the other side of the barricades and then losing my City-issued Nextel (argh), my coworkers and I finally made it to the roof of one our buildings.  As the parade was downtown, I didn't have to call in "sick" to see the parade!  My boss actually told us where to go to watch it.

The madness:

We love you ELI!  Strahan, you're a MONSTER!

By the way, isn't the ZOOM on my camera impressive? 

Being a fair weather fan (never watched a Giants game until the NFC championship game against Green Bay and the Superbowl), I didn't know who any of the players were, except Manning.

Like... who's this guy?

Eli is so cute in person!

And to prove I really WAS there:

And oh yeah, there was something else going on today, too - huh?