Back Alley

Yesterday I learned a new card game called Back Alley. My neighbors father-in-law taught me the game. It was like a combination of spade and hearts with a twist. It has been such a long time since I played cards, that it was a blast. I can be a little competitive sometimes, do I had to be good and not be too competitive.

BJ's Brewhouse

Yesterday hubby and I tried a new restaurant for lunch - BJ's Brewhouse.  We didn't know what to expect and were pleasantly surprised.  For an appetizer we had crispy artichoke hearts with a garlic aioli.  I had never had artichoke hearts, but they were really good.  For my lunch, I had fish tacos and they were quite honestly the best I have ever had.  The fish was lightly breaded and the tacos were not overdressed.  They served the two tacos with some chips and salsa which made for a really filling and light lunch.  Hubby had a burger melt with shoestring fries.  He said it was very good.  You could actually taste each of the flavors and the angus beef they used was cooked perfectly.  We really wanted to try some of their beers, but since I was on my lunch break and hubby had to drive back home, we decided we would leave that for another time.  If you have a BJ's near your area, I really recommend you give them a try.

Belated Happy Holidays

I hope everyone had a very nice holiday.  I was on vacation from noon on Thursday through today and I go back to work tomorrow.  On Wednesday evening we celebrated the Winter Solstice at a geochace event and enjoyed a Buffalo Burger and Elk Burger (hubby and I shared so we could each taste both) along with meeting some of our fellow geocachers.  On Christmas Eve we exchanged gifts with our neighbors; and then on Christmas Day we went back to the neighbors and spent time with them.  We had a non-traditional holiday meal of pizza.  It was kind of nice that no one had to spend all day in the kitchen making dinner for everyone.  Today hubby and I spent the day geocaching and having fun.  Unfortunately, tomorrow is back to the work routine.

Hope you all had a very Happy Holidays.

TSO & Serrano's

The TranSiberian Orchestra concert was on Wednesday and was fantastic as usual.  Hubby went with me this year and it was great to share the concert with someone who enjoys their music as much as I do.  Unfortunately, our dinner before the concert was not as great.  We went to Serrano's and it was the worst Mexican food ever.  The food was greasy and bland.  I had grilled fish tacos and the corn tortilla as deep fried and was so full of grease it was nasty.  Besides, what is the point of grilling the fish if you are going to deep fry the tortilla?  Hubby has brisket guisada tacos and the dipping sauce was supposed to be the best ever.  Unfortunately, it had no flavor and was so hot that it killed your taste buds.  Needless to say, we won't be eating there before the concert next year.

iPhone

Hubby has had an iPhone for a while now through Verizon, but I never really bothered to upgrade my phone.  I just had a pay as you go plan through T-Mobile and it seemed like enough for me.  Well, recently, I decided to upgrade my phone and I also got an iPhone from Verizon as well.  I have to tell you, I am so glad I updated.  I am totally addicted and always seem to be on my phone.  Now I just need to figure out how to get my blog on there and I will be all set.

New Year's Rules, Rituals, and Beliefs

As a kid my parents always tried to get us to eat black-eyed peas on New Year's Day.  I never really liked them, but we always had to eat at least one pea.  Since 2011 has been a challenging year, a friend and I decided to look up some of the rituals, rules, and beliefs for New Year's to see what we could do to make 2012 a better year.  Here are some of the items we found:

What to Eat
*Black-eyed peas or lentils eaten on New Year's Day bring riches and safety to the coming year.
*Eat 12 grapes, one grape for each month of the year, for prosperity.
*Eating pork on New Year's Day is lucky because pigs eat moving forward.  Therefore, those who eat pork will move forward in the coming year.

What to Wear
*Wear something new on January 1st.  It encourages more new clothing to follow.
*Wear red underwear on New Year's Eve to bring luck.
*Wear red clothing on New Year's Day.

What to Do
*Every door and window should be left open at midnight to let out the old year.
*Make lots of noise at the stroke of midnight.  Evil spirits attempt to come into the brand new year at this time - the noise chases them away.
*Dancing around a tree (especially outside) ensures luck, love, and prosperity.
*Have money in your pocket at the stroke of midnight.
*The pantry should be well stocked.
*Kissing your spouse or significant other at midnight ensures that you will remain intimate with that person.  Not to kiss mean a cold relationship for the year.
*Nothing goes out - not even the garbage.
*No money should be spent (that would be the same as something going out).
*No crying or you will be crying all year.
*No sweeping or dusting or the good luck will be swept out.

Other Superstitions
*Your first-footer (first guest of the year) cannot be a woman, have blonde or red hair, can't be cross-eyed or have a unibrow.  These are all very bad luck.
*Never eat poultry on New Year's Day.  Poultry scratches for their food, so if you eat poultry, you will "scratch" for your food all year long.

Are there any beliefs in your family that you always follow on New Year's Day?

What a Tough Life

Hubby and I had to go to Petco the other day to pick up some items.  As we were heading to the check out, we spotted this guy.  Life seems really tough in his world.  Wouldn't it be nice if we all had such a carefree life?

Birthday

Thursday is my neighbors birthday - she is going to be turning 15.  As our gift to her, hubby and I told her we would take her out this weekend to do whatever she wants - dinner, movie, shopping - her choice.  She can also bring a friend along if she wants.  I am not sure who is more excited, her or her mother.  I think it will be a fun day and I am looking forward to spending the day with her.

Kids and Coffee

This weekend hubby and I did some shopping, as did most people it seems.  There was something I saw that I really don't understand.  We saw this parent who had several kids with her and she was scolding them trying to get them to calm down.  A few minutes later, we saw her at the Starbucks counter, buying coffee drinks for the kids.  If your kids are hyper and you are trying to get them to calm down, why in the world would you give them caffeine?  I don't have kids so I can't speak to what it is like to be a parent, but as a bystander, it seems very strange to give his something that will make them hyper when you are trying to get them to calm down.

Brushy Creek Park



While hubby and I were out geocaching the other day, we found this really pretty park that we didn't know existed.  It was about a 4 mile walk round trip...and we picked up several caches along the way



Collard Greens

I have been so behind in posting lately.  So, no apologies or explanations as to why, just a post about collard greens.

Hubby wanted collard greens with Thanksgiving and I had never had them, but wanted to try them.  The day before Thanksgiving I went out and got all of the ingredients.  While at the store, I met a lady name Miss Mabel.  She was giving the produce manager a hard time because all of their collard greens were unappealing.  I introduced myself and told her I was going to be trying them for the first time.  She helped me pick out a good bunch of greens and gave me some pointers on how to make them.  On Thanksgiving Day, I began following the directions and somehow misread the recipe which caused me to add too much salt (1/4 cup instead of 1 tablespoon).  Hubby tasted them when I was done and couldn't even swallow the bite because they were so salty.

Determined that I was going to make collard greens, we went out the day after Thanksgiving to get more.  After some searching I found a store with some greens left.  Using the method that Miss Mabel had showed me, I picked a nice bunch of greens.  On Sunday, I made them again with a nice pork loin and this time I used the proper amount of salt.  The came out tasting fantastic.  I loved them and they even met hubby's approval (he is a tough critic).

I have found another veggie that I will definitely cook again.  They are not quick to make, but definitely worth the time.

Austin Comic Con

My vacation volunteering at the Austin Comic Con was fantastic.  It was three very exhausting days, but I would absolutely do it all over again.  My job was the registration table, so I checked in the various artists, vendors, press, guests (celebrity and non-celebrity) to attend the show.  My section also took tickets/coupons for people who had purchased their tickets online through special promotions. 

There were several celebrity guests who attended the show and they were all really nice, except for one.  Some of the guests who attended were Adam Baldwin, Kevin Sorbo, James Marsters, Hayden Panettiere, the Wonka Kids (Veruca, Violet, Mike Tee Vee, and Charlie).  There were several wrestlers and divas there like Ted DiBiase, The Honky Tonk Man, The Nasty Boys, Candice Michelle, Melina, and Maria. 

