That cat by the bar

K

2012-02-10T16:55:00.001-06:00

K is for keepsakes.

I was doing some pre-spring cleaning last weekend and found all sorts of treasures. One of them was a book that my parents gave me for my 30th birthday.

The best part is that on every page, my mom wrote a sticky note. Some of my favorites:

The book says, "When you were born, I thought about all the things I needed to teach you. I didn't realize I'd learn from you every bit as much as you'd learn from me."

Mom's sticky says "Especially how to discipline myself and your siblings." Ha! I was (am) the bossy one.

But my favorite sticky is this one. The page says, "One glimpse of my daughter's funny little smile, or her sweet, crinkled nose, and my heart is filled with more love than I ever thought it could bear."

Mom's sticky says, "I especially like the shaking shoulders when laughing." That makes me smile. My shoulders *do* shake when I laugh really hard. Then again, I think hers do too. Actually, on any given day, my mom, my sister or myself could answer the phone and I'm pretty sure we all say "hello" the same way.

Another thing I found was this awesome picture of my parents. Aren't they precious?

And my mom had some incredible hair, no?

you're invited

2012-01-27T19:06:00.000-06:00

I love throwing parties. The bad part is that they tend to get so expensive and you have to clean house before and you have to clean house afterwards. But if it was easier to throw a party, I would invite you all over next Sunday for the Super Bowl. It may be sad that I am planning a virtual party, but I don't feel embarrassed about it, because I'll just file it under "one day I'll actually do this."

To start things off, I would definitely have the infamous Snack Stadium.

(This particular version came from pinterest a long time ago. I'm sorry, I couldn't find the original link.)

Instead of queso in one endzone, I would either do hummus or spinach dip. Then I could replace some of the chips with carrots and celery. The rice krispies on the outside would be traded for some sub sandwiches. The first Snack Stadium I ever saw had twinkies around the outside which pretty much grossed me out. Nacho cheese doritos and twinkies? I don't think so. (But a dessert snack stadium would be pretty awesome.... chocolate on one endzone and marshmallow cream dip on the other with various fruits and poundcake surrounding it maybe?)

But I digress.

I would also make a veggie tray that looked like a football field. Surprisingly, I google imaged that and it doesn't appear that anyone has uploaded anything like that. Maybe I should do it. Broccoli for the field with jicama for the stripes. Cherry tomatoes for one endzone and carrots for the other. Sidelines of celery, snap peas and cucumbers. I'm pretty sure it could be cute.

To add a little protein, I would throw together some Mini Football Subs. (meatballs, marinara and cheese on a sub)

I would serve gatorade jello shots and "Even Ladies Get the Red, White and Blues" cocktails in honor of the New York Giants.

Gatorade jello shots

Even Ladies Get the Red, White and Blues

For those with a sweet tooth, I would have Mini Football brownies, except I would totally frost those suckers with a layer of chocolate before I put the white laces on.

That's all I've come up with so far. I need one more snacky food and one more dessert for this party that doesn't exist, but I'm sure I'll figure it out by next week.

aaaaargh matey

2012-01-22T21:57:00.002-06:00

I noticed the other day that one of the items I "pinned" has been repinned over 3700 times. (and that is just from my board - who knows how many times it really showed up!)

Smore martinis, cake vodka, dirty pirate pops and candy cane vodka, as seen on my "frosty beverages" Pinterest board.

The "Dirty Pirate" popsicles, which consist of Coke, Captain Morgan and Kahlua were posted online by Bakers Royale here and obviously appeal to a lot of people. I haven't actually made them yet, and I'm quite sad about it. As soon as I finish this post, I am going to log into amazon and order some popsicle molds.

a highly functioning dysfunctional unit

2012-01-12T19:00:00.000-06:00

My sister wrote a facebook note awhile back that captures our family perfectly. She doesn't blog anymore, so I'm stealing it for a blog post of my own.

The Behnkes - by Jessica Behnke Kelly

(This picture is not even a year old and it already missing people. Larry, of course, followed by Adeline and Baby #6 for Adam/April... who is (past) due any minute!)

We talk too loud, and too much. We disagree, argue, and agree to disagree. We do not like to be wrong, and, though we would prefer to be proven wrong if we are, we WILL fight until there is, in fact, proof. We can come off as arrogant, long-winded, or just plain annoying. We are educated and smart (because we've chosen to be), and do not apologize for being so. Sometimes we can be grumpy, proud, belligerent, or just have too much to drink and say things that are probably better left unsaid.

Yet, we tell you the truth. You are welcome in our homes at any hour, under any circumstance, where you will be fed and given drink, and even a place to sleep. We will leave your kitchen clean, or clean up after you in ours. We will watch and care for your children, clean your refrigerator, listen to your stories until the sun is up (even if we have to be up in the morning), cook for you, build for you, sing for you, DJ for you, drive long distances for you, plan for you, promote for you, preach for you, teach for you, create for you. We will loan you a car, or give you one if we can. We will keep your secret in confidence, and we will listen, and advise, and pray with you. We will give you money with no expectation of repayment. We will pull your car out of a snow drift, then take you to eat (and drink) and pick up the tab. We will stock your refrigerator, fix your toilet, or bring you a smile at your grandfather's funeral or in the midst of your sibling's divorce. We will volunteer for things that no one else will take on, and we will invest ourselves into causes we know to be noble and righteous. We are not oblivious to the fact that we are sinners; rather, we KNOW we are, and we try to be better. We will plan your entire event, and spend money we do not have to make it special. We will give time and energy until we have none left to give. And then, we will give more. We will pray a novena for you, without your ever knowing. We will put money in your purse without telling you just because we know you need it. We will hire you when we could hire someone else. We go to Mass, every Sunday, where we teach Sunday School, sing in the choir, preach from the altar, prepare to enter ordained ministry, or care for crying children in the back, knowing it is our job to bring them and teach them and raise them to be righteous. We will stay calm when you freak out, listen when you cry, get angry when you need fire, and bring laughter when you've lost your smile.

We are a highly functioning dysfunctional unit. We will fight with each other, pick at each other, gripe at each other, correct each other, and occasionally drive each other absolutely crazy. But we are a unit. In the storm, we will rise, with each other.

My blood, my lifeline... a beautiful story of love, righteousness, strength, forgiveness... a story that begins with a young couple's cross-country mission, leads to a VW bus filled with a singing family of seven, and results in conquering such trials as spina bifida, breast cancer, a back brace, drug addiction, long-distance relationships, child illness, adoption, wrecks, alcoholism, an international move, scrutiny, temptation, child pre-wedlock, hate mail, debt, arrests, divorce, miscarriage, condemnation, death, Dementia, poverty, eviction, heartbreak, thyroid cancer, obesity, unemployment.

We are a family which thrives amidst trials that would break most. We conquer with grace and strength, led by a brilliant, God-fearing man and an angelic, pillar of a woman who have touched and changed the lives of thousands of heartbroken and lost individuals and families, and who have held ours together with a peace that most could never comprehend. And we're just doing the best we can, and trying to do better when we slack. God's grace carries us. And we do our best to invoke His mercy and compassion and strength and guidance.

Laugh at us. Call us names. Pick on our weaknesses and shortcomings. Doubt us. Slander us. Gossip about us.

We've come through worse.

Your words are hurtful, but, in reality, non-consequential. It is not your judgement we fear, but that of a much higher power.

And at the end of the day, you will go home to your families, who perhaps have secrets and grudges and lies and deceit and unforgiveness and affairs and guilt and longing, and talk about how annoying and hypocritical we are (and, often times, you'll do the exact thing you've ridiculed us for doing, but you can get away with it, because your last name is not ours).

And we will sit together, around the table, with our glass of wine, talking and laughing, learning and loving, creating, playing instruments that we've taught ourselves to play, singing songs we've written or taught ourselves to sing, calling those who are not present just to laugh and say hello, cooking, eating, giving, growing. We will love together, and pray together. And no matter what storm life brings, we will come out of it... together.

Just a'travelin' along, singin' a song, side by side.

pardon my tackiness

2012-01-08T00:33:00.001-06:00

....but you might get mismatched plastic-ware the next time you visit my house for a gathering. I cleaned the "entertaining" cabinet today and consolidated all of the plastic knives, forks, and spoons I had in various places.

In case you can't tell from the picture, those are the big ziplocs, and the colors include clear, white, gold, green, red, blue and orange. Oh, and yellow.

PS - is "tackiness" a word?

the best of

2012-01-03T22:56:00.000-06:00

The girl at this blog wrote this list and I loved it. I figured it was a good way to start out the year. (The post, not the habit of stealing other people's ideas.)

Best product of 2011: Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion. A friend gave it to me as a graduation present and I've worn it every day since.

