cc: file, Grandma Hafen via Tony Hafen, Pauline Nelson via mail, Sara and Des Penny, Claude and Katherine Warner, Lloyd and Luana Warner. Diane Cluff, Andrea Shirts, and Heather and Nate Pace
"Well, for the second week in a row I am not getting to my Thoughtlet until the middle of the week. My excuse for this laxity lies between a busy weekend, and having something changed with my e-mail system which I havn't figured out yet. When Paul got home from the Dallas Temple bus trip at 11:00 last night, he walked in on my frustration. Oh well! I already knew I am far from perfect, and Paul, I imagine you knew it too. Guess that is why I live in Houston instead of the New Jerusalem.
In thinking about a theame since I wrote last Tuesday, the word Houston came to mind. It is nice to be from a city where anyplace in the world you go and someone asks where you live, you just say a single word and they have a context. I'm sure this knowledge is driven by NASA's Johnson Space Center more than the fact Houston is one of the largest cities in the United States. Between "Houston, the Eagle has landed" and "Houston, we have a problem," the entire world has emotionally tied to the city I currently call home.
On Wednesday I took Maria Kakadiaris to lunch. She has a Ph.D. in sociology, and is the wife of one of the scientists I work with at the University of Houston. She is from Greece and is a specialist on the economic and educational trends in her home country. She has been an advisor to the President of Greece, and has been on numerous task forces studying why the more educated Greeks are leaving her homeland. Her husband wanted me to get to know her to see if I could help her find a job, since it is hard for sociologists to find a job where they can get the proper immigration papers to work in the United States. It was a very interesting lunch, yet I don't feel like I helped her very much. I have always had an interest in the `soft' sciences, and I do not have much contact with this world. I hope to learn more as Melanie finishes her degree and moves into the work force. Maria's husband's world class work in computer vision is right in the middle of the kind of things I am involved in. We have been able to do a couple of projects together, and I am closely involved with some of his research. Between NASA, the medical center, and the oil industry's interest in his research, Ionnias was almost driven to move to Houston. Wednesday evening Paul and I watched the two Star Trek shows.
Thursday I attended my first GSH (Geophysical Society of Houston) Board meeting. I presented the plan for the GSH Spring Symposium and GCSEG (Gulf Coast Society of Exploration Geophysicists) Annual Technical Meeting for the 15th and 16th of April. I agreed to be the General Chairman of this activity back in October, and the impact of my agreeing to volunteer to do this is now starting to come home to roost. I was late, because I was so ingrossed in what I was working on I forgot to watch the time. I had to leave early because I had a lunch meeting with a guy who came over from Lafayette to see the work we are doing. Life seems to be going faster and faster these days.
I spent the early part of Thursday evening with a friend who graduated from High School with me in Cedar City. Donald Betenson was always very quiet, and now he is a Project Manager for The Williams Company, a major pipeline transportation company. He lives in Sandy (South Salt Lake) and works in Houston during the week. We met each other at our High School Class Reunion last summer, and have been going to get together ever since. He came out to the office and I showed him a little bit of what we are doing. Then we went to dinner at the Japanese resturant next to the office and talked for a couple of hours. It was neat to realize once again how deep my roots are in Southern Utah. It was enriching to talk about trials, successes, and common theames. His Father lives next to Andrea. His sister's daughter is Rachel's age and her twins are Matt's age, and they are regularly come over to play with Rachel and Matt. Don was pleased to hear about our engagement. His family is going to come to Houston to visit a couple of times this year, and I volunteered Andrea and I to host them some of the time. They also have children the same age as Andrea's children.
After we finished eating and talking I drove to Hobby airport to pick up Andrea (44), Audrey (18), Rachel (14), and Matt (11). Their plane was about a half hour late, and it gave me time to read about Alan Greenspan in Time Magazine and to learn he was a Swing Dance sax player before becoming the world's leading economist. I thought of Paul, and the fact Andrea played the saxophone all through High School. The flight into Houston was a little bit bumpy, and everyone made it OK. We got back to the house and got eveyone settled about midnight.