The only celebrity who was not so nice was Charisma Carpenter.  I understand she was extremely nice to her fans, but she wasn't very nice to the show staff.  I didn't get to meet her, but from what I heard, I didn't miss anything.

Check out some of the pictures from the Austin Comic Con and I will post more stories later.

Vacation

I was officially on vacation as of 5pm today.  I am really looking forward to the Comic Con and will post and update with photos when I get a chance.

New Radio Station

There is a new radio station that I have found to listen to (102.7) and it is all comedy routines 24/7.  I really enjoy the music, but sometimes you just need something to make you laugh.  The routines are just 1-2 minutes each and some of well known comedians and others aren't.

Time Flies

I can't believe it has been so long since I posted.  So much has happened and I haven't even written about any of it.  Here are some of the highlights since my last post.

• We had lots of trick-or-treaters come to our house on Halloween.  I love seeing all of the little kids.  This year the Transformer Bumblebee and Thor were the hot costumes.
• I had a deshed treatment done on my lab mix and the groomer brushed her so aggressively that her whole back and her legs raw and bleeding.  Thankfully no special vet treatment was needed and she is back to normal now.
• We came home one day to see a cute little hawk sitting in our flower bed.  As soon as we tried to pick up the phone to take a picture, he flew away.  He was so regal looking just hanging out in the  yard.
• Our garden has exploded with peppers (jalapeno and cayenne).  We picked so many that we gave the neighbors a bag weighing over 2 pounds.  There are still tons of baby peppers on the plants.  My cherry tomato plant is doing great too; it has about 50 little tomatoes that we are waiting to ripen.
• My nephew turned 3 and like a bad Aunt, I totally forgot to send him a card.
• Hubby and I have really gotten back in to Geocaching.  Our goal is to get 100 finds per month.  So far, we are right on track.

Those are the highlights, but mostly I have just been focused on work and completing the required report for my master's project before the semester ends on 11/30.

Austin Comic Con

I received the notification yesterday that I was selected as one of the volunteers for the Austin Comic Con this year.  I am excited since hubby had so much fun last year.  It will be three exhausting days (4 for hubby), but should be a lot of fun.  Now we just need to line up someone to look in on the dogs during those three days.

Fun Day

Yesterday, we slept pretty much the whole day.  We don't do that too often, but sometimes you need to just let your body replenish.  Today, we went to the Gem and Mineral show and then stopped over to the City Wide Garage Sale.  After that, we nabbed a couple of geocache's then headed home.  We had a fun day.

Food Blahs

Do you ever have those times where you are hungry, but nothing really sounds good?  I call those the food blahs.  I have been having them a lot lately.  Usually when that happens, I look to hubby to choose what we eat, but today we both had the food blahs.  Since nothing sounded good to either of us, dinner was a mish mash of stuff, we had chili dogs, stove top stuffing, and broccoli with a tex-mex cheese sauce.  I suspect I will regret those combinations later, but it was what we came up with at the time.  How do you combat the food blahs?

Delegating Duties

Work is extremely busy for me right now.  My boss is out of the office for a while, so I am picking up a lot of additional duties.  For the past couple of weeks, I have been trying to handle it all myself and that has resulted in me working a crazy amount of hours.  Some days I would work a full day in the office and then come home and work until 11 or 11:30 at night.  It is beginning to take it's toll.  Because of this, I have finally come to the conclusion that I need to learn to delegate.  So, starting next week, I am going to delegate some of my day to day duties to my assistant.  It will be hard since we have very different styles, but I know we can make it work.

Weather Change

It finally feels like fall has arrived in Texas; the temperatures have been in the 70"s and 80's for the past couple of days.  The dogs are loving it because they can run and play in the yard for more than 5-10 minutes at a time.  The down side is that the allergies are worse, but I can find a way to deal with that as long as the temperatures are no longer in the 90's and above.

Halloween Decorations

I am so not ready for Halloween this year.  Usually by this time I have my decorations pulled down and a game plan for putting my yard together.  This year, I am just have not gotten around to pulling everything down.  I won't put the decorations up too early because of the wind (it wreaks havoc on my tombstones), but I at least need to get a game plan together and see if anything needs replacing.

Armadillo

There is an armadillo that is terrorizing our yard.  He has come by on a few occasions and is digging (rooting around actually) in our flower beds and in our yard.  We have tried several things to make him go away, but he is a sneaky little devil and just finds a new spot.  Last night he was  in our front yard and he made 30-40 new holes.

Geocaching

It has been almost 3 years since hubby and I have been geocaching.  We haven't been since we moved in to our house.  Hubby went during the day on Friday and I helped him with a few after work.  We also grabbed several on Saturday and hope to go back and grab a few more on Sunday.  I had no idea there were so many cache's in our area.  Since it has been a while, I have to get used to watching for muggles again and used to spotting the not so obvious ones.

Where Does Your Time Go

We all say "we don't have time" to do something and we have all experienced having too much to do and not enough time.  This last week, I mentioned to hubby that we never have time to do fun things anymore.  Then I started wondering where does all of my time go?  In a 7 day week there are 168 hours, so I decided to see how I spent my time.  I was able to account for 122 hours:  work/school takes about 70 hours per week, sleeping accounts for 42 hours, and my commute to and from work is about 10 hours.  That leaves 46 hours per week/6.5 hours per day to do items around the house, relax, and have fun.  That should be more than enough time to relax and have fun.  So why don't I ever feel like I have enough time?

Farmer's Market

Our local farmer's market is back and I am really excited.  I love going and seeing all of the fresh fruits and vegetables that the vendors have.  At ours, we even have one guy who does ready to cook pizzas and they are very good.

Do you have a farmer's market in your area that you like to attend?

Picked a Peck of Peppers

Most of us have heard the children's story of Peter Piper who picked a peck of pickled peppers, but how much is a peck?  It took me a little while to figure it out, but a peck is 2 gallons.  Ironically, today hubby truly picked a peck of peppers from our garden - a combination of jalapeno and cayenne.  We have so many peppers that we packed 5 quart bags to take to people at work and we still added quite a few to our freezer.  Our plants still have so many on there that we will probably pick another peck in a couple of days.

Busy Weekend

This was the weekend that my mother, brother, sister-in-law, and two nephews came to visit.  We have been planning this weekend for months (they are moving from California to North Carolina).  We had a great time visiting with the boys (2 1/2 years and 17 months).  My brother drove with their 2 dogs from California to Texas and my sister-in-law and kids flew.  After being on an airplane all day, the boys were a cranky bundle of energy.  They spent the weekend with us and then they will spend a couple of days with my parents before heading out to North Carolina.  They will all be driving from Texas to North Carolina.  It is about a 3 day trip, so I am afraid those days will really test my brother and sister-in-laws nerves and patience with 2 energetic boys and 2 restless dogs.  They were joking that they should have hubby come to North Carolina with them and be their live in Nanny for the boys.  Hubby is able to keep the boys calm when no one else can, so they are probably going to wish he really did make the trip with them.

New Girl

I have been watching the previews for the new show "New Girl" that started last night starring Zooey Deschanel.  I was afraid that all of the best parts were going to be on the previews, but thankfully that is not the case.  I am looking forward to the new TV season and thankfully we have a DVR because there are just too many to catch live. 

I'm Back

I have been MIA for a few days.  Monday evening I had to take my neighbor to the ER because she broke her toe.  Then on Tuesday night I fell extremely ill, to the point where hubby found me passed out on the bathroom floor and had to take me to the ER.  The doctors don't know exactly what was wrong, but they are treating it like severe food poisoning.  It is possible that it was caused by our water, but we don't know.  There was a water line that broke Tuesday afternoon and the water was supposed to be boiled because it was not safe to drink.  I was not aware of this and drank lots of water Tuesday evening before getting sick.  We didn't hear about the boil notice until after I was already in the hospital.  The doctors took various cultures and should have the results in a couple of days.  Tonight is my last night in the hospital and then I can go back to my own bed.  Everyone has been extremely nice and helpful; my neighbor pitched in to help hubby with out dogs, which has been really great and everyone has been offering to come help him.