Best weekend away: Tie between New Orleans and Milwaukee. I had never been to either place, and I thoroughly enjoyed my time in each city.

Best discoveries on my weekend getaways: The Chart Room in New Orleans - you can keep your $12 hurricanes... I'll go to this dive (where the door doesn't even close) and revel in the crazy locals and cheap drinks. On the other side of the coin, I will choose the tourist destination The Safe House in Milwaukee. What a treasure! You have to know the password to get in, get to watch a fascinating illusionist and can get trapped in a phone booth. Too fun.

Best new shopping addiction: Haute Look. I have spent entirely too much money on things that I really don't need.

Best new-to-me blog: One Good Thing by Jillie - I found this site through pinterest (of course) and really like it. She also does a "Sweet Deals by Jillie" site that has helped me get some actual sweet deals. (A coat for Larry for $30, regularly $160 and Cranium board game for $11 and $14 bras!)

Best concert: This is a tough call. I think I saw more music this year than I ever have before. Since I don't really want to choose, I will break it up into categories:

- Best acoustic music in a small venue: Citizen Cope.

- Best "It's a million degrees outside but I don't care because this is so much fun and I'm too busy dancing to worry about it" concert: The Railroad Revival Festival with Mumford and Sons, Edward Sharpe and OCMS.

- Best Pop Group Reunion concert: NKOTB.

- Most Memorable Night that included a Concert: The Avett Brothers

Overall best memory of 2011: Walking up my driveway, seeing balloons tied to the hanging plants and suddenly realizing that there was a surprise party going on and it was for me!

46%

2011-12-31T10:40:00.002-06:00

Last year, instead of New Year's Resolutions, I made a list of 11 things I wanted to do in 2011. (And called it my 11:11, of course.)

Before I set any goals for 2012, I figured I should check in and see how I did with last years:

1. Complete my masters

CHECK. It is kind of hard to believe that last year at this time I still had a semester to go. It seems like forever ago. I didn't just meet this goal, I knocked it out of the park - and I have to admit that it feels good!

2. Do some sort of community ed type class once I finish my masters - I'm leaning towards upholstery but would consider Spanish, flower arranging or calligraphy (of course, if I choose to continue with a second masters this will become void)

FAIL. Unfortunately nobody has a class called "Wasting time on Pinterest" so I have not met this goal yet. I did search for an upholstery class, but the only community college that offers it does not know when they will offer it again. I did find a cute shop that gives one day lessons, so maybe that will have to be a means to an end for now. I needed the reminder on Spanish, floral design and calligraphy though.

3. Send a birthday card to every immediate family member for their birthday (my nephew Vincent's will be late, as his birthday was yesterday... sorry Vin)

FAIL. I'm pretty sure this one is going to be a work in progress. My idea for this year is to go ahead and buy every single card and address the envelopes and put them in order. We'll see.

4. Get the MWG a phone that allows text messages

CHECK. He joined the 21st century early in 2011 and is getting quite good at his new phone. We are still working on the whole "When I send you a text message, please reply and acknowledge" it thing.

5. Take my stupid daily vitamins

FAIL. I did really well at this for about 6 months, but need to jump back on the wagon.

6. Learn how to work the lawnmower

FAIL. I'll probably cross this one of. Larry is really particular about how/when the lawn gets mowed and seems to like doing it. I'll stick to potting flowers.

7. Get rid of at least 25 pieces of clothing from my closet

CHECK. I didn't actually count, but I cleaned out my closet at least 5 times. I have given quite a few items away and have a pile waiting to be taken out, so I'm pretty confident that there are at least 25 items gone.

8. Get rid of at least 5 pairs of shoes (purging is a process....)

CHECK. This was easier than I thought. I have so many shoes I don't ever wear. I got rid of 7 pairs easily. (I may or may not have bought a pair or two to replace them in the meantime, but that is just details, right?)

9. Make the strawberry margarita jello shots

FAIL. I've made orange and lime jello shots in the fruit rinds, but haven't gotten around to the strawberry margarita ones. I'm not worried. I'm quite sure this one will be accomplished this summer.

10. Put away a good chunk of money into savings every month and continue tithing

FAIL. Again - I was doing really well for about 6 months and then things just start coming up. This one will go to the top of my list for 2012.

11. Use my new crockpot at least 11 times

CHECK. I love that thing. I don't know how many times I used it, but I know it was AT LEAST 11. If you aren't sure what to do for dinner tonight, dump some frozen chicken in with a bottle of BBQ sauce and grab some buns. Shredded BBQ chicken sandwiches with zero effort.

So - looks like I accomplished 5 out of 11 goals. That is a pretty weak performance. Hopefully I'll get to at least 50% in 2012!

fly honeys

2011-12-18T17:51:00.017-06:00

My friend Lana's dad is a fishing guide, and he bravely agreed to take us on a fly-fishing trip earlier this month. (We decided he should start a whole new business out of it - taking girls on trips and call the venture "Fly Honeys.") Between the 3 of us, we managed to fill up an entire SUV full of stuff. (granted, this included several coolers full of food for the weekend, it wasn't ALL suitcases.)

We got to our sleepy little town in Oklahoma and needed some lunch, so we stopped at a place. (can't remember the name - but there are only about 3 places to choose from and it wasn't the diner or the pizza place.) When we walked in (still wearing our "city" clothes), it was like we were in an episode of the Twilight Zone. Every single person in the small dining area turned to look at us and watched us walk to a table. They were all wearing some version of camouflage or neon orange. We stopped at a table and sat down. At that point we saw that there was a manila folder with something written on at at my seat. It said "Joe's seat." As in, nobody else can sit there if Joe comes in. When the waitress came over, we asked if we needed to move, and she said "No, Joe came in for breakfast, so you're fine."

Then we went to set up our cabin. It was a nice, 2-story, 3 bed/2 bath cabin fully equipped with all furniture, kitchen tools, towels, etc. Lindsey brought along some delicious tortilla soup and brownies to add to the cookies, fruit, pasta, chicken, shrimp dip, and other miscellaneous snacks. (we didn't go hungry, that's for sure!) I don't have any pictures of the cabin, but you can see it here: Southern Spirit cabin

After that, we promptly went to get our fishing license, waders and boots. Here I am with my license.
The guy who runs the shop, is a smart fella. I think he has it saved in the computer that all females weigh 120 pounds. What's that you say? You want to see it up close?

(note to readers - I do *not* weigh 120 pounds)

Lana's dad had a cold and wasn't feeling that well, so we wanted him to get some rest. He and Lana's mom went back to the cabin while Lindsey, Lana and I went for a hike. I forced Lindsey to stop for a photo with me on a bridge:
Lindsey was our fearless leader and navigated the forest. (until the trail seemed to stop - - - we turned around and went back at that point so that we didn't get lost!)

We also stopped to take some pictures in front of the pretty views. We gathered together and I held the camera out as far as I could and......
the camera was on zoom. You can tell Lindsey uses the Clarisonic, can't you? She has pretty skin. We fixed the camera and tried again:

Much better.

When we were done with our "hike," we went to a little shop called "Girls Gone Wine" that sells wine and other cute girly things. Considering it is the only shop besides the tackle shop, it is really quite a treasure. We had a glass of wine and sat under the heat lamps on the patio before heading back to the cabin for tortilla soup. We wanted an early start, so we all went to bed early. As in - about 9pm. I was the wild one and stayed up until about 10pm reading a book.

The next morning, Lana's mom made us a warm breakfast and we practiced our casting:

We added a few more layers of clothing because the wind was pretty cold, then we were off!

We got our waders and boots on and headed into the water.

As you can see, we had some luck finding things to take pictures of, but no luck with the fish. We took a lunch break and went to the pizza place before switching locations, learning new casting techniques and using new "flies." That was all it took..... I was standing knee deep in the water, listening to the nothingness and enjoying how peaceful it all was, when suddenly I felt a tug on my pole....
I screamed and promptly interrupted the quiet, peaceful surroundings. Steve was trying to tell me what to do, and I had no idea. I was supposed to be doing something with the line and I was pulling the fishing pole.

And finally - there it was! The first (and only!) fish of the weekend! It was actually really exciting - who knew?!?!
The good thing about going fishing with a fishing guide is that you never actually have to touch the fish. He flopped out of the net (we would have had to let him go anyway) and kept fishing a while longer - until it started raining really hard. I was *thisclose* to saying I had seen lightning, but it wasn't necessary. We packed up and headed out.

