List 64: Lucky to be 40, leaps of faith, Photo Stream, the end of The Office, incompetent Congress

I love this card. You can buy it for me at the Green Grass Press store on Etsy: http://etsy.me/uOQq4O

Huh. It’s already May 18. Who knew two months could fly by so fast? That seems to happen to me more and more as I get older. Speaking of which, today is the final day of my 30′s. You read correctly: tomorrow I will be the big 4-0. I was bemoaning the fact that I’ve reached this point without doing so many things I’d hoped to do, and whining about getting older. But I realized today that (a) everyone turns 40 (if they’re lucky) so it’s not just me, and (b) I’m really just getting started. I have a LOT to accomplish in the next 40 years, though, so I need to be on my game!

I’ll give you the Reader’s Digest version of the busy two months since I last posted. If you don’t really care about what I’ve been up to, just skip right on down to the lists. I won’t even know. 

I have been hard at work for the past two months creating a new non-profit organization that will provide economic development and community development services for rural communities in Central-East Texas. The organization is in its toddler stages at this point, but my goal is to have it up and running by the end of June. It’s going to be a good thing for this region, I think, so I’ll keep you all posted as I get things off the ground. 

In non-business, we’ve had a really busy and fun couple of months. Here are a few of the highlights:

My dad, Race Car Driver for a Day

At the end of March we went to California to see my Dad race around the Fontana race track at 128 miles per hour. My mom got him the Andretti Racing Experience for Christmas a few years ago, and my sisters and I all went out to see him race. We all wore matching t-shirts and cheered him on for the big day. It was a lot of fun. 

In April we went to San Antonio for the dual purpose of celebrating my father-in-law’s birthday and attending a house concert by Michael Logozar, Kendra Springer, and Philip Wesley at Michael and Kendra’s house. It was a great weekend, and I’m so glad we got to go and spend some time with Jamey’s family. I especially enjoyed hanging out with my step-daughter Carly, who is a great shopping and drinking companion

We, like the rest of the country, experienced the horrific week of April 15 that included the Boston bombings, the West plant explosion, and the delivery of two letters to lawmakers containing ricin.  It was a crazy, crazy week, and a fascinating study in social media and broadcast news. I wrote a blog post about the week’s events, commenting on the concept of breaking news.

Last weekend we  went to New Orleans for the 9th Annual ZMR Music Awards. I don’t think I’ll ever pass up a trip to New Orleans for any reason, but this one was especially fun. Because he is the host of the very popular Audiosyncracy, Jamey is a judge for the awards, and it was really fun to meet some of the musicians he plays on his show every week and to hang out with them. And of course New Orleans was an experience in and of itself, as always.

Jamey and JJ (Jamey is on the right)

Also this past week, Houston Texans Defensive End JJ Watt made a young cancer patient’s day in Splendora, and ESC Region 6 (where Jamey is the Director of Technology) got a really nice plug for a program they should be very proud to call theirs. Check out the video link when you get a minute, and next time you watch JJ in action, know that he’s the Real Deal. 

So that catches you up on life in the country in Huntsville. I hope all of you are enjoying your Spring, and that you have grand plans for a wonderful summer. I’ll try to post more, and in the meantime I hope you’ll enjoy this week’s lists. Next time you hear from me I’ll be officially old and undoubtedly very wise, so enjoy my youthful exuberance while you can! 

top 20

Me, when I was young and adorable (some 39-odd years ago)

1. Being lucky enough to turn 40. Not everyone gets that chance.
2. starting a new venture, and having the support of my husband, family and friends as I do it
3. JJ Watt
4. social media
5. Sam Houston State University’s Center for Rural Studies
6. Citronella plants. I just got one, so I don’t know for sure that they work, but I think it’s great they exist. Damn mosquitos.
7. The Great Gatsby (the film and the book). I adore the book and I was pleasantly surprised by the film.
8. Dropbox
9. timely contract work
10. leaps of faith, which can often be liberating
11. seeing my super cute nieces and nephews in California (and my sisters and parents too)
12. welcoming my sister Jackie to Texas in August–I’m so excited she’ll be in Austin!
13. New Orleans
14. having fresh herbs at my disposal
15. reconnecting with good friends
16. encouragement
17. meeting new people
18. forgiveness
19. government employees who keep calm and carry on despite  the general incompetence of Congress
20. Photo Stream

bottom 10

Photo by Chris Haston/NBC
(originally published on nytimes.com: http://nyti.ms/135K3dw)