To help brighten my stay, hubby bought me a stuffed monkey named "Mailin" who sings.  He is so cute because he moved his mouth and feet when he sings.  Also my great-nephew brought me a get well card.

I am glad to be on the mend and hope all is healthy in each of your worlds.

Bastrop Fires

The big news in our area this week has been the fires all around Central Texas and specifically the one in Bastrop.   The residents were evacuated from their homes on 9/4 and still have not yet been allowed back.  As of today, the fire was only 50% contained.  I know of 2 employees at the company where I work that have been impacted, but we are not sure if there have been others.   At the last I heard, there were 1386 homes lost and 38,000 acres burned.  Hopefully the firefighters are able to get the fire contained enough that the families can go back and see what is left.   I commend the firefighters who have been working non-stop.  Some people don't think about how hard or dangerous a firefighters job can be until something like this happens.

Single Teen Mother

This weekend, our next door neighbor will be bringing home a "baby" to take care of for her class assignment.  She is the only one who can take care of the baby and she is really excited.  She only hopes she doesn't get a baby that is extra fussy (wouldn't it be nice if you could choose in real life).  She has asked if she could come stay with us this weekend, so she will be away from Mom who may be tempted to assist.  Hubby and I gladly said okay.  Her teacher will activate the doll at midnight on Friday night and she has to care for it until school starts on Monday morning.  I think she will do absolutely great with the "baby" and think it will make for a fun weekend.

Trans-Siberian Orchestra Time Again

Well, as everyone knows, I am a big TSO fan.  I love their music and really love their Lost Christmas Eve show.  Yes, I know it is September, but I just bought my tickets for their December 21st show.  This year, hubby has promised to go with me.  TSO has to be experienced with someone who loves their music just as much as you do.  We have some friends who are also going to try to get tickets.  If they do, maybe we can make it an evening - dinner and a concert.  The concert is on a Wednesday, but since it is before Christmas, it will really reinforce the holiday spirit.

Crestor

The doctor put me on Crestor about 2 years ago because my cholesterol was too high.  Since cholesterol and heart issues run in my family, I agreed to give it a try.  A few months after starting the Crestor, I began to have knee problems.  I went to the doctor and was told that my knee problems were due to arthritis and basically I needed to learn how to live with it.  Admittedly a bit frustrated, I tried to learn as much about dealing with arthritis as I could.  In the course of learning about arthritis and possible ways to deal with it, I learned that Crestor causes joint issues.  My doctor assured me that Crestor was not the problem and that my arthritis was just getting worse.  End result, keep taking Crestor and learn to deal with the pain.  There were days when the pain was so intense, I would question if I could even walk.  The pain was worse that any pain I had ever felt.  I became so annoyed with how closed minded my doctor was, that I switched doctors.  Last week I asked her if I could try going off of Crestor for a couple of weeks and see if it made a difference in the pain level.  She agreed as long as I would continue to take my other meds and watch my diet. I stopped taking Crestor the next day and after only 3 days being off Crestor, my pain level was significantly reduced.  I can walk with minimal discomfort and I truly feel like my old self again. 

I am so glad I didn't give up and just resign to taking this medication.  There is no way I will ever go back on Crestor.  I would much rather deal with elevated cholesterol than deal with the side effects.

Pimple Popping on YouTube

Hubby was watching Big Brother After Dark and they were talking about searching weird things on YouTube.  Specifically, they were talking about searching popping pimples.  Hubby couldn't resist, so he went to YouTube and did the search.  There are some really gross videos.  He couldn't resist, so he showed me when I got home.  There were honestly some on there that were turning my stomach and I have a really strong stomach.  So, if you are bored and in the mood to be grossed out, or maybe you are just so curious you can't help yourself; go to YouTube and search popping pimples.  But remember, I warned you some of them are really gross.

Austin Comic Con

Hubby was selected to be a volunteer again this year at the Austin Comic Con.  I also volunteered, but I am not sure if I will be selected yet.  It will be three very long days, but hubby had so much fun last year.  If I don't get selected as a volunteer, then I will still go and maybe take my neighbor.  My neighbor would LOVE to go and he would have so much fun.  We will have to see, November is a long way off.

Broken Record

In the Austin area, we have officially broken the 1925 record for the most days of triple digit temperatures.  The record was 69 and I believe we are at 72 now.  They are predicting our temp tomorrow to be 108.  That is just to blasted hot.

Drought & Water Restrictions

Living in Texas, you expect the triple digit temperatures, and you even expect that there will be droughts and water restrictons.  What really irks me are those people who refuse to follow the watering restrictions.  In the area where I live, we are at Stage II which means we can only water outside using sprinklers on certains days of the week and only during certain hours (not during the heat of the day).  Since people are not following the restrictions and the water consumption is too high to sustain us through the drought, they are considering going to Stage III which could be no outside watering.  I see some of the people in my neighborhood who water every day and simply don't care. Their reasoning is that "they can afford the bill".  How can we get them to see that it is not about whether you can afford the bill?  I can afford my bill too, but I want to ensure that we have water to sustain us through the drought.  For those people who are only worried about their yard looking pretty, how do we get them to understand? 

Mobbed

There was a new show on tonight called Mobbed.  It was hosted by Howie Mandel and was actually much better than I expected.  The premise is that they get a group of people to do a flash mob.  Tonights was a guy who wanted to propose to his girlfriend.  Unfortunately, Howie didn't let it stand at a simple flash mob.  They ended up having over 1000 people and not only did he propose, they also arranged a wedding.

City Wide Garage Sale

Hubby and I went to the City Wide Garage Sales on Sunday.  We typically like to go several times per year, but the past week times we went have been disappointing.  It is slowly becoming the City Wide Jewelry Show.  About a third of the vendors this time were all jewelry.  Only a few of the normal vendors were there this time.  We actually did buy a few times, but overall it has been pretty disappointing.  I normally like to look through the fabrics, but since I got a horrible rash from it last time, I didn't go near it this time.

Yard Work

Today hubby and I, mostly hubby, did a little work in the back yard.  We have some spots in our back yard where the grass just isn't doing very well.  We think we may have a fungus call brown spot, but we aren't 100% sure.  We are going to take a sample and get it tested.  In the meantime, we are doing some of the others things suggested to take care of it and that should at least make it better.  If we don't have brown spot and it is just the heat, then the things we are going to do won't hurt the grass.  Other than working in the yard, we had a pretty uneventful day.  What did you do today?

So You Think You Can Dance

I am so happy that Melanie won on SYTYCD.  She was my favorite during the auditions and has been my favorite all through the competition.  I was a little disappointed that Marco came in third.  I thought he should have been second.

Allergies

I looked at the allergy forecast for our area and we have had high mold counts for 25 of the last 30 days.  I always thought that there needed to be some moisture in the air for the mold count to be high, but I learned today that that is not true.  Some mold is really high when it is hot and breezy, just like it has been here in Texas for quite some time.  Darn.  I was really hoping for some relief from the sneezing and coughing.

Sleeping

I spent the whole weekend sleeping.  I didn't realize how run down hubby and I had gotten until we both got sick this past week (he with bronchitis and me with a sinus/ear infection).  We are both still recovering, but at least our bodies were able to get rested over the weekend. 

Now, I am looking forward to tomorrow and hopefully getting rid of this walking cast.  Let me tell you, a walking cast with the triple digit temps we have been having is not pleasant.

Bats

We seem to have a lot of bats that hang around in our area.  Late in the evenings, we can see them flying all around.  I don't know much about bats, but they are kind of cool to watch.

