CHL Class

Hubby and I took the CHL class today. We spent 9 hours in the classroom learning the applicable laws and rules that go with having a CHL. Then there was the hour on the range doing the shooting qualification. I was really nervous about the range portion, but I scored really well (242 out of a possible 250). Hubby did better, he scored 243 and probably would have scored 248, but he didn't get a chance to fire one round.

We both aced the written exam, so now we just have to complete the second portion which is the state application, fingerprinting and background portion.

If you are looking for a good CHL instructor, Calvin from Red's is great. He is a tough SOB on the range (all for everyones safety), but he makes the classroom portion easy to learn.

Crawfish Festival

Today was Hutto's First Annual Crawfish Festival. Hubby and I volunteered for about 4 hours. We helped set up, cook hot dogs and sausage, serve crawfish, and then we helped man our Keep Hutto Beautiful booth. It was a great time for everyone and it went over much better than expected. Below is a picture of kids on the climbing wall.

Relay for Life - Hippo Style

Tonight we went to the Relay for Life to show our support. Here are a few of the Ms. Relay for Life contestants.

Zebras

While hubby and I were out geocaching yesterday, we came across these guys.

Happy New Years

How did you spend your first day of 2012?  My first day of 2012 was a spill over from the last day of 2011.  About 10:30pm last night I stepped out of my neighbors house to go check on my dogs and when I opened her door, there was the cutest litte black daschund at her door step.  It was scared from all of the fireworks going on in the area.  We spent the next hour looking for its owner and trying to decide what to do.  We decided she would keep it over night and we would decide what to do today. We put a sign in her yard saying we found the dog and then ushered in the new year while working on a jigsaw puzzle.  By 2pm today, the owner still had not called, so we ended up taking the dog to a local animal shelter.  After that, hubby and I put out our first cache and decided to call it a day.

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.

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.

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.

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?

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Lent

I am not Catholic, but this year I gave up something for Lent.  I gave up the ability to argue back when hubby is picking on me or giving me crap about something - which he loves to do frequently.  It's all in fun, so I didn't mind giving it up - at first.  I really have a hard time not giving him crap back.  So, when he is picking on me about something and I am getting ready to give it back, he just says "Lent isn't over yet".  This was a really bad decision.  This is the second time in our marriage I took a sucker bet from him.  The first time I ended up with a tattoo - yes a permanent one.  You would think I would have learned from the first time.

Only 70 more days til Lent is over.

Paper Jamz

Have you seen those paper guitars that come with pre-recorded songs you can learn to play along with? They are called Paper Jamz and they are pretty cool. They come in several different designs and each design has different song selections. I actually bought one about a week ago just to see what it was like. Hubby and I have both been having fun with it. You can play along with Sweet Home Alabama or My Maria, or you can just free play. It shows you how to make chords and the whole works. It is pretty cool for $25. We won't be turning pro any time soon, but we are having fun.

Austin Celtic Festival 2010

Today we went to the Celtic Festival and had so much fun. We got there a little before the doors opened and were able to catch the Silver Thistle Pipes and Drums group while they were practicing. I love listening to pipes and drums. There is something about that music that triggers a very emotional response in me. It is beautiful to listen to and even more beautiful to watch.



During our first walk around the venue, I tasted haggis and some Irish Whiskey cake. Both were really good. We made our way to the bake sale and purchased some scones and soda bread for later. We also bought a couple of t-shirts and hubby bought a really pretty knife to display. We went to see if the Vikings and Romans were ready to do their demo. They just warming up, so no fighting. The people participating in the Highland Games were also just warming up, so nothing to see there.

As we were coming back to the start of the venue, it was time for The Roux Crew to do their herding demonstration. The dogs herded sheep, geese, and Indian Runner ducks. I was so in to watching the presentation that I didn't take too many pictures. Below are a couple of pictures of the dogs working. My favorite dog was Rain. He is an 11 month old border collie that is a bit of a goof ball and still learning the commands. Rain is the black and white collie. See is the other collie and she was about 3 years old and handled the stock like a pro. I was amazed at how quietly they gave the commands to the dogs and the dogs instantly (well everyone but Rain) followed the command. They had several dogs, but these are the only photos I took.

We made our way around the venue a second time to see if we missed anything and this time around I found a wooden figure of my school mascot, so I had to get that. We also snagged some onion strings with garlic sauce to nibble on (yummy). We decided we really liked the Irish Whiskey Cake, so we went back and grabbed one of those for later. We stopped by the Things Celtic table one more time and then decided to leave. Things Celtic is a local store and the owner is the director of the festival. She is so easy to talk to and all of her items are hand picked or special made just for her and shipped over from Ireland or Scotland.

After the festival, hubby took me to Joe's Bakery to grab some pink bread since we were already in that area of town. Pink bread is like a yellow cake, but not as sweet, and has pink icing. You can only find it in hispanic bakeries. Well, at least those are the only places that make it properly. Hubby also picked up some other goodies while he was there. By this time, we were getting pretty tired, so we headed home.

It was a great day and the festival was so much fun. I even almost had hubby convinced to buy a kilt!