1. the end of The Office
2. leaps of faith, which can sometimes be scary
3. the effect of humidity on my hair
4. crafty squirrels
5. the startup disk on my computer that is perpetually “almost full”
6. Feeling depressed about getting older. Seriously, there’s nothing to be done about it. And yet, I mope.
7. wildfires
8. terrorists
9. tornados
10. incompetent Congress

List 63: Spring!, transformed patio, March Madness, spring pollen, vacuuming stairs

Our cute little patio.

Happy Spring!

Today is the first day of Spring, and it was a beautiful beginning to the season. I’m quite fond of almost everything that comes with Spring: I love beautiful weather, spring showers, beautiful wildflowers and baby animals. I love spring planting, I get strange joy from seeing new leaves on trees, and I revel in the longer afternoons and evenings (although I hate getting up in the dark). I also love the freshness of Spring, and the feeling that everything is new and exciting and full of promise.

See that green tint on Jamey’s car? It’s pollen. Nice.

What I really don’t like so much about Spring is spring pollen. Everything, and I mean EVERYTHING, where we live is covered in a thin layer of green pollen. It covers our cars, coats our porch steps, gets all over the house when you leave the door open…even the little feral kittens in our complex are walking around with green-tinged fur. But in addition to being omni-present, it’s also really tough on those of us who are allergy-prone. If I forget to take an allergy pill (and sometimes even when I take it) my head gets stuffy, my ears clog, my eyes itch, and I’m generally miserable. At least I’m not alone–there are lots of allergy sufferers in the region, and we’re all simultaneously rapturous about the weather and the flowers and miserable about their effect on our sinuses. I’m just glad I live in a time when there’s such a thing as Zyrtec. Can you imagine the poor allergy sufferers who lived at the turn of the century? They probably didn’t last very long. All hail pharmaceuticals!

On a good note, we did spend last weekend sprucing up our cute little patio, planting some fresh herbs, waterproofing our deck chairs (that were a wedding present, by the way, from my uncle and aunt), and adding some really pretty potted flowers so that now it’s a little haven where we can sit and drink our coffee and watch the birds and make plans for the Spring and Summer in between sneezes. 

I hope you all are enjoying your spring, regardless of whether you suffer from an overdose of pollen or have a nice garden project to pursue. Have a wonderful week, and enjoy the lists!

Oh, PS: I have a new blog. It’s at http://www.txbizblog.com, and it will probably be really boring to you, unless you’re into business, Economic Development, Texas, or a combination of those three things. Check it out. 

You can’t tell, probably, because I’m a horrible photographer, but this is a calla lily on our back patio. It’s really pretty.

top 20

1. spring!
2. fresh herbs
3. being able to work from home when I need to
4. encouragement
5. Target
6. Instashare. If you have an Apple device and don’t have it, get it NOW.
7. exploring
8. completing the New York Times Crossword Puzzle in 12 minutes
9. Girl Scouts
10. transforming our tiny drab back porch into tiny colorful garden patio
11. Easter candy
12. calla lilies
13. Dan Pollotta’s TED Talk about how we view charity
14. QR codes on planting guides. Brilliant.
15. travel planning
16. being able to listen to my favorite Dallas radio station anytime I want, thanks to Internet Radio
17. luring cardinals to eat out of our bird-feeders
18. recycling
19. weekend visits from my awesome step-daughter, Carly
20. March Madness

I now pay attention to Pollen Forecast Levels.

bottom 10

1. spring pollen
2. pimples
3. doing laundry
4. sticky movie theater floors
5. lack of air conditioning
6. broken elevators
7. megalomaniacs
8. third world plumbing
9. management with poor communication skills
10. vacuuming stairs

List 62: Fridays, Pioneer Woman, breathtaking sunsets, rats, taxes

My favorite shelf at Hubble & Hudson, one of the many delectable discoveries we’ve made while exploring North Houston.

