August Cooldown

The temperature was under 100 degrees today! It was 95 in Houston on my drive, but a temperate 88 by the time I made it home to Sugar Land. This is our first day living in Sugar Land where the temperature did not reach 100 degrees.

I celebrated by taking Anders out for a walk. I found a park not too far from our house. It was perfect for Anders as he could walk up to the slide and refuse to go down it along with two harness swings for him to freak out in after three swings back and forth.

We found a bench swing along a path overlooking a creek and football practice. Anders and I sat on the green bench swing and enjoyed the sunshine, coolish breeze, and low humidity until the ants started biting.

Anna's out for dinner and a movie with her Sugar Land Mom Friends. Anders continues to call out for "Mommy!" from the crib.

Anders now does something that reminds me of my mom. When we used to drive to Kansas for Christmas, every few years my mom would try to get me to sing in tune and on pitch in the car if I absent-mindedly started singing along to Christmas songs. I say "every few years" because these "lessons" would make me so mad that she would not try again for a few more years or else I would remember not to sing in the car, I don't remember which one it was for sure. So now Anders cues me to sing in the car if Anna has started singing "Old McDonald" or "Farmer in the Dell." Anna will be singing, I will think the situation is under control, and then I hear from the back row "Daddy!" and if I don't sing "DADDY!!!" So I sing. At least Anders hasn't started to correct my pitch or tune, yet.

Anders is still not sleeping, so I better go in there and walk him around a bit.

Gallery Furniture

"This place probably isn't street legal, but it is awesome." -Anna, today.

They were unable to fix our foundation today due to an unmarked gas line, so the foundation people will come back later. The good part of this news was that we then got to take a little trip up to Gallery Furniture. If that name sounds vaguely familiar, it's because they sponsored the now-defunct Galleryfurniture.com Bowl.

We did a bit of rearranging and decided we need another piece for the living room. The night we had dinner at the headmaster's house last week our table suggested that we visit this place if we liked Ikea. Enough with the set up.

When you see it from the road, it has spires like a castle.

There are inspirational saying painted into the lines between parking spaces.

They have a slew of final sale furniture set under a large permanent tent in the parking lot.

When you walk in the store you are greeted by chairs Poppy Bush and Bill Clinton sat in on a visit to Houston, along with a giant statue of Elvis.

There are little cart cars with cup holders in them, which we used to move Anders around the store.

The front desk has cut pieces of vanilla-strawberry cake, bottles of water, and fresh Otis Spunkmeyer cookies. Anders had one and a half cookies, part of which he was wearing along with a sugar grin.

The snack bar in back of the store has free Dr. Pepper and Pepsi.

They have exotic topical birds scattered around the store, including toucans.

They have themed bathrooms like the "Presidential Suite," the "Jungle Room," and "The Prison Cell." They also have a giant mural of Elvis and giant inspirational phrases written on random walls.

Giant Texas flags hang throughout the store.

The coup de grace was not the giant TV replaying the Packers preseason game, no. It was the monkey cage in the center of the store. Yes, a furniture store has half a dozen monkeys. Anders was enthralled, especially by the white-faced monkey in the Texas state flag diaper. He was squealing with delight, and Anders liked him too. These monkeys came at Anders from above and below to check him out. The door didn't seem like it was locked too well, but it held. Anna noted the ethical problem of holding animals this way, but on the other hand she also noted that Anders would never get to be so close to a monkey at a zoo. The monkeys seemed to be having a good time, but the birds should be in a zoo or a preserve. The fact that I'm even having this discussion about a furniture store is bizarre.

We did not find any suitable furniture, but we sure made some memories.

Anders was pretty beat by the time we got home. He said a few "no, no, no, thank YOUs" and then when to bed. We read part of "Owl Babies" and he said the babies had to be "brave" and then he fell asleep.