We got so lucky with the weather - it really should have been freezing, and it wasn't. With enough layers, it was really nice. Besides that, it was just a perfectly relaxing weekend. You know how sometimes you go on vacation and you're exhausted when you get home? This was not one of those trips. We got plenty of sleep, plenty of visiting, and just the right amount of outdoorsy adventure. We'll see if Steve is brave enough to take us again one day!!!

rotten shrimp

2011-12-11T22:05:00.003-06:00

Recently, there have been several times that I've thought of something I wanted to blog about. Obviously, I wasn't near a computer and quickly forgot what the topic was. Not sure where the blogspiration has gone, but I'm confident it will return. If nothing else, I'll at least be providing a picture heavy post that recaps my recent fly-fishing adventure. I had an Oklahoma fishing license, waders, boots, and furry little flies - the whole shebang. (And yes.... I caught a fish!)

In the meantime:

- Note to everybody - get off Tim Tebow already. (And if you never saw the video from when he was at Florida and took that girl with the brain tumor to an awards show, you should. If you still want to hate on him after that, go for it, but there is probably something wrong with you.)

- We almost switched to an artificial Christmas tree this year since the real ones give us such bad allergies. We aren't quite ready to make that commitment and will be heavy on the Zyrtec and kleenex again this year.

- My dog's breath is excruciatingly bad. I shouldn't admit that, but it is. I need to remind myself to take her to the vet to get that teeth-cleaning procedure done over the Christmas break.

I will leave you with the mental image of rotten shrimp - since that is what Blossom's breath smells like. You're welcome.

stay puft

2011-11-22T22:31:00.004-06:00

Since it is Thanksgiving and all, I have to admit that about 360 days out of every year are pretty amazing. I am blessed in so many ways and have so much that I am thankful for. I am usually able to see the silver lining in every situation and am in a pretty good mood most of the time. But there are some days that are just plain sucky for no particular reason.

I'll give you an example. A week or two ago, I was just tired and grumpy over a myriad of things. Every little thing Larry did or said was annoying me. I was in the closet, hanging up/organizing laundry, minding my own business (because I knew I was irrationally annoyed and knew I would snap at Larry if I was around him) and he shows up at the door. Mind you, I am working and trying to get things done. Not only was I hanging up and organizing, I was also sorting through to pick out at least 10 things to give away. I wasn't really in the mood to chat. And he shows up at the closet, looking in to see what I am doing. I don't say a word, just keep working. And he says, "There is so much hanging on these closet bars that they are starting to droop in the middle!" And I'm like, "Seriously? You came all the way back here to gripe about how many clothes I have? AS I'M MAKING A GIVE-AWAY PILE? Go away! I'm working!" He looks at me like I've lost it and says something like, "You didn't have to get all bowed up like the Stay-Puft marshmallow man!" and walked off.

I finished my task, then went out to the living room to take the high road and apologize for snapping at him. I said, "Sorry I marshmallow manned you." And he did an impression of how I looked/sounded that actually looks quite a bit like the Stay Puft man. And we laughed and now we use the "marshmallow man" man voice when we are trying to make a point, so, I guess there is a happy ending.

why not

2011-11-11T23:11:00.003-06:00

Just because in 20 years it might be neat to look back on that one time that it was 11:11 on 11/11/11.

(Y'all know how I am about 11:11. Even before all the hype.)

3 things and a song

2011-11-10T22:20:00.001-06:00

I've got nuthin'. It isn't that I haven't done anything fun lately or nothing is going on, I just am not feeling bloggy. Which makes me sad, because I celebrate my something year anniversary this month. Either 3 or 4, I can't remember. I think it is 3.

Larry listens to a local sports show every M-F from 4-7pm. EVERY M-F. I know all the songs, catch-phrases and "bits" that they show does. Since I'm subjected to it every day, I'm going to steal one of their bits - - - it is called 3 things and a song.

My 3 things for today:

It appears that facebook did not get hacked. I kind of wish it would have been, as the new version stinks. In that same vein, I'm tired of Pinterest's "error" messages. If they want to play with the big boys, they need to get that stuff fixed.

I like to say I have a "hitch in my giddy-up" when my foot or leg or something hurts. I don't know if that is the correct usage, but it is fun to say. (So is "hunker down" for when you don't feel like going out.)

I just got $68 worth of Christmas cards for $0. (well, the groupon cost $19, so I guess it actually cost me $19. But when I clicked "submit order," the amount due was $0, so it felt like it was free!)

My song for today:

Fragile Bird (City and Colour)

If I live the life I'm given, I won't be scared to die

2011-10-17T14:44:00.004-05:00

Let me just go on record as saying that if you have a chance to see The Avett Brothers in concert, you should go. Last night was hands down one of the most fun nights I've had in a really long time. I don't think it could have been any more perfect (with the obvious exception of having even more family/friends in attendance.) Little brother John and sister-in-law Dejah came up for the day. They hung out at Stubb's all afternoon so we could get a good spot. We got a spot maybe 5 rows back from the stage and proceeded to make friends with the people around us. (A lady named Grayson took this picture for us.)

I had never heard of the opening act - the David Mayfield Parade - but I'm so glad I know who they are now! Seriously one of the most entertaining acts I have ever seen! Not only do they rock, he is hilarious. I will definitely go see them if they come to Austin again. They played until 8:15pm and the Avett Brothers came out shortly after that.
I think that you would enjoy their show even if you'd never heard them before - they are just so good. All of their songs sound like a poem to me. They seem genuinely grateful to be performing and their live presence did not disappoint. In fact, they are incredible live. Their bass player, Bob Crawford, has a 2 year old with brain cancer, so I made her a poster:
Seth Avett saw it when they came out and nodded at me like, "I'll tell him." I had some lyrics from "Murder in the City" on the other side.... "always remember there is nothing worth sharing like the love that lets us share our name." (I have more pictures from the show on my camera but don't feel like uploading them right now, so all you get is what was taken with cell phones.)

They played every song I really wanted to hear except for "Die, Die, Die." It was nonstop and I just really can't think of enough adjectives to describe how good it was. Afterwards, we went around the corner to the tour bus so I could give them my poster. We waited for a little while but decided that if they didn't come out of the bus by 10:40pm, we were not sticking around. They didn't come out, so we went to a little Irish pub across the street.

Oddly enough, there was a country band playing in the Irish pub. They were from Australia. Everyone loves an Aussie accent, so I asked them if they would say my name. They did, so I carried their tip jar around the bar for them and guilted people into tipping them. "They came all the way from Australia! You can give them one dollar!" We were enjoying the band when all of a sudden my brother texted Dejah and I to let us know that Seth Avett had gotten off the bus and was visiting with the people waiting there. So we had some lady dressed as a zombie watch our drinks (not the best move in retrospect, but whatever) and ran across the street.

As we were running, I managed to fall. Hard. Not gracefully. I fell hard enough that my shoe broke. (to my defense, the pavement was really uneven!) Fortunately I didn't hurt myself, but there was no hope for my shoe. Here is a re-enactment photo:

We made it across the street, where I told anyone within earshot about breaking my shoe. And then it was our turn to talk to Seth! He looked so tired, but was incredibly nice. He graciously signed the pictures I brought with me and then posed for a picture with Dejah and I.

Sigh. The boy is straight up dreamy. And he was so nice that it makes him even dreamier.

Before we headed back to the pub, the cello player, Joe, came out. He signed my pictures and then was lucky enough to hold up my foot so that I could take a picture of my broken shoe:
You can tell from Dejah's face in the background that we were having so much fun. (I swear, sometimes I wonder about myself. Who asks a band member to hold up their foot? Besides me, I mean?)

We walked back to the pub. We were enjoying the Aussie band, who even performed a "Rachel Rap" in my honor. As they were rapping my song, John texted again that now Scott Avett was visiting with fans. So Dejah and I ran back over.

He was just as nice. He did the signing and the smiling that we asked of him and did not seem put out by it at all. They are a classy bunch. (Not sure that I'm the person who should make judgement calls about what is/isn't classy, seeing as how I have a SHOE around my wrist in this picture, but oh well.)

We finally left them alone and went to finish up our drinks and pay our tab. We left the pub, went to IHOP and then went to bed. (Thanks to John for driving!) I am just so thankful to have had such a magical, perfect evening. My ankle hurts a little bit, but that is a small price to pay! I'll leave you with my favorite lyric from the opening act: "If I could be anything I'd be hers." Here he is singing the song with Seth Avett:

the good house

2011-10-15T23:43:00.002-05:00

Why do I do this to myself?

Every year, I buy halloween candy way too early. I see it on sale and buy it with good intentions. I tell myself, "I won't eat any. It will be fine. Might as well buy it now so I don't have to worry about it later."

This year, I got 3 varieties of M&Ms (regular, peanut and peanut butter), Twix, Three Musketeers, Snickers and Starburst. I showed Larry and he said, "Oooh, we are the good house."

I told myself I would "get ahead" and go ahead and put it in the little bucket. Yeah, right. You better believe that I've already eaten most of the Three Musketeers, one packet of Starburst, several Twix and one of each flavor of M&Ms.

