Grady's Doing Great

Grady is really coming along. He's been gaining weight - going from 6 lbs. 1 oz. to 6 lbs. 8 oz. already!

Ted, Amy and Ryley are making multiple trips to the hospital every day to go spend time with him. Ryley has a regular routine of going to the hospital and reading Grady a "nite-nite" story.

If you want to see a couple more pics, check out my flicker site.

Welcome to the world, Grady Carrig Rough

On September 13, 2007 the newest addition to the family arrived one month AHEAD of schedule! Amy, my sister-in-law and brother Ted, had their second son, Grady, at St. Vincent's Hospital in Toledo, Ohio. This officially promotes Ryley, our 6 year-old nephew to Big Brother status.

As a precaution, the doctors decided that Grady should come early due to some recently noticed lower fluid levels in the womb. The lower fluid level makes it possible for the umbilical chord to get pinched and cut-off supplies to the baby. Grady weighs 6 pounds and 1 oz. - a good weight for a baby at 8 months term. His little lungs needs some help for the next few days as they continue to mature. So for right now he's on a respirator and getting enzyme treatments until he's strong enough to go it alone.

So far - so good. The doctors are watching him closely and he's getting good care. Stay tuned and I will fill you in on the rest of the details as they come in.

In the interim, Uncles Rob & Christopher are eagerly planning new ways to spoil the latest addition to the tribe. Last count, we have 4 nieces and 8 nephews. 8 on CJ's side and 2 on mine.

My Grandpa Rough

My grandpa died today. He was 89 and I was named after him. He was Robert R Rough, Sr. We've know for a while that he was getting ready to head on out and be with Grandma, but all the same - it makes you stop and think.

He was a good man. Having 9 children, I was to third eldest of 4,573 grandkids (estimate). I was one of the lucky ones who got to spend some time with him growing up. Here are some of the things I remember about him:

- He took naps on the green couch in the living room with a sunlamp and weird eye-covering goggles. He wasn't doing it for the tan, he probably read something - somewhere - that said it was good for you.

- He had a workshop in the basement where you could try to build anything. One of the toys he made for us kids was a wooden board full of hinges, locks and clasps. You could open and close its doors and see comic strips once you figured out the lock.

- He took us camping and on nature hikes. He would tell us about the leaves and how to identify trees.

- Before his knee surgery, he had to sit on the end pew at church and stick his leg out since it wouldn't bend. He always got the best seat that way.

- Chocolate peanut butter milkshakes. Say no more.

- He was a scout leader. Twice. He started-up the troop again so my cousin Scott and I would be able to be scouts. I wish I told him more often how much I appreciate that. I was a teenager back then and expressing gratitude for anything wasn't my strong suit.

- Most of all - he was patient. More often than not, we grandkids were not saints. But he loaded us up in the station wagon and took us everywhere grandma told him to.

Right now, he and grandma are together again. Probably sitting at the big Rough House dining room table together playing Scrabble.

You warned us that it would be hot...

So when we moved here in June, Texas was in the middle of a freakishly long bout of rain and cool weather. Everyone here told us that it is not like this. Don't get used to it. Well, about two weeks ago it stopped raining and the sun came out. This week, people are starting to say, "Now this here is a Texas summer, y'all." I would respond, but I am too busy mopping my head with a towel as I am crawling on all fours in the shade.

Hot? Hot's not the right word. Heat is hot. This is something else. Sauna, perhaps? For the record - I still love it here!! But I have had to learn to adapt. For instance, I take three (3) THREE outfits to work. One to wear in the office, one to wear at the gym to workout at lunchtime, and another to wear as I walk to the gym and back! No kidding. I came back from the gym at lunch the other day in my work clothes and I looked "rode hard and put away wet" to say the least. But I am learning and adapting.

A Reoccuring Nightmare

Kelly has been my best friend for 13 years now. Yet, I have done the unthinkable for everyone of those years (to the best of my knowledge)... I forget her birthday. EVERY YEAR. This is bad enough as it is. I have no idea why. Do I get exceptionally stupid in July? Is there something in the stars that align every July 21st that makes me incapable of remembering the most thoughtful person on the planet?

If you are reading this, then it's likely you KNOW how good Kelly is to me and how much I cherish her friendship. For MY 40th birthday, she organized a surprise wedding for 300 and still managed to get a card for both the birthday AND the wedding.

Kelly has made me hand-sewn quilts, framed photos she took herself - you name it. She never skips a beat or gets you anything just off the shelf.

So I am publicly turning myself in as a complete ass and stating for the record how much I love her (and her equally supportive and considerate husband.) She's the best and I hope she knows how much she means to me.

