Clean or not, this is why underwear is a good idea when driving

FROM TODAY'S AUSTIN-AMERICAN STATESMAN...
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
COMAL COUNTY
Collision involved naked couple
Investigators think that alcohol was a factor in a head-on collision in Comal County on July 18 in which two victims were pulled from their car naked.

"The only thing they had on was the radio . . . and their seat belts," Department of Public Safety Cpl. Rick Alvarez said.

On the evening of July 18, Lisa Marie Bishop, 25, of Austin was driving north on FM 1102 north of New Braunfels when she went around a curve and swerved into the southbound lane, crashing head-on to a truck driven by Juan Montoya, 49, of New Braunfels, Alvarez said.

Montoya was not injured. Bishop sustained injuries that were not life-threatening, but her passenger, 26-year-old Robert Rydeen of Austin, was airlifted to San Antonio and was in stable condition Monday, officials said.

Bishop told investigators that she and Rydeen had been at Schlitterbahn Waterpark and had removed their wet clothes for the drive home, Alvarez said. Investigators found some wet clothes in the car as well as evidence of alcohol consumption. Alvarez said that in his 13 1/2 years as a DPS trooper, he had never before investigated a crash involving nude drivers.

"But she's from Austin," he said, "and I figure Austin folks are a little different

Goings-on

It's been a busy July here at the George house. Here's a look at some of the latest:

She wasn't cooperating going feet-first, so I tried rear-first. Seemed to work. She was entertained for hours, er, 10 minutes.


Maizie holding hands with Maizie. I love the way she looks at herself in the mirror and wish it would rub off on me!





Rub-a-dub-dub, three little girls in a tub. Emily and Daniel came back for a longer weekend and we had a blast.


Maizie's first baseball game. Thanks, Wendi and Wade! No worries, there was a net there. We all know I couldn't catch a baseball to save my (or my baby's) life.

She kept pulling it off when we faced it forward. I guess Maizie's just gonna be a backwards-cap kinda girl, whatever that means.

Reading "Maisy goes to bed" with Grandmama and Grandpa (or PawPaw). Yes, after 11 grandkids, their grandparent names still aren't final.

Another highlight of the past couple of weeks was a trip I organized to the free day at the Blanton Art Museum at UT. It's an amazing gallery for a town this size and has a pretty good collection of modern art (my favorite). The Young Married girls kidnapped Maizie early on so it was really nice to just walk through stroller-free. Anyway, I guess I should have handed out a pamphlet entitled "Look but don't touch" to one of my friends. The art cops almost locked her up in art jail. Here's the story from the art-toucher herself.

Plans for this week? I'm cleaning out the closet and getting organized. Living in a small space makes me want to throw everything out! This weekend, we're headed to College Station for Irma's baby shower and a spa day on Saturday. Jason surprised me with it last night as my anniversary/birthday gift. He's been stashing away cash for weeks. I'm so excited to have a girl's day I'm not sure I'll know what to do with myself! One of my favorite parts of the gift is that Jason and Koby are going to spend the day with Maizie. She'll have a blast.

That's about it on the George front. Can you tell I've had a "catching up" sort of day?

I'm a bigger baby than my baby

So, Maizie had her 9 month dr. visit today with a shot for polio (which we are so thankful for since Jason lost an uncle to the disease). I was dreading it because I hate how she doesn't know what's about to hit her and when it does she looks at me as though I've just sold her to the Jews for 30 pieces of silver. Well, I was armed and ready with a bottle of juice, toys, a paci and, if necessary, cheerios. The shot went in and she didn't make a peep. It was glorious, yet a little pathetic when you consider that I've cried at 3 of my last 4 dentist appointments and I can't get blood drawn without throwing up. I guess she gets her "tough" genes from her daddy.

Here are her 9-month stats: 19 lbs., 27 inches and a big head (75th percentile).

Question of the Day

Was he really that wise of an old king if he made 10,000 men march all the way up the hill and then back down again? Not to mention the whole "half-way up" part.

