Bureau singe

Yesterday, Cas and I got in a car and started our two-day journey west. Right now, we're in Grapevine at the Gaylord Texan hotel and resort. Feel free to be impressed. The stay was a gift from his mother, and the room is very nice.

The keys to the door of the room came in a little pocket with a sheet outlining some of the benefits guests enjoy, and one of those was wifi. Cas wanted to go and ask how that worked, so we set out to find the concierge. We agreed concierge was a term too fancy for everyday use, so I offered "desk monkey" as a replacement. He pulled out his phone and translated desk monkey into French. Bureau singe. Love it. 

We walked around the holiday decor with its Texas theme for the better part of the evening we're off to see the Ice exhibit and go skidding down a snow slide. Until then, here's a photo from our stroll: 

More celebrations!

Jeanne's 70th birthday was yesterday.  Zoey's 1st birthday was the 23rd.  Yesterday, Cas and I went to his mother's house and picked her up for a birthday dinner.  Both ladies had a candle to blow out.

Holly had a birthday yesterday, too, but we're celebrating that this weekend.

In the meantime, Cas and I are scheduled to check into the Gaylord Texan today, stay tonight and see an exhibit called Ice tomorrow.  After that, we check out and move along to Fort Worth.  We'll have New Year's Eve at Sundance Square.  Then, we start 2015 together.

I have to get a move on and pack a few things for the next couple of days.  I think Cas and I are ending a really great year in a pretty cool way.

Please eat your elf

It's kind of easy to lose track of the days and hours when you have the vacation time of a teacher.  I am pretty sure it's a Monday.  I think that because I was at mom and dad's house yesterday, and we did our standard Sunday visit.  I also talked on the phone with my big brother, which I try to do when I am driving back from Richardson on Sunday evenings.  Yep, this must be a Monday.  That means a week from today, I have to go do my job again.  I guess I'll go back.

Saturday night, we went to a concert.  It's an artist named Bob Schneider.  It was a bit of nostalgia for both of us, really.  We went to Snuffer's, had loaded up cheese fries and headed to the Granada.  Ah, my twenties.  And apparently, his twenties...  The show was pretty good, but I seriously wished that the sound engineers would have turned up the mic volume.  I couldn't make out most of the lyrics, and I am a big fan of understanding the words while hearing the songs.  I also wished that The Granada would have kept a few of the chairs they seem to have removed when they stopped playing movies.  Alas, we stood and I wasn't clear on the words.  I think I will download some of his tunes and see what I really think of the singer.  I was glad for the outing and the company, just as I was glad we were once again doing something different.  So far, we have a knack for changing it up.  I dig that about us.  

I nearly forgot the hilarious thing that happened earlier that day.  I was standing in line at a Burlington Coat Factory buying a sweater when I saw a special entry into the celebrity perfume field.  It was a fragrance by a Kardashian and her former basketball player husband.  They are either divorced or well on the way.  Anyhow, that is what makes the name of the perfume so hilarious.  Here- just look:

Talk about tempting fate.

Anyhow, back to my fabulous weekend.  Friday was dinner in.  Saturday was Snuffer's cheese fries and a trip to The Granada.  Sunday was my family day.  Dad, Danny and I go out and have two beers each.  Danny got called into work about an hour before we were ready to go have our beers, but Dad and I went anyhow.  I always invite Cas to sit and have beers with us, but when school is on, Sundays are all his.  I try to be clear- he's always invited, but he should never feel obligated to come.  

Yesterday, though, he showed up.  I think it was a very good thing that he did.  He now gets what my Sunday beers with dad are all about.  We go out.  We talk about life, politics and whatever pops into our heads.  We were over at The Londoner yesterday.  The sign outside was probably supposed to say, "Please seat yourself." Someone wiped out a few letters.  

Please eat your elf.  Love it.  

Today, I have to head out and buy a birthday card for Jeanne; I already have a gift.  She turns 70 today.  It's also my cousin Holly's birthday.  When I told Jeanne she shares a birthday with one of my cousins, she asked how old my cousin would be today.  I said 39.  Jeanne said, "Oh, like me!"  She's not typically a joker, but that one made me giggle.  I have a gift all figured out and there are plans to take her out to dinner.  Holly's celebration will be this weekend.  I should buy cards.  

I hate buying cards.  Meh. 

Wrapping up the holidays

It's Saturday morning.  Yesterday was Boxing Day, and we have a few boxes on the calendar left in this year.  On Christmas morning, Cas and I went to his mom's house for a nice meal.  I took away yet another gift.  (This is really getting out of hand...) and a framed photo of my boyfriend when he was eight months old.  The photo isn't mine to keep.  It was handed to me so I could scan it and make repairs in Photoshop.  I did my best.  I have had the new and improved old photo printed at a drugstore so it would be a photo-quality print, but this is what I managed.  Left to right, this is the before and after:

Cute kid, right?  He's still cute.  