Thank God she comes to visit next week and I have a chance to make it up to her. And knowing Kelly, she'll show up at my house with a house-warming basket filled with indigenous items that share a common Latin language root with my name spelled in the glyphs of the ancient people who lived on this soil before the ice age.

Unpacking and Job Hunting

Christopher has now made his third and final trip from Sacramento to Austin and all of the cars are now here in Texas. The moving truck arrived the first week of July and we were SAVED by our new Austin AA friends who helped us unload it. Since Christopher was in San Francisco speaking at the Living Sober conference. It was potentially just me and the semi. They totally saved my butt. Take a look at the pictures and see!

In regards to the flooding in Texas, we have been spared. The flooding - not the rain. You better watch what you pray for! I couldn't wait to be back in a climate where there were thunderstorms. I got what I wanted - and then some.

Uno did very well on the trip down and has made the new apartment his own already.

There is a lot to do here and I can tell there will be a lot of great adventures on the horizon. We have already been invited to go sailing on Lake Travis and to the infamous "Queens on the Beach" week in Galviston.

The job hunt is coming along. I have had a couple interviews with the University of Texas for a Traffic Coordinator job that is nearly identical to the job I had at Crocker/Flanagan in Sacramento.

Once we get all the job stuff nailed down, I will be looking for studio space and start back at painting/drawing. I can't wait. I have a couple new pieces in my sketchbook that need to happen! I have uploaded some of my work from the last school year on my flickr site if you want to see them.

Starting to settle in

I am sitting at one of my new favorite Austin-haunts. It's called the Epoch coffee shop. It is privately owned (very typical of Austin) so there is lots of second-hand furniture, funky music, AA people, gay people, hippies, cool music, free WIFI and.... a BIG covered porch that lets me sip my coffee while it rains! I am in heaven.

The trip down the second time was LONG. 33-hours in the car. But we (including the cat and our friend Drew [aka: Poodle]) made it without killing each other.

I have a second interview with the University for a great job. I am trying not to count my chickens before they are hatched, but it is encouraging.

The moving truck arrives sometime between this Saturday - Monday. Of course, CJ leaves for his speaking engagement in SF on Friday and Poodle flies back on Saturday. Needless to say - I am trying to make friends ASAP. It's kind of like this... "Hi! I am Rob. I just moved here from California! Now that you mention it... the moving truck arrives this weekend... what are you doing this weekend? HEY? Where are you going?"

Wear sunscreen when driving with Christopher

Now I know why he wanted that convertible pick-up truck. All of the cowBOYS think it's "sic" y'all. He's shameless the way he parades it about. I like to think that they are all stopping to look at me. Actually, if they are looking at me - they are looking at the third degree burns on my head. You see, unless it is raining or the asphalt is melting, the top is down. And sometimes, the latter doesn't apply. Remember the scene in "Interview with the Vampire" when little girl vampire Claudia is put out into the sun and bursts into flames? That's me riding with Christopher. Send aloe. Soon.

Oh, no... the cops, again.

Actually, this time we wanted to see them. Check out Christopher's blog to get the story. There's a link on this site.

We made it to Austin!

I will have to add to this - but wanted to check in for now. We made it! It took two days. The first leg was 13 hours with an overnight in Mesa, AZ with Christopher's cousin. Then, there was day two.

MAPQUEST LIED! We ended-up spending 18 hours. YES! 18 hours! In the truck on day two.

But we're here and I have to tell you, Austin is even prettier and more neat than I remember! We are at our friend Wayne's (aka "Pearl") house for the next couple days and then hopefully we'll have secured our apartment.

Oh.. did you know that you can get a speeding ticket for going 89 in an 80 MPH zone? I was it bit crazed with "Dessert Fever." But, the police officer didn't buy it. I am convinced it's the California plates.

Check out the photos I've uploaded. More to come.

Why Austin?

I've been getting this a lot lately... "TEXAS? Are you out of your mind?" So let me explain - Reader's Digest style:

1) We decide about a year ago that we want a decent home to live in after I graduate.

2) We look at the real estate listings in California for our next home.

3) We realize that we want to live somewhere else besides California after reading the listings.

4) We write-up our ideal city description. Night life, gay community, arts, AA community, etc.

5) Christopher spends a lot of time in Texas - especially Austin and Houston during disaster relief work and at conferences.

6) Austin keeps popping-up in our research.

7) We go to Texas in July '06 to research Houston, San Antonio and Austin.

8) We fall in love with Austin and the University of Texas. (Rob hopes to get MFA there, CJ can work there.)

9) Rob finishes school and we get ready to move to Austin this June.

