We had another crazy weekend full of July 4th, belated Father’s Day and wedding shower activities! We drove up on Friday night so we could be at the Arlington July 4th parade at 9am on Saturday morning (yes, the 3rd). It is a long time tradition on the McLellan side… Paul has only missed one parade!
B.J. Cleveland was emceeing at the beginning of the parade and Paul walked to see him with me. He was in the middle of it so I only got to give him a quick hug. He was B.J. and the Super Ones on CBS in DFW back in the day. He was a theatre teacher of mine for several years at Casa and we were in many shows together. It was SO great to see him! AND I saw Todd Hart on the Theatre Arlington float but we didn’t get to talk.
We met up with Dad and Kelly at the Fort Worth Zoo for some belated Father’s Day celebrations. I hadn’t been in years and the places looks great! The new Museum of Living Art (new reptile house) is beautiful.
On Saturday night we had dinner at Uncle Julio’s with Mom and watched fireworks over the lake across from her house in Deer Creek.
Sunday there was a wedding shower for Andy and Christina at Gram’s house.
Then we got on the road to Austin for some symphonics and fireworks… our favorite event! We met Abbie, Thierry, Val & Sadie at Auditorium Shores. Sadie did really well despite all the noise from the cannons and fireworks!
Next year we are going to be out on the lake in kayaks!
The Symphony started with the Carousel Waltz and, of course, ended with the 1812 Overture… just like our wedding ceremony! I got Monday off, but Paul didn’t. Old movies and chores all day!
The Valentine’s Day that we celebrate today seems loosely based on a lovely story from a medieval bestseller… I guess the flower, chocolate and greeting card industries got together and ran with it? I like to recognize it but I don’t like to put too much stock in it. I mean, why make an arbitrary day the day to do something nice for your partner? That said, it is a holiday that encourages love and kindness… and who can argue with that? We decided to make a weekend of it.
On Saturday we went on a tour of the Live Oak Brewery here in Austin. We sampled FIVE BEERS and there was an option to choose your own at the end. I only had about half of each of mine and gave the rest to Paul. Needless to say, I drove us home right after we made a stop at Thunderbird for some lunch.
This was our tour guide. She was drinking a 12% beer that they don’t even sell the entire time…
we were there about 2.5 hrs!
After some Wire and a nap we went to see the Percy Jackson movie. I really enjoyed those books… the movie was decent. We ended the night with a late night run to the grocery store and a batch of chocolate covered strawberries.
On Sunday we woke up and drove to the San Antonio Zoo. It was magnificent weather! We walked around the zoo for about 4 hours.
On the way out of town, Paul suggested we go to the Alamo… why the hell not, says I?
We came home, had goat cheese enchiladas and Spanish rice with chocolate covered strawberries for dessert, and took a stab at our vows… well, we talked about them, anyway. We had a great an excellent weekend, holiday or no.
This is a jpg of our Christmas card this year. To fit on the blog page it had to somewhat small because I can’t figure out how to make this page wider. Anyway, it is a little difficult to read the poem so I will post it below.
We look forward to celebrating the holidays with our family and friends over the coming weeks!
Much love,
Katelyn & Paul
The Shortest Day
And so the Shortest Day came and the year died
And everywhere down the centuries of the snow-white world
Came people singing, dancing,
To drive the dark away.
They lighted candles in the winter trees;
They hung their homes with evergreen;
They burned beseeching fires all night long
To keep the year alive.
And when the new year’s sunshine blazed awake
They shouted, revelling.
Through all the frosty ages you can hear them
Echoing behind us – listen!
All the long echoes, sing the same delight,
This Shortest Day,
As promise wakens in the sleeping land:
They carol, feast, give thanks,
And dearly love their friends,
And hope for peace.
And now so do we, here, now,
This year and every year.
I had a very interesting variety of events this weekend! It was the first in a series of busy, holiday weekends!
Friday I went to see Dionysus in 69 at the Off Center… that was quite an experience. It is a very interactive show based on Euripides’ The Bacchae. It was first performed in 1968 and directed by Richard Schechner. Schechner also directed this production, was there and gave a talk.
There is a portion of the show in which the actors play instruments, dance around and encourage audience members to get up and dance about all crazy. It was interesting to watch people slowly feel comfortable enough to do it. It was fascinating how the actors’ freedom carried over to the audience so easily! I wanted to get up and dance, but I purposefully did not get involved in the action so I could watch the audience react. There was one corner of the audience that started laying on one another and massaging each other by the end of the show. There is such a thin line between “decorum” and acting like the animals that we are…
This, of course, was the whole point! In The Bacchae, a woman is so aroused in a frenzy by Dionysus that she actually helps dismember her son’s body and carries his head home to show everyone because she thinks it is the head of a lion. When she gets home, she realizes what she has done and tragedy ensues.
On Saturday we drove out to Elgin and cut down our Christmas tree!
We came home and decorated the house and the tree before heading downtown for the Capitol tree lighting, caroling and the annual Slackers show.
On Sunday we went to the Blanton to see a Baroque concert and check out the art.
We grabbed some Tom’s Tabooley, got the weekly groceries and got home just in time for Sunday movie! We watched Mr. Leonard’s pick of The Thin Man, ate dinner and I busted out the guitar to practice some Christmas carols. Great weekend!