Friday morning Andrea drove me down to work and then had the car to take the kids to the mall and to explore during the day. Paul drove them down to the office in the evening. I was still finishing some stuff up, and so they went over and bought movie tickets at the Westchase Tinseltown to `My Favorite Martian' while I finished up. We went to dinner at the same place we took Andrea for her birthday in January, and then went to the movie. On the way home we went across the dam at the south end of the park, and everyone liked the bumpy ride. Paul explained just the right speed to keep the tires on the ground and still get the sensation of flying. I wondered if this was setting a good impression of Houston for Matt.
Saturday we were going to go to the Rodeo parade, and didn't make it. I had an evolver conference call from 8 until 9:00. Sarah and Ben had driven down, gave us a beautiful photo album and a wonderful card. We talked, and at 12:00 we went down to Chile's at Westbelt and I-10 to have lunch with Rick Zimmerman and his daughter Brittney. Brittney is the same age as Rachel. Rick took us and showed us the climbing wall by Bunker Hill road. It is neat, and a good place to bring scouts. Then we went to the Houston Museum of Natural History and Sarah, Ben, and Paul met us there. We spent time in the Weis Energy Hall, went to the Planetarium Show, and to the Butterfly Museum. I had forgot to bring the digital camera home, and so I didn't get any photos of Paul and Matt rotating the world. It was a fun day. We stopped and picked up the camera on the way to the house, and went across the bump again for Matt. Andrea and I went to the tri-ward Valentine's dance and listened to Alan Peterson an The Mid-Life Crisis band play. The kids rented the movies `Flubber' and `Toy Story' and ordered pizza. It was a wonderful evening in Houston for all of us.
Sunday morning Andrea and I worked on our plans for the next few months. For those out of town, church starts at 11:00 now. It was fun to introduce Andrea to my friends. I had to stay after for a brief High Priest Group Leadership meeting. Guess this is typical for me. Andrea went home to fix spagetti and ended up making lasaugna because of limited noodle options. Ben said it wouldn't be like coming home unless there was an experiment. We took some photos, and I will get them on-line over the next couple of days (http://www.walden3d.com/photos/Houston...). Ben and Sarah took off for Arlington, and I took Sara back over to Whitman Court after we took the photos. I stopped and talked to the Bishop about getting clearance from The First Presidency to marry Andrea in the temple. Andrea has to go through a similar procedure to get a cancellation of sealings. At 7:00 we had Family Home Evening. Sister Moreless brought over pies and ice cream. Larry and Alma Law, Sister Smith and her two kids also came. Alma gave a great lesson. After the lesson Alma and I went over to Mike Smith's and gave him a Priesthood blessing. It was 10:00 by the time I got back and Andrea and I restarted planning.
Monday morning Andrea took me to work. Rob and Paul brought Rachel and Matt, and Andrea and Audrey met us at the office for lunch. We all went to the Japanese restaurant, since Japan is where Andrea served her mission. Rob was the center of attention. It was mostly a good experience. Paul went back to the house and everyone else went down to the Galleria to experience the shopping side of Houston. They came back and picked me up at 4:20 and I drove them to Hobby airport. As we drove down the tollroad and I looked at the tall radio towers by where we used to live in Missouri City, I couldn't help but reflect on my 19+ years in Houston. Professionally it has been great, challenging, heart-breaking, and life-changing. Personally and spiritually it has been the same. There are things I would change if I could do it over again. And hopefully I have truly learned the lessons the Lord had in mind for me when we were directed to move to Houston. As I thought of Andrea's, Audrey's, Rachel's, and Matt's introduction to Houston since Thursday evening and their seeing the night lights of downtown on the way up I-45 to I-10, I realized how big a change our marriage is going to be for them and for you kids. I do feel good about this change, and hope to see great benefit to all of us come from it. I especially hope to see each of you kids and your own family's regularly visit us in Houston."
