It's Only A Fleshwound

Isaac is the first of my children to suffer a broken bone. He was in the locker room in "pre-athletics" (guess P.E. wasn't good enough) and somehow a kid was messing with the bench, which was not bolted down and it landed on Isaac's foot. He will be on krutches for a while, but he has enjoyed a few days of staying home (his dad's house) and playing the playstation. I haven't gotten to see him since it happened, but he seems to be loving the attention.

Claire has been mothering him the way she does. It reminds me of when I was about her age and my older brother got his feet ran over. I remember a journal entry from that time complaining that I had to be his slave while he recovered. It was a role I took on myself, but apparently grew to resent--under the despotic hand of the woefully injured. I wonder if Claire will begin to feel oppressed.

The kids are with their dad during the week for this school year. Next year they will come out to Dallas to be with me personally. I am really beginning to miss having them around.

I am taking management classes right now, and though Mike is making enough money that I don't really have to work, I am thinking about trying to get a management job at a fast food resturaunt, just for the experience. It is a crazy little hairbrain, but I want to have some immediate application for what I am learning, so that I can really learn it. Besides that, it would give me something to fill in my days.

Tootles!

The Husband and kids

Emylie and Claire are priceless as they watch us. They are in love with love. Eventually I will photoshop the background to something more picturestque. After all people should know the truth. We actually had our wedding at the fiords of Sweeden. I created the present background to give everyone a sense of our mundane selves. I thought it a more appropriate first impression for our wedding. Sorry for the deception. LOL

Resurrection

I'm back from the blogger dead! I just recieved some wedding pictures from my dad. I had some others, that those who were at the reunion saw, but the general public has been deprived of view of me and my new family. It is clear from the pictures that it was rather informal, but it got the job done.

For those who have not yet recieved an email notification from me, I have launched the bare minimum Phase I of my business, Excitone. I have included the link here which will give you access to a music library of nearly 2 million songs and allow to earn points for sharing the music you love with your friends so that you can get free downloads and discounts. Right now I am listening to my "True or Falsetto" showcase music. Check it out. There will be a lot more features in future incarnations. Stay tuned.

Janika's Announcement

Hello everyone!

Sometimes life takes unexpected turns. Sometimes they are bad, sometimes they are good. This time it is great.

I got married!!!

Last Saturday!!!!

I met MIchael Skembo on a faith-based dating website, met him face to face for the first time on Memorial Day, got together with my two kids and his two kids for the first time the following Wednesday, and decided the following Monday that we would spend the rest of our lives together.

His daughter is the same age as my oldest daughter and his son is in between Claire and Andrew. They are all very excited and get along fabulously. The timing is fascinating because I was pretty set on being single for a while. I was pretty carreer focused. Now, though, I have a business partner, as well as a parenting partner, and all that "with benefits." It is funny because I only called him because he sent me his resume and I thought he had some useful experience for my business venture. I really wasn't looking to find the love of my life--the missing piece of my heart.

We are waiting to hear back from the realtor on approval for our new house on the west side of Dallas. I will soon update you on my contact information. Now pick up your jaw and get back to whatever else you were doing.

Lots of love,
Janika

Married

Hi, It's Devanie
Since Janika is on her Honeymoon I thought I'd chime in and mention. . .

JANIKA GOT MARRIED!

June 17, 2006

She now has 6 kids

Isaac
Emylie
Claire
Andrew
Michael (Mikey)
Alexandra (Lexie)

So for those of you counting, that makes 20 Nieces and Nephews (unless Thomas has fatherd a child we don not know about ;)

Grandma and Grandpa Lay were happy to report:

The kids get along well and Emylie and Lexie look alike. So they "fit in" just fine. It was a nice simple wedding and they got to meet his parents.

Oh and she is now a SKEMBO ( No I didn't say bimbo) but they do rhyme.

well, I'll make and end to my speaking

and let her fill in the blanks!
_______ _______________ - ___________________ ____________ _______ ______
Congratulations family!

We wish you and Mike the best. Cheers to you and "I feel Happy" for you. =)

Now, we all just hope he's a least a little like Nathan.

School of Rock

Isaac has been accepted to the School of Rock!! Here he demonstrates the "Chuck Berry duck walk in adverse conditions." They were not required to demonstrate simultaneous guitar use. They will be trained on that during the school year.