Eden Eats

Last night we walked a new show on the Cooking Channel called "Eden Eats".  On last nights show she spent 24 hours eating in various restaurants in the Austin area.  I was a little hesitant about what restaurants they would show since most travel/food shows tend to feature all of the same places  Thankfully, Eden didn't stay on the normal path.  She chose an Ethiopian restaurant, a Cuban place, a Moroccan food truck, a Filipino restaurant, a Lebanese bread place, and a Hungarian restaurant.  It was great to see places other than BBQ and Tex-Mex featured.  A couple of t he places are not too far from where I live, so maybe we will have to check them out.  If you want to see some of the recipes they tasted, you can check them out on the Cooking Channel.

Cats vs. Dogs

In the Parade yesterday, there was an article about which is better a cat or a dog.  In this article the dog won, by a nose.  Today, a coworker sent me the "Dog's Diary vs. the Cat's Diary".  The cat's diary is hilarious.

From a Dog's Diary
8:00 am - Dog food! My favorite thing!
9:30 am - A car ride! My favorite thing!
9:40 am - A walk in the park! My favorite thing!
10:30 am - Got rubbed and petted! My favorite thing!
12:00 pm - Lunch! My favorite thing!
1:00 pm - Played in the yard! My favorite thing!
3:00 pm - Wagged my tail! My favorite thing!
5:00 pm - Milk bones! My favorite thing!
7:00 pm - Got to play ball! My favorite thing!
8:00 pm - Wow! Watched TV with the people! My favorite thing!
11:00 pm - Sleeping on the bed! My favorite thing!

From a Cat's Diary
Day 983 of my captivity. My captors continue to taunt me with bizarre little dangling objects.

They dine lavishly on fresh meat, while the other inmates and I are fed hash or some sort of dry nuggets. Although I make my contempt for the rations perfectly clear, I nevertheless must eat something in order to keep up my strength.

The only thing that keeps me going is my dream of escape. In an attempt to disgust them, I once again vomit on the carpet.

Today I decapitated a mouse and dropped its headless body at their feet. I had hoped this would strike fear into their hearts, since it clearly demonstrates what I am capable of. However, they merely made condescending comments about what a 'good little hunter' I am. Bastards.

There was some sort of assembly of their accomplices tonight. I was placed in solitary confinement for the duration of the event. However, I could hear the noises and smell the food. I overheard that my confinement was due to the power of 'allergies.' I must learn what this means and how to use it to my advantage.

Today I was almost successful in an attempt to assassinate one of my tormentors by weaving around his feet as he was walking.. I must try this again tomorrow -- but at the top of the stairs.

I am convinced that the other prisoners here are flunkies and snitches. The dog receives special privileges. He is regularly released - and seems to be more than willing to return. He is obviously retarded.

The bird has got to be an informant. I observe him communicating with the guards regularly. I am certain that he reports my every move. My captors have arranged protective custody for him in an elevated cell, so he is safe. For now................

Goodbye to July

I can't believe today is the last day of July.  This year is going by incredibly fast.  Before you know, school will be starting, then Halloween will be upon us, Thanksgiving will be right around the corner.  Soon after that it will be Christmas and then the start of a whole new year.  I remember as a kid that my grandmother told me that time seemed to move faster as we got older.  It didn't make sense at the time, but now I totally understand.

Texas Heat

I was in a store the other day and the clerk was joking that it is really sad that we are hoping for a hurricane to hit, just so we can get some rain.  Today, one of my team members sent me this joke, so I had to share. 

Texas Heat

Dear Diary,

Just moved to Texas ! Now this is a state that knows how to live!! Beautiful sunny days and warm balmy evenings. It is beautiful. I've finally found my home. I love it here.

June 14th: Really heating up. Got to 100 today. Not a problem. Live in an air-conditioned home, drive an air-conditioned car. What a pleasure to see the sun everyday like this. I'm turning into a sun worshipper.

June 30th: Had the backyard landscaped with western plants today. Lots of cactus and rocks. What a breeze to maintain. No more mowing the lawn for me. Another scorcher today, but I love it here.

July 10th: The temperature hasn't been below 100 all week. How do people get used to this kind of heat? At least, it's kind of windy though. But getting used to the heat is taking longer than I expected.

July 15th: Fell asleep by the community pool. (Got 3rd degree burns over 60% of my body). Missed 3 days of work. What a dumb thing to do. I learned my lesson though. Got to respect the ol' sun in a climate like this.

July 20th: I missed Lomita (my cat) sneaking into the car when I left this morning. By the time I got to the hot car at noon, Lomita had died and swollen up to the size of a shopping bag, then popped like a water balloon. The car now smells like Kibbles and Shits. I learned my lesson though. No more pets in this heat. Good ol' Mr. Sun strikes again.

July 25th: The wind sucks. It feels like a giant freaking blow dryer!! And it's hot as hell. The home air-conditioner is on the fritz and the AC repairman charged $200 just to drive by and tell me he needed to order parts.

July 30th: Been sleeping outside on the patio for 3 nights now, $225,000 house and I can't even go inside. Lomita is the lucky one. Why did I ever come here?

Aug. 4th: It's 115 degrees. Finally got the air-conditioner fixed today. It cost $500 and gets the temperature down to 85. I hate this stupid state.

Aug. 8th: If another wise ass cracks, 'Hot enough for you today?' I'm going to strangle him. Damn heat. By the time I get to work, the radiator is boiling over, my clothes are soaking wet, and I smell like baked cat!!

Aug. 9th: Tried to run some errands after work. Wore shorts, and when sat on the seats in the car, I thought my ass was on fire. My skin melted to the seat. I lost 2 layers of flesh and all the hair on the back of my legs and ass . . . Now my car smells like burnt hair, fried ass, and baked cat.

Aug 10th: The weather report might as well be a damn recording. Hot and sunny. Hot and sunny. Hot and sunny. It's been too hot to do Shit  for 2 damn months and the weatherman says it might really warm up next week. Doesn't it ever rain in this damn state? Water rationing will be next, so my $1700 worth of cactus will just dry up and blow over. Even the cactus can't live in this damn heat.

Aug. 14th: Welcome to HELL! Temperature got to 115 today. Cactus are dead. Forgot to crack the window and blew the damn windshield out of the car. The installer came to fix it and guess what he asked me??? "Hot enough for you today?" My sister had to spend $1,500 to bail me out of jail. Freaking Texas . What kind of a sick demented idiot would want to live here??
Will write later to let you know how the trial goes.

Graduate Degree

I have read recently in 2 separate reputable magazines that graduate degrees, specifically MBA's, are becoming more of a hindrance than a benefit.  With the changing economy, those looking for work or looking to change job, who have a graduate degree are often overlooked.  The reasoning behind this is because it is believed they will want too much money for the position.  Also, the trend seems to be heading toward looking for more practical experience.  This is kind of concerning to me since I am in the middle of getting a graduate degree.  Will the time, money, and effort I have put in to this degree be beneficial once it is complete? 

Hell's Kitchen

I love Hell's Kitchen and watch every season.  This season, Elise is already becoming a total pain in the butt.  She is an overbearing, obnoxious bully that needs to go home.  Chef, please take pity on me and send her home!

23rd Anniversary

Today was our 23rd anniversary.  We had a great day.  We slept late, then  went to the movies to see "Horrible Bosses" which was hilarious.  We then went out to eat and hubby gave me this beautiful necklace.  I am really picky about my jewelry, but this necklace was a really nice choice.  I can wear it with both casual or dressy clothes and is just perfect.  It is a little hard to see in the picture, but one dolphin is gold, one is rose gold, and one is silver covered in stones.