Hi......what was your name? Willpower? Yeah, don't think we've met.

J

2011-10-08T13:10:00.004-05:00

It has been almost 3 weeks since I've posted - wow. I didn't realize that.... although nothing has been particularly blog worthy lately, so it really isn't a big surprise. And since I *still* don't have much to say, I will go back to my alphabet posts. I'm only on the letter "J."
I'm going to go ahead and say that J is for "junk drawer." I am kind of embarrassed to share this with you, because it makes me look a little mentally unbalanced. Although I might be kind of mentally unbalanced, so who cares.

For some reason, every time I buy something new, I throw the receipt, tag and extra button in the top drawer of my vanity. At first, I guess I did it in case I wanted to return it or something. Then it just became habit. I don't know why I do it. It is weird, right? I guess by now there are 5 years worth of tags. Stein Mart, Macy's and Ross appear to be the biggest offenders.

Maybe I will go through that drawer someday soon. I do want to put all the buttons in my sewing kit, so that is my goal. We'll see.

So - just in case you were starting to get the misguided impression that I am the type of person that has it all together, remember that we ALL have some sort of junk drawer in our life.

say cheese

2011-09-20T22:50:00.002-05:00

I have to admit, I don't mind my current driver's license picture. It is off center and my forehead looks kind of big and shiny, but it is not too bad as far as driver's license pictures go.
I haven't had to get a new DL in probably 10 years. I don't know why, I just haven't had to. Last time, I got to renew online. The State of Texas has come out with fancy new licenses, which I don't have yet. But apparently I will. I got a notice that I have to renew my license IN PERSON. I tried to cheat and do it online but it wouldn't let me. It said I MUST report to my nearest DPS office.

Well, now I have a driver's license that has been expired for a week for three reasons:

1. It is going to take hours to sit at the DPS and get it renewed.

2. I need to go to the eye doctor first. I'm not sure if I'm required to say I wear corrective lenses if I just wear a contact to sleep in?

3. More importantly, I know it is shallow, but I really need to wait for a day that my hair looks good.

I guess there is an upside.... no matter how the new picture turns out, it can't possibly be any worse than my passport!
YIKES! (my only consolation is that this is probably what I look like after being on a plane for 10+ hours.)

lee greenwood was no fool

2011-09-10T22:15:00.005-05:00

On a normal day, I would giggle about how my sister and I both managed to use our cheerleading photo poses. Or how it was cool to wear your socks tall in 1997 - - - with athletic shoes, regardless of what your outfit was. Or how it was obviously chilly out (according to the jackets) but we both managed to wear short jean shorts. Or I would long for those days when there wasn't an ounce of cellulite on those legs.

But for today, I will say a prayer for all those affected by 9/11. Not just those victims, family members and first responders that day, but also for all the service men and women and their families who have experienced war as a result. And I will say a prayer that if/when I'm faced with adversity, I will be able to keep my faith and be as brave as Todd Beamer (among others) was that day. ("Let's Roll.") And I will say a prayer that we can all be as proud of our country as we were in the months following 9/11. That we can all remember that no matter what, "the flag still stands for freedom, and they can't take that away."

God bless the USA.

2000+ square feet of crap?

2011-09-07T21:23:00.005-05:00

I got to go to Europe for 21 days in 2007. We were only allowed to take one large suitcase. Seeing as how I usually pack multiple outfits for each day on a normal trip, (what if it gets chilly? what if we go out? what if we stay in and hang out?) this was difficult for me. But oh my gosh, it was so freeing. I packed my 5 tank tops and 3 shorts and 2 capris and 3 t-shirts and 6 underwear and one "nice" outfit for the Vatican, and just washed clothes as needed in the hotel sinks. (no dryers - everything air dries.) I didn't smell as good as I do in the USA and my clothes didn't feel as soft, but I didn't care.

When I got back, I seriously considered getting rid of everything besides what was in that suitcase.

Then I remembered that I can't wear an Old Navy tank top and jean capris to work, so I didn't.

But the wildfires this week have got me thinking again.

We weren't sure what was going to happen - at one point, the fires got as close as 5 miles - so we went ahead and packed our "get away" bags. Let me just say, we have a bunch of crap. And to be honest, we have a bunch of *nice* crap. But everything we really wanted to take fit in 4 grocery bags. Mostly pictures, passports, some mementos of Larry's dad, some jewelry, the cutting board made out of olive wood that I got in the aforementioned trip to Italy, and a VHS of me in high school practicing my cheerleading dance. I took a picture of everything else just in case we needed it for insurance purposes. Oh, and I was going to grab my nice bottle of wine from the wine fridge on my way out the door. (Along with my dog and computer of course.) It seems that we could live quite comfortably with everything we *really* want in approximately 500 square feet. (The one thing I would miss that we couldn't pack??? - the backyard.)

It was really scary for awhile, and I know it is still scary for far too many people. But I must say that I am so proud of Texas, and I hope that the response to tragedy is the same in every state. They actually said on the news that they basically did not need any more donations for the time being because all of the donation centers were at capacity. Granted, people will need help for many months in order to get back on their feet, but at least for now maybe they can feel that they are wrapped in the arms of their community. Once they are ready for more donations, perhaps it will be time for me to clean out some of this "crap" that I realized I can totally live without.

happy labor day

2011-09-05T14:15:00.002-05:00

You know you've been neglecting the house when you don't even have to decorate for Labor Day... because your July 4th centerpiece is still out.

Hope you've had a good, long weekend!

what a crock

2011-09-01T18:30:00.005-05:00

I love my crockpot.

In fact, using it at least 11 times was one of my goals for 2011. I've probably already hit that goal, but I plan to use it lots more (if it ever dips below 100 degrees.)

I traded in a bunch of my grad school textbooks and got Amazon credit - with which I bought my crockpot.

It has a 2, 4, and 6 quart dish, which means I can make anything from a small batch of queso to a huge pot roast. So please don't take this post personally. I repeat - I love my crockpot.

However, I chose not to "like" the Crock Pot Girls facebook page. I clicked on it and it just didn't appeal to me. Obviously it appealed to many others, because I get at least one notice a day that one of my friends has "liked" the Crock Pot Girls.
I haven't thought much more about it... until I got a text from a friend last night. (she can own up to it if she wants, which she should, because it was HILARIOUS.) It said, "How about you, me, and Jane go on a photo shoot looking all strung out and trashy and then post the photos to facebook and ask everyone to like our page.... Crack Pipe Girls." Ha!

wasting away

2011-08-28T19:38:00.003-05:00

We had a lovely evening with good friends on Friday night. We went to happy hour/dinner at Steiner Ranch Steakhouse, which has gorgeous views. It cooled down a little bit and we enjoyed some appetizers and wine while a guy played guitar in the background. At one point, I came back from the restroom and heard the beginning notes of a song I recognized. I was trying to be sweet, so I fibbed and told Larry that I had dedicated this song to him. Then I realized that the song was "I ain't missing you at all." Not a very romantic song to dedicate to somebody unless you are kicking them to the curb, but oh well. It made for a good laugh. I'll have to get some of the pictures from Sarah, especially if I spend anytime talking about going to their house after dinner. We listened to records (yes, vinyl records) on their sweet new vintage speakers (from the 50s or something) and hula hooped. I truly don't understand people that complain about a boring life. There is always *something* to do. Even if it is wasting time....

I have been wasting an inordinate amount of time on the computer lately. I tell myself that it is okay because I am finding new recipes to try, crafts to make, ways to organize the house, etc. The truth is, there are just SO MANY good ideas out there! I did make a deal with myself this weekend though. I made myself actually *do* at least 3 things that I've "pinned" or I would not be allowed to get on pintereist until I did. I should have taken my own pictures, but I didn't. However, my 3 things for this weekend were:

buffalo chicken nachos - these were awesome. (and you might think it is gross, but I even used canned chicken since I was going to be dousing it in Franks anyway.) I did not use any celery but think it would add a nice crunch.

decorative bobby pins - I didn't get to finish because I didn't realize we were out of super glue. (But I have all the other supplies)

installed a "favicon" for my blog - look at the top of your screen. Do you see a tiny picture of Blossom when she was a baby? If you want to do one for yourself, it is easy. Just go to "design" and then click "favicon." The picture has to be pretty small and totally square, but if I could figure it out, anyone can.

I also made stuffed peppers, but that doesn't really count since I've made them before. Delicious way to end the weekend, even if I do say so myself.

to whom it may concern

2011-08-22T21:28:00.003-05:00

To the girl who backed into my car in the grocery store parking lot:

A. It was daytime and you don't have tinted windows. Witnesses can see that you are a white young woman with a long, blonde ponytail.