Ah, the weekend. Finally. I shouldn’t complain about my weeks, I know–they technically end on Wednesdays, and I usually spend Thursday and Friday being a complete sloth. But I love the weekend, and wish that it lasted a lot longer. I’m sure I’m not alone there.

So the last time we got together you could hardly recognize me because I basically looked like a cross between a panda bear and a kickboxing match survivor. I’m sure you’ll all be glad to know that I’m cured of my mysterious allergic reaction, thanks to the miracle of Prednisone and a fantastic medicinal cream made from Mometasone and Eucerin. I’ve also learned that I’m allergic to several different trees, multiple weeds, and pretty much every kind of grass that grows in the Piney Woods. But now that we know that I can avoid the outdoors on super pollen-y days, and I’ll faithfully smear my medicine on my face every day to avoid another outbreak, and life should be good.

Life IS good, actually. We’re having a grand time, alternately exploring the area and vegging out in our cozy little apartment. We go exploring often, and the backroads drives are incredible out here. We’ve found some fun shops to visit (mostly shops involving food in some way), and we’ve had a good time looking at land and dreaming about our future house out in the country (but not TOO far out in the country).

On a professional note, I have a new blog called The Texas Business Blog. It’s designed for businesses that are locating, relocating, or expanding in the state of Texas, and it goes through all of the resources available in the Lone Star State for those types of businesses. That may bore some of you to tears, but if you’re a business or finance person, or if you’re an economic development geek, it may prove to be a good resource for you. Check it out.

Hope you all have a fabulous weekend. Enjoy the lists!

top 20

1. Friday
2. pre-spring weather
3. WWNO, the public radio jazz station out of New Orleans
4. brevity
5. Schilleci’s New Orleans Kitchen in The Woodlands. Jamey took me there on Valentine’s Day and now I want to go back and eat everything on the menu!
6. Talking to my grandfather. It gives me perspective.
7. Melissa McCarthy
8. Hubble & Hudson, your one-stop-shop for essentials like saffron ice cream, duck bacon, black lava salt and  truffle oil cooking spray.
9. fresh basil
10. Pioneer Woman recipes. I’ve never tried one that wasn’t out-of-this-world delicious.
11. seeing deer on my way home from work
12. having reserve funds
13. the Academy Awards and this awesome Mashup of the Best Picture awards throughout the years
14. taking the scenic route
15. Patrick, our security guard, who volunteered to fetch all of our cars and park them close to the front door because it was raining.
16. the satisfaction of a clean kitchen
17. progress
18. this post from my photographer friend Pin about finding a bald eagle nest
19. Photo Stream
20. sunsets that take your breath away

bottom 10

Not so fond of rats.

1. rats (of every variety)
2. parking in downtown Houston
3. confusion stemming from people not reading email messages completely
4. getting a rubber check
5. the sequestration chicken game
6. missing out on important family events because I live so far away from everyone
7. people who drive really slowly in the fast lane
8. the Apple desktop Mail client–it’s surprisingly clunky and difficult, for an Apple product
9. megalomaniacs
10. Doing our taxes. We don’t even technically prepare our own tax return–we send a giant pile of receipts and tax forms to our CPA and he does it for us, but I still hate it.

List 61: Olivia and Ella, nerds, SuperBowl Blackout, evil allergens, Go Daddy

This looks like me right now. Only the panda is a lot more cute.

Hello! It’s me, Stacey! Oh, you don’t recognize me? Perhaps that’s because my entire face has been taken over by an allergic reaction to some yet-to-be-identified irritant. And boy, is it irritating!