Isaac forgot during his tryout that he was supposed to be audidtioning for Rock School and during his mosh pit diving demonstration he did his Sky High superhero stunt of walking on air (because the force runs strong in my family). Still, the board was impressed. Of course, we knew he had it in him all along. We are just excited that he can now hone his skills and prepare to show them off to the world.

Use the Force

Which of the following is the most accurate description of the pictures on this page?

A. Darth Vadar has taken over the US Army
B. Isaac and Janika are being paid handsomely to test new, top secret equipment
C. There was recently a major terrorist incident in East Texas
D. Isaac and Janika are attempting to conceal bruises and fatigue, by acting cool.




Saturday, Isaac and I finally got our schedules matched up with the weather and played paintball, like we have been planning to do since his birthday in February--And I have the bruises to prove it.

We hooked up with some boys who didn't want to play with the kids with all the high-tech equipment. They thought we would be easy meat, and were surprised by our skill (beginners luck). I had only played paintball once before, but I had read a couple of paintball magazines cover to cover because for a long time, it was the only reading material in the bathroom. I made a few kills early on, but Isaac was more successful in that arena. I was really good at providing cover for teammates to advance.

Isaac credited his success to strategic video games. I guess simulative training works.

I don't know what the stink I just did to make the text do that. I don't have time to figure it out. It is time for scouts and Achievement Days.

Sky High Elementary School

Claire is beginning to demonstrate her super-human strengths. We are so proud of her making the cut to enter the prestigious Sky High Elementary to develop her super powers. The first gift she demonstrated was cat-flight. In the first picture, she attempts shadow-pouncing, with catlike stealth to combat the evil that lurks in the shadows.







In between trial events she demonstrated her mild-mannered alter ego personna and tried out potential sidekicks.


Next she demonstrated her pre-flight ability to walk on air. The selection committee said she shows great promise. We are just glad she is part of our family.

Isaac's Choir

This week Isaac had a band concert on Monday and a choir concert on Tuesday. It was absolutely useless to capture band images, and as you can see, it is scarcely worthwhile to attempt capturing the choir preformance.

Isaac is in the second row on the left near the edge. Below they are all cupping their ears to listen as part of their choreography.

Update

There, I updated my blog. Would you rather I ramble with philosophical musings? Maybe next time.

What Do You Get?

What do you get when you leave children alone too long with a military man?

AAAAGH!










What do you get when the girls feel left out?


Emylie got a good 6 inches cut off her hair before I left on my trip. But then she asked me this week to cut it all the way off. Then, of course, Claire had to get hers done too.

HI COUSINS!

Claire's Program

Today was the second grade program. Claire had two special parts. She got to wave the flag while everyone sang "You're a grand old flag" but you can't really see her, nor that she has a flag because she was waving it so fast that my camera phone couldn't see it.
Also, she was the only child in her class who got to circle dance (as opposed to square dancing) in "The Texas Star." She is the one in the green shirt circling.
Then, you can also see her if you look carefully, and know what you are looking for as she carries the parachute. I call it a Clairachute.

Then, of course, there was an after-the-show photo op with a few classmates (third from left).

More OCD

Another thing I am obsessive about, as far as even wear goes, is on my microwave. Instead of pushing the 1 or the 2 all the time for the quick cook feature, I will use a combination of any of the numbers after 3 and stop the microwave before the time runs out. The only trouble with that is, it puts extra wear on the start and cancel buttons, so I only do it in moderation. I also make sure to evenly distribute use of my stovetop burners.

I am realizing this obsession is serious. It extends to the highway at times as well. Sometimes--not too often--I will drive with one tire exactly in the middle of the lane where most people's tires don't usually go. I dont' do it that often though because that makes the other tire drive exactly on the center or white line, and I don't want to wear those out either. Oncoming traffic is scarcely a factor.

My bed must be carefully slept on as well. Yes I rotate the mattress to avoid uneven wear. But I make sure to sleep at the edges and middle at different times. When I am sitting on my bed, I try to sit where my knees and calves would be if I was lying down because those parts of my body are not as heavy and don't wear as much on the mattress.

Should I see a professional?