B. When it sounds/feels like you've backed into something, you should stop. Especially when it is daytime and people can see you. And copy down your license plate number.

C. Not only should you stop, you should write a note and say something like, "Sorry! My number is xxxxx and I use State Farm insurance." Or at the very least, write a fake note so that other people around you think you are leaving insurance information. When you just drive off, it makes everyone around you angry and they all copy down your license plate number and wait for me to come out of the grocery store so they can tattle on you.

D. Tell your dad not to be surprised when he hears from me. Just because he lives in another city north of Dallas, the small, dark SUV is registered to him, so I'm assuming you are in Austin for college.

E. Yes, the damage is very minimal. I probably won't even get it fixed. But I *will* teach you a lesson about backing into somebody's car and then driving off. Some people would say that it is the principle of the thing. Maybe I will take you to small claims court and sue you for $5 just to prove a point.

Never underestimate the power of the internet. Or having friends in law enforcement.

cheating

2011-08-15T20:13:00.005-05:00

I love my blog. And I love all the blogs I follow. However, I haven't spent much time on any of them lately. I'm cheating on blogger. My new love is pinterist. I mean - an organized way to collect all the amazing things I come across? I love it!

A sample from my "boards:"

How to paint your own faux brick sidewalk

The pumpkins you'll see at my house this halloween

What I'm going to paint on canvas and hang somewhere in my home

What you'll see if I host a superbowl party

and

A genius idea for a small shelf

I'm warning you - this stuff is addictive.

I

2011-08-14T01:04:00.005-05:00

The letter I

I is kind.
I is smart.
I is important.

I will not pretend that Hollywood should be the one to provide history. But if you read "The Help" and decided it was a movie you wanted to spend your money on, I'm right there with you. After grad school, this was the first "for pleasure" book I read, followed by "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks." (side note - I have neither cable nor DVR, so Oprah did not recommend these books to me. I'm pretty sure Amazon did.) I love to read so much that I did not allow myself to read while I was in school, because I get all crazy and involved in the book I'm reading and have to finish it RIGHT NOW. So I will stay up all night to finish it, and well... I just couldn't do that while I was in school because I had other things to work on. ("other things on which to work" if you're particular about ending sentences with a preposition.) "The Help" movie was very well done - they did great in casting and did an excellent job of portraying all the important parts.

My main point is that both of these books really got me thinking. I find the civil rights stories so fascinating because it wasn't that long ago. There are still people living that can tell stories about either employing a black maid or being raised by one. Or people that remember having a "white" grocery store and a "colored" grocery store. People who remember hospitals that only served whites and when textbooks couldn't be shared across races. And I would love to know their stories. Not just the horrible, disgusting, painful stories of injustice, but also the ones that show the love... like a maid that told a chubby, plain little girl every day - "You is kind. You is smart. You is important." Because I have no doubt there are some beautiful stories among the rubble.

Besides that, on the shallow side of things - I want to start dressing like I am a housewife from back in the day. I plan on starting with this dress (but in red) and my pearls:

signs

2011-08-10T20:53:00.003-05:00

My good friend lost her daddy this past weekend and I'm very sad for her. But I'm also amazed at her strength and perspective. You should read about her being the other woman.

I have no doubt she has a very proud angel looking over her.

fat, bad and pretty

2011-08-06T19:32:00.001-05:00

(from)

my opinion

2011-08-02T21:38:00.003-05:00

I like the website Etiquette for a Lady. One of the rules posted is:

Yes, he can. And if EXPECTS you to do it, he should.

But otherwise, make the man a sandwich.

from the vault

2011-07-31T17:10:00.000-05:00

Since I'm in the midst of my busiest time at work but don't want my blog to be stuck on a post complaining about the weather, here is another "inspirational" ditty I emailed to myself 12 years ago. Funny how each paragraph resonated with me in one way or another when I was a sweet young thing. I'm pretty sure I found it after a break-up and read it all the time to remind myself that breaking up was the right thing to do. It doesn't resonate the same way or strike the same chords anymore, but it is still a good message!

About Love....(from the internet circa 1999)

If you find yourself in love with someone who does not love you, be gentle with yourself. There is nothing wrong with you. Love just didn't choose to rest in the other person's heart.

If you find someone else in love with you and you don't love him/her, feel honored that love came and called at your door, but gently refuse the gift you cannot return. Do not take advantage, do not cause pain. How you deal with love is how you deal with you and all our hearts feel the same pains and joys, even if our lives and ways are different.

If you fall in love with another and he/she falls in love with you and then love chooses to leave, do not try to reclaim it or to assess blame. Let it go. There is a reason and a meaning. You will know in time.

Remember that you don't choose love. Love chooses you. All you can really do is accept it for all its mystery when it comes into your life.

Feel the way it fills you to overflowing then reach out and give it away. Give it back to the person who brought it alive in you. Give it to others who deem it poor in spirit. Give it to the world around you in anyway you can.

This is where many lovers go wrong. Having been so long without love, they understand love only as a need. They see their hearts as empty places that will be filled by love, and they begin to look at love as something that flows to them rather than from them.

The first blush of new love is filled to overflowing but as their love cools, they revert to seeing their love as need. They cease to be someone who generates love and instead become someone who seeks love.

They forget that the secret of love is that it is a gift and that it can be made to grow only by giving it away. Remember this and keep it to your heart.

Love has its own time, its own seasons and its own reason for coming and going.

You cannot bribe it or coerce it, or reason it into staying.

You can only embrace it when it arrives and give it away when it comes to you.

But if it chooses to leave from your heart or from the heart of your lover, there is nothing you can do and there is nothing you should do... Love always has been and always will be a mystery.

H

2011-07-25T19:14:00.003-05:00

H is for hot.

Not a very clever topic, but since that is the best description of the past 2 months, I figure I might as well throw it out there. From a local news blog:

"Austin could hit 105 degrees for the second day in a row, which would mark the ninth straight day of triple-digit heat and 41st of the year."

We have a thermometer on the house, and Larry sent me a picture of it last Friday:

That is all.

double G

2011-07-14T19:12:00.001-05:00

You only *thought* I was done talking about graduation! (insert evil laugh)

What else would "G" stand for besides GRATUITOUS GRADUATION recap?

Day 1: Fly to Milwaukee, check into the Astor Hotel, and walk a block to the Metro Market to load up on supplies. Let me tell you.... people aren't lying when they say Wisconsin has a lot of cheese! Basketball playoffs were on, so we went to the corner bar to watch Dallas. Turns out it was COLLEGE NIGHT - - - - $2 Miller Lites and free pizza! Yes! (Yes, you see chrome and disco lights in the place - it was as cheesy as can be, but exactly what we wanted.)

Day 2: We take the bus to visit to the campus that I'll be paying off for several more years. (To answer your question, it was the first graduate program that interested me... I didn't care that it was in Milwaukee. It was online and it worked for me! Plus, "dachshund" means "badger dog," and UW Madison are the Badgers, so it all fell together.)

We got off a few stops (8 blocks) too soon, so we got to walk through the neighborhood. It was the first sunny day these people had seen in about 7 months, so the college girls were all in lawnchairs on their front lawns. It was cute.

Once we got to campus, I visited the bookstore to buy a t-shirt and a hat and then just walked around a little. Here I am at the main sign. I'm not sure why I am posing like this. The only thing I can think of is that it was a little windy and maybe I didn't want my dress to blow up.
The bus we took to campus was the "30." We got back on it going the other direction and thought we were golden. Until we missed our stop. And slowly descended upon a part of Milwaukee that I'm pretty sure tourists are not supposed to see. We took the ENTIRE 30 route. I doubt you can tell from the tiny map below, but it is the route on the bottom. The one that takes 2.5 hours to ride.

At one point, we were the only ones on the bus. Everyone else had managed to make their exit. Even the driver got off to stretch his legs so I took a quick picture of us.

We went to dinner that night in downtown Milwaukee - but we took a cab.... The place was called Buck o'Bradys I think and it supposedly has the longest bar east of the Mississippi. It was a neat place.

Day 3: I wanted to go walk by the lake. The coolest thing about walking around was seeing surprises. Like the fact that there were tulips growing everywhere!

We walked all the way down to the lake to realize that it wasn't the lake. It was some other large body of water, but it was certainly not Lake Michigan. While we were down there, it started to rain. We tried to take cover under a weeping willow without much luck.

We went home to get cleaned up and get ready to greet my parents, who flew in that day. We enjoyed some of our traditional wine and cheese happy hour while Larry told them stories. (probably about riding the 30 for almost 3 hours.) Do you see the door? It almost looks like a coffin - it has some sort of rounded insert. All the doors were like that and we had never seen anything like it.