I used to be not scary to look at. But now I resemble a character in a novel about weird creatures with strange eyes. Since we last chatted (does a blog count as chatting?) I have developed an allergy to…something. I have no idea what it is. Next week the allergist will poke me in the back with a million needles filled with every allergen known to man and we’ll see which one of them lights my fire. But in the meantime my skin is blotchy, my eyes are swollen, and I have rings around my eyes that make me look like a raccoon or a panda bear or some other cute animal with cute black circles around its eyes. Only my circles are red and puffy and not at all cute. I would say that I look like a victim of domestic violence, but Jamey has been the opposite of violent–he’s been super sweet and sympathetic and hasn’t laughed at me once, even though I know I look pathetic and ridiculous. So instead I’ll say that I’m the (temporary) victim of domestic allergies, and I am armed with prednisone and some sort of cream that will evidently give me some relief. I’m very grateful for those.

So many great places to explore up here!

In other, non-pathetic news: We’ve discovered some great places to explore in our new neck of the woods. I learned how to make a killer calzone, and can’t wait to try it again. We found a place to recycle our cardboard in Huntsville, something we didn’t really expect to find for some reason. My niece Olivia turned eight years old and had a tea party to celebrate. And I joined the nerdiest club in the entire universe, the Houston Economics Club. So it’s not all allergies and misery. I just enjoy a good pity party. 

I’m going to go now and lie down and put cucumbers on my eyes. Y’all enjoy the lists, and maybe next week I’ll have some news about what kind of allergy shots I’m getting. I hope everyone is happy and allergy-free.

Oh, PS: I post this blog to Twitter and LinkedIn, so if you don’t already follow me, give it a try. Or you can just subscribe to the blog and it will come into your inbox unbidden. 

top 20

Olivia

Ella

1. My nieces: Olivia turned eight on January 27 and Ella turns two on February 9. They are the best nieces in the world, and I”m not at all biased.
2. sympathy in my time of self pity
3. my sisters, who go out of their way to make every birthday a special one for their kids
4. Prednisone. Amazing stuff.
5. Finding out that I somehow missed a new Holmes/Russell book from Laurie R. King at the end of last year. I’m so excited to read it!
6. While we’re on the subject, the television show Elementary. I’m admittedly Sherlock Holmes-obsessed, but it’s a pretty good show.
7. being able to work from home
8. supportive people in my life
9. Bob Costas
10. nerds
11. trailblazing
12. rediscovering the Denise Austin Pilates/Yoga Workout (I have abs! Who knew?)
13. Siri
14. My fellow Board members and the Executive Director of the Texas Independence Trail Region. What a great group of people!
15. art on the walls
16. movie night
17. The Da Vinci Code
18. Anne Burrell
19. 360i, the agency responsible for the most timely Oreo Cookie ad ever
20. The Great SuperBowl Blackout. That was the best 35 minutes on Twitter I think I’ve ever enjoyed. Even better than the Manti Te’o fake girlfriend revelation.

bottom 10

Chart is from WILLIAM D. TOWNSEND, O.D.’s article “The Wicked Itch of the East” posted on www. optometricmanagement.com

1. whatever evil allergen is responsible for the current state of affairs on my face
2. SuperBowl calories
3. disappointment
4. insomnia
5. rediscovering the Denise Austin Pilates/Yoga Workout (I have abs. I remember now.)
6. The over-zealous pedicure lady who scraped my feet raw with that grater thing. Sometimes callouses built by years of wearing four-inch high heels should just stay where they are.
7. anxiety
8. Ashley Judd and Dario Franchitti breaking up. They were such a cute couple!
9. uncooperative yeast
10. Go Daddy. That ad was something I wish I could un-see, and not because it was a cute girl with an un-cute guy. It would have been gross with anyone.

List 60: home sweet home, Jon Stewart, Chrome commercials, cute cruel shoes, rainy day traffic

Hello! Look at me posting two blogs in one month. Looks like 2013 is off to a running start! 

All in all life the past few weeks has been good, with just a few small things to complain about and make it interesting. I started a new job on February 7 as the acting Director of the North Houston Economic Development Council, a job I think I can really enjoy. As some of you know, I have been in the economic development world for several years, and I’m looking forward to broadening my horizons and helping to grow the economy of the north Houston region. Watch for new economic-development type blogs coming in the next few months–I’ll expect all eight of my regular readers to follow them!

What my commute looks like on a rainy day.

