Sheep Guarding Llama

I found out this morning that my great grandmother (Liesl’s great, great grandmother!) Beulah Van Voorhis passed away yesterday.  We had found out over the weekend that she was not doing well and that she was not likely to pull through but we didn’t really know for sure how badly she was doing.  We did hear that she had a new kitten that she was fighting hard to be able to stay around to take care of.

Beulah was actually my step great grandmother.  My mother’s mother’s mother died of appendicitis when my grandmother was very little and my great grandfather Roy Van Voorhis, who died on November 9, 1964, had remarried.  So Beulah was the only great grandparent that I really ever knew to any degree.  When I was very little I had spent some time with my mother’s father’s parents who were both still around then, but I did not know them very well as they were quite a bit older – at least in my memory.

My memories of Beulah include her house which I visited on several occasions but have not been to for many years now.  It is sad that Liesl did not get a chance to at least meet her as she was the last of her generation in the family.  I can remember her dog who, I’m sure, has been gone for a long time now.  She had an extensive salt and pepper shaker collection and a lot of cacti growing in her house.  In fact, she had one entire room given over to growing them.

This morning Dominica met with our new potential pediatrician for the kids.  We are not very happy with our old one and with the new baby coming it is the perfect time to find a new one to handle both of the kids.  Liesl has barely needed to see anyone since we came to Texas so it has not been a very big deal yet.

This evening, Dominica, Souder, Watson, Liesl and I drove down to have dinner at the Olive Garden on the Northwest Highway.  It has been a really long time since Dominica or I have eaten at an Olive Garden.

After work today I ran home just in time to get Dominica, Liesl and Souder loaded up and we headed back on down to Las Colinas to go to La Cima for Pasta Night.  It has been quite a while since we could make it down for pasta night.  Maybe like a month which is awful since it is such a great value.  We really need to work hard not to miss it.

Dinner was nice, it was great to be back at the club.  Watson met us there too.  We are turning into those people that just use it once in a blue moon rather than being regulars.  We have just been so busy recently.  Imagine how hard it will be once we have the little one in less than three weeks (LESS THAN THREE WEEKS!)

Dominica has been working like crazy the last couple weeks and she is pretty stressed out about it.  She worked all day today and there were tickets coming in for her during dinner as well.  We all decided to not let her see the tickets until after dinner.

We got back to the house and all three of us ended up working for several hours.  Dominica was probably busy until one or two in the morning!  It was a crazy night of work but she wound up being able to resolve some really critical customer issues and her stress level went way, way done because of that.  So she will be able to sleep far better tonight.

As crappy as it is to have so much work that needs to be done, it is awfully nice that we are able to work together as a family.  It is so much nicer than normal families who, at best, just discuss their days in general terms.  We really get to do a lot more together.

After work today I was just exhausted.  I got home and really wanted to do something different.  So after discussing it for a while, we decided that we would attempt to get take out from Brookhaven Country Club, at which I am an associate member.  Ever since getting to go to the Tower Club in Dallas last week I have been itching to try out the other ClubCorp properties to see.  Now that I know how easy it is to go to them I’m really excited to try out the different venues and menus.  I’m also trying to orchestrate a Dallas Society Club Crawl for the young execs and professionals in the region to go around and try out all of the different clubs as a group.

So Souder and I drove over to Brookhaven, which is really just around the corner from us, and explored the property.  In many ways, being a ClubCorp member, and going to Brookhaven specifically, gives you a lot of the feeling of being in Walt Disney World – at least it does for me.  When Dominica and I use Disney properties we tend to focus on the resorts, food, lounges, venues, etc. and very little on the parks themselves.  ClubCorp gives us that same experience without the parks, but still with pools, athletic facilities, gold, etc.  Basically, Disney is like a giant country club with some parks in it.

Showing up at Brookhaven at night felt not totally unlike going to a Disney Resort.  It was huge with a grand front entrance, treed parking lot, very mature foliage and several venues including all the amenities.  Just what you would expect from a Disney property.  The other really similar feature is the way that you feel “included.”  One of my favourite things about Disney is how you get your Disney resort card and you can go anywhere in the Disney system and everything is handled through that single card.  Every meal goes to your room, everyone knows who you are (to some degree) – you are a “part” of the place.  ClubCorp does that between all of their properties.  Present your membership card and you are a member at that location.  Your food, drinks, etc. all go back to your main account.  You never need money no matter where you are.  Your ClubCorp identity travels with you.

We toured the facility a little bit while we were there.  It is pretty cool and way, way larger than any of the other clubs that I have seen.  This is a much older club too, having been built in 1957.  They’ve kept the 50s feel too even with the modern renovations.  It’s a very cool venue.

We brought dinner back home and ate there with Dominica and Liesl.  Dominica and I are continuing to work our way through Roseanne which I have not watched in forever.

Today is the three week mark.  Baby Miller is scheduled to arrive at seven thirty in the morning, twenty one days from today!  This is the home stretch.  We are almost there.

When we were pregnant with Liesl, it seemed like we were so much more involved in the soon to be arriving baby.  Maybe that was because we were scrambling to get a new home (the Peekskill house), get a nursery ready, get basic baby supplies, etc.  There was a lot more to be done and so many unknowns – we were reading new parenting books and stuff like that, going to birthing classes, etc.

This time things are very casual.  We already have our home.  The nursery is basically ready.  We already know what to do.  There is little unknown about the date – yes the baby could come early but that is quite unlikely.  We know exactly when everyone is coming in to town, where they are staying and what days we will be expected to be in the hospital.  Dominica’s pregnancy is seeming to be much easier this time too.  We are only really just now getting to the point where we really can tell that she is even pregnant.

Lots to be done still at home.  We have only a few real days left before the baby comes to get anything done around the house.  It maybe be three weeks from tomorrow officially but in those three weeks we know that we have one family birthday party in Mansfield and three full days to spend in Houston.  The final weekend we have Dominica’s family visiting.  So that leaves, after today, just one weekend day free before the baby arrives!  Let me repeat that for everyone who didn’t hear – only one free weekend day left!

This week is mostly a normal work week.  On Friday night Dominica, Liesl, Brian and I are heading down to Houston for three days.  Then another normalish week followed by the crazy weekend of trying to get the house into its final shape for the baby.  Then the week where we get Brian out the door and the Tocco clan descends upon Carrollton.

For lunch today we ran out and got some Denny’s.  We got back and I spent the afternoon working for the office.  Once that was done, it was back to other project work.  Boy there is a lot to do.

Brian got a bit more done on the house this weekend.  We are getting closer and closer to getting the office in to order.  Now if only someone who was supposed to be working on it would show up.