Hope March 11, 2008

One of my favorite boards that I serve on is the ART 180 board.  Our mission is to change the lives of young people and their communities 180 degrees through art.   Not that the artwork itself will change lives or communities, but exposing young people to art and the artistic process and self expression and constructive time spent with mentors just might.

We are launching a new project in the fall called SOHO - Space of Her (or His) Own, based on the SOHO project in Alexandria, VA.  This project will entail one-on-one mentoring of about 20 young people (middle school aged kids) for a year - they will meet once a week with their mentors, work on homework, eat a nutritious meal, and then work on an art project for their final project (and prize) - a new space of their own!  Their rooms will get a make over at the end of the year.

Today in our board meeting, some of the ART 180 staff had gone up to visit the SOHO project in Alexandria.  And what they had to say was amazing / shocking… Our program leader asked if there sibling rivalry (i.e. 1 sibling is in the program and gets a new room while the other one is not) is ever an issue.  In Alexandria, the problem is not with jealous siblings, but rather jealous mothers.  They have had issues where the mom of the daughter that is in the SOHO program takes over the daughters room!  I couldn’t believe it - it makes me want to cry.

I think of my mom, who did everything in her power to give Yarbs and I everything we needed and wanted,  my mom - who “loves” the heel of the bread, who just wants Yarbs and I to be happy and successful, who gives and gives willingly and happily, who always pushed us and pushed us to be our best, who would never take anything from us… how different and difficult it must be having a mom who would take your re-made room that you worked 9 months on creating.  How, if you are that kid, there are so many things already in place for you to fail.

And I guess many of the mothers themselves are young and perhaps a little ill-equipped - never having much support themselves (I imagine), so they can’t really be blamed.  It just seems so sad to me…

Maybe our Richmond SOHO project will give one or two or five young people the support and self-confidence they need to change their lives.  To grow up to be like my mom, that is my hope.

Xmas 2007 December 26, 2007

Wed., Dec. 26, 2007 (~1:15pm) I am adding my own timestamps to my blog entries, as I cannot figure out how to sync up the blog time on WordPress to EST.

Our trip up to the Cape was uneventful. Although Boston got a few feet of snow just a few days before we came up, we were unaffected (thank goodness). Boom’s bro (Mo) and sis-in-law (Hol) and their daughter, little E, got in Sunday morning - was great to see them.

Sunday eve was (of course) football time. The Pats won over the (I can’t remember who they played!) so they continue their undefeated streak. Though Brady didn’t look great in the 2nd half, not scoring any TDs at all! Boom’s sister (Lee), her hub (Chuck), their twins (C and M) came over for the game. M is really into football and pro sports in general.

Here are all the real fans (moi, little E and M) - getting ready for the game!

For some reason M’s jersey was all black (which actually was good for Boom and I as we had gotten him a real Brady jersey).

and little E had her very own pink Brady jersey!

Christmas day was fine - the kids got LOTs of gifts - almost too many. I guess that is what happens when everyone buys gifts for the kiddies. Next year, I am thinking, that we will purchase 1 gift per child. No one noticed that we had many gifts per kids, especially the kids, so why add to all that excess?

Mally dog even got dressed up for the holiday! She is a good dog, not too terribly bright, but still a good pup. Odd, as she LOVES fruit - bananas, orange ets. Made me miss little Ruby, but the drive up here is too much for her (and us, for that matter).

Little E loved the tape machine with mics that Booms parents got for her. She knows all 5 verses of “Frosty the Snowman” - I never even knew there are 5 verses of that carol!  She was concentrating very hard and the mic was pressed up against her lips - any closer and she’d be ingesting the mic!

The twins also performed their school holiday song for us - I had never heard of it, but it was considerably less complicated than Little E’s song…

Here we are with Mo and Hol and Little E. We jumped into their family photo, as Boom and I make for a small family photo.

As for being good, I don’t think I really was good enough for my “big” gift - a GORGEOUS Elizabeth Locke bracelet! It is part of the Mr. T starter set

A wrist model I’ll never be, but this bracelet is so very lovely. and has such a great weight…

I LOVE IT!!!! LOOOOOOOVE it! Thanks, Boom, you are too good to me, as per the usge.

Last but not least, Lee (and Boom’s mom) cooked up a storm - and these are my fav cookies that Lee makes.

They have almond extract in them, not overly sweet, dipped in (dark?) chocolate. I like just a little bit of chocolate - the “meat” of the cookies are thick and moist - very yummy!

Boom’s oldest sister, Kris, didn’t make it back to the Cape from Chicago - she has a family of 5, so I really don’t blame her.

Oh, Boom’s parents got us for the gift swap - and they got us a really pretty black photo album that says “John and Ting Bresnahan” on the front. For many good memories in 2008 - it was really sweet and thoughtful. And useful! I love it as well.

wahhh December 22, 2007

Marmidy just called - to say she misses me.  I miss her a lot too.  I feel bad, as we just talked yesterday, so she really must miss me!  Probably just because the holidays are coming up and she thinks of us (Yarb and I), and since I am the baby (and had such a bad year) she worries about me.  Boom knows that Marm (and Yarb) would love to have us in TX to be closer to them.  I would like that as well, but I know that really we should go where the job is the best for Boom.  Right now that is Richmond.  (and we have lots of GREAT friends here, so can’t complain too much).