Vacation

I took Friday and Monday as vacation.  Yesterday, we went to the mall and took the neighbor kids.  We had a really good time.  The neighbors, B & K (12 & 14) treated hubby and I to lunch for our anniversary.  Our anniversary isn't until Monday, but they made us a card and treated us to lunch at Pluckers.  We went to Toys R Us, PetsMart, and then hit the mall.  While I was getting my haircut, hubby and the kids went looking around.  After I came out, I noticed hubby was carrying a bag....a Helzberg Diamonds bag.  What did he do?  We already got something for each other for our anniversary.  Hmmm.  Anyway, we continued through the mall looking at pretty much everything.  I had fun with K, she is 14, and we were looking at and trying on clothes.  Apparently I have more patience than her mother when it comes to clothes shopping.  I find that funny because shopping is not my thing, but with her it was fun and easy.  After spending 7 hours shopping we were all exhausted so we came home.  Today, hubby and I had to go grocery shopping, but mostly we just vegged.  Monday we are supposed to go out to eat and possibly a movie.  Hubby said he would give me the mystery bag on Monday and that it wasn't for our anniversary, it was just because.  That is really sweet and it must be something that really caught his eye since I am not in to jewelry like most women.  He said even 12 year old B thought it was cool - now I am really curious.

"Get Me A Surprise"

When one of us goes out shopping, the other always says "get me a surprise".  We never buy anything expensive or over the top, it is usually something fun or something inexpensive that we think they would like. It is easy for me to get something for hubby; I can always get him baseball cards or some toy.   I, on the otherhand am a bit harder to get a surprise for.  Today, he did really good in the surprises.  He got me a cool wooden box (I like unique boxes), a tin of Death Mints, and a joke tin with a pair of emergency panties.  The panty tin is hilarious and the Death Mints actually taste pretty good.

PS3 Move

Hubby and I bought the PS3 Move controllers for our game deck and are just learning how it works.  So far we have only played the table tennis and it is a lot of fun.  Hubby is having more fun that I am because it is hard to move around with this boot on (I either severely sprained or tore the tendons in my ankle).  I am still having fun just watching hubby and he is really working up a sweat playing.

Women's Soccer

I have never really followed soccer before, but this weekend I watched the women's world cup game against Japan and found that I really liked watching the game.  It is fast paced like hockey and it actually made sense.  I was sad that the US women lost, but I really enjoyed the game.

Temperature

The biggest news here lately has been the temperature.  I believe they said last night that we have had 31 days of 100+ temps.  Last night we even had a period where they were asking people to conserve extra energy during the hours of 3pm to 7pm.  I am very ready for the fall temps to get here.

"I Thought You Were Dead"

Hubby bought me a new book yesterday when he was at the bookstore called "I Thought You Were Dead".  The book is about the relationship between a guy and his dog.  I am only on page 5, but I can tell this book may get to me.  The dog, Stella, is a German Shepherd and Yellow Lab mix, the same as my beautiful Riley.  I asked hubby if he knew what kind of dog this book was about and he said he didn't.  He just read the back and thought it would be one that I would like.  I am excited to get further along in the book, but already at page 5 it is really interesting.

Have any of you ever read this book?  I am hoping it is not the tearjerker that "Marley and Me" was, I cried through both the book and the movie on that one.

Weekly Wrap Up

For a short work week, it was really long.  Tuesday and Wednesday were pretty quiet and not much happened, but Thursday and Friday were NUTS.  I had a major report that had to be done by Friday and was supposed to be pretty simple - provide an analysis for two groups.  One group due this Friday and the next one due the following Friday.  Seemed pretty simple.  The our VP explained that he actually wanted it in more detail, so this one report turned in to 5 - oh and I don't have access to the data so I was at the mercy of someone else to provide me the info.  Well, the shorten the story, the person providing me the info, provided me bad data, not once but twice; so, I ended up doing the first report (all 5 of them) 3 times.  I was so glad the week ended.  Today, I am off to the Farmer's Market and to have a great, non-work filled, day.

Back to Work

Today I headed back to work.  Ho hum.  I was really enjoying the time away from the office and all of the issues.  But another way to look at it is that all of the drama and issues pay the bills.

Shopping

I've mentioned before that I am not much of a shopper.  I have to be in the mood to go shopping and then I really don't like to just stroll around.  Well, Friday and Saturday I went shopping and actually had a really good time.  The neighbors (12 & 14) asked me to take them shopping for a birthday gift for their Mom (her birthday is Monday).  On Friday, we just went to Walmart, but we had a really good time.  The kids got to act like kids and of course, my husband is the world's biggest kid, so we all just had a really good time.  Then on Saturday, I wanted to go to World Market to get the neighbor a birthday gift and the kids wanted to go to.  So the 4 of us set out to World Market on Saturday.  We again had a blast.  After shopping, we came home to drop off our purchases and then grabbed the kids Mom and went back out to eat lunch.  We went to Applebees for lunch and had a really cool waiter who was cutting up with us.  All in all, it was the most fun I have had shopping since my brother was down last year.

A Little Slice of Heaven

I have found a little slice of heaven and it is called Forever Cool from Walgreens.  Forever Cool is a pad that you can slip under your sheet or in your pillow case depending on what size you buy.  The pad stays cool and helps cool your body down so you can sleep comfortably.  Hubby bought me the one for the pillow first and it was fantastic.  The he bought me the one for the body that goes under the sheet.  I can't even describe how nice that feels.  Ever since I had my hystorectomy, my body temperature had been impossible to regulate and nights were the worst.  Now, instead of dreading going to bed, I look forward to a good nights sleep.

Michael Vick - Subway Sportsman of the Year

I heard today that Michael Vick was voted as the Subway Sportsman of the Year.  They should have voted someone who could be a true role model for people and not someone like Michael Vick who tortured innocent animals for the entertainment of him and his friends.  I hear that many people are boycotting Subway because of this.  I realize they were just the sponsor of the award and they are not the ones who selected him, but I suspect they will be catching a lot of heat for this one from all of the animal lovers in the world.  As far as I am concerned, the 18 months that Vick spent is prison was not nearly enough.  He should have spent 18 months for each dog that he hurt or killed.

What do you think about Michael Vick winning the Subway Sportsman of the Year?

AT&T Spider Commercial

Have you seen the AT&T commercial where the guy puts his cell phone on the table and his screen saver is a very realistic spider and the lady jumps up screaming while the other guy whacks the phone with his shoe.  The commercial was kind of funny at first, but now they play it so frequently that it is becoming annoying.  During a one hour show, the commercial came on 4 times.  It is to the point now that we mute the TV when that commercial comes on.  What commercials do you like or dislike?

Salt Pork

Hubby really likes having salt pork with his breakfast on Sunday's.  We found some in the beginning that was really salty and had a great flavor, but lately we haven't been able to find any that is actually salty.  We have tried a couple of different brands, but have been disappointed.  We will have to keep looking to find some salt pork that is actually salty.

Dog Sitting

This weekend I have been watching my neighbors dog while they went out of town.  He is a yellow lab named Max and is such a good dog.  I have been going over to her house every few hours and letting him outside and playing with him.  He has an ear infection, so I have been making sure he gets his medication as well.  Since I have 3 dogs of my own, taking care of him is no problem at all.  I have been working on teaching him a new trick while they are gone - giving a high five.  Since he was already good at shaking hands, I figured a high five would be easy.  He is doing good.  He consistently does it when you give him a treat, and will occasionally do it without a treat.  They come home some time tomorrow, so hopefully he will have the trick down by the time they come home.

Happy Birthday

Tomorrow is my Dad's birthday.  It is hard to imagine, but he will be 62.  I sent him a card and I have to remember to give him a call.  I was really bad and forgot to call him for Father's Day.  I never forgot to call and feel really bad that I forgot on Father's Day.

