Show & Tell

John recently completed a robot and took it to work today. It is a little bug robot that moves from sunlight. It was built from a kit but still took lots of little parts and soldering. We are finally seeing the sun here in San Antonio, so the little bug jumps around in the light. I think that this is the first of many robots...

The first picture is the robot and the second is John's desk where the robot magic happens.

Getting Back on Track

I missed one Weight Watchers meeting because of work and then a second when I was sick. During that time, I did not consistently track my eating. I woke up this morning to pounding rain outside and did not want to go to the meeting. I made myself get up and go because I knew that I was off track. I have gained 2.8 pounds since my last meeting on June 30th. Of course, I was bummed!

I am not going to quit, although it is tempting. I am using this as my reminder that I have to carefully watch what I eat. Left to my own devices, my eating habits cause me to gain weight. This is my challenge in life. Other things in life have come pretty easily to me, but weight loss and exercise do not. I need to (and want to) keep working on this part of my life.

I am posting two pictures from when I has lost weight with Weight Watchers in the past as my reminder that I can do this. The frist one is from December 2004 at the Riverwalk and the second is from Jamie's wedding in May 2005.




I am still working on keeping regular activity in my life. I am not as motivated to get to the gym without a trainer. My plan for this week is to go after work each day. I get off of work about 6:00 P.M. and then go back to UTSA at 7:30 P.M. to pick up John from his class. I can use this time to go to the gym instead of just going straight home.

I hope that everyone has a good week! I'll post my Weight Watchers results next Saturday.

Books & a Movie

I am still getting over a summer cold. As my Dad would say, I was "sick enough to be cured," so I went to a doctor. I am feeling better today.

Today we wen to see the new Harry Potter movie. John and I both liked it. I have only read the first three books, but John has read the first six. He actually liked this movie better than the book. He felt that the movie did a good job of summerizing the book. Overall, I have really enjoyed the Harry Potter movies. I am going to get back into reading the books again. I picked up book four today and plan to go in order to get to book seven. I am curious to learn how the series wraps up! I do not want to know the ending until I read book seven, and it will take me a little while to get there!

I have also joined a monthly book club. I missed my first meeting due to being sick this week. We read Gentlemen and Players by Joanne Harris. I have enjoyed mysteries since Mr. Althaus introduced my sixth grade homeroom class to Agatha Christie. This was a good mystery and I loved the ending! For August, we are reading The Alchemist by Paulo Coehlo. For the last few years, I have mainly been reading nonfiction, and I have not been reading as many books. (I have been reading managzines more.) The book club has helped to get me reading novels again!

M & M

This is what I would look like as an M & M. I named her Princess Cupcake.com
You can make your own M & M.

Back-to-School

When you walk into Wal-Mart, Target, or you local grocery store (here it is HEB) you cannot miss the school supplies. It is only July, but the retailers want you to buy school supplies and school clothes even though kids will not return to school until August or September. In contrast, John’s first day back-to-school (July 11) was just a typical day. Off he went to work, but he just stayed later to go to class (Freshmen Composition). No new clothes or school supplies, just some books borrowed from one of my co-workers and a new book from the UTSA bookstore.

I am seeing a different perspective on student life at UTSA by watching John go to school there. I can now honestly tell the freshmen that I understand how expensive classes and books are at UTSA. I see the perspective of the non-traditional students trying to find evening and online classes. I have caught myself going into advisor mode a couple of times as John talked about going back to school. I tried to get myself out of advisor mode and back to wife mode.

Since I really enjoy school (why do you think I work in education?), I find myself getting excited for John. Tonight I was even assigned to read one of his essays. It was about gender and communication, so it was applicable to our marriage. As much as I want for John to share the college experience I had, I know that his will be different. He has been working in computers for almost ten years now. He also is the most independent leaner that I have known.

For the next five weeks, John will spend lots of time in the spare bedroom reading essays and writing papers. The robot parts in the garage will remain untouched except for some time on the weekends.

On another note, I have heard that John has shared my blog address with a friend from work because he has not updated his blog in about six months. I am hoping for some humorous comments, but remember that my mom also reads my blog.

At Home

I've spent the last two days at home fighting a cold. After sleeping a lot, I think that I am now winning. I'll go back to work tomorrow for orientation. We (13-14 advisors) see about 340 new freshmen each Thursday to help them pick their fall class schedules. It would take a lot more than a cold for any of us to call in sick on orientation day!

We cancelled the cable a couple of months ago, so the channels we get with the antenna are ABC, CBS, NBC, and PBS. The only thing on mid-day are soap operas, so I decided to update my blog. You may notice that I have been playing with the layout templates. Blogger offers many templates, so I have been changing them around for variety.

I found another scrapbook site I really enjoy. It is ScrapWords and emphasizes using words in scrapbooking. I find words and pictures to be a powerful comination and have started journaling more in my scrapbooks. The site also has a place for blogs. Since I enjoy blogging here, I think that I will start one their too. This blog will not change much, but I will use the new blog to talk more about scrapbooking.

Confession Time

Ok, so I skipped the Weight Watchers meeting this week. It was due to poor planning on my part. I had the Saturday shift at work, so I thought that I'd go to the 7:30 am meeting before work. Wrong! I did not want to get up that early on a Saturday morning.

I've had a relaxing few days off from work, and I mainly hung around the house. Frida did have to go to the vet on Thursday, but she is much better now. I'll spare you the details... She is happy to get her antibiotic in cheese twice a day.

John and I have managed to share a car for three years now. (Most of this time he has had a motorcylce.) As we are pulled in different directions, it is time to sell the motorcycle and buy another car. John test drove a new Honda Civic Si yesterday. I just rode along because I have only driven automatics... It is a nice car, but $$$. My practical side is saying buy a used car! For some reason, John does not want to jump onto the Bachman Family Toyota Bandwagon. Mom and Dad have Corollas, I have a Corolla, and Brendan has a Tacoma.

Happy 4th of July!

I hope that everyone is enjoying the holiday! We saw Transformers this morning. Very entertaining!

We had planned to go to a BBQ this evening, but it was cancelled due to weather. The rain has stopped for a while, but Neal's yard is too muddy. We are just hanging out at home and enjoying some down time.

I am off work Thursday and Friday but have the Saturday morning shift. My boss acutally suggested that I take Thursday off. How great is that! I was off Wednesday for the holiday and Friday because of working Saturday. It just made sense to take off Thursday since we do not have orientation this week.

Monday Night

Pictures of a Monday night at the Grafton house:

My desk is under a window, so I look out to oak trees in the back yard.


John was working in the garage on the future robot.


Frida was sitting on the table. We do not know why she sits there, and she usually jumps up there when no one is looking.