My job comes with an hour-long commute, something I’ve not had before and I am slowly getting used to. So far it isn’t too bad, except when it’s raining. For some reason everyone driver in Houston turns into an idiot when faced with any kind of precipitation. There’s a stretch of several miles of my commute that is a two-lane construction zone, and I drive through it with white knuckles on the best of days. So when it’s pouring outside it just stresses me out–particularly when there are large trucks on either side of me, which there often are. I have no idea how Jamey did an even longer commute every day last year. I have it much easier than he did because (a) my commute is half an hour shorter, (b) I don’t have to drive through downtown Houston, (c) my office doesn’t even open until 9 a.m., and (d) I’m only in the office three days a week.  I also know that it’s all temporary until we find a place in between our two jobs. And yet I complain. I’m the ultimate wimp.

But apart from my commute, life is pretty good. Huntsville continues to be beautiful and charming, the job is interesting and challenging, all of my bills are paid, and our little apartment is becoming more homey as we put things into their places and hang our art on the walls. It’s been pretty cold here lately, so Jamey has been making use of our little fireplace. I can’t tell you how lovely it is to come home after a long day to a warm cozy fire and the soft pretty light of our living room with Jamey and the cats waiting for me. If only I had a chauffeur, a live-in maid and a personal chef my life would be complete. 

I have to say just a quick word about football: While I have enjoyed this year’s playoff season much more than I have in the past (mostly because I actually understand the game), I have to admit that I’m a little footballed out. Also, I’m tired of the commercials. So I, for one, will be very happy to see the Super Bowl on February 3 (even if the Texans couldn’t quite get it together this year) because it will mean that football is done for a few months. 

I hope all of you have a fantastic week. Enjoy the lists!

top 20

Eat your heart out, Norman Rockwell.

1. home sweet home
2. hot cocoa
3. using the stairs as an exercise tool
4. having time off each week
5. Henry and Patrick, the guards at my work who make sure I get to and from my car safely every day.
6. my new hair salon
7. the HEB store in The Woodlands (I refer to it as the “VersacEB”)
8. Silver Linings Playbook
9. new challenges
10. Jon Stewart. How many other comedians does Paul Krugman take to task in his column?
11. the inclusion of poetry in the inauguration ceremonies
12. sleeping in
13. the Twitterverse response to Manti Te’O's fake girlfriend revelation
14. Tina Fey and Amy Pohler hosting the Golden Globes
15. good examples
16. bed linens from Restoration Hardware
17. flexibility
18. Evernote
19. reconnecting with professional colleagues
20. Google Chrome commercials

bottom 10

So cute. And so cruel.

1. the return of cute, cruel shoes
2. being cold
3. having skin problems all of the sudden
4. Lance Armstrong. I hate being disappointed by people I admire.
5. baking disasters
6. insipid arguments
7. sneezy cats
8. inconsistent wireless signal
9. commuting in general
10. commuting in rainy day traffic

List 59: Happy New Year! new beginnings, family, coming home, dysfunctional Congress, fake champagne

The beautiful Sandia Mountains in Albuquerque.

Happy New Year!

I love the year when it’s all shiny and new like it is now, with all of its promise and potential. The year 2013 is just five short days old, and while we have no idea what will happen in the next 360 days, we can hope that it’s mostly good and enlightening. 

We ended 2012 well, with a trip to the Dominican Republic. It was a fantastic vacation, and I recounted our experience in a whole separate blog post here. When we got back to the USA we were here just long enough to unpack our swimsuits, then we repacked our suitcases with warm winter clothes and flew to Albuquerque, New Mexico to spend the Christmas holiday with half of the Ford clan (Sarah and Kellie and their families stayed in California this year). We had a great time hanging out with my parents and Jackie and Evan and playing with my new nephew, Finn and trying to make him laugh and smile. Jamey went all out and made my Christmas extra special, even thought we had agreed that we weren’t going to exchange gifts since we went on vacation and got new iPhones. We enjoyed a fantastic Christmas dinner, had breakfast with my high-school friend Kevin and his wife Courtney, and ate at our favorite Albuquerque dive (The Frontier) twice.  