Fortunately my dad travels with his "MacGyver" tool, so he broke into it. It opens from each side - back in the day, I would open my side to place my soiled gloves in it so that the staff could come through, open the other side, and take them to be laundered.

My parents and I enjoyed a toast, and then we headed out to dinner.

We did not realize that Bon Jovi was in town that same night approximately 1 block from where we were trying to eat, so all the restaurants were full. We walked around for a little while and took pictures on the "riverwalk."

We finally found a place that was emptying out and had a nice dinner. The most memorable part of that experience was the wine. We ordered a carafe and it came out in the clear wine bottle labeled "3 fancy." (in middle of picture.)

Of course, since I am so fancy, I loved it. Didn't know what it meant, but my dad asked the waitress if we could have it and she basically said that if it wasn't there when they cleaned the table it wasn't going to be a big deal. Later, I looked up why it was labeled "3 fancy." Well, they serve 3 kinds of wine there.... 1-cheap, 2-fine, and 3-fancy.

Day 4: We started with mass at the beautiful Cathedral... complete with trees that made a nice photo op for my mom and I:

I had to be at the graduation place by 12:45, so the hotel staff took me by myself. (I didn't want everyone else to have to sit there forever.)

While I was backstage sweating to death in that giant gown and hat, my mom, dad, Larry and our friend Sal (who came in from Chicago) went to find seats. When they got there, they ended up waaaaay in the top bleachers. Then I guess my dad noticed a whole row of empty seats on basically the front row. There was some "caution" tape around them, but my dad figured it couldn't hurt to ask.
The people sitting around the empty seats said that the tape was there from the morning graduation and the seats were not reserved.... so everyone moved to the sweet seats. I'm not sure how long they waited, but finally they were able to catch a glimpse of me in all my glory:

Our speakers were actually pretty good. Hopefully somebody else remembers what they said, but they weren't boring or anything. I just can't remember! As I was walking up to receive my diploma, Larry took what *would* have been a perfect picture.... if my eyes were open!

We headed to get a bite to eat at the Brat House, which was surprisingly delicious. Mom, I'm assuming the pictures we took there are on your camera, because I don't have any!

Afterwards, we went to a place called The Safe House. If you are ever in Milwaukee, you have to go. It is a spy themed restaurant, complete with a password to enter and an illusionist named Scott:
I highly recommend it! (Just try not to stand next to a smelly girl like Larry had to.) One last picture in the hotel's "library" before heading to my parent's room to watch a Jesse Stone made-for-TV movie. (my choice....starring Tom Selleck.)

Day 5: we said good-bye to my parents, who hopped on some fancy boat to go see my Aunt and Uncle in Michigan. Sal packed Larry and I in the car and drove us about an hour north to Lake Geneva. (Well, he started driving us there until the hotel called and told me that they found my camera..... so we turned around to pick that up and then started all over again. Thanks Sal!) We went to a cute little place serving PBR and brats:

The next day was gorgeous - I got to lay out at the pool and read and relax for a few hours before heading into the condo to make some "Cove Kabobs."

We had our snacks and then went for some dinner before calling it a night.

Day 6: I walked around downtown Lake Geneva - they have some of the cutest little shops. My favorite was called the Cornerstone. I could have spent hours in there. The boys were waiting for me when I got back and we headed to Larry's favorite place in Fontana - a restaurant called Chucks. (This was where his favorite triathlon used to take place... they moved it to a different town up the road this year.)

I tried the cheese curds, which I had seen on every single menu up there. They were basically just like fried mozzarella sticks except they were little balls of fried cheddar. We took the obligatory pictures in front of the lake before leaving:

Day 7: Loaded up and Sal took us to the airport. It was 55 degrees and raining the entire way. When we landed back home in Austin, it was 101 degrees. (and has been just about every day since.)

Very memorable trip - so glad we went and that my parents got to come too.

And now, you can exhale a sigh of relief - the posts related to grad school, graduation parties and graduation will cease.

worst free meal ever

2011-07-12T22:03:00.002-05:00

I got suckered.

It is no secret that I love groupon, livingsocial, and the like. I also use restaurant.com... for about $2, I get $25 gift certificates to restaurants. Well, I got one for a local mexican restaurant in a strip mall about 6 months ago. I was feeling tired and didn't want to drive far, and Larry didn't want to heat up the house by cooking, so we decided to use it. My older brother is in town and a couple friends were going to meet us.....

Fajitas for 2 were $13.99, so we got one beef and one chicken. Add a side a queso, a couple beers and a couple margaritas. Subtract the $25 coupon and I figured we'd be out of there for $20.

OR $89!!!!

$1.99 for some jalepenos
$3.50 for an extra "salad" (lettuce, guacamole and pico)
$17 for gratuity
and obviously many other charges

It wasn't even very good. We won't be going back there.

pluck

2011-07-09T14:19:00.004-05:00

I can't remember if I already told y'all this, but I was reminded of it this morning and wanted to be sure I have it written down.

We have a good and honest mechanic named Quan. He will take a look at the problem and let us know what parts we should go get. This usually allows us to save money, because we just go to Auto Zone and bring him the parts. He is Vietnamese and his English can be difficult to understand at times.

A few months ago, Larry's truck was running horribly. He took it into Quan and was told that "the #4 pluck wire is bad." Larry knows quite a bit about cars and this seemed strange, but Quan never steered him wrong before, so he just went out to get the part. Only dealers sell individual wires, so Larry went to the Ford house and asked for a "#4 pluck wire." The guy behind the counter said, "you mean a plug wire?" And Larry said, "yeah" and acted all cool like that is what he said to begin with.

So now, anytime I hear anything about spark plugs or plug wires, I always insert the word "pluck." Try it. It's fun.

F

2011-07-06T19:04:00.004-05:00

F is for friends - from Deacon Dolls to Spice Girls, I've been blessed with many...

F is for failures - from coming precariously close to my first "F" in Biology my sophomore year in college or several relationships...

F is for food - which I could go on and on about....

F is for fun - where I could talk about any number of recent activities....

There are many directions I could have gone with this post and I just can't make a decision. So instead, I'm going with:

F is for freak out.

I choose freak out because my mom got me thinking - she said something like, "wouldn't you be sad if something happened to your blog and you couldn't access it anymore?" I know that sounds like my mom lives in some sort of bubble and just discovered the internet or something, but my oldest brother is a crazy computer genius and we hear the way he talks. If the wrong kind of crazy computer genius decided to totally hack into something, Blogger really could be gone. While I use my blog as a brainless outlet, I also use it to document my life. I would love to scrapbook, but typing a few sentences and uploading a couple pictures goes a whole lot faster than meticulously cutting out borders and letters and 3-D shapes. So seriously - I want to keep my blog. I think it would be neat for my kids to read it when they were teenagers and thought I was just a boring stick-in-the-mud that never had any fun. Or if I don't have kids, I can look back on it myself when I am old and remember all of the life I was fortunate enough to experience.

My mom also said, "Maybe you can print your blog into a book or something." Can you do that? Call me paranoid if you wish. If I can, maybe I'll make a book every 5 years and keep them on the coffee table. I'll even sign a copy for you when Blogger gets hacked and you lose all your posts because I'm nice like that.

boom

2011-07-04T14:21:00.002-05:00

Extreme drought over the whole state of Texas = no fireworks allowed. I never thought I cared much about them, but not having the option to see any this year makes me a little sad.

But in a weird way, not being allowed to buy/shoot fireworks brings a little perspective regarding what the holiday is all about. In some countries, you're always told what to do, what to believe, how to celebrate.... if you're allowed to celebrate at all.

Happy Independence Day and thanks to all those who have made it possible for me to celebrate - with or without the fireworks.

ohmygosh - like, so totally awesome!

2011-07-02T17:13:00.006-05:00

The New Kids on the Block / Backstreet Boys ("NKOTBSB") concert was so much fun. Pretend for a second that you are 12 years old again. Kristin and I got to be 12 again for an entire evening.

The boys did not disappoint. They can still move like it is 1990. At one point, I looked at Kristin and said, "I wonder if they feel dumb doing these cheesy dance moves?!?!" But then I looked at a sold-out American Airlines Center at roughly $100/ticket and realized that even if they did feel dumb, they didn't care.

There were costume changes, multiple stages, fireworks, giant screens - you name it. For the finale, they all came out in Dallas Maverick jerseys.

Donnie didn't keep his on very long. And let me tell you - when he ripped it off, the place went crazy. Mr. Wahlberg has aged well.

I have to say that my favorite part of the concert was when they split up and went into the audience to sing "Tonight." Our section got Joey McIntyre, my personal crush from when I was young. (I swear he looked right at me - ha!)

