Thoughts on Austin

Yummy Green Mesquite BBQ, fortuitous meetings with millionaire ranchers, a truly eclectic mix of characters--all coalescing to form a great experience in our short trip to Austin, Texas. Texas fans are nice, the stadium is huge, and most of the girls wear cowgirl boots with their skirts. I've always loved boots, and this may be the first time I've gotten a yearning to buy a pair of western style (but they were really cute!).

We packed light and so I only had flip flops to wear (they were the "dressy" pair, with the fake, transparent, gold colored accents, hehehe). In hindsight, not the best pair of shoes to hike the 2.5 mile distance to the game (which, incidentally, turned into a 4 mile trek). However, in addition to my bruised feet, I met some very interesting individuals on my solo trek to the stadium.

There were the drunk guys--one who, when I asked directions to the stadium simply stared and said, "you have sweet blue eyes"...HA! Can you say "beer goggles"? This isn't the first time a drunk guy has commented on my eyes. I've decided I'm not picky, though, and I'll take whatever complement I get. :) There were the drunk girls who asked us to beat Texas because they were Aggie fans and couldn't stand the Longhorns. There was the incredibly wealthy--and incredibly unpretentious--ranchers who gave me their phone numbers in case my grandfather (who lives in east Texas) needed help getting away from the wildfires.

Austin is filled with metrocycles--which are rickshaw type vehicles pulled by bicycle. We fortunately snagged one on the way home from the game--saving my already sore feet. We rode through the downtown and I have to say I was pretty floored with the night life. It's not my cup of tea--I'm more a bakery/hot chocolate in the morning kind of girl--but it was pretty fascinating to see so many different people visiting so many different nightspots.

All in all a wonderful weekend and Austin definitely rates as worth at least one more trip! Next time, though, I'll wear more sensible shoes. ;)

Ten years ago today, Adam, my first child, was lying in bed with me. He was only 15 months old and we were snuggling under the covers. My three month old Seth was still asleep in the nursery. Jeff called me and told me to turn the television on, and I stood there in shock and watched the tragedy unfold. How strange, to be so aware of misery actively occurring hundreds of miles away. That misery soon reached across the country and around the globe as we realized the extent of lives lost, and how heroic and brave and stalwart and true so many of those people were.

I remember not even comprehending how people who didn't even know us could hate us so much. I have to admit it was not in my nature to even truly understand this. As the years go by, I have learned that evil doesn't have to be comprehended to exist. The people who planned, prepared, and executed this terrible act want to take away our agency. They want to see us as they are, chained to an ideology that would actively work to murder fathers, mothers, daughters and sons in terrifying and horrific ways. No thank you.

The results of this act have been war. I know people who have given their lives protecting our freedom. Has it been worth it? I believe if we didn't fight we would just see more 9/11's; so I have to say, 'Yes, it has been worth it'.

I am certainly not one who blames Muslims in general for this act. I would, however, hope to hear more Muslim voices unrestrictedly condemning these actions. I would also like to see active work within the Muslim community to reform those factions which practice violence and hate. I know that some are diligently working to make sure they are not defined by the actions of a relative few.

Ten years later I am sitting in a hotel in Austin, listening to bagpipes in the street play a mournful melody. I consider how today I will be on a plane flying on the anniversary of our country's darkest hour. It is small, but I feel as if it is my own statement that I have my agency still. I am proud to be an American.

Wow...a lot has happened since my last post. Jeff and I finished our trip out west with the children and arrived in Alabama. We were there just a few days before leaving for our cruise. We were on Royal Caribbean's Allure of the Seas. It really is a spectacular ship. We had a great time, except the first night I had cramping and bleeding again. After the cruise, I made an appointment with an OB/Gyn because I feared I might have had an incomplete miscarriage. The closest appointment I could get was for September 1st.

Around midnight the evening of the 24th I began cramping terribly. After suffering 2 hours, I woke Jeff up and told him we had to go to the ER. He agreed and we went to St. Vincent's. This was a great blessing, because after both a traditional and vaginal ultrasound it was apparent that I had an ectopic pregnancy. This was highly unusual and unsuspected because I have no history of any kind of problems that would result in an ectopic pregnancy and I have already vaginally delivered 6 babies. I had to go right in for emergency surgery and have three little scars to show for it. I still feel the loss of this baby. I yearn for another child--I feel like there is another waiting to come to our family.

I was so blessed to have quality, appropriate care. It could have been so much worse...