Happy Anniversary

Since we're a day ahead this week, I might as well send a shout out to Jason as we celebrate our 6th anniversary tomorrow. There is only one like him and he's all mine. That may sound like a back-handed compliment to some, but it is truly one of the main reasons I love him. Here are some things that make him uniquely him:

• His dream car is an '88 Ford Festiva (presently tri-colored and broken down)
• He actually likes Vanilla Ice and Milli Vanilli
• He eats the same breakfast and lunch practically every day
• He hardly ever gets embarrassed
• He rides his bike to work and believes in not being wasteful, but not in global warming
• He was ACU's best-ever cymbal player
• He makes me but things back on the right shelf when we're shopping
• He sleeps in the shower
• He "gets me" (which is sometimes really hard to do)
• He puts me and Maizie before himself

Ok, I'll stop sapping it up. I just wanted to share how blessed I feel that we're starting our 7th year and I'm feeling no itchiness whatsoever.

The 20th is Tomorrow

In case you were misinformed as I was, the 20th of July is tomorrow. Maizie's birthday is tomorrow. Our 6-month mark in Austin is tomorrow (so you still have to be nice to me, people). I used to be a human calendar. That is apparently no more. Good night.

Maizie to the 9's

Happy 9-month birthday, baby girl. You know how you've always heard parents say "they grow up so fast" and you thought they were crazy? They weren't. It's the truest thing I've ever experienced in my life. I want to hit pause so badly right now, but I also can't wait to see what she does next. Anyway, here are some fun shots of month 9.


Her "portrait" for month 9. I love the new cheesy grin and the new dress from Aunt Kamee.

"You want me to eat this?" Maizie's first cheerio.

Standing up in the cart (despite the seatbelt being on). She almost flipped out of the stroller this week, too. We're working on having some locking/bolting devices made. I'm sure we won't get strange looks if we have a 9 month old in a straight jacket, right?



To see the rest, go to
http://picasaweb.google.com/carengeorge/Nine

In the Austin State of Mind

It's a big day in the George household. Besides being Maizie's 9-month birthday, it also marks 6 months since we moved to Austin. This is important because when I began freaking out last year about moving to a new place with a new baby where we would both be taking on new jobs and meeting all new people, Jason and I both agreed to the 6-month test. We would try our best to make it here and reevaluate things in 6 months to determine whether this was the place for us. I have a hard time making decisions, so this gave me a mental "out".


Well, I am happy to report that Austin passed the 6-month test! I'll be honest--at month 3 things were looking a little if-y, but I think it was just the combination of job-baby-house-entire-life-change all at once. Anyway, we love this place and the people we've met so far. Here are some of my favorite things about Austin so far:

• The People (The Westover YM group, our care group, and random hippies)



• Winter (or lack there of)



• The Mueller Redevelopment (what a Godsend!)



• The Parks (Zilker, Pease, the random field across from our house)


• Being closer to our 10 nieces and nephews



• Lakes and Rivers



• Trees and Hills



• EZ's Diner and Alamo Drafthouse



• Jason's job



• Helping to Keep Austin Weird

Thanks to everyone who has helped us feel at home and for our family and friends who have supported us from afar (even though some would prefer that we were closer).

Are you smarter than my dog?

When Maizie was a few months old, Jason and I realized that our dog, Mabel, was smarter than our child. And she still is. Now before you get all up in arms, consider this list of comparable skills:


MABEL
Makes unintelligable noises and grunts (Maizie: Accomplished)
Is excited to see us (Maizie: Accomplished)
Sleeps in her own bed (Maizie: Mostly)
Sits on command (Maizie: Sometimes)
Comes on command (Maizie: Rarely)
Shakes (Maizie: Does waving count?)
Goes pee and pooey where she's suppossed to (Maizie: Projected in year 2009)
Does math (Maizie: Projected in year 2013)
Knows that when she hears a car in the driveway she's suppossed to stop doing whatever she's doing and act like nothing happened while we were out (Maizie: Projected in the year 2022)


On the other hand, Mabel will never walk on two legs, turn off light switches or open doors. Not to mention the whole "conscience" thing. So, we're confident Maizie will soon pass our four-legged friend on the pathway to intelligent living. Until then, it's lots of positive affirmation and plenty of kibbles and bits for our little girl.

Routine Maintenance

Maizie,

For the past 8.5 months, I have been attempting to get you on some sort of routine schedule. The books say it's good for you, good for me, good all around. Let this serve as my GIANT WHITE FLAG.

