I was going through some old email that I sent from my hotmail account while I was in Hawaii and came across the following letter. It allowed me to relive some of the pleasures of being in Hawaii:
Hi to all,
I am having a very difficult time getting into aol. And Jenny, I had no luck at all getting into my phone book, and for some reason I cannot remember your email address so you have missed a few installments, sorry.
We went to dinner last night at a place called Jameson's by the Sea. It was delicious. In fact every meal we have had here has been wonderful. I have not logged a single point in my palm pilot. When we returned around 11 pm, the girls went out to the beach. The moon was full, the surf was perfect and there were a couple of locals trying to catch some fish. One of them,Robert, must have thought we were cute because he all but abandoned his pole. That is until the subject of age came up and when he found out our ages he all but abandoned us. Last night was a lot of fun.
The trip has been wonderful. So far we have not killed each other. I do not think we have even raised our voices once. Pretty amazing, when you consider there are 3 sibs, 3 married couples and a stranger to all of us but 2. Try doing that math!
One thing is for certain...saturday is arriving way too quickly.
Love,
mom (aka Rita)
PS Danny, we get home sunday am. I will call and let you know the particulars later.
In an unrelated topic, Stepan's parents arrive here tomorrow at 2pm. I look forward to meeting them. They produced such a wonderful son, I already love them. This is evidence that the wedding ceremony date is speeding toward us at a super sonic pace. I know Jen has alot to do and I have not even found shoes to go with my ceremony dress, much less the barbeque dress. Someone suggested I wear tennis shoes. I may have to. Time will tell.
I had a lot of fun tonight. A former co-worker, Van Ellis, is on the conversion crew in Longview. They have the same 2nd line manager as I. We work very closely with that crew when we do the type of work we are doing now. Anyway, Van has an airplane. We took a little ride in it today. It was alot of fun. I have sent some pictures on to some of the people who read this blog. You can see how much fun it is. I have never been in that small of an airplane. I got to do the preflight check with Van. I had a list of items that I read and when he had completed each item he said: "check". I felt like a real co-pilot. I was very careful not to grab the controls in front of me. I was concerned one grab and I would send the craft into an uncontrollable spin. More later. I am sleepy. I had a very big day today.
The Emmys are coming up. My oldest brother, Patrick, keeps asking about the question of the week. I think he asks that because he got the first question of the week correct on the first try. I have lost the link that provided that question. So, I am including all the nominees of the Emmys. Everyone can pick who they think will win. Let's see what the averages are after the show. Aside to Pat; "this can be fun too".
And the nominations are:
Outstanding Actress, Comedy Series
Jennifer Aniston, 'Friends' (NBC)
Patricia Heaton, 'Everybody Loves Raymond' (CBS) *
Jane Kaczmarek, 'Malcolm in the Middle' (FOX)
Debra Messing, 'Will & Grace' (NBC)
Sarah Jessica Parker, 'Sex and the City' (HBO)
Outstanding Actor, Comedy Series
Bernie Mac, 'Bernie Mac' (FOX)
Matt LeBlanc, 'Friends' (NBC)
Matthew Perry, 'Friends' (NBC)
Kelsey Grammer, 'Frasier' (NBC)
Ray Romano, 'Everybody Loves Raymond' (CBS) *
Outstanding Comedy Series
'Will & Grace' (NBC)
'Curb Your Enthusiasm' (HBO)
'Everybody Loves Raymond' (CBS) *
'Friends' (NBC)
'Sex and the City' (HBO)
Outstanding Actress, Drama Series
Jennifer Garner, 'Alias' (ABC)
Rachel Griffiths, 'Six Feet Under' (HB0)
Frances Conroy, 'Six Feet Under' (HB0)
Amy Brenneman, 'Judging Amy' (CBS)
Allison Janney, 'West Wing' (NBC) *
Outstanding Actor, Drama Series
Kiefer Sutherland, '24' (FOX)
Michael Chiklis, 'The Shield' (FX)
Michael C. Hall, 'Six Feet Under' (HBO)
Peter Krause, 'Six Feet Under' (HBO)
Martin Sheen, 'The West Wing' (NBC) *
Outstanding Drama Series
'CSI: Crime Scene Investigation' (CBS)
'24' (FOX)
'Law & Order' (NBC)
'Six Feet Under' (HBO)
'The West Wing' (NBC) *
Outstanding Supporting Actress, Comedy Series
Megan Mullally, 'Will & Grace' (NBC)
Wendie Malick, 'Just Shoot Me' (NBC) *
Cynthia Nixon, 'Sex and The City' (HBO)
Kim Cattrall, 'Sex and The City' (HBO)
Doris Roberts, 'Everybody Loves Raymond' (CBS)
Outstanding Supporting Actor, Comedy Series
Sean Hayes, 'Will & Grace' (NBC)
Peter Boyle, 'Everybody Loves Raymond' (CBS)
Brad Garrett, 'Everybody Loves Raymond' (CBS)
Bryan Cranston, 'Malcolm in the Middle' (FOX)
David Hyde Pierce, 'Frasier' (NBC) *
Outstanding Supporting Actress, Drama Series
Lauren Ambrose, 'Six Feet Under' (HBO) *
Stockard Channing, 'The West Wing' (NBC)
Tyne Daly, 'Judging Amy' (CBS)
Mary-Louise Parker, 'The West Wing' (NBC)
Janel Moloney, 'The West Wing' (NBC)
Outstanding Supporting Actor, Drama Series
Freddy Rodriguez, 'Six Feet Under' (HBO)
Victor Garber, 'Alias' (ABC)
Richard Schiff, 'The West Wing' (NBC)
Bradley Whitford, 'The West Wing' (NBC) *
Dulé Hill, 'The West Wing' (NBC)
John Spencer, 'The West Wing' (NBC)
My picks are marked with an
I have been given a directive by my niece, Elizabeth; and that is to make an entry about the triathlon, so here goes. The link for the Annie Oakley's, which is the event in which I participated is here. If you click there, you will also see Kathleen's results. In the meantime, here are my results: Lucio Rita 52= my age, 12:16.5=my 500 meter swim, 4:25.3=my first transition to the bike, 1:11:18.4= my 18 mile bike time, 3:58= my transition time to the walk/run, 2:11:52.9= my total triathlon time. I am not sure why the time I took to do the 5k run/walk is not there, but I know that all you people have calculators or pencil and paper and can calculate that event on your own. These results are better than my first triathlon's results. I finished that one in 2:14:+:+ and it was a shorter route. While I was in the middle of the bike ride, I thought to myself, "Why am I doing this to myself?. When I crossed the finish line, I got my answer.