Dub-Dub Becomes W

Whenever an older parents speaks nostalgically about how fast his or her child or children grew up, I always pretend to sympathize, agree, or understand. In fact, I did it just yesterday with one of the HOA pool regulars. Today, I started to feel it as Anders said "W" instead of "dub-dub." We loved dub-dub because it was cute, snappy, and smart. We think it makes much more sense than "double-U."
I did not mind when he stopped calling me "Dee" or when he stopped calling his shoes his "doos," but losing dub-dub will be hard. Anna said that tonight he said "dub-dub" as if to make her feel better.
Tonight as I was walking Anders around before bedtime, he started making the noise of a suckling calf even though he had no milk and is not bovine, to my knowledge. There was no reason for this, which made it even funnier. I started laughing silently, which made Anders laugh, and made me laugh more, to which he said, "Laughing....laughing!" He usually says "funny" in that situation so he's learning more descriptive words.
We took him back to the dry cleaners yesterday where we found a third Vietnamese-American who popped out of the back room to be impressed by Anders. This guy had Anders up on the table in a half-hug naming letters as an older African American man marveled at him. Tom Friedman would have loved that moment. As Anders and I walked back to the car where Anna was waiting, she said his chest was puffed out and he looked 10 feet tall.
We also hung out with our friend Lauren the Lifeguard at the pool. Anders calls going to the pool "Five!" since that is his favorite depth at the pool. He also likes seeing the turtle, crab, and fish painted on the bottom of the baby pool. He can touch all around the baby pool, but he prefers to glam onto his floating fortress of a father. When we go in the big pool, I make Anders kick and float a bit.
I felt like I had to make up some time with Anders yesterday because on Monday a spontaneous opportunity sprung up to go to the Texans preseason Monday Nighter vs. the Jets. I had not been to any iteration of an NFL game until then. We had seats 29 rows up on the 45 yard line, pretty sweet. They were a donor/alum's seats. I'd love to see a regular season game, but I hear those tickets are hard to come by. I think I could get behind the Texans as they remind me of my 2009 Vikings. They have a lot of stars, lack intangibles, and have an intellectually over matched coach. I'm not going to say much bad about the Texans in public because that last time I made the aforementioned points was in a bank lobby to a man I came to find out as our conversation progressed was mentally challenged.
Regardless, Reliant Stadium is an impressive structure. It's amazing how they can effectively air condition all of that space. The stadium makes the Metrodome look like the UNI Dome! Oh, they also do that lame Golden Gopher 1st Down cheer for the Texans. I don't know how they expect to win, ever.
Also, the 8th Wonder of the World, the Astrodome, is still standing. The Astrodome is in BAD shape, but they can't tear it down because of the potent amount of asbestos in the building. It would cost $100 million or thereabouts to take it down. Someone suggested that Lakewood Church could commandeer it if Joel Osteen needs to expand out of the old Summit. I drive by the Summit everyday on my way to work.
Anna and Anders have begun honing their act in the Anna and Anders Show. I'm so happy that Anna get to have this time with Anders, but I'm a bit jealous because he's so much more fun this year than he was last year at this time. Once he started walking in April, it became a lot easier and more interesting to play with him.
Trudy continues to struggle, but things are improving. We finally found a scratching post that works for her. We've also allowed her in the backyard, which she enjoys. We've decided that Trudy is interested in buying the house next door to us. She wants to stay close, but needs a break from Anders. She enjoys the house's shrubbery in the front yard and the white tile patio in the back yard. Whenever Trudy escapes, that's where she goes--house hunting. She has no collateral or assets, but she is intrigued, which counts for something in this housing market.
Anna took Anders to library story time here for the first time, which ran smoothly with 40 kids and two librarians. They had crafts and skits and plays. It sounded pretty amazing. I rag on Athens about a lot, and with good reason, but not library story time. Amy did a really good job and it was a highlight of my week. This library sounds like it's just at a whole other level.
We continue to love Sugar Land. I'm partial to the somewhat New Hope-esque suburb east of Sugar Land, Missouri City--The Show Me City (its actual motto). The Dry Cleaners are in Mo City as is one of the Targets and the HEB grocery store at which I want to start shopping. Anna gets a kick out of my nonsensical affinity for Mo City.
I think I mentioned earlier that our school has a chef, not like KFC has a chef, but a real one. Anyway for the first day of school we had crusted tilapia and a squash medley. They also had a beginning of the year breakfast this morning where the headmaster was in back slinging hash with the cooks. I had a great first day. The students and I vibed well. They seemed to get my sense of humor, which was not usually the case in Chillicothe. My best connections in Chilly were times that I discussed 80s music with my non-trad students.
Things aren't all rosy, however, as our foundation needs to be fixed. That will be an all-day Saturday project for which one of us must be around. The bad foundation was the cause of many of our problems. Once it is fixed, then we can get a new garage door. So maybe by next week we will be settled, literally, in this house.
I was talking to me friend Jeff who also left Athens once upon a time. He compared this feeling of exhilaration to that of getting out of prison. My friend Bill also compared his time in Athens to doing time. MN Steve rejected another year of OU History Dept. funding, choosing to move back in with his parents rather than stay in Athens.
People are so nice and friendly and competent every day! I keep expecting to wake up from this dream. I don't even mind that the temperature has been over 100 degrees every day that we have lived here. They put "99" four days out on the five day forecast just to give people some false hope. It may not drop below 100 until my birthday and it will not sour my Sugar Land honeymoon.

