The List

Life has settled into a nice little routine here at the Cabochon at Las Colinas. I get up at 6 a.m., okay, it's really more like 6:30...ish...and I'm out the door by 7:30 to squeeze into work around the 8 a.m. mark. Once a week I get Starbucks on the way--I know, I'm a wild woman.

I've started taking COD (Counselor on Duty) appointments at work. I heart COD. Pretty much COD is as unpredictable as life itself. You never know who is going to walk through the door. It could be a 40-year-old wanting to know how their 20-year-old art school credit hours will transfer into a nursing program or a homeschool family demanding a reasonable explanation for the difference between early admission and dual enrollment, which is like explaining to a fish the difference between swimming and breathing underwater.

Earlier this week my co-worker (Rae-Rae) got a call from a man who wanted to know where certain information could be located. Patiently, Raquel responded, "Yes, you can find that on our university website, u-t-a dot e-d-u." To this the gentleman replied, "Oh yes, oota.edu, I've used that site before." Oota. Gotta love it. So if anyone asks where I am, and why I'm in Texas, you can tell them I'm working for oota.

On a completely extemporaneous note, the men at the table next to me, who are chain-smoking and probably doing efficient work of poisoning my healthy lungs, just exchanged a poinant piece of sociopolitical fodder:
"Hey man, have you been watching the Olympics?"
"Nah, not really"
"Are the Lebanonese good at any of the events? (the other man is from Lebanon)
"Yeah, killing each other. But, that's not yet an Olympic sport."

........

So, as previously promised, I've been meditating on the things I enjoy most about Texas and the things it seems (thus far at least) that I'll always miss about home. Here's the breakdown:

Texas has...
beautiful twilights and gorgeous sunsets
SWEET TEA
Chic-fil-a waffle fries
diverse people
southern charm
horizontal traffic lights
state pride
cheaper gasoline
lightning storms
half price book stores
hobby lobby
dollar theatres (okay, it's actually $1.75, but only .50 on Tuesdays!)
the 4th largest metroplex in the nation
and Troy, my friend from Austin who added himself to the list (bless his heart)

Despite all this goodness, I miss Oregon's...
cool nights
Independently owned coffee shops
TACO DEL MAR
scenic mountainscapes
Hippies
diversity of political thought
fresh seafood!
beautiful college campuses
craftsmen style residential architecture
fir trees
Powell's Bookstore
non-tolled freeways
strictly enforced tobacco smoking laws
Pacific Ocean beaches
Solid Rock Fellowship
Northwest music scene
natural high lakes (Texas only has one natural lake)
and of course, Oregon's very own special blend of people who keep part of me with them no matter where I go, the Myhre clan at large, the KCAG family, my brothers and sisters from George Fox, my Foster Friends, Villa Road House ladies and those special ones I cherish, you know who you are. I'm 2,000 miles away, but I carry you in my heart!