Yeeeee-Ow! That's my happy sound!

I am proud to announce that we are currently making our first trip home to Houston with a load of our belongings!

Carl got a tip off from one of his friends that Triad was hiring in Houston, paying the same amount as Higdon in Dallas. He called the Super's office at 8:00 this morning and they told him he was hired, show up tomorrow morning at 8:30 a.m. for your paperwork and a potty test.

So he called me. I was dancing and singing with Boscoe (BTW, that dog does NOT like to dance with his mommy, he gets really excited and his tail hurts me!) We were jamming out to my iPod, packing up the kitchen, then the bathroom, then the closet, the living room, and finally, the refrigerator. In the cooler the freezer contents goes!

We are only driving the truck back tonight so we did not get a chance to bring everything, however, everything is packed for either tomorrow night or Saturday.


DID I MENTION HOW GOSH DARN EXCITED AM?!

Back to my fabulous husband that wanted to get me home.....

He talked to his Super at Higdon and Ron said that he was really sad to see Carl go but if this was the best decision for us than he understood and wished us luck. Ron also told Carl that he would always have a place at Higdon Construction whenever he was ready to come back.

So here we go on another adventure...this one is sure to be THE BEST!

We even got invited to a Halloween party by my friend/realtor Tonya tomorrow night and I got an email from Jason Lebeda that he also lives in a suburb of Houston!

I've already got a fabulous baked potato bar neighborhood party stewing in my brain! Eeek! So happy!

Hope everybody else's day is turning out as good!

Carl's newest adventure

Carl called today pretty darned excited about the newest addition to "Carl's Travels 101". These are not the photos Carl has taken, because he hasn't taken any yet, but I googled the Oldest Town in Texas and it does look quite charming! Carl's pictures are sure to come tomorrow, but this little town peaked my interest!


Welcome to the City of Nacogdoches

Providing services to the residents of the Oldest Town in Texas - located in beautiful Texas Forest Country and surrounded by bountiful natural resources. We are a community rich in history, large enough to provide a thriving economy, yet small enough to retain one-of-a-kind charm and friendliness. The City serves its citizens with a wonderful quality of life; a safe haven with low crime rate, excellent fire and safety services, and abundant recreational opportunities. A well-planned, diverse community providing quality drinking water and state-of-the-art treatment facilities while boasting of library services that rival any large metropolitan city. Home to pleasant weather, a clean environment, excellent educational opportunities, and a thriving medical community, we invite you to walk our red brick streets, tour our historic sites, and feel that undeniable charm that only Nacogdoches brings.

Mark'em Markham

Where is Carl you ask? On an adventure with Jordan and Alex for work! They are in Markham, TX today. The last update I had was earlier this afternoon. Carl said they were working in the mud....but they're happy. Weirdos.



Population (year 2000): 1,138

Males: 558	(49.0%)
Females: 580	(51.0%)

Matagorda County

Median resident age:	33.1 years
Texas median age:	32.3 years

Zip codes: 77456.

Estimated median household income in 2005: $45,600 (it was $41,900 in 2000)

Markham	$45,600
Texas:	$42,139

Estimated median house/condo value in 2005: $54,500 (it was $46,100 in 2000)

Markham	$54,500
Texas:	$106,000

Carl

Carl has switched trains from working at J.E. Merrit and is still an Industrial Technician, just with Higdon Construction.

He started with them on Monday and has really enjoyed it so far. They were going on the road to work for a week but was pleasantly surprised when they ended up gettig to come home that night after a job well done.

On Tuesday we went to one of the bigger sites that Higdon contrats through so he could go through the saftey shop. He also finished up his paperwork and got the ret of the afternoon off!

Today he is out and about working on the site that he went to the saftey meeting for.

So far, the change is welcoming. He is no longer working nights and comes home with enough energy to eat dinner and work out. He's pretty fat right now. (Not literally, but he does weigh more than he has since I've known him.)

Learn a little more about what he does here..

(P.s. Ever since I've learned how to create the hyperlink...I've been hooked. I promise to stop my excessive use of them in the next 2.75 years....next 101 is being created in my sub-concious)

My husband (a.k.a. diggin for deals expert)

Carl was looking around on Craigslist when he saw that there was a dryer for sale for $75.00. He called the guy up and said "Have you sold the dryer yet?". The gentleman said, "I pushed the post ad button 20 seconds ago. Let me leave work and we can meet up at my house." When Carl got there, the seller told him that he had bought a new dryer and he just wanted to get rid of it, so he gave Carl the Kenmore 80 series dryer for $50 bucks!!! What a stinkin' find! But it gets better, he then decided that there were other things that he could give away, if Carl wanted them. So for 50 dollars we got a NordicTrack training system, 2 sets of garage Halogen lights and an almost new dryer! Later on in the evening Carl saw an ad for a Kenmore washer and for $190.00 we have a beautiful washer and dryer set. That hubby of mine, he's only frivalous when he spoils me...and I'm ok with that! LOL.

