Texas Blue Lime Productions

Here is a texting conversation between me, and let’s say, someone named Charlie:

Jan 12 8:07am CHARLIE: Eww my finger stinks. What should I do?

Jan 12 8:08am ME: Ask someone else to smell it.

Jan 12 8:09am CHARLIE: Is that a paid service?

Jan 12 8:10am ME: Kinda. They will either smell it or pull it. They will not wash it though.

Jan 12 8:12am CHARLIE: Hmmm well maybe i should ask your mom then?

Jan 12 8:14am ME: Sure…oh wait, your mom just rolled over in bed and said she would take care of it. Once she is through with her business though.

Jan 12 8:16am CHARLIE: What are you doing still in bed?

Jan 12 8:16am ME: That is kind of personal. You should ask your mom.
Jan 12 8:18am ME: Are you off today or just waisting tax payers maoney?

Jan 12 8:24am CHARLIE: I’m pulling into work, which if you are going to be my new daddy, you should be doing too and not lounging around in bed!

Jan 12 8:26am ME: I have been at work since you started all this. I expect a super father’s day gift this year….

Jan 12 8:26am CHARLIE: Ass
Jan 12 8:28am CHARLIE: So ill see you at rosa’s around 11:45?

Jan 12 8:29am ME: So, you started with smelly finger and end with ass. I think you have answered your own question. Yeah, we will be at Rosa, but closer to noon.

So, there ends another successful word exchange using modern technology.

There were some rough years (2006-2008)

2009 had some sadness, too

the harassment continues…can you believe it? (for those who’ve lost count: 2005 was the beginning)

Daddy’s golf tournament was diluted to the point that his name was removed. “Larry Salter & Harold Morrison Prairiland Academic Trust Foundation Memorial Golf Tournament” is just too much to fit onto a t-shirt.

We said goodbye to Sosta in December. Her suffering was one of the hardest things either of us has ever endured.

…and we finally saw some light and goodness

We went camping on what started out to be a gorgeous weekend and turned out to be one of the coldest of the season…and LOVED every minute of it

Lori worked for our wedding florist (Nan’s Blossom Shop) and learned so much about the floral industry on their biggest holiday

We held/hosted/sponsored the last BV QueSt GAYla….and went out with a bang and then some

Lori attended SxSWi and met a great group of non-profit professionals who work to better technology for those with physical impairments…and then came home to find a new/surprise 24″ iMac that Emil secretly ordered

Lori was honored to photograph the wedding of the younger brother-in-law of a dear friend

Lori served as a Wrangler for Texas Photography School, another honor to respect and treasure

We enjoyed the annual Luza Family Camping Trip for Easter weekend

Lori was selected to be the lead photographer for the wedding of another photographer’s daughter (…there seems to be a pattern here!)

We planned, hosted, & executed the 2nd annual (or at least let’s hope it is) “Neighborwoods Garage Sale” in the Westwood, Shirewood, Rosewood, & Rockwood neighborhoods in Bryan

Emil got a new job with the Travis County Clerk

We moved to Austin

We live at Riata “resort”

Lori was privileged, One. More. Time., to photograph the wedding of the daughter of a campus “celebrity”

We found the Austin Child Free organization

We joined Dream Dinners

We sold our house in Bryan, with the help of a great Realtor®, to a great guy…making the whole process easier

Emil made some fabulous friends at work, including a Longhorn with whom he can trade light/fun/gentle/silly practical jokes

Lori found the local alumni group for the University of Miami, a Crochet/Knitting group that is “off the hook” (pun intended), and her local Zeta sisters

We found a couple of board game groups and now play Settlers of Catan every month or so

Lori had the great privilege and honor to host a portrait session for two former students (yep, they met in the same organization) and their 2 children

Lori was selected to be a Wrangler for the Texas School of Professional Photography for 2010

Lori found time to resurrect her listening of KeithAndTheGirl.com (NSFW: not safe for work!)