I surrender, to you, oh routine-allergic child. You will sometimes wake up at 6 and sometimes sleep until 10. I will do the same. You will sleep 12 hours one night and in 3 hour spurts the next. I will do the same. When you take 4 hour naps, I will no longer wake you to eat. I will no longer post a note entitled "Maizie's Schedule" on our refrigerator with a David Hasselhoff magnet. There are better things that magnet can be used for.

So there you have it. You won on this one, but just because I am choosing my battles. So, no you can't hit your friends over the head with your lego house, 4-year-old Maizie. And you may not borrow my car to go bowling with some slimy boy we've only met once, 16-year-old Maizie. And no, you can't get a pair of $300 jeans to wear on the first day of school, 14-year-old Maizie. Your father did just fine in his Z. Baldacini's.

That's all for now,

Mom

Cousins and County Line

Jason's sister, Emily, her husband, Daniel, and their babies, Megan (2) and Brooke (9 mos.) came to stay with us Friday night on their way back to Houston from Colorado. We went to County Line BBQ Friday night just in time to feed the tons of turtles hanging out at the dock. Saturday we hung out at the house and went to the outlet mall in Round Rock. It was a good, unexpected treat for Maizie to hang out with her closest cousins. Speaking of which, Megan and her are off to a rocky start. Maizie pulls up on anything right now, and that included Megan. She didn't take kindly to being used as a step stool and started shouting out, "Jason, can you get her away from me?"


On the dock of the bay, er, river. Really high water-level river.

It was the first time I felt Brooke and Maizie actually got to play together. Sharing: Brooke-1, Maizie-0.

We had a couple of offers, but we turned 'em down.

Tagged by Kim P.

First memory - Being promoted to "Cookie Monster" level at Mother's Day Out (4 years old) and feeling so proud and excited. I think I thought they gave you a lot of cookies.
First real kiss - Josh somebody on a youth group trip to Canada. I kept saying "I've never done this before" while we were kissing. So embarassing.
First love - Paul Hatton in Kindergarten. He wrote my name on his desk and I got in trouble for it. And that is where the love died.
First concert - Probably Acapella at a Michigan Youth Conference.
First thing you think in the morning - NOOOOOOO!!!!!!
First pet - Moonlight, the stray cat that roamed our neighborhood for a week. I LOVED her.
First book you remember loving - The Monster at the End of this Book, and anything by Roald Dahl.
First question you'll ask in heaven - Thank you?
First thing you think of when you hear the word vacation - Water
First best friend - Jodi at church; Shelley at school.
Last time you dressed up - I hardly ever dress up. I guess my baby shower last September.
Last thing you ate - Half a Chicken Pho. That's the official sick food around here.
Last CD you bought - Huey Lewis and the News
Last good book you read - Scream-free Parenting.
Last time you cried - This morning. I was sad that I was sick while our friends were here.
Last time you told someone you loved them - A few hours ago when I put Maizie to bed.
Last really funny thing you did - There's just so many of them, it's hard to single one out.
Last thing you watched on TV - We were just watching the 2007 Hot Dog Eating contest...excellent entertainment when you're sick.

Hmmm...I tag Irma and Angela.

Weekend with the Weardos

Our friends Joel and Kamee came to see us this weekend! It was fun and relaxing rolled into one. We showed them Austin. We showed them San Antonio. We created a fully integrated campaign to convince them that they should join us down here in the promised land. Maizie enjoyed getting to know her Uncle Hole and Aunt KamKam. Kamee helped Maizie work on walking and saying Momma. Joel let her crawl all over him and figured out ways to completely confuse her. It was good to be around friends who we are completely comfortable with and watch them spoil our girl with their love and affection (and, of course, dresses).

Yo, yo, yo, Uncle Hole.

Kamee demonstrating the bottle technique (we didn't tell her that Maizie had that one down already).

Uh oh. Somebody's caught the IKEA bug.

So cute in her new dress. So grown up reading the adult menu.

Maizie's first fireworks. She didn't seem scared, bothered, excited or happy about them. She was slightly tired and maybe a little confused.

After Maizie threw her rattle on the floor a few times, Joel decided to thread her paci leash through the toy. Maizie's face says it all.