Daytona Fever

Well, this past weekend marked the beginning of another NASCAR season…. and we started it off right. Saturday night, we went out with Steve and Anita while their girls stayed at our place with Brendon, Gelli and her friend Jamie.  We introduced Steve and Anita to another of our favorite north Houston hangouts – Rao’s bakery/cafe, where we sat for several hours after dinner and watched the crazy rain and lightning show from a cozy table with yummy coffee and desserts. 

Then Sunday, E.J. and Steve donned their NASCAR gear, mounted their laptops, and proceeded to snooze and browse throughout the 50th running of the Daytona 500.  We were rooting for Dale Jr and Michael Waltrip, but were glad to see Ryan Newman cross the finish line as the winner… good for him and for Penske racing!  I spent most of the morning making snacks for the occassion, chocolate covered strawberries and pretzels, and my own version of the “Sprint Cup Cakes” which I also shared with some neighbors that are also NASCAR fans. 

Other than that, it was a fairly quiet weekend.  Gelli had rehearsal for High School Musical 2 on Friday and Saturday, and I ran errands with E.J. on Saturday where I picked up the passport photo I need for my Russian Visa application.  Gelli popped one of the brackets on her braces when she tried to eat some beef jerky on Friday, so she spent much of the weekend in a bit of pain, waiting until today when she can have the orthodontist fix it.  E. J.  is going to take her when she get’s done with her babysitting job after school today.

To Russia, With Love…

The deposits have been secured, and my passport is in order.  It looks like I’ll be going to Russia with my mom on her vacation this year.  For as long as I can remember, my mom has said that she’d like to go there, mostly out of curiosity since she grew up during the height of the cold war era.  Up to now, she’s been travelling to fairly friendly destinations – Hungary, Czech Republic, Denmark, Sweeden, Norway, Australia, etc.  This is the one place she really wanted to go, but couldn’t drum up the courage to go alone.  So after a short discussion with E.J. (who is the most awesomest husband in the whole world, by the way) I was able to tell my mom, that I would be willing to go with her on this trip.

 I must admit, it sounds like it’s going to be quite an adventure.  We’re going the first week in June through Trafalgar Tours, visiting St. Petersburg and Moscow with a short stop in the middle in Novgorod.  It’s 9 days total, with only 5 of those being working days, so I won’t miss too much work.   Mom’s got everything started with the travel agent, so our visa applications should be going out shortly. 

 Eeek!  How exciting!

She got a named part!

Gelli had a good callback this morning, and they just released the cast list for High School Musical 2 – Gelli has been cast as Martha Cox, the hip-hop loving friend of Gabriella, Taylor, and Kelsi. 

This is going to be Gelli’s first named role in a musical production, so she’s very excited.  We hope you all can make it to at least one of the shows!

Callback!

Gelli’s audition went very well last night, and she’s been given a callback audition which will happen Saturday morning.  Last night we learned that this show will be put on mostly by the Woodlands High School, and is a very big deal.  Currently they have 8 performances scheduled in May, and the last one will be done in the Hobby Center downtown.

 Thanks for the good luck wishes, and keep them coming this weekend!

Happy New Year!

First of all, I’d like to extend a great big Happy New Year from the Hunyadi family to all of you!  We hope 2008 is  a great year for all of you, and I’ll try to keep the blog updated a little more frequently to keep you all in the loop with us again this year.

We were fortunate to spend New Year’s Eve at Lawrence’s house with many of our friends, where we were able to feast on our friend Kate’s fabulous culinary fare, sip champagne, and watch Stevie set off fireworks in the street. 

 Right now, things are just ramping up again for us.  Gelli is in the last few weeks of rehearsal for My Fair Lady at her high school.  The show dates are Jan 31, Feb 1, 2, 4, 5 and tickets can be purchased at www.kleincollinsdrama.org.  Brendon has been playing with his XBox and helping EJ and I around the house.  We’ve been cleaning out the garage, washing cars, running errands, and generally fixing up things that have been neglected during our hectic holiday.  I’ve also found some time to work on Brendon’s scrapbook, and have made some significant progress on it, too.

Gelli recently discovered that Class Act will be doing a stage version of High School Musical 2 in May, and auditions are this week.  She’s scheduled to audition tomorrow for that, so we’ll probably be spending most of the evening tonight getting ready for that.  Then next week she’ll be facing her first round of High School mid-term exams.  Wish her good luck!

Happy Holidays to All!

Merry Christmas to all of you!  We have been having a hectic but enjoyable holiday… except for all of the sick that’s been going around.  I’m finally over it, but Gelli and EJ are still suffering some of the congestion, and Brendon is showing some of the beginnings of it.  Sigh. 