It's a very cool town. Exceedingly liberal, arts-oriented, HUGE nightlife, historic and VERY affordable. Also, it is only a day's drive to one of our favorite places in the world - New Orleans.

Y'all need to come visit.

The Scene of the Crime

Mom and her friend, Joyce, have come to visit for my graduation. Part of the celebration was a great dinner with friends at The Melting Pot. It is amazing how much one can eat, one searing-hot forkfull at a time. This is what our table looked like before we all crawled out of there as if it was Thanksgiving.

We did it!

23 years later.... Rob gets his degree. I didn't do this alone. Christopher has been a saint and very supportive. I also have Art and Kelly to thank too. They have been rooting me on and looking at my artwork saying, "That's nice. Now how many more of these do you have to do in order to graduate?" I am really a fortunate guy.

How many moving boxes can you fit into a Geo?

Thank God our friend, Doug, moved back to Sacramento from the Bay Area last month. We inherited all of his moving boxes. I got just about all of them into the Geo. I couldn't see out of any of my mirrors, of course. So I hope no one was hurt in the transport.

Back Up & Running

OK, I am going to make an effort to use this blog more now that we are getting ready to move. Right now, it's all about packing and getting ready for my mom's visit. She arrives this Friday for my graduation. This entry is so boring that the only people who will read this will be Christopher and Kelly.

I'm seeing dead relatives...

I went to HOT Bikram yoga today. Imagine a room heated to 100+ degrees packed with the healthiest, granola-eating, people you've ever seen. These people rival Cirque du Soleil performers. Then there's me. These days, I consider eye contact with my toes a good workout. Holy crap! That sweet, limber, DEMANDING girl in the sports bra was out to kill me. At one point I had to sit down (in a traditional manner that didn't involve putting my feet on the top of my head) and ride out a major dizzy spell. I think I saw the bright light and some passed-on friends and relatives looking at at me saying, "Aren't you a bit early?"

I can't wait to do it again tomorrow. I'm on my way to Costco right now to buy a drum of Motrin.

A Great Hike in the Auburn Ravine

Doug & Me down by the water
Originally uploaded by robrough.

This holiday weekend, Doug came to visit and we went on a long overdue hike up in Auburn. Our new friend, Mark, from North Hall also joined us. It was a great way to kick off the summer! The terrain (according to Doug - a regular hiker) has been really modified by this year's wet spring. You can still see a lot rapids and swift moving current due to the melting snow.

I wish the photos did the beautiful scenery justice. It's days like this that I still get excited I live in California - even though I have been here for over 16 years!

I definately plan on doing this again a few more times this summer!

The Cakes...

IMG_5083.jpg
Originally uploaded by robrough.

The number one question I've been getting about the wedding is, "What's with the cakes?" Aren't they amazing? That was CJ's idea. Instead of having just one wedding cake, we had the chosen favorites of our immediate families and wedding party. Pretty cool, huh?

Rocks for Jocks & Other Seismic Activity

ROCKS FOR JOCKS
I have just put down my #2 pencil and completed my final exam in Geology at American River College. It's the last of the pre-requisite classes I had to take to meet California's requirements for an undergrad. I have been officially accepted to Sac State and am in my senior year of college. FINALLY! I have been a Junior since 1988. It was a tough grade...

Returning to college after all these years has been one of the best things I've done for myself. I LOVE being in school - but it makes me feel kinda' old. I have been older than my last two professors. The younger students look at me like some kind of living history exhibit when I tell them that we did all of our papers on typewriters when I was in school at Bowling Green. By the looks of shock in their eyes you would have thought I told them we burned co-eds at the stake who didn't rush the right sorority.

MORE SEISMIC ACTIVITY
Since it is an even-numbered year, that means I am trying to loose weight. So if you hear of seismic activity reports from Sacramento - don't be shocked. It's just me trying to run again. I have dropped over 20 pounds from my peak and am feeling like a new person. I have noticed that I am in better health when I like my job. This job allows me the flexibility to go to school and take care of myself. We are doing Weight Watchers and it really helps. Although I feel like such a LOSER when I get giddy when correctly guessing the points values of my food. It's like playing "The Price is Right" with Calories, Fat & Fiber. Oh well, I may look like a dork, but my jeans are too big now - so I don't care.

Ryley Pours the Bubbles!

Ryley's Pours the Bubbles!
Originally uploaded by robrough.

Never, ever let the 5-year-old help you pour the bath bubbles. Although I want to see how well you say "no" to someone as cute as this little guy?

This is in the giant jacuzzi bathtub in Lake Tahoe that Ryley referred to as "The Inside Swimming Pool." To make matters worse, he loved turning on the water jets to make the bubbles rise higher.

It took me an hour to towel dry the room when we were done.