101 Ways To Leave A Game Show

I watched this show last night and it was hilarious.  It reminded me a little bit of Fear Factor without all of the creepy crawlies or nasty stuff to eat.  The players are removed from the game in unique ways when they answer a questions incorrectly.  Last night people left by being strapped to a bi-plane, dropped off of the side of a moving 18-wheeler, flipped over in a fiery car crash, shot up in the air from an explosion (that one blew her shoes off), and being dropped from a 10 story building.  I laughed so hard I was crying.

Laser Pointer

Our lab mix, Riley, goes crazy over the laser pointer.  She loves chasing it across the floor or around the yard.  It is so bad that you can't even pull out a flashlight with her thinking she is going to play.  Last night hubby was playing laser with her when we noticed she acted differently depending on how close the laser dot was to her.  When it was a foot or more from her, she wagged her tail and was watching the laser, but wasn't extremely focused.  When the laser got less than a foot from her, her whole body would become extremely still and you could not break her focus on the laser.  Occasionally she would try to bite at it, but she still hasn't caught on to the fact that she can't catch the laser.

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to all of the father's out there.  The father's don't always get the praise they deserve.  At time they gently guide us, at other times they push us kicking and screaming, but they always have our best interests at heart even if we don't see it at the time.  This holds true whether your child is human or animal and regardless of their age.

Small World

I grew up in the small town of Stephenville and moved away shortly after graduating high school.  The town is a great little town, but economically it struggles.  The only career opportunities are either working for one of the schools or being a dairy farmer.  Neither of which fit my career choice.  Every now and then I will bump in to someone here in Austin who was from Stephenville and today we bumped in to another person from Stephenville.  Every person I bump in to from there says the same thing....great community, but no job.  It would be great to be able to move back to the community some day, but unless I hit the lottery, I don't see that happening.

Crazy Week

Wow, I didn't realize I hadn't posted anything all week.  The week has been busy and just seemed to fly by, but sadly I didn't do anything exciting.  It was mostly just work and home.  The temperatures here have been so hot lately, so I really haven't felt like doing anything after work other than just stay in the house. 

Walmart

I like shopping at Walmart because they typically have what I am looking for at a reasonable price.  However.... I have an issue with the temperature they keep their stores.  We are in Texas and the temperature here at 9pm is still in the 90's; so, just imagine what the temperature is outside at the hottest part of the day.  When you go in to Walmart, or any store for that matter, you want to be cool so you can enjoy your shopping trip.  Well, that doesn't seem to be the case at the Walmart's in our area.  We have two of them near us and they are both the same way - hot inside.  Today when I was there it was so warm inside the store that I was sweating.  All I wanted to do was pick up my critical items and get out.  If they would keep the temperatures cooler, I would have casually walked the store and probably spent more money.  I wasn't the only one who was uncomfortable; I saw several people wiping their temples and glistening from sweat.  It is a shame they aren't more considerate of their customer's comfort.

Science

Science has never really been my forte, but hubby is brilliant when it comes to science.  Anything science related just makes sense to him, but is like a foreign language to me.  Usually when hubby tries to explain something science related to me, it ends with him being extremely frustrated and me still not understanding.  Today he explained the difference between the weather phenomenon el nino and la nina.  I understood that when we are in a la nina pattern, it is hot and dry and when we are in an el nino pattern the weather is milder and wetter. Other than that, I'm not sure I really understand the how's and why's.

10 Year Old Issued Traffic Ticket

This story ran in our local paper on Monday.  The 10 year old was not wearing a seat belt and instead of issuing the ticket to the adult in the car, the officer issued the ticket to the child.  Oops.

Alamo Drafthouse

Alamo Drafthouse is a movie theater here in Austin where you can get dinner and drinks while you watch your movie.  I have always liked it because it caters to more of an adult atmosphere and you don't have to contend with crying or screaming kids.  They have always had a policy, similar to most theaters, where you are not allowed to talk on your phone while in the theater (they also consider texting a no no).  The difference is that Alamo actually enforces their no talking or texting policy, while others don't.  One the radio today, they played an audio clip of a voice mail left by an angry ex-customer who was asked to leave the theater for texting during the movie.  The audio was hilarious.  Instead of brushing the incident under the rug, Alamo released her voice mail (no names mentioned of course).  This audio clip has apparently gone viral on You Tube now.  I love the fact that they actually kicked her out.  I wish more theaters would enforce their policies. 

TGIF

This has been a really busy and somewhat crazy week.  I am so glad it is over and am looking forward to a relaxing weekend.

Birds After the Garden

Today we decided to go to the bookstore and just kick back for a while.  When we got home, I noticed a cherry tomato from the garden laying in the yard.  A bird had pulled it off and eaten half of it before leaving it behind.  There was a second one they had munched on as well.  We decided to go ahead and pick all of the ripe veggies before the birds got more and ended up picking 3 jalapeno peppers, 4 cayenne peppers, 12 cherry tomatoes, and 6 cucumbers.  The garden is doing so well.  I have some spaghetti squash I am watching, but just haven't gotten the timing right on when to pick those yet.

Get Involved

When hubby and I moved in to our home, we promised ourselves that we would get involved with our town; and we have done just that.  We moved to a small town (population about 17,000) because we both wanted that small town feel but wanted to be close enough to the city so it would be easy for me to commute to work.  When we moved here, I was appointed to one of the city boards, Keep Hutto Beautiful, and I also took the town Citizen's University course so I could learn more.  Because of these things, hubby and I participate in events in our town almost every weekend.  Right now the Farmer's Market is going on and I am having a blast being one of the hosts.  It has allowed me to meet lots of our local farmers as well as many of the city officials. 

The reason I am writing this, is because so many people don't get involved.  They say they don't have time.  The point is, you have to make time.  I did.  I work full time (usually 50-60 hours per week) and go to grad school, but I still find time to attend board meetings once a month and go to volunteer events.  It doesn't take much - just a little effort.  Show up to volunteer events, get to know the people in your community, and make a difference.  Be an influence in your town.  I realize it is harder for those that live in large cities, but I still believe you should be involved.  It is especially important if you own property and pay taxes in a community, that you participate and have a say about what goes on in your community.  This is something that I believe strongly about and really want to encourage others to get involved too. 

So You Think You Can Dance

I am so happy SYTYCD is back.  I also saw previews that Next Food Network Star is coming soon and so is MasterChef.  Yes, I watch too many reality shows, but I like them.

What shows do you like to watch?

Frustrated

I went yesterday to the therapist for a myofascial release to see if that would help my back.  They did an evaluation to see my areas of concern, did electrotherapy, did sonogram therapy over the area, and did try to manipulate the fascia in that area, oh and gave me 2 home exercises to do (ones I had already been doing).  I didn't have a sense of relief when I left there, but was optimistic that maybe it would feel better later.  I woke up this morning to the grandfather of all spasms and my neck and back very stiff and painful.  I am going to give it through the long weekend of taking the muscle relaxers and doing stretches, but if that doesn't help, I am going to have to find someone else to see who specializes in back issues.  I haven't had a regular back doctor since my surgery, so I will have to find someone.

When It Rains It Pours

This week is turning out to be one of those weeks where you just want it to be over already.  Late Sunday night, hubby woke me up to tell me something happened to his tooth.  I was pretty asleep, so didn't remember much of it.  When I got up yesterday, there was a note on the mirror telling me to make him a dental appointment because his tooth split.  Yikes!  Well, our dentist never called back (and still hasn't), but thankfully hubby was able to get in with a Castle Dental near our home and they took care of him.  This morning, I woke up and can barely move.  My back had been bothering me over the past few days so the doctor gave me some muscle relaxers and a slip to go see a physical therapist if it didn't get better.  Well, today it is worse than ever.   The muscle relaxers are having very little impact and the heating pad, although it feels good, isn't really helping either.  I called the physical therapist and the soonest they can get me in is tomorrow afternoon.  I am ready for this week to end already.