I could not have asked for a more ridiculously innocent and fun evening. I should really consult a thesaurus for words other than "fun," but it really is the best description. I am not the only one who thought so. Imagine the loudest noise you've ever heard ...... now multiply it by one zillion. That is how loud it was in there. It was a 99.9% female audience with an age range of about 20-45. And every single one of us was screaming like a little girl. One brave boyfriend in the row ahead of us just couldn't take it anymore:

Bless his heart.

For anyone who cares to know what NKOTB and a zillion screaming girls sound like, enjoy some snippets:

warning: I'm talking about my bloody vomit

2011-06-27T18:22:00.006-05:00

Just a quick recap of my wisdom teeth extraction:

Arrived at the oral surgeon at 8:30, I was in the chair at 8:45. They put an IV in and obviously it was the sedation anesthesia, because that is the last thing I remember. (thank goodness)

I woke up feeling fuzzy and nauseous. They brought Larry back to me and I told him I thought I was going to be sick. He went to find a nurse since the doctor was already doing another surgery. She brought me a little bucket, and on the way out of the building, I vomited. Lots of blood. Yuck.

It did not get much better from there. The anesthesia did not agree with me. Larry called the doctor and the doctor said, ~~"no more monkeys jumping on the bed"~~ "I will call in some anti-nausea medicine." (Actually, they said, "well, she might be spitting some blood. That is normal." He told them, "she is not spitting blood. She is vomiting. Like (insert retching sound effect.)" That did the trick and fortunately the medicine worked.

I got home and looked like this:

I have chubby cheeks all the time, but they were reeeeealllly chubby after the surgery. I was swollen like a chipmunk.

I ate broth, applesauce, cottage cheese, yogurt, pudding, and jello for about 4 days straight. I finally graduated to mashed potatoes and macaroni and cheese. I am on day 11 and still chewing only with my front teeth and using the warm salt water rinse just because I'm paranoid.

A few days in, the small bruise turned into a ginormous, disgusting, spreading mess all over my right cheek and neck. A few sympathy photos:

Today is day 11 and I still have bruises - they spread all the way down my neck:

Larry took very good care of me and I appreciate it. You don't realize how much you use a straw until you aren't supposed to use one. He had to yank it out of my glass on several occasions.

I guess I should have listened to the dentist 13 years and gotten them out when I was young and could have bounced back faster. Oh well. They're gone now!!!

judge if you must

2011-06-24T22:14:00.002-05:00

Your judgmental words will not stop me from having fun at the New Kids on the Block/ Backstreet Boys concert on Sunday.

I don't even mind broadcasting my attendance over the internet - that's just who I am.

I hope the rest of you have a weekend that is full of as many "WOOOO!"s as mine will be.

(credit)

E

2011-06-21T16:10:00.000-05:00

E is for e-mail.

I remember signing up for my first email account during college - I'm guessing it was 1998ish? I used the name "chaquita77" because my best friend in high school used to call me "chaquita." I still have that email address but hardly ever check it anymore because it is so spammed. However, I got curious about the first email that was in that inbox. Apparently I used to be *much* better at cleaning out my inbox, because the very first one is from 1999 - and it is something I forwarded to myself to keep! I used to have this printed out in my little office at my college job and then again in my first classroom. I don't know who the original author was - I remember coming across it on some website and loving it. As I re-read it, I realize that I still love it.

I'm actually glad that I stopped deleting emails - I just spent about an hour reading emails from 10-11 years ago and remembering the details like they were yesterday. The boy drama (I had lots), the plans being made, where my friends were, who they were... if you collect your emails like I do, you should go back and read them. It almost* made me wistful of being in my early 20s. *ALMOST.

But anyway, without any further adieu, here is the first email that currently exists from my first email account. Sent to me by myself on Thursday, July 22, 1999:

The Important Things

Sometimes people come into your life and you know right away that they were meant to be there, to serve some sort of purpose, teach you a lesson, or to help you figure out who you are or who you want to become.

You never know who these people may be (possibly your roommate, neighbor, professor, long lost friend, lover, or even a complete stranger), but when you lock eyes with them, you know at that very moment they will affect your life in some profound way.

Sometimes things happen to you that may seem horrible, painful, and unfair at first, but in reflection you find that without overcoming those obstacles you would have never realized your potential, strength, willpower, or heart.

Everything happens for a reason. Nothing happens by chance or by means of good luck. Illness, injury, love, lost moments of true greatness, and sheer stupidity all occur to test the limits of your soul. Without these small tests, whatever they may be, life would be like a smoothly paved, straight, flat road to nowhere. It would be safe and comfortable, but dull and utterly pointless.

The people you meet who affect your life, and the success and downfalls you experience, help to create who you are and who you become. Even the bad experiences can be learned from. In fact, they are probably the most poignant and important ones.

If someone hurts you, betrays you, or breaks your heart forgive them, for they have helped you learn about trust and the importance of being cautious to whom you open your heart.

If someone loves you, love them back unconditionally, not only because they love you, but because in a way, they are teaching you to love and how to open your heart and eyes to things.

Make every day count. Appreciate every moment and take from those moments everything that you possibly can for you may never be able to experience it again. Talk to people that you have never talked to before, and actually listen.

Let yourself fall in love, break free, and set your sights high. Hold your head up because you have every right to. Tell yourself you are a great individual and believe in yourself, for if you don't believe in yourself, it will be hard for others to believe in you. You can make of your life anything you wish. Create your own life and then go out and live it with absolutely no regrets.

Most importantly, if you love someone tell him or her, for you never know what tomorrow may have in store. And learn a lesson in life each day that you live! Today is the tomorrow you were worried about yesterday. Was it worth it?

questions for you

2011-06-15T21:57:00.004-05:00

I still don't get twitter. I want to follow Bakerella because she just had her kidney transplant, but I just don't understand how it works. What are all the hash marks for?

I finally googled what "SMH" means. I've seen people use it and I couldn't figure it out. If you don't already know, it means "shaking my head." How can I coin my own acronym? How do they start? I would like for everyone to start using "IHNW." That stands for "I have no words." It could be used for things that are either ridiculously cute or just plain ridiculous. It could catch on, don't you think?

The Boston hockey team that just won the Stanley Cup has a GIANT on their team. Well, I don't know if he is an actual giant, but he looks like one. Speaking of hockey, why are Canadian teams in our league?*

I'm getting my wisdom teeth out tomorrow. I've put it off for 13 years and finally decided it was time. I'm really not looking forward to it so say your prayers that I have an easy recovery. (although is it shallow to say that I'm hoping I'll lose a few pounds?) Any suggestions for my liquid diet? I already nixed any smoothies that have strawberries in them because I don't want the seeds to get stuck in my sockets.

Thank you and good day.

*Is there also a Canadian NBA team? Do I just not have any idea about how our professional sports work?

D

2011-06-14T21:15:00.000-05:00

D is for deodorant.

A friend of mine told me about this deodorant that her sister made. She describes her sister as a "yippie." (A yuppie that does hippie things like make her own deodorant.) She made me a batch and I've been using it for 2 weeks and I LOVE it. I'll admit - I'm not usually one to put forth the time, energy or money to make my own stuff - I've kind of become spoiled to my convenience items. But this stuff is SO easy and SO awesome that I am sold. Maybe this is TMI, but I hardly sweat anymore... and if I do (like when I was laying by the pool), I still smell good. The only thing that it did not survive was a dip in the pool - but my normal Dove deodorant doesn't survive that either! Here is the recipe:

1 Tbsp corn starch
1 Tbsp baking soda
1 Tbsp coconut oil
optional: a few drops scented essential oil (we used Jasmine)

That's it! You just mix it together and then apply it every morning! It is kind of a thick paste that dries clear. (unless you put too much on. But even then, you can just rub it in better.)

I ran out of it this weekend and had to use my store-bought deodorant and it gave me a rash!

I also found this awesome coconut deodorant powder at Lush the day Sarah took me on errands while my surprise party was being set up. So basically, I smell like a tropical paradise. Just sayin'.

C

2011-06-12T19:33:00.007-05:00

C is for concussion.

I don't think I actually have a concussion, but I do have a large, tender bump on the right side of my forehead.

I threw a baby shower today for a coworker. Here I am in the cute apron Sarah gave me for graduation (and the amazing, enormous 4 layer chocolate cream cake...)

Since I was dragging all the dining room chairs into the living room for extra seating, I decided they could use a nice cleaning. So I dusted all the nooks and crannies... and as I was dusting, I banged my head really hard against the corner of the table.

Here is an upclose shot of my head - I don't know if you can see the bump, but it's there:

This is why I don't dust.

B

2011-06-09T20:30:00.005-05:00

B is for Balderdash.