At least she and dad leave for their cruise with a bunch of other couple friends (who’s kids are with the in-laws, like us) on Sunday.  Then she won’t have time to miss me or Yarb.  Still, the holidays are hard when you are not with YOUR family.  As much as I love Boom’s fams, they are no replacement for marm, dad, Yarbs and even Josephine.

Yesterday, I was just talking with a friend, Whitey, who is going to be experiencing her first Christmas away from her family.  I told her it is hard, and that my 1st one away, I CRIED a lot.  Not that that should be such a surprise, since I am such a crybaby (or CB, as Boom likes to refer to me as).  She was not exactly excited, but this is what you do when you are married.  You suck it up and spend holidays with the in-laws.  Definately worth it for the hubby’s sake, but missing your fam and being a little sad is ok.

Marmidy and Dad sent Boom and I our Xmas gift - a hefty check to buy whatever we wanted!  It was really very generous and Marm and Dad really didn’t have to do so - we weren’t expecting them to give us so much.  But I think part of it was Marmidy missing us so much - it was very kind and generous of them.

I love Marmidy and Dad and Yarbs probably more than they know.  Sometimes hard to express myself in that way.

Christmas Cards & Marathons December 11, 2007

This Sunday (yesterday) I really started to get my Christmas cards done in earnest. I had gotten the envelopes a few days prior and Boom and I had stamped & return addressed them. So I got the photos (2″x2″!) and printed out the cardstock to stick the photo on. I think they turned out really cute! Super simple, but that is what I like. and I really wanted to just purch cards that I could stick my photos on, but I couldn’t find anything I liked. Esp since I like to use small and not regular sized photos.

Anyway, when I was in full production mode of our Christmas cards, my bro-in-law was running the White Rock Marathon in Dallas! He finished in 3:09:56 with a pace of 7:15 - WOW! He qualified for Boston!!! and is planning on running it in 2009. I am SO impressed! The last marathon (marathon only, not an iron man) he ran was Houston last year and he ran that in around 3:45 - quite an improvement! He has been training really hard, though, for his IronMans and that has really paid off in his running! Yarb ran the half marathon, in an hour less than Josephino did the full

And Kandra emailed me to day asking if I had any interest in doing another Racing the Planet event. She is interested in doing the Sahara in Oct. 2009. Of course I’d love to do another RTP event, though I think I’d opt for Gobi (my peeps) and if I did a Sahara Race it would be Marathon des Sables - one of the oldest and most famous staged ultras around.

But who am I kidding, it will be a while yet until I can commit to doing another one of those crazy races. Next time around, maybe Marm or Boomboom could volunteer while I race - would be nice to see a familiar face and have someone take care of me a little bit. But guess that is not the point of those races…

Thanksgiving December 1, 2007

Since I have been receiving hate emails / posts about putting up a new entry (yes, I know I need to), here goes… a little photo montage for your viewing pleasure. Unfort, since Yarb is the family historian, she is usually behind the lens, and not in front of it! Next time, more shots of Yarb with me!!!!

We all ran the Fort Worth Turkey Trot 5K. The boys went on to run the 10K as well! It was really cold, hence why we all kinda look like bag people…
Here is Boomboom bringing it in strong!!!

Mentos - Chinese steamed bread. Dad is the Master of the Mentos. He made a ton of these, as we all love to eat them! This particular batch I took the dough and made it into knots to look pretty…

We all ate way too much all week long! But especially on Turkey Day…

Here is the entire crew - blind tiger! Yaya and Chris, Boomboom & I, marm and dad, Gomby, Uncle and Auntie, and Yarb and Josephine-o.

Thanks, marm, for cooking so much and taking care of all of us! We all had a great time! Miss you all already!

Tex-@ss November 20, 2007

We got home to Texas last night around 9pm.  The flight was not crowded - which was great!  We were in a 3 seat section, just the two of us - I felt like we had won the lottery!  We always seem to be in 3 seat sections with another person, even if the flight is not full.

In the middle of the night, I awoke due to not being able to swallow.  I always forget how dry it is here, and my sandpaper throat reminded me late last night of why I need to drink lots of water when I am here, especially after the flight down.

This morning, Marm went to work out around 830am.  At 11am, I started to get worried, and very hungry.  I felt like Boomboom and I were little baby birds, waiting for mama bird to return to feed us.  We finally went down stairs, and mama bird had all the provisions out for us!  Bread, cooked eggs, fresh juice - it was great!

When Marm came home around 1130am, she was starved - and who wouldn’t be, after working out for 3 hours!  So she made herself a salad - romaine, cheese, turkey, turkey pastrami and half a banana.  It was leftover, so why wouldn’t she put a banana into her salad?!  Very odd, but she said tasty - so that is all that matters.

Sometimes I wonder if I will turn into Marm as I get older - and I realize that wouldn’t be such a bad thing.