Non-Disclosure Agreement

Life is great, but I can't tell you about it. I signed a non-disclosure agreement. lol

I spent this week in Tennessee getting business going and checking out the area. I found the area I want to live, and got the real estate contact information. Pending issues with my house here in Marshall, TX, I will be moving out there at the end of the summer.

In the same complex as my business meeting, I found Big Idea Studios, makers of Veggie Tales. Betty at the front desk took some pictures of me with Bob and Larry--the stuffed ones. They couldn't let me into the green room to have their digital images blended with mine.

I am actually and finally updating my blog because I cannot play paintball with Isaac on account of the rain.

I am doing an experiment right now. Have you had your keyboard long enough that there is an indentation from your right thumb on the space bar? My keyboard is so worn out in just over 2 years of use that I really have to feel for the bump on my "J." Anyway, it is taking me a lot longer to type this because I am using my left thumb for the space bar to try and even out the wear on it. Try it as you post comment to me.

I am nearly obsessive compulsive about even wear. To save my new carpets, I will walk closest to the coffee table, where the majority of foot traffic does not go. Going up the stairs, I will walk as close to the wall as possible because everybody else goes right down the middle. Of course, I haven't had new carpets in a while, so that is not a current obsession. What are your obsessive behaviors?

Day 6: Belize

Day 5 was another day at sea. We slept-in for a time, having stayed up so late the night before. We lounged on the deck, ate lunch, got ready for dinner. Then I went to Karaoke again for the 6pm session. I believe it was the second formal night of the cruise. After dinner every night Theresa and I watched the Theater show. She went immediately to bed after that because she wanted to make sure she was well-rested for what would be the highlight of her cruise: diving at Turnefee Atoll.

I was going to see the Mayan Ruins, and knew I had a long bus ride to get there. I wasn't concerned about my sleep. I did Karaoke until 1 am and then went to Medusa's Lair to dance. Again Tommy and Alex, the young ones, were there with their usual crowd. The night before I had met Michael from Connecticut who is an Attorney. I danced most of the night with him. This night, though, I danced with What's'isname from Boston. We said good night and went our separate ways, but when I got to my floor, he was coming down the other end of the hall with his "roommate" (male--remember I said he was from Boston, and that's how he talked). He didn't stop until he was at the door across the hall from mine. Funny.

The bus ride was very relaxing. I found a family (mother, father, son, daughter) at the ruins. I don't remember their names either. That's what I get for posting 3 weeks after my return. Here are some facts and pictures about the location.

http://www.delange.org/altunHa1/altunHa.htm

I was not really impressed with the tour guides, as they put a lot of emphasis on the practice of human sacrifice. To me, that was a very small part of Mayan culture and was not common until the decline of the civilization--hence the decline. My favorite part of the trip was on the bus back. We were stopped at one of the 4 stoplights in the whole country and I looked out my window and saw, amongst the minimally cared for buildings there was one with a bright coat of white paint and muted orange trim bearing a polished brown sign with the familiar golden words, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day saints. It was mission headquarters, and there at the door, atop the stairs, were two sister missionaries. No one noticed it, and I didn't point it out. I just enjoyed the feeling of being home in a foreign place. I belong to a worldwide church. That is real to me now.

In the evening, the after dinner show was a hypnotist. A number from our group sat in the front row so that we could be picked. Most of us rushed the stage when he simply said that he wanted anyone to come and fill the 20 chairs he had on stage. Not a single one of the 20 of us gave an authentic show. I got pulled front and center to order food from McDonald's and get really mad at the guy for messing up my order. At best, it was a nice little drama exercise. It was fun, though because people recognized me after that. As if they didn't already know me. There were just a few channels on the cabin TVs, and one was where they played video of ship activities. I was on there twice for the survivor and fear factor. But my grand performance would not be until tomorrow.

Stay tuned.

Day 4: The Rich Coast

This morning we dock in Puerto Limon, Costa Rica. The bay is much prettier than the harbor at Panama. Costa Rica is truly beautiful. The city is still a Central American city, but it is designed to appeal to tourists, and they keep it clean. Bananas are one of their top 3 industries. Number one is--tourism. I suddenly feel like they like me. They really like me.