Lori’s allergies (though worse in the summer) were greatly improved in the fall and controllable with a tincture and some light meds (so far) in the winter

Lori found—after months of looking for the right fit—some amazing business (and friend!) contacts through Weenie’s Warriors (#AWTWX on Twitter), Nuptial Essentials Association of Wedding Professionals, Austin IBA (@ibuyaustin on Twitter), Austin NBX, #roundrockjelly, & NW Austin Brainstormers

Emil (& Lori) ran into a student worker-turned-friend (from his job at the Memorial Student Center at Texas A&M) at an Aggie football watch party

Emil joined an online Dungeons & Dragons group (because his original live group got kicked out of their play place for a brief while and sought online options) and still gets to play with his good friends in “Bryan Station”

Emil planned an amazing mini-vacay for us to Fredericksburg; we stayed at an isolated cabin, rode our bikes, had massages, and even hiked to the summit of Enchanted Rock

Lori photographed her first true newborn: 7 days old!

Lori found out her Wrangler assignment for Texas School and is honored to be working with Robert Lloyd

Lori donated some portrait sessions to charity and photographed some kids for their Christmas cards and another family for Christmas gifts for grandma and had the “good problem” of being very busy near the holidays

Emil took Lori on a movie date (a first in a very long time) and, since we were in an adult theater, armed with break times from runpee.com, able to order food/drink, and close to restrooms, she stopped hating theater movies

We had the most relaxing Christmas we’ve had in several years, in spite of the additional travel to make all the rounds

The last night of 2009 brought a Blue Moon (once every 2.5 years), on New Year’s Eve (once every 19 years), that was also a Lunar Eclipse for Europe, Asia, and Africa

Our New Year’s Eve was legendary thanks to Emil finding a wonderful Italian restaurant and a fabulous fundraiser party to benefit The Blue Theater and Shrewd Productions

2010 has rolled in with a new spirit and energy that is indescribable

Happy New Year, everyone

we slept

all day

from midnight the night before

until 10am

when we watched a movie

and then went back to sleep

until 5pm

zzzzzzzzzzzzzz

On our 3rd day of Christmas, we

• woke up early enough to get on the road before most traffic
• left Paris at 9:30 and and made it to Austin by 2pm
• settled in and had our own Christmas exchange and then relaxed for the rest of the evening

On our second day of Christmas, we:

• sleep in just a little (until about 9am),
  and then
• Mom finished a few meal and gift preparations
  while
• Emil ran all the virus and software updates on her computer and got the printer working, again,
  before we headed “over the river and through the woods” (not really) for a
• noon meal for the five of us (Lori & Emil, Lori’s mom, and her parents) at the grandparents’ home, at the dining table, with the fancy dishes,
  and then we shared
• gifts with the grands,
  and then went
• back to Lori’s mom’s for our nuclear gift exchange, playing with Roxi,
  and a bit of recovering from a busy day

Lori's grandmother's Southern relish tray (embellished by Emil)

the 2009 O'Brien Christmas tree includes Lori's mom's Baby's First Christmas ornament up top. It's red, so it matches her hair!!! LOL

Our first day of Christmas (and our first major holiday since the move to Austin [1]) was jam packed.

9am – leave Austin for Bryan
11am – 2nd group to arrive on scene at Luza Christmas
12noon – giant family lunch, 65 in attendance, paper plates and a seat on the deck
1pm – visit with family, watch Mom and the kids open gifts
4pm – after the mass exodus of her home, we visited with Mom and the remaining family
5pm – leave Bryan for Paris
10pm – arrive in Paris

What a day!

[1] Thanksgiving would have been our first try at this travel pattern, but Lori came down with a cold bug. She too sick to travel, but more importantly, we didn’t want to infect anyone else.

For the last few days, Sosta has begun to get worse. She’s all but stopped eating, drinks a bunch of water, and misses the litter box. Her eyes have lost their color and spark, as well.