After that, we went back to our homes.  We were both pretty tired.  I think what's happening is that I am still doing all of the stuff I would normally do and he is still doing the stuff he would normally do, but we are also taking a date.  That means both of us are doing all of our own normal stuff and a pretty fair amount of the other person's stuff.  I guess that's why we needed a Christmas Day afternoon nap.  

We got back together in the evening and headed to The Londoner.  It was a good way to wrap up the multiple holiday celebrations.  We had wanted to play a few games of pool, but they have only one table.  That table was occupied all night, so instead, we took our drinks out to the patio and sat on the porch swing.  

Yesterday, he came to my house and picked me up so we could go to the grocery store and buy food.  We made dinner together.  I went with a Chicken Parmesan, as it included very few of those nasty vegetables he loathes.  I wish he liked some of them.  I would open up a lot more options, but alas, we had a delicious dinner.  I just had some of the leftovers for breakfast before tidying up the last of the dishes. 

Tonight, we have tickets to a concert at The Granada.  It's an artist I haven't heard of, but Cas played a few songs for me the other day, and the tickets were a part of my Christmas present.  I am pretty pumped.  We're going to eat at Snuffer's and head the The Granada.  It's kind of a throwback to do that.  Most people around our age who are from Dallas have made that loop.  Snuffer's to Granada.  Only most of us did that when The Granada showed movies.  Still, tonight should be great.  Of course it will be- I have a date with my sweetie.  

All I want for Christmas

I picked up my sweetie and took him to my parents' house yesterday. It was our rather nontraditional celebration. For extra fun, mom decided we should have a Tex-Mex meal. It was fabulous. I had pre-mixed a whole lot of margaritas. There were hard and soft tacos and homemade flautas. It was a very good meal. We opened the zillion presents one at a time, making the event last most of the afternoon.

When it was all over, everyone had scored some pretty good stuff. I suppose that's the benefit of writing up a wish list.

It was a good time with the whole crew present, but today, we have a decidedly smaller event. Today, Cas and I are headed to brunch with Jeanne and Dave. I am, as ever, down to clown. After that, we're splitting off for a few hours so he can try his new gaming headset and I can get into trouble with my new Kindle fire.

Here was the tree before we tore up all the wrapping paper: 

A Festivus for the rest of us

Were it not for Facebook, I would have let Festivus pass on by without even acknowledging the occasion. But, as it turns out, yesterday was Festivus. Cas and I went out for Chinese food.

With no grievances to air, we weren't celebrating appropriately. We decided to forgo the feats of strength, as well. Really, the only part of Festivus we got right was a meal. 

Today, I'm taking him to my parents' house for our annual Christmas Eve celebration. There will be food, drinks and presents. It should be ten of us. Mom, Dad, Danny, Laurie, Holly, Jason, Kris, Alejandro, Cas and me. In order to avoid the appearance of a normal family Christmas, we're doing it all up Tex-Mex style. I was over in Mom's kitchen in Monday mixing up a whole bunch of margaritas. 

After that, we have Christmas Day brunch with Jeanne and Dave. We'll have a few free days after that; we can do whatever we want.

Next Tuesday, we check into a very fancy hotel, which was Jeanne and Dave's gift to us. Also, if last night's fortune cookie is to be believed, it should be a pretty good day. 

Presence and presents

Yesterday, Cas and I went to his mother's house for a Christmas celebration.  It was mostly a standard event with a meal and gifts, but there are a few different things about how the Dunlap family celebrates.  For starters, everybody gets a stocking.  I even got a stocking.  I figure it's because I am new, but mine didn't have my name embroidered on it.  Everybody else had an embroidered stocking. I get the distinct feeling that I will earn an embroidered stocking if I stick around until next year.

I haven't had a stocking hung by the fireplace since I was a little kid, so this was a bit of a throwback for me.  Cas apparently finds it amusing when a Christmas stocking has a pair of socks in it.  Socks in a sock.  The stockings had some other treats in them.  This is something they do every year.  We all sat down with a ham and some smoked turkey after that, and adjourned to the tree for an insane number of gifts.  I had brought a nice bottle of wine for Chad and Becky and another for Jeanne and Dave.  I got a very soft blanket for Zoey and I had one of Holly's fancy candles for Jeanne and Dave.  I walked out of there with quite a haul.

It seems Cas and I have been together long enough to warrant couple gifts.  From Jeanne and Dave, we got a night at a very fancy hotel.  From Chad and Becky, we had to participate in a scavenger hunt.  I was not warned about this, but Chad and Becky took it easy on us. We opened up a package together, an it held an ice cube tray.  That led us to the freezer, where a wrapped gift sat in the space next to the ice.  Inside that, we found a dish with water frozen in the bottom.  After melting the ice in the sink, we found a pass to an exhibit at that same hotel to something called Ice.  I have no idea what that is, but all reports are that it is very cool and I will love it.  I plan to. 