Had a pretty decent Thanksgiving all in all. We drove up Wednesday night. Got on the road about 5:30 and didn’t get there until 11:30. One 40-mile stretch took us an hour and a half! But no one was taking the secret road in Hillsboro so that helped speed things along.
Thursday we went to Gram’s and had a Thanksgiving lunch that couldn’t be beat. Then we went over to my mother’s and had a Thanksgiving dinner that couldn’t be beat. That night we watched Love Actually.
Friday, Mom and I watched Harvey Girls then Mary, Paul and I went over to my Aunt Vickie’s house for a Thanksgiving lunch that couldn’t be beat. Then Mom, Mary and I went to visit my grandmother. That night we watched Bedknobs & Broomsticks and Sleepless in Seattle.
Mom had to work on Saturday so Mary and I watched Annie Hall, had lunch with my dad at the Jazz Cafe on Montgomery (omg so good) and then met up with Paul, Jim & Anne at the new and improved Fort Worth Museum of Science and History. These are some of the only pictures I took all weekend!
We drove back to Austin that night, Paul went to the Data Pop show, and I stayed home and watched Wicker Man.
It was nice to be home Sunday and have some time to get stuff done. We got groceries, beer making stuffs and xmas lights! Paul got up on the roof and put a strand around the house. Another house in the cul-de-sac was also putting up lights… They wrapped their tree and also changed all the outdoor lights to either red or green bulbs! We might need to step it up a notch! And I actually made Chestnut and Apple Dressing last night! It was ok, but with a few tweaks should be good for next year. Thanksgiving, I wish I could quit you!
I have always wanted a real wreath!
Soooo that was an incredibly boring recap of a fun Thanksgiving holiday! I watched some great movies and ate too much!
For someone who gets beyond excited about the holidays every year, I always have a wave of ickyness right before I had north to see the fam. At first it was because mom and dad got seperated (not divorced mind you… STILL not divorced) and dad started living with his long term girlfriend somewhere in Fort Worth. Then it was because one of mom’s sisters started controlling my ailing grandmother and stealing from her. Legal problems ensued. That finally got all fixed, but we no longer see or speak to that aunt or my cousin. These days it is because my mother and her one remaining sister seem to be on the fritz (who knows why) so they are having separate Thanksgivings. I haven’t even gotten into the fact that I have been contacting my dad for at least a week trying to find out if his side of the family is having any Thanksgiving event. He hasn’t ever gotten back to me and no one else on that side of the family has even contacted me.
I get so excited for Thanksgiving and Christmas each year only to be hit like a brick wall with this reality every single time. I never thought we would end up like this. I know every family has their issues. I am just tired of feeling like I am one of the only ones trying to keep my family from falling apart completely.
Thank goodness I have Mary…
Sorry to be such a negative nancy so close to Thanksgiving (sadtrombone.com). Though the holiday is a source for much bitterness (see above), it is nice to be reminded that I do have much for which to be thankful.
Yay! Another successful Halloween. I finally finished my Wonder Woman pumpkin which was alright but couldnt compare to Paul’s Cylon pumpkin.
Made this pumpkin for work…
On Friday night we went to Andy’s Halloween Party Part 1 @ Castle Greybeard. This year we went as Sweeney Todd and Mrs. Lovett. This is what we were going for…
and here we are!
We woke up Saturday morning and drove to Dallas to see They Might Be Giants @ The House of Blues. Paul’s parents met us there. It was a great show!
We immediately turned around and came home so we could give out candy to trick-or-treaters. We had spooky noises coming through the library window that you could hear on the front porch (think chainsaw noises while a woman is screaming or creaking doors and a slow, menacing footfall). There were tons of kids, we ran out of candy, and one kid got really scared on our front porch! WIN!
Then we went to Andy Halloween Party Part 2 @ Dustin & Catsilo’s place. Good times had by all! There were SO many great costumes this year! Here are all my Halloween pics! Hope you made it back home alive!
Haven’t posted in awhile! We have been pretty busy. Might be a little rambly…
We helped Ryan and Sarah move and their new house is awesome! We saw Swan Lake and the Fire Bird at Ballet Austin. We went up North to visit Paul’s pops for his birthday last weekend. My mom was out of town so we also took care of her poodle, Shirley. I am a moron and left my key to my mother’s house in Austin so Paul broke into the house. We were able to break a window in the garage so it wasn’t too bad.
We have decorated for Halloween. It feels like we have so few decorations! It will be nice to add to them every year.
Paul put together a Larson Scanner so we could make a Cylon pumpkin!
I went to see Spring Awakening this week… I hadn’t ever really sat down and listened to the music before. I like the story… the lesson being to teach your children about sex and their changing bodies so they can make smart decisions. And I enjoyed the music more than I thought I would! My favorite piece was “Don’t Do Sadness/Blue Wind”. The only thing that really bothered me was the odd combination of the period (late nineteenth century) with (sometimes) modern lyrics and choreography… Sometimes it just seemed very out of place.
ANYWAY, I finally got to knit a little something for Nora… I hope she likes it and will get as much use out of it as Will gets out of the one I made him.
Old movies and chores all day!
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