When she made it through mid-October, we were so happy. That was longer than the vets anticipated. Truthfully, after she recovered from the surgery, she was far better than she had been before it. Having her for Hallowe’en and Thanksgiving was great. …but we neither one think she’ll make it to Christmas.

We’re going to call the vet tomorrow to see if we can manage any discomfort she’s having…but unless they can do something to improve her appetite, we suspect her time left with us will be pretty short.

Aggies to take on Bulldogs in the (Advocare 100) Independence Bowl, December 28, 2009, Shreveport, Louisiana, #gigem

This week marks the 10th anniversary of the collapse of Bonfire that killed 11 students and 1 former student. While we did not know any of the victims, personally, we both worked in Student Affairs. Furthermore, several of our friends were directly affected by the death of someone very close to them. It was terrible.

Our clock radio went off that morning with perfect timing. The first words we heard went something like this:

“Once again, the Bonfire stack collapsed at approximately 2:30 this morning. Rescue crews have been working all night. Please avoid the area.”

Lori laid there, awake, and too shocked to speak for a moment.
Emil’s first words, “honey, did you hear the radio?”
Lori’s first words, “Poor Rusty.” (Rusty was Bonfire’s Advisor…what hell must he have been going through!)

Tonight/tomorrow, at 2:42am, there are remembrance ceremonies all over Texas (and elsewhere probably). It’s particularly special that the Leonid Meteor Shower will be brightest in the sky at the same moment as the anniversary of the collapse.

When looking for a ceremony in Austin, we discovered that the bonfire site is down.

bonfire.tamu.edu

It’s also a fairly active topic on Twitter:
http://search.twitter.com/search?q=%23bonfire
and
http://search.twitter.com/search?q=%23aggiebonfire

In Memory

Miranda Denise Adams
Christopher David Breen
Michael Stephen Ebanks
Jeremy Richard Frampton
Jamie Lynn Hand
Christopher Lee Heard
Timothy Doran Kerlee Jr.
Lucas John Kimmel
Bryan Allen McClain
Chad Anthony Powell
Jerry Don Self
Nathan Scott West

The Eagle also did some great stories about each of the families of these Aggies,

Spirit of Aggieland

Some may boast of prowess bold
Of the school they think so grand
But there is a Spirit can ne’er be told
It’s the Spirit of Aggieland
We are the Aggies – the Aggies are we
True to each other as Aggies can be
We’ve got to fight boys, we’ve got to fight
We’ve got to fight for Maroon and White
After they’ve boosted all the rest
Then they will come and join the best
For we are the Aggies, the Aggies so [true]
We are from Texas A.M.[U.]

Texas Aggies Will Yell for Miami Hurricanes to Win

Got this in email today (from Rivals.com). You Aggie readers should want Miami to beat FSU next Monday.

History that Correlates

Since 1997, there has been a direct correlation between the winner of the Miami/FSU game and the Texas/OU game.

1997
FSU 47 – Miami 0
Texas 27 OU 24

1998
FSU 26 – Miami 14
Texas 34 – OU 3

1999
FSU 31 – Miami 21
Texas 38 – OU 2

2000
Miami 27- FSU 24
OU 63 – Texas 14

2001
Miami 49 – FSU 27
OU 14 – Texas 3

2002
Miami 28 – FSU 27
OU 35 – Texas 24

2003
Miami 22 – FSU 14
OU 65 – Texas 13

2004
Miami 16 – FSU 10
OU 12 – Texas 0

2005
FSU 10 – Miami 7
Texas 45 – OU 12

2006
FSU 13 – Miami 10
Texas 28 – OU 10

2007
Miami 37 – FSU 29
OU 28 – Texas 21

2008
FSU 41 – Miami 39
Texas 45 – OU 35

Game

Monday, September 7, 2009
7pm CDT (8pm Eastern)
Doak Campbell Stadium, Tallahassee, FL
ESPN