Today is Sunday, and apparently, my parents are on the mend.  They simultaneously came down with a pretty nasty bug.  I was contemplating skipping my standard Sunday visit if they were both still down for the count, but I talked to them yesterday on the phone after I parted ways with the Dunlap family, and they're on the road to recovery.  I think I will head to the house today and see the folks.  Danny and Laurie are in Arkansas having a celebration with her folks.  Our big day comes on a Wednesday this year.  Until then, Cas has firm plans to sleep for several days.  I don't blame him.  I kind of want to do the same.

Here is a photo from yesterday of him playing with his niece.  Cute kid.  Cute uncle.

These are the Daves I know

Last night was the holiday get together for Cas' school. Apparently, there's an annual party at the home of the head of the school. From what I can gather, there are two campuses, one for little kids and one for bigger kids. This guy is the one who oversees all of it. His name is Dave.

The party was overflowing and for about a half hour, it was so noisy that Cas and I had to elevate to near-shouting to communicate. Aside from that, it was a nice time. 

At one point, Cas found himself trying to conversationally differentiate between the Daves present. "That's Dave's (the head of the school Dave's) son." I asked him if he remembered the Kids in the Hall song/sketch, "These are the Daves I know." 

That's how we started down the path that eventually led me to sing (albeit quietly) one of their far less appropriate songs in the living room of the head of a parochial school. What's wrong with me? And why does Cas find it appealing that I am the kind of person who would bust out a chorus of an offensive ditty in a Christian man's living room? 

No matter, though. For whatever reason, we work. Today, we have a lunch at his mom's house with Chad, et. al. before they take Zoey to South Carolina to spend the holidays with her other grandparents. I suppose I shouldn't sing an inappropriate song in his mom's living room. May not be the classy move. 

Here's a look at the very full living room of one of the Daves I now know: 

Ain't no party like a teacher party

Ain't no party like a West Coast party, cause a West Coast party don't stop. Well, apparently, a teacher party stops at six pm. 

Tonight was the big shindig for the teachers at my school. Cas was supposed to come, but he has been feeling sick lately. 

In fact, last night, we skipped our date night because he was sick. I fell asleep in my recliner before heading off to bed. So, he's sick, and I'm tired. What a fun pair.

I promised several of my colleagues that I would be bringing a date to the party, but it was understood, because most of the people with whom I work are either sick or have someone in their house who is sick. Evidently, this is a terrible flu season. 

Hopefully, tomorrow Cas and I can go to a different party. Some of his friends host an annual Christmas event, and he has been looking forward to it. I look forward to seeing him again, since we have not had our normal times together this week.

In the meantime, here is a photo of some teachers enjoying a rare night out together:

With the angels

Volume 2, issue 3 of The Hoofbeat is off to the printer, and surprisingly, I find myself ready to go to sleep before 10pm on press day. I talked to Cas in the phone earlier, and I said the paper was almost ready to be with the printer. It reminded me of the way some religious people say a departed loved one is "with the angels." The paper is with the angels, now, so all I have to do for the next little piece of time is teach school. Should be easy enough.

Sure, there are tests to write and marks to hit in the next few days, but after putting the pages into the FTP folder that the printer provides, everything else is a gentle coast to the holiday. My shopping is done, my students are sharp enough to do what's expected, and I just have to arrive at work clean and awake eight times before I can have a nice vacation. 

It should be a good one. Today marks seven months since my first date with Cas. Usually, if something like this falls apart (even when both parties are trying), it happens around here for me. In my dating history, a breakup can occur at around seven months that doesn't really surprise either party involved. 

I just don't see it now. Neither does he. We're stupid happy still, and we're getting pretty good at reading each other's idiosyncrasies. I was particularly clueless earlier on the phone, and he said it was okay, because it's deadline day, and as he said, I had "newspaper brain." Truer words could not have been spoken. Newspaper brain is a real, six-times-a-year problem, and he fundamentally gets it. Cas is such an it-getter. 

Anyhow, whatever brain I had last week should be fully restored, now. The paper is with the angels. 

For a laugh, here's the plan my general editor and I had about a week ago for what went where:

Glee

I dragged Cas to my students' high school musical last night, but as we were having something to eat before the show, he was trying to get a read on what he was about to see.  Is it like Glee?  Not really.  Is it more like High School Musical?  Not exactly.

