Texas Two-Stop

Two weekends ago, Kevin and I drove to Nashville, flew to Dallas/Ft. Worth, loaded up a U-Haul, and drove back to Knoxville, TN...in four days.

It wasn't exactly a restful vacation, but it was lots and lots of fun...as you can see from the following pictures. :)

For starters, as we touched down in Houston, there were some absolutely phenomenal clouds. What an amazing Creator we have!

Can you see the rainbow in this one?

Giant cotton candy! :-)

So, as previously stated, the whole point of the trip was to go through EVERYTHING I've ever owned and either keep it or chuck it. The following picture is of the boxes my parents hauled out of the attic for me to go through...what a trip down memory lane!!!!

So, anybody remember P.J. Sparkle...anybody? I waited an entire year for this doll...She is now being passed on to a family whose children can use her much more than I can. :) Miraculously, she still worked!

Mom and Dad took us out to a great BBQ restaurant--the name eludes me at the moment. It was an appropriate ending to a very busy day.

And we left the next morning...

The Dallas, TX skyline as we drove through.

There was lots of this...

and this...

...and this.

(don't worry--he's only posing)

And of course, lots of driving...

I got the middle jump seat most often. Surprisingly, I came to prefer it. :)

After two full days in the U-Haul, we made it to Vonore, where we unloaded a house full of furniture, which joined the bedroom suite in our other Mom and Dad's basement.

Kevin and Jim unloading our new kitchen table!

Steve unloading our new coffee table!

Melinda, Myranda, and Marysa--our cheerleaders (sister-in-law and nieces).

Even Austin, Melinda's third child, helped!

And thus ends our trip. Dad stayed for the night on our couch and we took him to the airport in the morning. We're very grateful to both sets of parents for both giving and storing our new furniture.

And we're anxiously awaiting our next move so we can actually use everything! :)

It's Here.

"The big rush to the altar was expected Tuesday, when most counties planned to start issuing marriage licenses to gay couples. Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of couples nationwide are expected to seize the opportunity to make their unions official in the eyes of the law." (emphasis mine)

Leff, Lisa. "Dozens of Gay Couples Wed in Calif. After Ruling." 17 June 2008. Associated Press.

Gas is Cheap...in America.

Good morning!

I'm not much of a blog stalker, but there are couple friend's whose blogs I frequent. I saw this chart on Kate Border's post (which she copied from her sister-in-law's blog), and thought I'd pass it along via ours.

Here are a couple tips from an email my parents sent me (boy, I just have nothing original today!)

Tips on pumping your gas:

1. Pump your gas on the lowest speed possible. This minimizes the amount of vapors created.

2. Fill up when your tank is half full (or half empty :).

3. Only fill up in the morning when the ground is cooler. As the day warms, the gasoline expands and one gallon of gasoline may not be exactly a gallon.

(Source: Kack Sisavath)

Have You Ever Wondered...

Random thoughts as I was driving home yesterday:

1. Who is it that picks up roadkill? How would I get in touch with such person should I desire that my roadkill be picked up?

2. Why do people leave bumper stickers of unsuccessful politicians on their cars long after the candidate has dropped out and/or the race is over? (Note to Tennesseans: Ron Paul lost.)

3. Who would someone pay$4.87 for one roll of "scrapbooking" double-sided tape when he/she could pay $4.97 for three rolls of normal double-sided tape? (That is capitalism at it's best.)

4. If the plural of "goose" is "geese" shouldn't the plural of "moose" be "meese"? (He doesn't look amused, does he?)

Moose picture: Delargy.com, Animals (USA)

Did You Hear That...???

I was at a workshop yesterday put on by the company that I work for, Sorenson Communications. Though the aim of the workshop was teaming (situations that require more than one interpreter), we got into a brief discussion about English vs. ASL or, more appropriately, Hearing vs. Deaf cultures.

English, as it turns out, is quite a cryptic language, while ASL is much more straightforward. I guess that more accurate way to say this is Hearing people try their best to be diplomatic and offend none, while Deaf people don't beat around the bush and are quite blunt.

As the workshop was relating to our job as VRI's (Video Relay Interpreters), the discussion centered around phone ettiquette.

Some examples? Thought you'd never ask. :-)

Example #1:
[Bob calls Joe. Bob is Deaf. Joe is hearing.]
Bob: Hey, Joe. What's up?
Joe: Hey, Bob. I'm at work right now.
Bob: Oh, okay. So, how are you doing?

Classic case of hearing/Deaf. Bob unknowingly caught Joe at work. When Joe answered that he was working, what he didn't say was that this is a bad time to talk--in the hearing culture, that would be implied. However, since Joe did not state, "I'm busy and can't talk," Bob took this as an open invitation to converse.

Example #2:
[Jane has been talking with Sue for a while. Jane is hearing. Sue is Deaf.]
Jane: Phew! Well, goodness, I'm sure tired.
Sue: Okay. Did I tell you our family is going to Florida this summer?

Again, what is implied by Jane is that she's ready to end the conversation and go to bed, but because she didn't say it, Sue assumes that they can keep talking. Again, had Jane said, "Wow, I'm tired, so I'm going to bed. Good-night," Sue would have understood the meaning.

Ultimately, I just think it's interesting in that sociological/cultural way. We hearing people try so hard to NOT hurt anyone's feelings and yet, Deaf people would prefer and respond to a more straightforward/blunt way of communicating.

Note: Due to the confidential nature of all interpreting, the previous two examples are purely fictional and any relation to actual events is purely coincidental.