Strange Dreams

I dreamt that Bin Laden was strutting up to the gates of Heaven expecting his 72 virgins when a radiant, shining figure emerged from the gates and stood before him. Heath Ledger, in shining armor. And, then he spoke those immortal words,..."You have been weighed. You have been measured. And, you have been found WANTON."  He turned and slammed the gates of Heaven behind him.


What does it mean? Well, obviously it means that Heath Ledger is still sexy, even posthumous.

Flamingo Jockeys Unite!

Just Chillin'

I actually got to be a flamingo jockey for Randall Kent (my husband's uncle) of Stagecraft, Inc., during the Houston Halloween Show and Expo.  It was hilarious. I had a blast. Yes, I'm a ham. I admit this fact. I have embraced my inner-goober and was allowed to 'ride' a flamingo throughout the George R. Brown Convention Center. I haven't had this much fun in awhile. I met (and got pictures with) at least one celebrity, Bridget Marquardt of the TV series "The Girls Next Door" (pictures to follow soon). There were models everywhere running around in skimpy Halloween costumes or nothing at all (well, they were in full body paint but that's it).  There were raffles, prizes, elaborate costumes, acrobatic performances in mid-air (suspended from the ceiling of the expo), stilt-walkers, fashion shows, bands, open bars. It was Halloween on speed! It was a little overwhelming.

The Gang 
(Back left to right: Darcy and Kris Szecsy,
Middle left to right: Chris and me,
Far right: Uncle Randy)

Peace Corps Deja Vu

This week has had three strange occurrences for me that have either involved my old Peace Corps stomping grounds (i.e. Bulgaria) or with Peace Corps itself. I know I haven't really written much if anything at all about my experiences there. I try. I really do. I begin to tell stories and I can see peoples' eyes glaze over as the words go over their heads. The old saying, "you had to be there," is an understatement in my case. But, those fellow RPCVs (Returned Peace Corps Volunteers) know what I'm talking about. So, let's review the past week:

#1: I get a message from a Bulgarian girl (naturalized citizen) who now lives in the U.S. She's researching the Peace Corps for a project in one of her university studies. She came across my article in A Life Inspired: Tales of Peace Corps Service and was so touched by my story about her home that she almost cried and felt compelled to write me and thank me. Me?! How bizarre to have a Bulgarian thanking me for my service, which feels like it was a lifetime ago. If anything, I've always felt like I should be thanking them, all the Bulgarians that welcomed us unconditionally into their homes, hearts and lives. It was a surreal moment reading her email. Nostalgia knocking at my door. Bittersweet memories that seem to be from another life.

#2: I found out that HGTV is doing a special on home-buying in Bulgaria. Really? Bulgaria? And, not just anywhere in Bulgaria. These Brits are buying a condo in Varna. My old site. It floored me to see my old stomping grounds were both different and the same. My how Varna's changed. For the better, I hope.

#3: Last, but certainly not least our figurehead and co-founder, the head-honcho himself Sargent Shriver passed away. A great man, one we can all aspire to live our lives like. A true philanthropist and peace-maker. "One of the brightest lights of the greatest generation" ~President Barack Obama.

So, I'm beginning to feel like the circle is coming full round. Is it a sign? Or just a strange string of coincidences? I'll let you be the judge.

Home, Sweet Home: It's about time.

Let's rewind to find where we last left our heroine screaming at her phone and the unfortunate loan officer who was on the receiving end of that conversation. What has become of her? Did she finally find a home? Is she homeless? And, will she ever post anything remotely interesting?

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Indeed, I have FINALLY gotten the house that we originally wanted. Though it was a rough and emotionally exhausting road. Between the closing, moving in and the incoming train of holidays, our little family has barely had time to breathe. But, (big cheer) we HAVE a nice new home in a coveted, quiet and hidden part of Northeastern Houston in a lovely town called Kingwood (also known as 'the livable forest'). Nice ring to it, don't you think?!

Well, what I and many of my friends did not know about Kingwood is how beautiful it is. How did I not know about this place after living in the Galveston/ Houston area for 6 years prior to Peace Corps?  Kingwood is a suburb of Houston to be exact. Though residents don't like you bringing that up. Their annexation into Houston is a sore subject. I can understand why. There is really nothing like it around. When Kingwood was originally developed it was the 70s, clear-cutting was the ideal form of economic development. It cost less and allowed for faster land development. Cue the visionaries. In walked King Ranch, owners of the track of land who wanted a community that was literally built in the Piney Woods area of Texas with as little clear-cutting as possible. Then Friendswood Development Company stepped in to assist and eventually bought Kingwood. The community is nestled amongst old forests of tall pines, sycamores, magnolias and around 20 other types of trees. It is home to deer, fish, birds, raccoons, squirrels, rabbits...you get the picture. There are nature preserves, parks and over 75 miles of walking and biking trails amongst the woods known as the 'greenbelt'.  Don't believe me? Come and visit and see for yourself.

I've found my own piece of paradise.