Again we had a long bus ride through narrow and winding roads to get to our target destination. Again, it was an eye strain to keep up with passing scenery. It was almost all banana plantations. They put blue bags over the bananas to keep the bugs from getting them. I did not fall asleep, though because Theresa and I did a lot of chatting. We stopped for a classier potty break than the ones we experienced in Panama. There was a gazeebo with juice and stuff for us. While we were standing around two fairly cute guys asked me to take their picture for them.

Finally we got to our destination. The river did not look especially menacing, so I entered the raft with trepidation in check. Of course the especially sleek, curly-haired latino guide in his wetsuit soothed any anxiety that might have remained. Otto drilled us on commands before we pushed off. The last command was "high ten" where we all raised our oars to the center and sout "Pura Vida!" It means, literally, life is pure. Otto told me the slang translation was "It's all good."

The rapids didn't go very fast, they were only a class two--cruiseship liabilities and all--but it gave us time to scan the vegetation for toucans and sloths. Termite tree nests can easily take the form of sloths. Because it was the dry season, again and still, we learned an extra command: "Bounce." That's what you do to get the raft off of the rocks. sometimes it didn't work so Otto got his wetsuit wet and pushed us off while we bounced like children on a red Kool Aid overdose.

It only took us one time passing another raft to learn the command "splash." Oars double as water distribution weapons against slower moving rafts. In fact, we did not have to be commanded in all things, and began to take initiative. For a time, the semi-placid waters did look like rapids.

This excursion was the most fun, definitely. We returened to the ship famished and took full advantage of the buffet offrings. Then we took a little time to relax and prepare for dinner. We diverted from our normal routine and ate in the Supper Club, which was gourmet dining for a cost. As a group, we were a little too rambunctious for the setting, but I think most on the ship knew us by now, and expected that.

That night was a pool party. Trey got selected for the lipsync contest and won, because he was pretty good, and because he had an awesome cheering section. There was live music from a calypso sort of band until 1 am. I had just finished a liter of Supergreens, so I was good to go. My friends were plenty willing to call it a night, though. I wished them good night and went to seek adventure.

The club was closed because the pool party that night was the club. Karaoke was closed for the same reason. There was nothing to do! I went to my room and got the mp3 headphones they gave me (loan) to practice for my upcoming performance. I took my music down to the vaccant Karaoke lounge and worked my number. I herd running overhead. Elephants? Wildabeasts? I went to investigate. I the adult was having a terrible time finding something to do and, lo, at 2 am the 9-11 year-olds have supervised activity until 3 am.

I wandered around the ship and found the two guys who had asked me to take their picture being equally bored. It was actually a whole group of under age 25 bored people. We finally gave up and went our separate ways. Still.......

!Pura Vida!

Day 3: First Stop

I am about to set my feet on foreign soil for the first time in my life (not counting Agua Prieta and Nogales because they don't really, really count.)

WELCOME TO PANAMA

Crossing the plank we see several people holding signs for excursions that people have signed up for, and solicitors trying to hook you on their excursion. Our group of 10 has 2 extra friends. We are essentially glued together looking for "Mario." One of the guys in our group set the excursion up for us online through a private company, not associated with the cruise line. A man with a thick local accent starts saying "mario, mario" along with someone else. We follow him to a nearly empty parking lot. He looks at his partner and leads us in another direction.

Some of us are developing heist anxiety. We ask for him to read our names from the list of people who signed up so that we know he is legit. He does not have it. He begs us to follow him. Still no one named Mario. We follow him anyway and he leads us to the proper busses with a tour guide who reads all of our names from a her list. Whew!

We drive for over an hour through the bumpy streets of Panama as the two tour guides take turns describing different facets of panamanian culture and canal history, to which my eyes relax. I find the strain of keeping up with the passing scenery to be too strenuous.

Still, my bladder keeps me awake, trying to contain the supergreens, even though we stopped at a grocery store fairly early on to stand in line for a single restroom. I would not find relief until we reached the slatted (non-private) shack with a hole in a concrete slab at the village of the indigenous tribe we were to visit.

We were greeted by dark men in colorful loincloths. They led us to a hand-carved canoe on the especially low waters of a river somewhere in the rainforest. (It was the dry season.) The primitive man pushed us off with a long pole and then started the outboard motor. (Who wants to teach a bunch of tourists how to row?) Still, we had to get out of the boat in the shallowest spot to free it from its attachment to the bottom of the river.