Dry Cleaners

I took Anders to the dry cleaners this afternoon as I was running errands. Anders was sleeping by the time he arrived, so out of a dead sleep he flipped the switched and charmed the Vietnamese family running the dry cleaners. He started bellowing out letters. I asked them to watch him as I took my suits to the car and brought in my shirts. Before I knew it, Anders was behind the counter in the arms of the grandmotherly woman running the place pointing and naming letters. She and her son were thoroughly impressed. The man wondered how I got Anders to name all those letters. I didn't have a good explanation, he just kinda picked it up.
I had my first day of orientation today on the movie set. The most intriguing thing I learned about is "Senior Tea." At 1:40 pm from Mon-Thurs the mothers of the seniors set up an opulent buffet in the quad. If you've seen Rushmore, the quad is prominently featured in the movie. The "tea" is open to all seniors, faculty, and staff. Guess who has two thumbs, a free period then, and a room on the quad--this guy! My joke about gaining 50 lbs this year may not be so far fetched.
I've decided that ABC will be my local news station. Not only do they have the Voice of God Guy who probably goes drinking with Dan Rather when he's in town, but the Nightline lady gives VoG Guy a shot out during the news, and they have an Iowan on Weather. Tim Heller, formerly of KGAN in Cedar Rapids, who obviously could not compete with Craig Johnson at KWWL or Denny Frary at KCRG, had to tuck tail and run to Houston. Hey, I'm a former Iowan in Houston, I could do the weather--it's gonna be 102 degrees and partly sunny--everyday. Boom, pay me mid-6 figures...

Ikea Story

Another day, more love for SE Texas...

I figured out how to get ABC smoothly on the rabbit ears. Working the rabbit ears is a lost art, I learned on my uncle Fred's TV in Park City, KS. My other homes growing up had the mounted antenna. Someone just a few years younger than me probably has no idea what I just said.

Today we bought a desk and chair at Ikea. I was in the warehouse with Anders. We picked up one of those wide carts you use to move the boxed, unassembled furniture. Anders wanted to drive, so I let him. With just a few nudges from me, he was able to wheel the cart with two large pieces of boxed furniture all the way across the warehouse. He even took time out to pause and smile at a pretty lady! Dorene witnessed that move. It was hilarious.

We also ate at Yao Ming's restaurant. It's pretty classy joint, run by his parents, no souvenir t-shirts, and food that's more authentic than you get in Athens.

I also finally got keys to my room. Getting keys to the high school I attended was easier than getting keys to the high school at which I work. I told one of my colleagues that I, along with many, many other students, had a key to my high school. He was incredulous. I guess that's the difference between rural Iowa and the 4th largest city in the country.

Oklahoma Was Never Like This

What an adventure gang. What have we learned?

I'm going Larry King/Sid Hartman style since a lot has happened...

Oklahoma is the new Indiana. Both KS and TX are hot and dry, but OK takes "hot and dry" to another level. Once we left KS for OK, it immediately looked much dryer than KS. Anders started saying, "Yellow! Yellow! Yellow!" as we looked out the window.

Oklahoma must lead the nation in people just standing around and staring into the middle distance.

It was 106 degrees as we sat in a random OKC traffic jam. OKC is actually building a skyscraper! The OKC terrorist attack memorial is well done and moving.

Dallas had an extensive light rail system, but Houston doesn't?!

Atlas Van Lines crushed about half of our nice wedding bowls and glass. If it was a wedding gift that Anna liked, then it was probably pulverized in the move. The grease marks on Anders' toys indicate that they went through his toys looking for valuables since valuables are often hidden in toys. I had a moving allowance, so we let it rip, but next time we are using U-Haul, if we can ever muster up the courage or gumption to move again.

It's hot here.

Anders enjoyed seeing many of his old toys and his old bedroom rug. He loves running around our house yelling. He calls himself "Captain Poop" and then he says "funny." Anders is basically a chilled out entertainer. Anders just shouts when he's in an open space. He likes to rule the air with the sound of his own voice. He did so at Ikea the other day and at Target tonight. He loves shouting "Anna!" at the top of his lungs. Yes, he knows our names, Anna, Jon, and Doreney--Anna's mom is watching Anders as we settle in. We could not be this moved in without her.

It was a five hour process today to get our car registered and get me a driver's license. Anna did not have enough documentation on her for a license, so MN is sending paper work reinforcements. We thought things would be loosey goosey in the South, but not here.

I love Sugar Land. It has everything. I would probably never leave were my job not in Houston. The suburban comforts are pretty nice. I got a haircut, chair massage, hot towel, and head massage for $16 as I watched Sportscenter! Three ladies cleaned our house for four hours for only $80! Even Dorene, the cleanest person I know, was impressed.

"Texas is like a fascist state, it's really conservative, but things get done there." New Orleans native, former Dallas resident, and friend Jack Epstein, May 2011. Jack, by the way LOVED living in Dallas...