As frustrating as the last couple of months have been, I can honestly say, without a doubt, that I'm happy with our decision and it was totally worth it. Every morning I enjoy my coffee, get online from my kitchen table and look out my floor-to-ceiling windows (yes, we like everything ridiculously big in Texas) to watch Blue Jays (and their mates), Cardinals (and their mates) singing and courting in my backyard which backs right up to one of the many 'greenbelts'. Bragging?  Heck ya!  Thankful?  Amen to that, too. We have been blessed, lucky, how ever you choose to see it. We have had amazing help through this process and things can only get better from here.

Here's hoping you find your own piece of paradise out there.

Gypsies in the Palace

There's really no good excuse. My sincere apologies for not posting. Being a vagabond with a baby is a lot more stressful than I thought. We are living with a friend's mother. Oh yes, you read right. Not even our parents, nope. We are living with someone else's parents. Awkward, is an understatement. Yet, in this age of instability and uncertainty, humanity has a way of surprising us. Basic human kindnesses are a rarity in this life, therefore to find a family willing to house another (with a baby) that they barely know transcends to near sainthood in my book.

So, while we've been scrambling to find a house and not overstay our welcome, I'm STILL trying to secure a job in one of the so-called 'hottest job markets' in the country.  I think the hype here is highly over-rated. Jobs are scarce wherever you go. The odds are against me, even with a Masters degree and international experience. But, I digress. What is really irking me right now is the Home Loan Process. Foreclosures are decreasing. This is a good thing. Yes, trends show a slow, sluggish shift. Nonetheless, it's a shift towards the housing market pulling itself up.  And, I understand-truly I do-the need for banks not to repeat their mistakes and make sure that buyers can afford a home loan. However, banks and FHA have been hyping up their eagerness to sell homes and help get families back into homes but, that's not the feeling I'm getting. In fact, I have never had such a difficult time buying a home nor had to jump through so many ridiculous hoops just to have a roof over my head. Their actions speak for themselves, which say, "We don't care that you have excellent credit or never missed a payment. We REALLY don't want to sell you this house or give you any money and we will find every reason to deny you. Go away."  Their treatment of us has left me feeling like Dennis the Menace knocking on Mr. Wilson's door. Seriously?! Is it so ANNOYING to you that I might actually want to buy your HUD home? A home YOU can't get off your books and are losing money.

So, to sum up, I apologize for my absence but I've been fighting with Big Money and Uncle Sam. On a different note, does anyone have suggestions on companies or employers that might be hiring in the Greater Houston Area? If so, please forward my profile to them (http://www.linkedin.com/in/caseylaycock).

Okay, enough plugging and onto more exciting prospects. I have to get a Houston Citypass. Instead of paying the full fee to see any of the places listed below, you can get a Citypass and save up to 50% on e-tickets for them.  It's really the only economical and logical way to see Houston on a budget.

Houston Attractions:
Space Center Houston, Downtown Aquarium, Houston Museum of Natural Science, Houston Zoo, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, The Children's Museum of Houston, George Ranch Historical Park, The Health Museum 

Looking for farm-fresh, locally grown foods? Check out Canino's Farmer's Market for amazing deals and homemade tortillas that would make your momma cry. No, seriously. She's in tears right now. They're THAT good.

Enjoy and Happy Halloween!

Reality Bites

Don't get me wrong. I am thrilled to be close to the gulf coast again and closer to family. But, moving is stressful, physically and emotionally exhausting, and the reality of it all (changing addresses, forwarding mail, taking care of bills, finding a new home/selling your old home) just stinks.


And, to top it all off, it is FINALLY hitting home for me! My house is packed up, the movers come tomorrow, and I was doing SO good about moving and uprooting our lives until my awesome neighbor (who has baby-sat Coraline since she was only 2 months old) came over with a beautiful, card (with pictures of her family with Coral and it played her voice singing to Coral) and she and I just cried. It was so simple and sincere a gesture of love and kindness from someone we had only known briefly that it broke my heart. It's bittersweet to realize too late that you are so blessed by the people right in front of you.

Cardio Update

The surgery was a success as far as I can tell. It usually takes 4-6 hours for a cardiac ablation and it actually only took 3 hours for me. We were rocking out to awesome music in the operation room and the amnesic-like state that I was in made the time pass extremely quickly. As most patients will attest, there were moments of being uncomfortable as they DO have to stimulate your heart into tachycardia in order to isolate the 'bad' area that they will be ablating. I got lucky. Within a second (literally) of them hitting the electrodes my heart was off to the races. They clocked me going 300 beats a minute. I'm not really sure how my heart didn't just explode. Human anatomy is a wonder!  So, they were able to identify the faulty wiring, which happened to be far enough from my AV node to allow for heat ablation rather than freezing. Apparently, freezing the area has a significantly decreased chance of success. So, lucky for me they were able to use heat and take care of the problem. I also took some advice from EMT friends and requested pillows under my knees and behind my lumbar to decrease the soreness that always follows after this type of procedure. Lo' and behold, my friends were right and I had no body soreness the following day - only tenderness around the catheter wounds. I didn't even need to use Tylenol for my pain. I was treated really well by a great staff of nurses at Exempla Saint Joseph's Hospital in downtown Denver and my Cardiologist Dr. Ngo was fantastic. I'm healing well, and back to my usual zippy self. Thanks for all the posts, calls, emails and people that dropped by the house. All the well-wishes were deeply appreciated.