After we came back from New Mexico we took a beautiful scenic drive to San Antonio to ring in the new year with Jamey’s family. We enjoyed a fantastic, fattening New Year’s Eve feast (the fattening part was at my request) at Jack’s house with the fam. Then Jamey, Carly, Jack and I watched a movie (the Best Exotic Marigold Hotel) until midnight, when we went outside and toasted 2013 with peach bellinis (teetotaler Jack had milk) while we watched and judged the fireworks display going on all around us. On New Years Day we ate ourselves silly with the traditional Osborne Family New Years Feast. Carly and I couldn’t stand it anymore and we went for a nice long (7 mile!) walk and felt like we earned the chance to have a third helping. A lovely visit all in all.

I’m very spoiled in multiple ways, and grateful that I have a great husband and family to share the holidays with. I’m also really happy to finally be living in the same place as Jamey. I start my new job on Monday, and I’m excited to see what that holds for me. I’m also excited to settle in to our little apartment and get to know the City of Huntsville. I don’t make New Years resolutions, but I do hope that in this coming year I can love my life and enjoy individual moments more than I have–this past year I often got so worried about the big picture that I failed to appreciate the smaller moments that make everything worth it, and I want to savor more of those moments this year. I can’t wait to see what the new year has in store for me, and I’m hopeful that this new start will live up to its wonderful promise.

I wish you all a happy, healthy, and prosperous 2013. Enjoy the lists, and have a fabulous week!

top 20

1. new beginnings
2. The music and story of Les Miserables. While the film version has its ups and downs, the music is amazing and the story is inspirational. It’s been fun to revisit it.
3. rest and relaxation
4. fireworks
5. peach bellinis
6. the Houston Texans (and JJ Watt)
7. Texas A&M (and Johnny Manziel)
8. posole
9. weather cold enough to warrant a fire in the fireplace
10. family
11. morning walks
12. feeling rested
13. catching up with old friends
14. The TED talk on the Transformative Power of Classical Music by Benjamin Zander. Mr. Zander inspires me to be a better person and a better leader.
15. the lovely warm blankets my mom made us for Christmas
16. new recipes
17. thank you notes
18. the scent of fresh coffee
19. Joel Stein
20. coming home

bottom 10

I wonder what our founding fathers would say about our current Congress and its shenanigans?

1. our dysfunctional Congress (I think they’ll be on this list for a while)
2. ruining my newly manicured fingernails just hours after getting them done
3. large smells in tiny places
4. the schizophrenic temperatures in our apartment: upstairs is toasty warm and downstairs is FREEZING
5. accidentally bringing my mother’s car keys home to Huntsville with me
6. dandruff
7. spoiled mint (makes for really awful mojitos)
8. unhelpful salespeople
9. the Whataburger in Giddings, TX
10. fake champagne

No Words

NOTE: This post should have been filed under “non list blogs”, but I wrote it on my iPhone in the car as we were headed out of town. Most of the time you’ll find actual top 20 and bottom 10 lists here, but the situation warranted an emergency post on my part.

As we make our way to IAH for a fun vacation, the flags at half-mast along the way are a sobering reminder that the country is in mourning for the 27 people who were slain in Connecticut on Friday, 20 of them children. Even as I type that it seems so surreal to me, and impossible to wrap my head around.

I don’t have any children of my own, but this tragedy touched me, like it did the rest of the country, because the victims were so young and so innocent and so undeserving. And what makes it the most horrible, to me, is the fact that they weren’t casualties of an adult altercation–the gunman went to an elementary school, a place where he knew that small children would be, and he intentionally targeted them. At this point I don’t know the motivation or the reasons (can there possibly be a reason for something so heinous?), but that fact alone chills my blood and challenges my sense of balance in the world.

There are no words to adequately explain the grief and sympathy and sense of overwhelming heartbreak that I know I share with so many people. There’s nothing I can say in 140 characters that would seem adequate in any way so I’ve not posted anything of my own on social media. All I can do, like everyone else, is wonder why.

I’m heading out of the country, and I have several days of rest and relaxation ahead of me. I know when I return the flags will be back at full staff and the news media will move on to some other story. But right now it’s still fresh in my mind and my conscience, so I wanted to write a few words, however inadequate they may be.