Congratulations to my fellow familial triathletes: Margaret, Timothy(unilete), Felicia, Kathleen, John, Courtney and Jennifer. Everyone did very well. Daddy would be so proud of us.
I just got back from getting the car rental that is being provided by USAA insurance company while the Avalon is in the shop. It is a Maxima. It is not as nice as my car, but it is very zippy. I am going to call Enterprise tomorrow and see if I can get a car that has not been smoked in.
Well, crap! Today is Friday the 13th, and for me it is a typical one. I was running errands and had just left Costco, and was at the yield sign to get on the access road to I20 from Hulen St when a huge, enormous, gargantuan, big, black Ford Expedition ran into me. I got out to assess the damage to our vehicles. Her's was unscathed, mine has a big dent in the bumper. My neck is a bit sore. I am still going to do the triathlon. I will worry about my sore neck next week. My knees were a bit wobbly and my hands were shaking, but I am okay now. So now, I have to deal with getting the car to the repair place to get it fixed, making sure that I am being treated fairly by the insurance company and try desparately to not procrastinate in taking care of business. I spent about 20 minutes on the phone with her insurance company . I spoke with two people there. Sherry Strole took my intitial statement and Jenny Pobanz took the official recorded statement. Since Lisa Nal-Saigh had not called them yet to make a report, they had to call her and take her statement. They will contact me when they have succeeded in this.
First and foremost, if you have not already read it, please go there now. Meredith has written a very extensive account of her activities of late and some of them are very interesting and sweet.
Jeff and I are back in Longview. Things are progressing there. However, I am home tonight because I have to attend a course in floor drilling. I think, but I am not sure, that is a mandated course of OSHA. I should find out more tomorrow. I also think my boss got some kind of special deal for SBC. Otherwise, I do not believe he would have brought Jeff and me in from Longview to attend. We will be returning to Longview tomorrow afternoon.
I spent a very lovely weekend in Austin. One of the things accomplished was I got my new bicycle fitted to me at at a local bike shop. Sean, was very thorough in this task. At one point he asked me to peddle, but I thought he said cuddle and told him as much and he laughed and said after we finish fitting the bike to me we could cuddle. I thought cuddle might be some biking term that I was not familiar with. He did not charge the normal fee for the fitting. I did purchase an allen wrench tool and a shorter stem for my handle bars. He also fixed the bike computer. One of the connections was not quite making it and I was not getting any readings, except for time of day. You know what? We never did cuddle! damn! We also went to Jennifer's bridal shower given by her co-workers. We had a very lovely time there. You can take a peek at how much fun we had by going here.
This week was spent out of town in Longview Texas. I am leaving early tomorrow morning for Austin. WHM is giving Jennifer a work bridal shower and I am invited. Anyway, I am telling all of this because I have no time to make entries in this journal. There is not a whole lot going on to write about either.
Jenny and I are going to go swimming and bike riding on Sunday. Saturday, we are going to vigil Mass and then the bridal shower. I hope to leave by 6:30 am tomorrow. I have pretty much packed and I think I will arrange the bike on the bike rack on my car tonight before I go to bed.
Last night I met a bunch of my old business office buddies at Pappasitos. It was very nice. Most of the group is planning to attend the wedding. We are going to have so much fun. I am really looking forward to October 5. It was very nice seeing everyone.
I have been in a funk lately. I am not sure why. I wonder if September 11 has anything to do with it and all the media hype about the 1st anniversary. Some of the radio shows are asking its listeners to remember where they were when they heard, how they felt about the event and how it has changed our lives. I was between Edgewood and Wills Point Texas, with Charlene Bice. We were going to the Wills Point Central Office to retreave some orders for the frame migration we were doing. The computer in Edgewood was not working properly, so we had to drive 12 miles to Wills Point to get the next batch of orders. My cell phone rang. It was Jerry. He told me that a plane had crashed into one of the WTC towers. While we were talking, Jerry asked if there was an airport close by because he could see another plane around the towers. When it hit the second tower, we knew it was no accident. I tried to call Meredith, when I was unable to reach her I called Jenny. Jenny had already talked to Meredith and she was still in NJ on her way to her voice over lesson about 1 mile from the WTC. Meredith was unable to get into the city because the tunnels were closed. I called and spoke with Danny. While we were talking, Danny watched his TV as the first of the towers collapsed. It was about this time that we reached Wills Point. Charlene was hungry and went to find something to eat. I went to the barber shop to watch the TV that I remembered being there. Charlene joined me, watched some of the coverage and then went back to Edgewood. We were called back to Fort Worth. The higher-ups decided that all unneccessary work was to cease. So, we had a crew meeting for the rest of the week. Yeah, this is why I am in a funk. I am sure of it now.