Santa was very good to us this year – Brendon got the XBox he’s been dying for for a year or more, Gelli got a new camera and a PSP, E.J. got a Zune and some nice new clothes, and I got a soft and pretty new robe and lots of scrapbooking stuff.  We also received some wonderful gifts from many of our friends and family, and we’d like to thank you all! 

Yesterday I was able to visit with my friend Jen, who lives with her husband and 1 yr old son in North Carolina.  She’s staying at her mom’s house where I spent many a night back in high school talking about boys and dreaming of the future.  Calvin, her son, was smiley and energetic, and we had lots of fun watching him toddle around the house.

The next few days will be filled with errands and cleaning… but we’re looking forward to getting together with our friends once again to celebrate the New Year.    Happy Holidays, everyone!

Busy Week and Weekend

I spent the majority of last week in Spokane, WA again, and once again was treated to some magnificent cuisine.  Not only was I able to enjoy that fantastic Fillet Mignon at The Wolf Lodge once again, but I got to catch up with an old friend that I used to work with in a previous job, and that made the meal extra special.  I also enjoyed a wonderful dinner at a Turkish restaurant called “The White House”.  When flying home on Friday, I was delayed a bit by snow at the Denver airport, and though we had to sit on the tarmac for about an hour while the plane was de-iced, it was fun to sit and watch the flakes falling.  Snow is still always a novelty to me, being a native Texan.  I got home at about 12:30 am Saturday morning, and was greeted by a house full of kids – Gelli had 3 friends and Brendon had one spending the night.  They were still going strong playing Guitar Hero upstairs in the play room when I arrived. 

I really think both kids have been growing again lately.  I got home and could swear that they were both a half-inch taller than when I left.

I pretty much crashed right away, and awoke the next morning late (still working on East coast time), and immediately started getting read for our EJ’s Saturday photography gig.  E.J. was asked by the mother of one of the brides that he took pictures for this year to take posed shots at the Williams Petroleum Christmas party in the Westin Galleria.  We spent the afternoon running errands for supplies and were at the party for about 7 hours.  Another late night for me. 

Sunday morning, I woke up late again, and while E.J. working on printing photos from the party, I did my annual Christmas baking.  I baked E.J.s favorite banana bread, Orange Spritz cookies, Sand tarts, and classic chocolate chip cookies.  During the process, we planned Gelli’s birthday festivities for next weekend so she can give invitations to a small group. 

I did manage to get to bed at a decent hour last night, so though waking up for work was tough this morning, it wasn’t too bad.  Brendon, however started coughing and sniffling yesterday, and this morning it was a full-on head cold, complete with fever, so he stayed home.   Now we discover today that he has a Science test tomorrow and they reviewed in class today.  Sigh. 

Sunny Thanksgiving

I realize that I’ve been bad about updating you all in the last few weeks… I have a dozen or so excuses for that, but I figure I should just get back on the wagon and hop to it…

 We just got back from Florida last night around 10:30.  I know we were only gone for 4 1/2 days to celebrate Thanksgiving with E.J.’s grandparents, but it was oh so nice to be back in my own bed.

 Overall, it was a pretty good trip – the kids were angels, E.J. was in a good mood, his grandmother was thrilled to have us, and we got to spend a few days on a private beach with beautiful sunny 80 degree weather.  The only real pain was the drive, mostly because of the closure of I-10 near Lafayette.  It took us more than 2 1/2 hours just to get around the closure on the way home, and then there were plenty of wrecks other delays to make the trip way longer than it should have been.

Thursday morning we went out to the beach and played in the water and the sand.  The water wasn’t too cold yet,  and the wind was blowing so hard, you didnt even feel the sun, though it was comfortably warm.  In other words, I completely didnt feel all of those rays that were pounding on my back as I built sandcastles with the kids – until hours later when my back began to resemble a lobster.  The worst part is that I had actually put some sunscreen on my face and shoulders, but didnt ask anyone to put it on my back.   Now I’ve got a nice jagged line where the sunscreen stopped.  Sigh.  E.J. only got a slight bit of red on his shoulders, but he spent most of the time sitting under the shade talking to his grandmother while we played.  And the kids – well, as E.J. says, they were born with built-in sunscreen.  They almost never burn.

Most of the rest of the time at Gege’s was spent helping her fix things and solve problems that had been bugging her around the house.  I tackled her computer issues, while E.J. played Mr. Fix-it.  We also spent quite a bit of time going over Prescription and Medical coverage choices with her, trying to figure out whether she needs to switch plans or stay on the one she has… that was several hours of going around in circles, but I think we finally have a good plan in place.