We docked at the bottom of a high, rounded hill. Tribe members greeted us atop with the music of coarse reed fluts and rythms of turtle shells and gourds. We were honored guests. The chief himself played an instrument. After two canoes (long ones) full of people took the aforementioned potty break, they served us lunch. It was fish and, perhaps, corn-breaded plantains. The "plantains" tasted better with every bite, and the fish was the most flavorful I have ever had. It was served in a banana frond folded into a cornucopia.

We were then invited to watch sacred dances of celebration and healing, as well as join in. We were then given a few minutes to peruse tables of handmade crafts: beadwork, weaving, and sculpture.

The canoe then carried us further upstream where we would begin a hike to a waterfall with a large natural pool. We only had about 10 minutes to enjoy the cool, if not clear waters. We dried as we walked back to the canoes, which took us back to the busses, which then carried us to the heart of the Panama Canal.

The ship that was passing through the barges was massive. Just the width (which fit snugly into the canal) had standard rail cars stacked 17 wide, I didn't count the length of rail cars, but it might have been as long as a regular train (60-80 cars). The average toll for passing through the canal is over $7,000.

Within a mile or two of the canal we passed an LDS chapel. It warmed my heart--and was the closest I got to Sunday activity. Church was already out, or I might have made the bus let me off and pick me up when it came back through.

It was a magnificent day.

Day Two

Still at sea on day two. Rough waters. Oi! I think I had cradle flashbacks as I slept with as much as the boat was rockin'. I felt a little queasy after I got my first liter of Supergreens down, with all the fluid that was sloshing in my belly. Time sunning on the Lido deck nearly settled it.

At 1:00 there were no volunteers in the sign up bucket for the Fear Factor challenge. Theresa put her name in and submitted mine as well. Julie was the social host who moderated the game that day. She encouraged me to keep my name in because there was nothing really bad that we had to eat. AND I BELIEVED HER!

The first challenge was getting the four people on our team across the stage without touching it, using only two exercise mats. We aced it and beat the other team. We also aced getting ping-pong balls across the stage between our knees. We lost it though in the balloon-pop because my balloon wouldn't blow up big enough to pop. I lost it personally when we had to chug down a mixture of coffee, ketchup, mustard, tabasco sauce, and various seasonings. There was more than volunteer names in the bucket all of a sudden.

That evening, Karoke began at 6:00 so I enjoyed being one of the only 3 people who wanted to sing, and I got my voice thoroughly warmed up for the 11:00 auditions that night for the Legends concert, which consists of 10 passengers doing various celebrity impersonations. I got one of the parts. Stay tuned to find out who I became on the last day of the cruise.

Cruise: Day One

My cruise was absolutely fabulous. Unfortuately, the memory stick in my camera is not feeding properly into my computer. Perhaps I will post pictures later.

Technically, day one of my cruise was Thursday, March 9th. Our flight from Dallas had a nearly 2 hour delay, so we barely made our 3:00 boat departure. Leaving port was pretty smooth. It was really cool though when the boat started rocking because that was the only indicator that I had that I was not just hanging out in a huge hotel-casino. It was like, "oh yeah, I am on a ship on the ocean."

The first full day at sea is what I will call Day One. My name was drawn out of the bucket to play survivor. I helped my team regain time it had lost by swimming vigorously with a volleyball tucked under a wet T-shirt that I had to trade with my teammates. Still, they voted me off in the first round because they all knew each other. By the way, the water in cruise swimming pools is saltwater straight out of the ocean. That was a little surprising.

Every night we had a sit-down, four-course dinner with an awesome waiter named Derek from South Africa (bald white guy). Then Theresa and I would always go and see the 10:30 show in the 2,000 seat theater. 11:30 was when Karaoke started. It stayed open till 1 am. Still, Theresa and I stayed up and chatted until 3:30.

We slept in the next day because we had another whole day at sea. More on that later.

Super Leland

This is the young and virile Leland Gibson Lay Jr. Please post the story of our brave hero. We accept fiction, biography, fantasy, or humor. I look forward to reviewing your submissions.

(I tried to edit the photo in 2 different programs, but it wouldn't let me save because the pic is in a read-only format)