The ladies who cleaned our house came on Sunday morning, as did the movers, and our landlady, Vera Cheng, to bring us a bunch of Chinese food--on Sunday MORNING! The next day, all at once we had the technician turning on our gas, two guys fixing our garage door, and Vera's handyman trying to fix our plumbing. It's amazing. People do stuff here. They show some hustle.

Now, granted, we still lack hot water, but our landlady is on the problem and I am confident that it will be fixed. The reason we bought a house in Athens in the first place was that we could not get our landlord to respond to our maintenance requests. He left a sink running for six days before he showed up. We had trouble sleeping at night because we heard water running. That place was such a nightmare. I can't stress enough how much better the quality of life is here. People help you with a smile on their faces. They more than show you where things are, but take you to those things. One worker at the Home Depot randomly stopped us and tried to get us a better deal on the air filter we were buying.

Another plus, is that we need not get basic cable here just for TV reception. We bought digital rabbit ears for $21 so now we get a slew of stations that come in crystal clear. We get some interesting stations, including Communist China Television or CCTV. There news studio is in Beijing and their English is just a little off and their graphics are all red. I like the channel because I for one welcome our Red Chinese overlords. Having health insurance taken care of would relieve much financial worry...

I think we had more square footage in our old house, but this one has more living space. We didn't spend a lot of time in our basement during the cool and cold months.

There is only one DMV office in Ft. Bend County. There is almost always a long line snaking out the door. I packed containers of water, granola, more documentation than one would need for a CIA security clearance, safari hat, flip flop crocs, and red mesh Decorah Letterman mesh shirt from the Dick Wuest Collection. I was still sweating gravy when I got inside the DMV building the room. I look like a criminal in my DMV picture. I love the TX tags. I couldn't get my Ohio tags off fast enough.

Our hall toilet is broken. Vera's handyman will try to fix it this weekend.

Anders takes all the repair guys in stride.

Anders played with all four colors of balls for a discrete and prolonged period at Target. I think "Red Circle" keeps those balls in the toy section to amuse toddlers while parents shop. I don't think they expect anyone to buy those balls.

I love how everything at my school is named after someone. For example, my room is on the quad, where many of the scenes from "Rushmore" were shot. Needless to say, I could not be happier! Anyway, in the "Diana Poteat Hobby (yes, like the airport)" North Quadrangle is my room, the "Hally Randall Carver Risher, David and Will Randall by Fairfax and Risher Randall." I don't know who they are yet, but I'm happy to be there!

I think Iowa played at the Galleryfurniture.com Bowl one year. Well, they are a single store on the west side of Houston. I don't think they have that bowl anymore. It would be fun to be inundated by Iowans for a minor bowl game should that opportunity ever present itself.

I did not imagine that local news would be so concerned with the weather in the Caribbean. They are actively rooting for a hurricane.

Young Arthur ben Ari will not need shunt in his head after all!

We we wake up in the morning the windows are fogged up almost every day. I don't even mind the earlier sunsets here as it means that it will get slightly cooler.

We now buy food at Ikea since we live close enough to do so.

Atlas better honor our claim or else Anna will seek Texas Justice.

When I got my new driver's license today I had to "surrender" my OH license. They have signs saying "the eyes of Texas are upon you" as they both scare you and ask for your help spotting criminal activity.

Shell seems to have a monopoly on Houston area gas stations.

We were missing a piece so we could not get Anders' crib fully assembled. A new piece should arrive shortly.

I've never lived in or visited a place with as many furniture commercials as Houston.

People like to give themselves knick names, like a TV lawyer ad for "The Hammer." Tom Delay's office is in our GPS for some reason. I'm looking at Anna.

After my friend Jeff Bloodworth left Athens, he said any place you move will be so much better than Athens. We agree so far, but this heat is no joke. I love the sunshine. It reminds me of the summer of '05 in Athens when it didn't cool down until the second week of October. I remember a day when we had a heat index of 122. That said, summer in Athens has nothing on this place.

Summer is to Texans as Winter is to Minnesotans. Both states have much pride and think they are the center of the universe. There are more similarities than I expected. It's kinda fun to live in a state with a superiority complex. I was congratulated on moving to TX by a utility company employee as I set up service. KS, IA, and OH all had inferiority complexes.

Perhaps early tomorrow I'll take Anders on a walk. He wants to go outside, but it's too brutal.

Even Trudy doesn't want to go outside, and cats are desert animals. We debated whether or not to let her roam our fenced back yard, but Trudy settled the argument.

I might back track later as I think of other things, but that's it for now.

Hey, a Central Time Zone advantage is being awake to watch Jimmy Fallon--he's really funny!

103.7 The Adult Alternative might be the only time Anna and I have ever been excited to listen to the same radio station.

Ok, I'm really out this time.