All in all, it was a good trip, and even though I missed my annual shopping marathon for the after-Thanksgiving sales, I’m glad we went.  We were able to do some good things, and I know E.J. feels that any time he can spend with his grandparents at this point is a blessing, considering their ages. 

I hope all of you had a lovely Thanksgiving holiday too!

Out of town yummy, Gelli & Brendon News, and a trip to the Renaissance Festival

Two days after the big party, I was on a plane this past week to Spokane, WA for business. It turned out to be a very pleasant and productive trip… we managed to accomplish our goal for the trip, and I had some of the best food I’ve ever tasted. The first night, we ate at “The Steam Plant” – an old restored steam plant that closed in 1983 and is now a really nice restaurant. I had a dish that featured veal, smothered with a gorgonzola cheese mixture and wrapped in bacon that was grilled and then served in a marsala mushroom sauce… it was absolutely fantastic – and the Chocolate Silk cocktail was just what the doctor ordered on an evening where the temperature was in the low 30s. The next night, we visited Coeur D’Elaine, ID for a client recommended dinner at “The Wolf Lodge”. It was on this night that I experienced the best steak of my life – a filet mignon that melted on the tongue and had a heavenly flavor. The final meal of note was a fabulous salad at a bistro on the way to the airport. The local flavor in Washington State is the huckleberry, so my salad was field greens with candied pecans, grapes, apples, topped off with a sweet huckleberry vinaigrette. Another divine experience.

Though I thoroughly enjoyed my travel cuisine, the most exciting part of the trip involved hearing about Gelli making callback auditions for her High School’s upcoming production of My Fair Lady. As one of only 2 Freshman that were called back, she was thoroughly excited and worked very hard on her cockney accent and the selected musical numbers that were required. After several days of nerves, we learned late on Friday that she got into the play as a principal character, which earns her a few lines – and she’s the only Freshman chosen to be a principal. We’re so proud.

Brendon also had some interesting news this week. The kid that normally plays Center on his football team’s offense was given after-school detention, so Brendon was asked to fill-in for him for their last game next Monday. All week he’s been playing Center, and apparently has been doing a good job at it. He’s really excited, and we’re looking forward to seeing how he does on Monday. Because he’s one of the larger kids on his team, they recently added a new play to their Offense called “Power Hurricane Hunyadi” that involves Brendon slamming the ball forward a few yards when they only need a few to make a first down or touchdown. We’re hoping they’ll call the play during this last game so we can see it. He says it’s loads of fun.

Finally today we were joined by Steve, Anita and their kids at the Annual Texas Renaissance Festival. As usual, we had a great time – though E.J. and I were both suffering from the heat in our heavily layered period costumes. They’re really much more comfortable when the temperature stays in the 60s and low 70s. Now at the end of our adventurous day, we’re sitting in a new coffee shop near our house listening to some nice live guitar music… apparently Gelli performed in public here for the first time one evening last week, though there was only 1 patron in the place other than E.J. at the time. The owner liked Gelli’s singing and playing enough to invite her to come back on open mic night when there will be a bigger crowd.

Sigh. Tomorrow I plan to try to get some unpacking, laundry, and post-party cleaning done. There is still a lot of furniture out of place and some of the decorations are still up. It never ends

Party Time!!!

Well, the 6th annual Hunyadi Halloween was Saturday night, and we partied like it was 2399.  We had a full house, and I have to say it was one of the better ones.  This year’s theme was Science Fiction, and we had all kinds of characters show up from lots of great movies and TV shows - the Jetsons, Futurama, Dr. Who, Star Trek, Star Wars, The Matrix, Lost in Space, Predator, Ghostbusters, Hitchhiker’s Guide, Robot Chicken, Power Rangers, and others I can’t remember.  We played some games and gave away the trophies for best costumes – Susan won best Female Costume for her “Captain Kirk with Tribbles”,  Robert won the Best Male Costume award for his “Zapf Brannigan”, and Kenny won the Theme Award for his elaborate “Dr Who”.   Steve won the “Alien Parachute” game, and Kate won the “Space Race” game.  We were able to enjoy lots of exotic foods during the party, including Soylent Green, Spoo Spread, and Talaxian Crustaceans, and we drank (and boy did we)  Elaine’s famous fruit punch.  Somehow, the karaoke machine got turned on, and we sang until after midnight.

All in all, it was a good time, and I hope everyone who came had fun.  This Halloween party has become one of the few annual events where we get all of the friends together to catch up.  To see the fun for yourself, take a look at Elaine’s pictures, or some taken by Gelli & EJ. 

Thank you to Steve, Anita, Kenny, Elaine and everyone who helped make it great!!!