I hadn't seen the show until the same moment he did, but our school has a proud tradition of the choir director writing an original winter musical and putting a whole bunch of kids on the stage.  The plot is usually a little tricky to follow, as there is far more singing than there is dialog.  I told him that the best comparison I could make was not with Glee or High School Musical, but with X rated movies.  There is not much dialog, and the spoken words exist only to advance the characters to the next important thing.  In the case of these kids, it is always a song.  In the case of X rated movies, the important thing is something quite different.  That has been true with every one of these musicals I have attended.  Yesterday did not disappoint.

I have to start out by saying that the singing was wonderful.  The choir at our school is very talented, and some of my best students were on the stage.  Thumbs up all around on the singing.  The plot, however, was a little trickier.  Generally, there was a high school and some of the kids didn't really fit in.  They tried to find their place through song.  I guess that about tells the bulk of it.  There was a new kid, an awkward nerdy girl, a snarky cheerleader type and a jock who *gasp* sings with the choir.

One girl played a mom, one played a guidance counselor and one played a choir director.  A boy played a coach.  Miraculously, all these "adults" attended the homecoming dance and celebrated with the kids.  I think the whole school all went to the same church, as recommended by the custodian (who was also in the football team, when not trying to find true love with a student in another scene...).  Must be a different set of rules at this imaginary school.  There was a strange moment with a singing puppet who poked out of the curtain, and Cas made my hands-down favorite comment of the evening.  Through peals of laughter, he said, "That just happened!  I want that as my wake-up alarm on my phone."

Anyhow, I was gad for the company and impressed by the talent.  I'm going to talk to the girl who voiced the puppet on Monday and see if I can get a recording of her singing her puppet song, but in the meantime, it's Hoofbeat weekend, and those newspaper pages aren't going to edit themselves.

The most surprising surprise party

Today was the party to celebrate Cas' mother's 70th birthday.  It was intended to be a surprise party, and it was quite the effective surprise for everyone.  Jeanne was not there.  She was very sick and could not be present for the evening.  Apparently, it's rare for her to be down at all, let alone, down so far that she couldn't make it to this event.  All reports from Dave are that she slept most of the day and was running quite a fever when it came time to take her out to a planned "dinner with some friends."  She asked him to cancel, and that's when he spilled the beans.  There was supposed to be a surprise party.  She was to be the guest of honor.  Not the way it worked out.

Dave spent the beginning of the evening disappointing people as they arrived.  One after the next, he had to tell the guests that the guest of honor wasn't coming.  Of course, the whole thing was non-refundable.  Of course it was...  So, we did as we were instructed.  We ate, drank and attempted to be merry.

I had brought my very fancy camera, thinking it would be nice for her boys to have many photos to place together in some kind of keepsake for their mother, but it turned out to be the best manner for me to document the evening for the missing guest.

Just as last night was Cas family time, so was this evening.  Over the past two days, I have certainly been on display.  I kind of have some sympathy for the dogs in the Westminster Kennel Club shows.  I had to make the best impression I could.  I tried.

My plan still stands with the photos, though.  I want to get the best of them together and give them to Jeanne in some kind of book or keepsake.  I think that should be from Cas or from Cas and Chad.  I think that would make her happy.  In the meantime, I have to go to work in the morning, so let me leave you with this photo of me and my boyfriend.  I think we look pretty good.  He sure can wear the heck out of a suit...

A little birdie

I suppose you know you're in good with a guy's family when you have a night like I did.  Cas' dad was in town for a big dinner, and a whole group was there.  Cas Jr., Cas Sr., Anne, Chad, Becky and Zoey were there, as were several people falling into the cousin, uncle and aunt categories.  Cas' grandmother was also there.  That side of Cas' family is a fun group, and the meal was very nice.  I thought I was doing well with the group and making a good impression when Grandma held my hand and talked with me.  She was an interesting old lady.  Her walker was off to the side, and people leaned in to hear her when she had something to tell.

I knew I was doing great, though, when she flipped me the bird.  I don't think I have ever been flipped off by an old lady before, so it was a real treat for me.  As we were winding up the evening, she was leaving the table with the assistance of her walker.  I looked at her for a moment, and her left foot was shuffling and tapping.  I asked her if she was dancing or if her shoe had fallen off.  She smirked at me and extended her middle finger.  She did this for a pretty long time.  I started to look around and see if there were children in the restaurant who should not be seeing the bird, but what would anyone do?  She's an old lady.

As we were all getting into cars and heading out, Grandma gave me a hug.  She indicated that she was joking around.  I told her that I wasn't bothered because I spend my days with teenagers, and she said, "Oh, then you understand me!" After that, I got a hug.  The old lady likes me. so I got that going for me.

Tomorrow we have more family stuff to do.  Friday, we have my students' winter musical. Saturday, we are headed out to watch one of his students in a ballet performance.  Sunday, I think I can just have a regular day.  We shall see.  Happy holiday season, everybody.