A Letter to My Brother, A Letter to You

Hi all-

In a recent email, I shared my busy life of late with my brother.
Re-reading, I thought I would post to you all, since I have been so horrible about posting!
But, the unsaid is in this font...
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My Dear Brother, ( No, I really don't call him that.. lol)

Yes, we finally chose some PCs. my brother is a computer expert and was helping me with the choice. This sounds so boring to say, but we have just been swamped lately. I really try to keep a balance with things and not over schedule, but the past weeks have just been crazy. I was so glad to hear you went and visited Dad on his birthday. I am not relying on you to take my place, but I was glad you went.

I talked to dad and also mom and they were both happy with the visit. Mom is raving about dad's progress, so looks like he will be coming home soon. Mom said that might be a good time for me to go visit so that is my plan as of now. Since I wrote that, things have changed- my dad is very very confused again and his return home has been delayed.. :(

We are busy because our petsitting is still active, and we are doing the college visits. Today was A&M. We really had to go look because it draws heavily from Houston.
I say we HAD to because my dad, my brother and John and I all graducted from UT, Texas A&M's arch rival. I always thought these rivalries were silly.. but Aggies are a breed apart.... it is easy to not like them if you are from UT.... Their fight song begins with "Goodbye to Texas University!"

It is a nice distance (1.5 hours) and an easy drive. It is hooked up very strongly with the Lone Star College system (community college) which S really wants to do the first year. (right now he has NO CLUE what he wants to do-- but we are talking and thinking...) They automatically grant admission if you go there first. And they are a good school. So, there is my Aggie Disclamer.

S, B and I went. John hoped to but business kept him at home. S really didn't care for it. We had a great tour by a student and saw it all. The best part was Revellis' graves. I wish I could have met the dog in person. But that is just me.
Ok, Revelie is the cutest collie dog and is their mascot! Need I say more? Look at the title of my blog!! Sweet dog! We heard the best stories about her.

It actually was fun for me to see A&M it as I have only been there once, and really only across the street from the campus. I think it is worth the hour and a half just to take a tour of the place. Very interesting, and lots of traditions. It really could be fun to go there if you are into it.
G says it is a cult. lol This is my good friend I have had for 40 years! My brother knows her.. very opinionated! :)

S much preferred both Stephen F Austin and St. Thomas. But we are under little pressure, just shopping around at this point. And I am so glad!

Also the PC shopping took a chunk of time. I won't give you all the details but due to price, financing, config choice, etc we ended up with Dell and mine is the prettiest color with flowers etched on it! lol If you see anything wrong with the config please don't tell me as we changed it 3 times and now the order is in. ;) My brother is very talented at computer design and I hope he sees nothing wrong.

Also J and I decided I need to go back to work. And this was major for me. But now I think this is just a 'passage' as Gail Sheehy would say. So all options are on the table... and I have been in major reserach mode there.

Keep homeschooling? ARGH! The boys and I would HATE if they went back to school!!!!
Work at home? Can my two exisiting small businesses bring in enough income for our goals (college and additional retirement) ? You know all about that, I am sure. What about benefits so if J's job has problems he is not scrambling. Franchises... other home businesses?

So that has basically eaten up the last week of my life. I love to reserach, so that is good, but I have really been busier than usual. I have some good ideas and I think all the changes will be good for the family. This is very, very true. God has been so good and I know it will all be for good!

I am sensitive now to my need to help mom and dad so am trying to keep that in account, too. I don't want to be too tied down, and honestly I don't want to go back to a flouresant-light office. Yuck.

All else is fine. Some good friends own a company and they invited us to their annual crawfish boil. I love the people, but these crawfish are really a bit much. I think we must be living entirely too close to Louisana! Ok, I have friends I love in Lousisana.. but none are crustations...
am trying to figure out how to eat around them and not look at them while I try and eat the other food. That is tomorrow. (I did this, and it went great--- ate lots of corn and boiled potatos and ignored the critters...)

Fri-Mon we have a pet sit customer who just can't say no. lol Last time we sat for her, she had 2 dogs and 3 cats. . Now she has 3 dogs and 6 cats! And she wants 4 visits a day! Good news... she is 2 blocks from us. Sweet animals and some extra grocery money.

Ask G. if she needs some cute scoop neck t shirts. I bought a bunch of really high quality clothes very cheap at a friend's sample sale. They are like $30 tops for $5! But they are too small for me. I thought Gina might like them. Maybe S.? my niece, size 2 but may be too big for her? I can't resisit a bargain..

Ok.. there is my tome. Tonight I am watching Hawaii 5-O Dvds. Our whole family is hooked.

Hope you all are well and happy.

Gig Em Aggies! (NOT!) But I have some Aggie Friends I love... I am just cowing down. :0
love,
Cindy