Getting out of Corpus...

So remember when I posted from the condo and asked why summer has to end? Well, unfortunately, it did end, but fortunately, good things awaited anyway!

I went to Dallas this past weekend for my weekend class I do once a month. It was really great to see the diversity in our class--I was a minority! Of course, I'm often a minority in Corpus to Hispanics, but this time the majority was was African-American women. It was fun to spend time with them and already learn from their perspectives.

After class on Saturday, I went to Fort Worth to spend some time with Jenn, another former journeyman in Senegal. Her birthday was on the 21st, so I wanted to celebrate with her. We ate at our favorite little French restaurant, La Madeleine, and walked around downtown Fort Worth--one of the best downtowns still put to great use!


Jenn and me kissing the bull in downtown Fort Worth

Then, on the way back home, I passed through Austin and got to go to the baby shower of my friend, Tara...Tara and her hostesses, Misty and Liz, were really good friends of mine back in high school. It's always fun to be around these girls again! Here are some shower pics...


Mom-to-be, Tara


Liz and another friend's baby

I've discovered that I'm actually transitioning out of the "All of my friends are getting married" phase and into the "All of my friends are having babies" phase!

Inside the Zoo...

This is from my friend Gloria, who lives in a village in Senegal, West Africa:

Inside the zoo

I was going visiting in my village the other day, and some kids called
me and pointed over behind the house where I was going. I found out
that they were pointing out some tubaabs (white people) to me. I
laughed to myself to see a strange group of tourists a little ways off
ambling through our village, following their African guide. They nodded
and listened intently as he was (apparently) explaining how these
natives live and farm. One energetic young man (shirtless and in
shorts) ran ahead of the group to snap photos of our other neighbor's
lush corn garden. I guess he thought it was hot here. I was chilly. I
was embarassed when my "mother" called out to them and yelled for them
to take photos of her little baby. Of course all they knew was that she
was yelling and holding her baby up to them and that a dressed up tubaab
was standing with her. They waved to us. It was amusing to hear my
peoples' little comments about the tubaabs. "They have so much time and
money on their hands." "They want to know everything."
"They are so clever." I felt like I was hearing the inside comments that
animals at the zoo make about the strange people that come to stare at
them.

dressers, showers, and condos

Since I've only NOT been in school for 3 of the last 50 weeks (that's 2 weeks shy of a year, mathemeticians), I have been absolutely clueless about what to do with all this wonderful time on my hands. Soooo....the danger of free time is, I found a new hobby--painting!! Not artwork, not walls, but furniture!


behold, the dresser

With summer comes...family reunions! So all the ladies related to Lacey (in case you've forgotten, refer to my July 31st entry) finally came together for a baby shower. A really cute idea I hadn't thought of...everyone was to bring a favorite children's story as a gift.



I thought I was being a genius (and dang cute, too) when I thought to give Lauren & Lacey Pat the Bunny , one of my all-time favorites...turns out I thought along the same lines as 2 others and they now have a copy of Pat the Bunny for each room of the house!


Sallie made it back in town and we celebrated at Jason's Deli...yum!Yes, Sallie (L) and Katy (R) are posed!

However, Chrissy, our little traveler, left Corpus after only about 36 hours since her return from the Phillippines, and went to a wedding over the weekend in Oklahoma...we missed her so much that we tried to make "Espina bread", this amazing bread Chrissy's Lola (grandmother) made all the time when she lived here. It's ahh-mazing!


Jennifer, Christine & Amy working out their sadness over Chrissy's absence

Twice a year, Amy's family gets this condo out on the Island (yes, Padre Island--all you "beach lovin' but don't live on the coast" people can eat your heart out!) and she graciously invites us to hang out over the weekend. Great food and lots of sun (which my white self deserately needs) made for a good time, plus my brilliant med-school friend Ashley happened to be down for the weekend!


Why does summer ever have to end? (sigh)

Back to the top 10...

So, if I were to try to make up for lost time on the Top 10 you'd be scrolling for the next millenium...instead I'll just give a current top 10. :)

1. Sallie & Chrissy are back in CC! (from Huntsville, TX and the Phillippines)
2. Wisdom & discernment (too many decisions coming up)
3. Honesty (again, I reference Philip Yancey as my new favorite author)
4. Pictures (how would I remember what Jonathan & Kari look like w/o them?)
5. Love (I've been surrounded by too many wonderful people lately)
6. Creativity (lately in the form of my new hobby of painting)
7. Jump ropes (to get exercise without dying of heat exhaustion)
8. Medical care (although it's expensive, it's manageable and available which I'm grateful for)
9. Food (go to cnn.com and the africa page if you want to read about some food crises around the world)
10. A/C (it's 108 heat index with like a bazillion % humidity in South Tejas today)

Sunday gang

Every Sunday morning, I meet with a group of women at My Favorite Muffin, this great little cafe in Corpus. Right now, we're going through Richard Foster's Celebration of Discipline, which is excellent for those of you who haven't read it.

This is just a few of us (L to R--me, Katy (our fearless facilitator), Christine, and Tracy) who get together and share life...thanks to these lovely ladies for providing me with a safe place to live and grow.

We'll be welcoming home this week Chrissy E from the Phillippines and Sallie from Huntsville, TX to rejoin us, and Chrissy L also makes it most of the time. Can't wait to have us all together again!