Eric Holen

• Had a great time camping this past weekend with friends at Potters Creek on Canyon Lake. Here it is August and it was our first group camping trip of the season. Hoping to squeeze at least one more this year. Even though I wore sun screen, still managed to get burned on my shoulders and knees. Our friends brought out a personal water craft (PWC). Found out that 42 mph is the fastest my mind and heart would allow me to go.
• After a great trip, got home to find out the air conditioning had gone out again and it was 84 degrees in the house. After removing the panel, I confirmed the capacitor that had just been replaced 11 days ago, went bad. I called San Marcos Air Conditioning and they were out in just a few hours to replace the capacitor under warranty. The technician assumes that since we had not been running the AC very much over the weekend, it was a bad unit. He replaced it with two capacitors, one for the motor and another for the compressor, to distribute the load.
• Talking with the AC technician produced one of those “ah ha” moments. When I asked about installing a new AC unit, ours is 7 years old, he stated that they generally start around $7000. That put things into perspective for Yvette and I. While we continue to reduce our debt, we need to start building a home repair fund for major repairs as our home gets older.
• If everything goes as planned, Yvette’s mom should be permanently moving back in with us next week. After her being here for the month of July and gone in August, we are looking forward to having her move back. We anticipate that she will be taking El Paso trips, for a few weeks at a time, every few months since that is where her family is located.

Buddy, my son for the last 12 years, is growing older each day. It pains me because he has been a part of Yvette’s and my marriage and life for so long.

Growing up, my family always seems to have a cat in the house. It wasn’t until my parents were divorced that we got out first and only dog, Crystal. Unfortunately, Crystal got out and we never found her.

In June 2008, the year after we got married, Yvette showed up at my office with a small puppy. Her co-worker’s dog had puppies and they were trying to give them away to loving homes. It only took me a minute to fall in love with one of the puppies, who I quickly called “Buddy”.

That evening we went to PetSmart where we bought his food, bed and other supplies. Yvette laughed at me because I was pushing him very slowly in the cart to avoid “shaking dog syndrome”.

As much as I love Buddy today, I can’t forget the time he bit me on the nose when I was trying to play with him while he was eating (bad idea) or the time that Yvette wanted to kill him after he chewed up her eye glasses.

Buddy has traveled with us from our mobile home in El Paso, to our apartment in Austin, back to our mobile home, and finally to the our current home.

As I type out this blog post, he is asleep on a dog bed not seven feet from me.

Buddy is getting older. Due to a cataract, he is blind in his right eye. He used to be able to see and bark at dogs on the television, but not anymore. His left rear knee, which has given him problems since we was young, doesn’t work ¼ of the time. He has a skin condition which requires us to put lotion on his chest. Finally, we have an ongoing challenge with keeping his ears clean. With all of his issues, I could not be happier that after 12 years, he runs around the yard and barks like a dog half his age.

Still, I can’t help but notice that he can’t get on the couch without assistance or that he misses the potty sheet on more than one occasion.

Yvette often acknowledges that while we have three wonderful boy dogs, Buddy is my son.

My hope is that “My Buddy and Me” will continue for as long as possible. I love you Buddy.

• Yvette and I were in the gym at 4:50 am this morning, the first time in at least a couple of months. It felt great even if my body told me I wasn’t strong enough to do my old dumbbell routine.
• Almost a week and a half with Yvette’s mom staying with us. The transition has been a lot smoother than I originally thought. It will be strange when she heads back to El Paso at the end of July.
• Wanted to go camping with friends this weekend, but it couldn’t happen. Looking forward to our camping trip at Canyon Lake in August.
• Closing in on a year of maintaining my weight at or below 160 lbs. A couple of weeks ago, Yvette finally made me donate the last of my big clothes that I had been holding onto for just in case.
• Had a great time meeting with friends for dinner and drinks last week. Wish we could do it more often.
• Pleased that we paid off another bill this month as we work towards becoming debt free, except for the house. It is a slow process, but Yvette and I are making progress every month.

On Friday, April 2, my sister Beth who lives in Dallas and rarely posts to Facebook, mentioned that Sarah, one of my other six sisters, would be in Dallas.  Yvette and I haven’t been able to see our families in several months and so the thought of being able to see two of my sisters at once was exciting.

I am the oldest of the eight children followed by Beth while Sarah is the third youngest.

Unfortunately, Sarah lives in Seattle and was only going to be in Dallas for a few days for business and would be flying out on Friday.  This meant that we would only get to see each other in the evening.

So I took a half day off on Thursday, April 8, and drove from Austin to Dallas.  The traffic through Fort Worth wasn’t too bad and in just a few hours I was parked at the Grapevine Mills Mall where we were scheduled to meet.  I texted my sisters to let them know I was there and then pulled out my laptop to catch up on the work I was missing.

I hadn’t gotten through but a handful of emails when Sarah called that she was right around the corner.

Sarah and I walked all the way around the mall; it is laid out as a giant square, and talked the whole time.  Later, I would find out at dinner that Beth, Sarah and I have the same issue; we are not telephone talkers unless it is special occasion.  But Sarah and I talked and talked.

I was a little disappointed with mall from what I remember it had been like.  It was obvious that the mall was struggling and there were a lot of “no name” stores and even a glow in the dark mini golf course.

After making a complete circuit through the mall and not finding anything, Sarah and I decided to find someplace nearby to sit and wait for Beth.  After driving around the loop the circled the mall, we stumbled upon Love and War in Texas.  We sat down, me with a beer and her with some tea, and talked some more.

Beth joined us as soon as she got off work and then we decided to catch dinner at the restaurant since we were already there.  Beth and Sarah had planned to catch dinner and movie before they found out I was coming.  I had the “Presidio, TX Poblano” with sides of their sautéed spinach and grilled vegetables.  I highly recommend the meal.

Throughout dinner, we talked even more, sharing stories and recollections of past events where we got into trouble with our parents.  Unfortunately, I had a long drive back so we called it an evening.

I drove from Forth Worth and made it as far as Waco, where I spent the night at a Motel 6.  Early the next morning, I was back on the road and in Austin at my desk by 7:15 AM.

While it was a long trip, it was great to see my sisters and I had a great time.  I hope that that I will get to see my other four sisters, little brother and my mom in the near future.  Missing you all!