My Grandparents Would Be Proud

I grew up in the country and my grandparents would always have a garden that would help them with their grocery needs for the family.  In fact, in later years, my grandfather would take some of his fruits and vegetables and sell them on the roadside.  As a kid, I hated being in the garden.  I liked very little of the stuff that came out of the garden, so I didn't want to help - I still had to help, but I really didn't want to.  Now as an adult, I really like gardening and wish I had paid more attention to what my grandparents were trying to show me.  I still am not a fan of all of the items that come out of the garden, but I like seeing the things I planted grow.  Today I spent my morning volunteering at the farmer's market and spent the afternoon working in our garden picking spaghetti squash, onions, tomatoes, and jalapenos.  I think if my grandparents could see my garden, they would be very proud.

Butt Dialing

Remember that commercial a year or so back where the guy "butt dialed" his girlfriend?  I thought that commercial was really funny.  Well, today I saw online where a guy "pocket dialed" 911 and the police overheard his conversation....of his making a drug deal.  Check out this funny story.

The Chicago Code & Lie To Me

I heard the other day that the network is going to cancel The Chicago Code as well as Lie To Me and some others.  I really hate to see these cancelled.  Both Chicago Code and Lie To Me are shows that we really like to watch and have never missed an episode. 

Birthday & Anniversary

Today was my parents 38th anniversary and my birthday (not saying how many, but it is more than 38).  For my birthday, my orange crush day lily bloomed.  Hubby also bought me two concrete hippos and a new blue tooth for my car.

Orange Crush Day Lily

To Dallas and Back

I travelled to Dallas and back today for a business meeting.  I opted to fly instead of drive so I wouldn't have to deal with the frustrations of driving back in 5pm traffic.  The plane flight up there wasn't bad at all, but the plane flight back could have been better.  There were twins girls sitting in the row behind me who were about 7 or 8 and their parents were sitting next to me.  One of the girls was panic attacks at every little bump in the flight and the other one was getting sick.  You would think that the parents would be concerned or try to console the girls, but that wasn't the case at all.  The dad just stared out the window and the mother sat there staring straight ahead with her hands on the back of the seat in front of her.  Twice the mom handed the girl getting sick a clean barf bag, but never said anything.  I felt really bad for the person sitting next to the two girls.  Thankfully it was only a 35 minute flight. 

Bridesmaids

I rarely go see movies at the theater because they don't grab my interest enough to keep me awake.  Since I rarely go to the movies, I have never gone to see a movie on opening day - until now.  The previews to Bridesmaids looks so good that I had to go, so hubby and I went on opening day.  The movie was fantastic.  No, it is not a female version of The Hangover.  Having seen The Hangover, I think Bridesmaids may be a smidge better.  There were parts of the movie where I thought it was going to slow down and cause me to lose interest, but before that could happen it would pick back up and having me roaring with laughter again.  The opening scene with the two ladies in the deli/coffee shop and they were describing the male anatomy had the whole theater rolling with laughter.  The dress shop scene was both gross and hilarious all at the same time.  There was one part near the end where I had just taken a drink and almost choked on my soda when Megan said she had put a loaded firearm in their luggage.  Hubby was laughing so hard during this movie that he had tears rolling down his face. 

All in all, I would actually pay to go see this one again.  I will most definitely buy this movie to add to our collection.  If you have a couple of hours and need a great laugh, go see this movie.

Street Party

This evening our town had an old fashioned street party downtown.  We had vendors who set up tables to sell their crafts, we had live music, face painting, balloon art, and all kinds of fun things to do.  The turnout was great.  We are planning to have one every month through October.  I really hope it continues to catch.  It was a lot of good family fun and it was nice seeing the community to pull together.

Finch Nest

Hubby was checking out the flowers today and noticed something laying in the flower bed.  When he looked closer, he noticed it was bird egg.  Apparently it fell from a nest that is in our hedges.  He looked and there is still 3 more little eggs there, so hopefully we will have some little baby finches very soon.

Garden - Zuchinni Squash

Today we got our first zucchini squash out of our garden.  In a couple of days I have a few jalapeno peppers that will be ready to pick and I also have little cherry tomatoes, cayenne's, bell peppers, and spaghetti squash.  The cucumbers have lots of blooms, but no baby cucumbers yet. 

New Addition

We have added a new member to our family.  He is a blue fantail Betta name George (aka Fish Stick).  We have had him about 2 weeks now and he comes to the edge of the bowl when I talk to him.  I haven't had fish in a while, so I had forgotten how nice they are to watch.

Osama Bin Laden

The death of Osama and whether or not we should see the pictures has been in the new a lot lately.  I have to admit, I was one of the skeptics who wanted to see proof.  After a conversation with hubby last night, I have changed my mind.  When he told me that the decision had been made to not show the photos, I was a little irritated.  Then he asked "don't you trust Obama"?  He went on to say, that surely he wouldn't announce the death if he hadn't seen proof and showing the pictures could potentially cause more issues, so... do you trust Obama?  And the answer to that is, yes.  There is something about him that makes be believe what he tells me.  Had this news come from one of our prior presidents, I would not have had the same trust.  So, I no longer feel as skeptical and feel like I need to see proof with my own eyes.

Smoke Alarm

Why is it that your smoke alarm battery never goes dead at a convenient time?  Ours seems to always go dead late at night when we are relaxing and getting ready for bed or in the middle of the night when we are sound asleep.  This morning, the smoke alarm starts beeping at 6am.  It jolts me out of bed and sends the dogs in to a barking frenzy.  By the time I get awake enough to figure out what is happening, everything is quiet.  I look over at hubby and he is still sound asleep, so maybe I was just dreaming.  I go back to sleep and about an hour later it happened again.  This time I am not dreaming because it woke hubby too.  I get the ladder so hubby can help me change the batteries (I am too short even with a ladder) and when I look in the box of batteries, we are short one battery.  Since the smoke alarms are all connected, they still beep even is one is low, so I made a mad dash to Walmart to get a battery.  I know they said you should change the batteries once every 6 months or when the time changes, but I have it on my calendar to change them every 3 months now.  No more being jolted out of bed.

Busy Saturday

Today, hubby and I volunteered at a recycling event from 7:30am to noon.  It was really busy, but we had lots of people bringing large trash items and general items to recycle.  The town does this once per year so that people can bring things they want to get rid of and they won't have to pay a fee to take it to the local landfill.  As an upside, the city gets the money from anything that is able to be recycled.  We had so many people come through that we were having to turn people away during the last half hour because we ran out of space to put things.  After that, we can home and took showers then went out to grab a bite to eat and buy groceries.   All in all, it was a pretty productive day.

Helping A Stranger

This evening I had to pop in to Walgreen's to purchase some feminine products.  As I am standing there looking for my item, I hear this young guy (maybe 25-ish) say to someone on the phone "here is a lady that looks nice".  He then walks up to me and asks if I will talk to his girlfriend, Trish.  He hands me the cell phone and Trish tells me she is in desperate need of some tampons.  She tells me what kind and all of the details, so I pick them out for her.  As we are finishing the call, she tells me he was really embarrassed to be there and he may ask me to help him check out.  Sure enough, as I am handing him her item, he says he doesn't know what to do at the checkout.  So, I tell him to give me his money; I paid for the item and then handed him the bag with the change on my way out the door.  I have no idea what his name was, but the poor guy looked so uncomfortable being in that section of the store.

Hopefully he gets better in those situations, but for tonight I was able to help him and his girlfriend.

Angry Birds

Yesterday, hubby downloaded Angry Birds on his iPhone.  I can totally see why people get addicted to that game.  You get so wrapped up in getting through the level that you just don't want to stop.  I am still on level one, but it is lots of fun.

Little Man

How could you not fall in love with this face?

Daylilies

The daylilies are blooming.  There are more buds waiting to bloom.

