Fourteen months is WAY too long!

That's how long it's been since we last saw my mom and dad - fourteen months! The last time we saw them, they helped us move across the country from northern Illinois here to southern Texas. They stayed almost two weeks and helped us get settled in our new home. It's been such a blessing to have them here this past week for our Lord's Resurrection Day.

Our heart's desire is for them to be able to move down here, too. All our married lives, we've lived two states apart from each other, and it would be such a blessing to all live close enough that we can see them more than once a year. We've spent a lot of time this week driving around looking at houses and neighborhoods, and getting a feel for what is available and what they're looking for. It's probably not quite time for them to move down here, yet, because we saw a lot of what they can't afford, and nothing very appealing that they might be able to afford. We looked at a few model homes, all of which are sitting on lots the size of postage stamps. We're amazed at how densely packed in they are. You have literally five feet of yard on each side of the house, and if you're lucky, you get ten or twelve feet of yard in front and in back. The house itself takes up the rest of the lot. And some of the houses aren't all that big inside - they start at around 1100 square feet.

One of the model homes was obviously built in a real hurry. I think this was definitely a case of too many cooks in the kitchen, or something like that (not that this house's kitchen had room for that many cooks!). There were also three full baths in this very little house...one in the master bedroom, and the other two right across the hall from each other. Very intelligent. This house wasn't really big enough for a family that would need three full baths, as far as I'm concerned.

And I think it might have been that same house that had another goof which my dad noticed - the access hole for the attic had a rafter that went directly across the hole, and electrical wiring strung across the space as well. One obviously wasn't supposed to have access to this attic, at least not through this access hole. Hmmm...

So, we looked at a few more model homes, and then decided to come back to reality and drive through some more established neighborhoods. They need a place where my dad can do his woodworking, so a one-car garage isn't an option. It would be nice to have it near my neighborhood, or better yet, IN my neighborhood - please pray that one of our neighbors will move out and sell their house CHEAP (and take their yappy dogs with them).

We're praying that the market in Tulsa will pick up and they'll get a good price for their house there. We're convinced that God has a house already in mind for them here and when the time comes, He'll make it possible.

Girls' Day Out!

On Thursday, Amy and I went out for a Girls' Day Out - for the first time in I don't know how long!! First, we had lunch at La Madeleine, then we went downtown. We parked the car, took a nice, leisurely walk on the Riverwalk, and then went to the Majestic Theatre to see "Phantom of the Opera." It was absolutely incredible! The sets and costumes were amazingly elaborate. I think the most interesting set was the scene where the Phantom is taking Christine on his boat across the lake to his hide-out. They used fog machines to cover the stage with fog, and with the lighting and all the candlelights that came up from underneath the stage, it really created an amazing effect of water.

I took some pictures of the theatre, though they didn't turn out all that great. The setting I used really requires the camera to be on a tripod. Of course, I took them BEFORE the performance started, because they'd have confiscated my camera if they caught me taking shots of the actual play. I'd love to have taken some pictures of some of those costumes, though!

Amy posted her thoughts about the performance on her blog, too. I agree that the main characters' voices were more to our liking in the movie than in this production, but there's just nothing like seeing a Broadway musical live on stage. No matter how elaborately done, the screen just doesn't do it justice.

I was blessed to have been able to buy the tickets online at a group rate, for a limited time in December! You have no idea just how hard it was to keep it a secret for two months! Well, it was actually a month and a half. I finally broke down and told her a few weeks ago. I got these tickets for her birthday present, so it was nice to be able to celebrate her birthday a second time!

A new blog for you to visit!

Amy has started a new blog! Go take a look:

http://airhead90.blogspot.com/