4 workers killed at Houston Oil Refinery

My husband is safe, but let us pray for the families of those lost and injured.

HOUSTON July 18, 2008, 06:21 pm ET · The largest mobile crane in the nation collapsed at a Houston oil refinery Friday, killing four workers and injuring six others in the latest of several fatal accidents that have raised concerns about the safety of construction cranes.

The crane, capable of lifting 800,000 pounds, fell over at a LyondellBasell refinery in southeast Houston about 2 p.m., said Jim Roecker, the company's vice president for refining.

The massive, deep red crane lay on top of a smaller, bright yellow crane on the grounds of the refinery. Ambulances and fire trucks were lined up outside.

The casualties were in the area of the crane, but officials still aren't certain whether they were on the crane or under it, Roecker said.

Three of the injured were treated and released at the scene, said Houston Fire Department Assistant Chief Omero Longoria. Two severely injured workers were taken by helicopter to Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center hospital and the other injured worker was taken to a hospital by ambulance.

The crane, whose exact dimensions were not immediately available, belonged to Deep South Crane & Rigging. Roecker described it as the nation's largest mobile crane.

The crane had not been scheduled to do any work Friday, but Roecker said its engine was idling after it hit the ground.

"This is a traumatic experience for all of us. We have to focus on the safety and health of our employees," Roecker said.

Deep South spokeswoman Margaret Landry issued a statement from the company's headquarters in Baton Rouge, La., saying it was investigating "to determine the root cause, correct it and ensure that this type of tragedy does not occur again."

Mattie Graham stood with her husband, Deep South worker Horace Graham, at the plant near the scene of the accident.

"I'm thinking about their families. He could have been there today," she said, gesturing to her husband.

The refinery has about 3,000 LyondellBasell workers and 1,500 contract workers, Roecker said. He said all personnel at the plant were accounted for, and the plant was operating as usual.

The crane was delivered in pieces and assembled on site about a month ago. It was brought in to remove large drums from inside a coking unit whose roof had been cut off to allow the crane access, Roecker said.

The Houston refinery is one of the world's largest for processing high-sulfur crude oil. The facility itself covers about 700 acres along the Houston Ship Channel at the city limits of Houston and Pasadena.

East Texas Crane Academy president Joe Bob Williams, whose company has certified crane operators for Lyondell, said it's unusual for such cranes to fail because of the number of people involved in their maintenance.

"It's really odd for these cranes to have any issues because there are so many eyes looking in," Williams said.

Crane safety has been getting extra scrutiny in recent months because of an alarming number of crane-related deaths in places such as New York, Miami and Las Vegas.

Holy Blog-tastical, I haven't been posting Batman!!

So.

It's been a while.

Carl and I went to Kansas for my sister Kim's graduation! It was an adventurous time. We did a hearty amount of stuff...mainly my mother fed us. It was great! Take a little trip with me...


Left at 8:30 in the morning Friday morning. Drove and Drove. Drove and Drove. And did I mention we drove? About 700 miles! We then went to pick up my little sister Anna. We went to Tho Cau to eat Pho. Yummy! Ranee and Kim joined us while dad and Carl watched the basketball game. Cleveland and Boston or something. We were all pretty tuckered out by the end of the night so off to bed we went!


Saturday morning we got up, late might I add, and went to Mulvane Middle School football field to watch the Graduation ceremony. It was unbearably hot, but it was really fantastic. I remember when I graduated, looking back I think it is more special to me now than when I actually graduated. I was just mad because it started to pour down rain and had a tornado warning in 2001!



The girls wore white and the boys wore green. I wish I had more pictures of just my beautiful sister but they are on a CD at home so I will post some later. Carl and I went to my mom's house and she was throwing Kim a graduation party so Carl and I went. Mom made Banh Xeo, Crab Rangoon, Spring Rolls with Sweet Fish Chili Sauce, Seen Daht, homemade sausage, beef jerky and many many other delecacies! We ate ALL DAY! Then met Dad, Anna and Apbun at the River Festival to walk the Arkansas River and stare at people. We walked down to the Carnival and played games and rode rides.

Sunday was a fun day! It started out with Carl and Dad kayaking 6 miles of the Arkansas River, pictures of that to come while Anna and I hung out playing games. Old Maid, Match, Uno and doing puzzles.









After that we went to the Indian Cultural Center to check out the festivities and ate Buffalo Burgers, Indian Tacos and Funnel Cakes. Anna and I went home and played more Games while Dad and Carl went to the Wat Laos Wichitaram Temple to run some electrical something or anothers. We went to bed and woke up to start our long journey home Monday morning.

All in all, it was a really fun trip. I am sure I will think of something else t write about but til then...ciao bella!