Texas Fires

When we are younger, we didn't worry about things.  Instead, our parents constantly worried about us even though we told them not to. Then something shifts and you begin to worry about your parents while they tell you not to.  That is where I am at, and honestly have been for a while.  But right now, I am specifically worried about their safety.  They live in the general area of the fires we have been having here in Texas.  They had a fishing cabin along the Brazos near Palo Pinto and that area has already been evacuated.  This morning, CNN is saying the fires have reached Strawn, which is not too far from their home in Stephenville.  I am really concerned that if the need arises for my parent to evacuate, they won't.  They have lots of pets as well as cattle and they won't want to leave.  I am justing keeping my fingers crossed that the firefighters get the break today with the weather that they are saying could happen and they can get the fires under control.  We have firefighters from 34 states here helping out.  That is phenomenal and truly appreciated.  For now, all I can do is watch  the news and listen to the police/fire scanner for that area.  

Neti Pot

Austin is known as the "Live Music Capitol of the World, but some of us think it should also be known as the "Allergy Capitol of the World."  People who have never dealt with allergies before, will get allergies at some point when they come to Austin, it is inevitable.  Some people are lucky and they just deal with allergies during the spring, unfortunately, I am not one of those lucky ones.  I have always used allergies meds, but now I have decided to use a different approach.  Instead of using decongestants and antihistamines, I have decided to use a neti pot and attack my allergies that way.  My symptoms are in my nose, so why not.  I have been scare of trying a neti pot for years because I have always heard it makes you feel like you are drowning.  That is a feeling I can't handle.  So, with my new determination, I purchased a neti pot and tried it for the first time.  Yes, it felt uncomfortable at first, but as soon as it broke through that clog and started flowing, it felt great.  Afterwards I felt like I had been swimming and gotten water up my nose, but when that feeling went away, I could breathe freely again.  I will definitely keep using the neti pot and see if that helps my allergies.

Rookie Cop

I was accepted to be a part of a citizens group that goes in to each of the city departments (fire, EDC, city manager's office, police, etc) and learns about what they do.  It is a more in depth look than what you learn from the normal citizen perspective.  It is one night per week for 10 weeks.  We are in week 8 and this week was the police department - which is my favorite one.  On Tuesday night, we spoke to the Chief and a couple of the Lieutenants for several hours learning about the ins and outs of their department.  Then last night they took us to their training area and we got to run a mock drill.  We had on full training gear (vest, neck protector, face protector, and a helmet) and they even let us carry the training gun with the painted soap bullets.  Each of us played the role of a rookie cop and two off duty officers were "bad guys".  We couldn't watch the people before us, so I went third in order to get to watch the remaining 8 people behind me.  Each of us did a routine traffic stop where the bad guys were non-compliant and potentially had weapons.  Each scenario was different.  In some they had knives, some they had guns, some they were drunk with weapons, and in some they were just acting stupid but had weapons.  In mine, we pulled them over and got both of them out of the car; however, my guy, the passenger, had a gun hidden under his jacket.  We had him get out of the car and lay down on the ground and as the training officer was dealing with the driver, the passenger raised up to fire at me (thankfully he missed).  I was able to then return fire and killed him.  Although I fired six shots, he said I actually hit him with a mortal wound on the first shot at about 25 feet away.   After each scenario, they told us what we did well or did wrong.  My mistake was that I took my eyes off of the passenger for a split second, which was just enough to give him time to reach for his weapon. 

Most everyone said their heart rate was really pumping as soon as they put on the vest and went outside.  I did really well and kept mine under control until I saw they gun pointed at me; then the heart rate jumped up, but I was able to keep it under control enough to return fire and take cover.

One lady started shaking her finger at the bad guy like she was scolding her kid - it was hilarious.  A couple of members of my group forgot to keep their eyes on the bad guy and got shot, but only 2 out of the 11 of us were killed.  All in all, we did really well and it was a total blast.  It gives you a very different perspective on what the police do during what we think of as a routine traffic stop.

If you have a citizens group in your city, I highly recommend you join.  It is fun and informative.

Applebee's Mixup

Did you hear the story about the Applebee's in Michigan who accidentally served alcohol to a 15 month old little boy?  When I first heard the story on the radio, I wasn't sure if the DJ was making a joke or not.  Check out this story.  If the bartender can't tell the difference between the color of apple juice and margarita mix, they are in big trouble. 

Getting a Tan

This is Abbie.  She was hanging out in the yard "getting a tan" and was not happy that I disturbed her quiet time.  I think she was really just seeing if the other dogs were brave enough to come and take the balls.

Tall Grass

Typically we have tow mow the lawn once a week and when it gets near the one week mark, the dogs begin pulling up the tall grass.  They can't stand when it gets too tall.  It's not like we let the grass get a foot tall.  Anything over 3 inches and the dogs start pulling it out.  Anytime we are outside with them, we have to constantly keep telling them to stop pulling on the grass.  If we could just teach them how to trim it evenly all over, then we wouldn't even have to mow.

Growing Nicely

Everything is growing nicely.

Thank You

Thank you to all of you who stop by and read my blog.  I noticed this morning that I now had 10,000 visits.  That's fantastic.  Thank you again for reading what I have to say and a special thanks to Katreader who got me interested in blogging.  I never thought about blogging until she showed me her blog and encouraged me to start one of my own.

Hill Country Home Repair

Yesterday we had a storm door installed on our back door.  A guy from Hill Country Home Repair, contracted through Lowe's, brought the door out and did the install.  He was fantastic.  He arrived right on time and finished the job in exactly the amount of time he stated.  He took the time to adjust the settings on the door so it wouldn't slam shut, just as if he was installing the door at his own house.  The quality of his work was great.  I even saw him sweeping off my back porch when he was done.

I will definitely add this guys name and number to my list of contractors to use in the future.

Potato Ricer

I have seen on cooking shows where they use a potato ricer in various dishes, but I had never used one.  This past week, hubby and I bought a potato ricer and tonight I decided to make mashed potatoes using the ricer.  It was easy to use and made the potatoes come out very creamy.  I left the skin on the potatoes, so it was a little messier that it would have been if I had taken the skin off.  Hubby and I both liked the way the potatoes came out, so I can definitely see us using it more in the future.

Lazy Saturday

Today has been a lazy day.  I have only been out of the house 3 times today, which is pretty unusual.  I went out once to get hubby's car inspected, the second time to grab a Sonic burger for lunch, and the third time for a trip to Walmart to grab a few items we needed.  All total, I was out of the house maybe 90 minutes.  The rest of the day was spent literally laying around watching TV and sleeping.  Sometimes your body needs those kind of days.  Only one more day left in my vacation and we don't have anything planned for tomorrow either.  What did you do today?

HP Netbook

Yesterday, hubby and I went by Best Buy to check out computers.  As much as I don't want to do so, my laptop is going to need to be replaced (it was purchased in either 2003 or 2004, I believe).  As far as computers are concerned, my laptop is ancient.  I have decided I am going to replace my laptop with a desktop, but have always really wanted a netbook.  That is something I could easily take with me where ever and now as I begin working on my thesis stuff, it would be even more handy.  After we finished looking at the desktop computers, we looked at the netbooks.  I like the HP netbook better than the others.  As we were looking at them, hubby said "do you want one now?"  I was a little speechless at first, then  I finally said, yes I would really like to have one.  He bought me one that has a rose colored casing (it was $70 cheaper than the blue - go figure) and then he ordered me some accessories directly from HP.  One of the accessories he ordered is an external CD reader so, when that comes in he can install my office 2010 and it will have almost everything that my big laptop has.  I am so excited.  This is an early birthday gift, or part of it actually.  He already purchased my other part too which is to go see Celtic Women in concert.  They will be in town 4 days after my birthday.

Burger Face

Today hubby and I went to Chili's for lunch and after I had finished with my baby burger's, hubby's artistic side came out.  Below is the burger face he made with the bun, ranch dressing for the eye brows and nose, barbeque sauce for the mouth, cheese for the beard, and a jalapeno for a hat.