When I was really young, my family and I would sit around and play "The Dictionary Game." We would pass around this giant blue dictionary that came with our encyclopedia set and pick a word. You read the word out loud and each person has to write down a definition. As the "word picker," you write down the actual definition. All definitions are read out loud and all players vote on which definition they think is the correct one. (You may think that was dorky, but my parents are 5 for 5 on children with college degrees, so perhaps it worked!)

As we grew older, a game company created this into a board game: "Balderdash." (For the record, our favorite version is actually "Beyond Balderdash.")

They went through and found all the best words. It has become somewhat of a family tradition to play it anytime the family is gathered. Each time, I am amazed at the creativity and intelligence of all the players. It is difficult to choose the correct answer. The game deliberately uses obscure words... one of the most memorable from one of our game sessions is the word "shittah."

Now, you can be a party pooper and look it up, or you can pretend you're playing Balderdash.

Is the definition of "shittah":

- fibrous innards of bamboo plant
- part of large weaving loom
- knotted Arabic tree
- fancy British toilet (I'm pretty sure somebody gave an answer like that)
- the thorax of a bumblebee

If you guessed a knotted Arabic tree, you are correct.

A

2011-06-07T21:23:00.004-05:00

My sister posted a video of my 18 month old nephew singing his ABCs and it was pretty stinking cute. If you are her facebook friend, you should go watch it. It got me thinking about the ABCs.

A is for arthritis.

When I was 5, I had Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis. All I remember about it is that my right ankle would get really puffy and swollen and I would have to go to the hospital and get a bunch of fluid extracted through a giant needle. I have a really bad memory, but I remember the size of that needle. ((shudder))

At the time, I was playing soccer. I have no idea how we afforded it or why I was playing, but my mom says I wanted to play because I liked the uniform. I remember that it was a blue shirt and tall socks. I think I had to stop playing (aka: standing around on the field picking dandelions) because of the ankle issues. I don't recall being very upset about it.

And then, all of a sudden, one day it was just gone. Weird, right?

I guess I should look it up and see if that means I'm going to get really bad arthritis when I'm older, but to be honest, I really don't want to know.

just another manic monday

2011-06-06T21:45:00.001-05:00

1. I'm in an organizational mood. I tackled the closet on Saturday. Next is either the front hall closet or the laundry room.... not sure which I'm brave enough to start yet.

2. I somehow volunteered to be the sole hostess for a co-worker's baby shower. (As in, I willingly said, "Would you like me to throw you a shower?") Since there are quite a few people coming and the cake is going to be slightly more $$$ than I thought it was going to be, I'm thinking about making cds as the favor. Is that lame? Sample baby girl playlist: (put your taste in music aside.... this is for women aged 16 to 80 and the mother primarily listens to country)

1. Daughters – John Mayer
2. Sweet Child of Mine – GNR
3. Isn’t she lovely – Stevie Wonder
4. This One’s For the Girls - Martina McBride
5. Tiny Dancer – Elton John
6. Baby Love – Supremes
7. Forever Young – Alphaville
8. I hope you dance - Leann Womack
9. Wild World – Cat Stevens
10. Always be my Baby – Mariah Carey
11. My Wish – Rascal Flatts
12. My Girl – The Temptations
13. My Little Girl – Tim McGraw
14. You are so Beautiful – Joe Cocker
15. Godspeed (Sweet Dreams) – Dixie Chicks

Other ideas for songs? I was going to title it "Keep Calm and Rock on" with a rocking horse. I kind of stole that from a picture I saw on flickr:

(And if I was decorating a nursery, I would totally buy this on canvas and put it up.)

If this is super lame, please help me think of an inexpensive favor for 40+ people. If it is just sorta lame, then I'll probably go with it - seeing as how the shower is on Sunday and I really need to get things prepared.

3. I saw an ex-boyfriend comment to somebody on facebook: "Your to sweet." I could live with "Your too sweet." or even better, "You're to sweet." But to mess them both up? Ugh. (Emphasis on the "ex.")

4. Squirrels destroyed $80 worth of chaise lounge cushions last week and recently started chewing on my outdoor tablecloths. I swear they are just doing it to mess with me. One looked at me the other day and hissed - no lie. I will show them. Not sure how yet, but I will.

...and the tree was happy

2011-06-04T11:07:00.003-05:00

Day #4 on the list (that was intended to take a month but will probably take me a year to get through) is "a favorite book."

I'm going with "The Giving Tree" by Shel Silverstein.

To me, this book takes on different meanings at different stages of life.

When I was little, I just liked the story and the pictures.

As I got a little older, it reminded me of my parents... giving and giving and giving. Not always happy with our decisions, but supportive nonetheless.

Now, I even see a theological thread to it - we never think what we have is enough and so we constantly want for more... convinced it will make us happy. God sits around patiently, providing for us, until we finally come full circle and realize he is all we really needed in the first place.

But honestly, I think the book is open for interpretation - if you haven't read it, go get it. And read it to your kids.

5 things

2011-06-02T19:15:00.006-05:00

I've really been enjoying this whole "not being in school anymore" thing. I also really enjoyed my graduation party. I feel like I should document at least a little more of it before I move onto the actual graduation trip.

So, some other assorted pictures and nuggets of information:

1. Sarah was an excellent person to keep me busy. Not only did she not let on even one tiny hint while we were gallivanting around town, she also had me "try on" some of her favorite lipgloss before we pulled into the driveway. I really like lipgloss, so I didn't think it was odd. I thought she just wanted me to try it.... but she wanted me to have shiny lips for all the pictures that were about to be taken!

2. The night before the party, I decided to do all my hand/delicate wash. I had clothes "laying flat to dry" and hanging up all over the place. Larry asked me on Saturday morning if we could put it away now, and I got all sassy and told him to put up a door if he didn't like looking into the laundry room. (I did finally huff and puff and move it to a back bedroom.)

3. The little wrappers with my face on them that were on the miniature candy bars made excellent rings:

4. Josh says that when you get your Masters, you are supposed to get punched in the nose. I think we did an excellent job at posing for this picture.

5. No graduation party (or any party for that matter) is complete without sitting around with guitars and song.

Day 26

2011-05-26T19:37:00.006-05:00

Prompt 26 from "the list" is a (true) funny story. I would have saved the "leg watch" story for today had I looked ahead. So instead, I'll tell you one that involves my sister.

(Here we are at my surprise graduation party - seeing her there got me all confused. I think I asked her like 3 times, "how did you get here?")

I have always loved baby white seals. Animals don't get much cuter than that. I even have a "baby white seal" face that you can ask me about after I've had a glass or two of wine. So anyway, until I was about 23 - if I saw a stuffed baby white seal or a postcard or anything really, I would get it.

One Christmas - probably 12ish years ago, I unwrapped a present from my sister. They were the most precious baby white seal slippers. They looked something like this:

I tried them on and they were a little snug. Jessica said, "they should fit, they are one size fits all!" So I turned them upside down, and there on the bottom, it said:

SML

She said, "See? Small, medium and large - one size!" Somebody said, "Or it stands for "SMALL!" and we all cracked up. I still crack up about it.

Just because I can't resist it, I will add on to this story. 2 years ago, all five of us kids decided to go in together and get my parents a new TV. They were given a giant (and I mean giant - like 4 feet tall) TV, which is what they used. It was so huge - and since my parents don't really watch that much TV, it was just a bit much. So we got them a 32" flat screen.

I didn't arrive until later in the day, but apparently when they opened it, Jessica said something like, "Sweet! A V twelve ten! "
Translated: V-12-10..... or Sony "Vizio." Ha!

victor's

2011-05-19T20:53:00.005-05:00

We are in Milwaukee!* It is like 60 degrees and perfect. We did the usual - checked into the hotel and then immediately found a little corner market so we could purchase our happy hour sundries for the week. (We like to save money by having wine, cheese, crackers, etc. every evening on vacation so that we don't have to spend lots on dinner.) And - WOW! They weren't kidding when they said there was a lot of cheese! We got some goat milk cheese, some 1 year old aged cheddar, some Wisconsin muenster and a smoked provolone. So far, they are all delicious.

The hotel I chose is an old one - it is in the National Registry of old buildings or whatever. I wanted something with character and this definitely fits the bill. Maybe I'll do a different post on the differences between modern hotels vs. hotels with "character." But anyway, turns out that the hotel is actually on my campus! There are dorms next door to us! Pretty fitting for my graduation weekend, don't you think?

Larry wanted to watch a little bit of the basketball game, which is why I have time to write this ditty. But I am so excited to go to the bar that is 2 blocks from us... Victor's. You know why? BECAUSE IT IS COLLEGE NIGHT! We missed the complimentary buffet, but you better believe we are going to get some $2 miller lite and free pizza after 10! I am a college student here for 3 more days, so I'm gonna milk it for all it's worth.

That's all for now.

* I shouldn't broadcast to the entire universe that we are out of town, but we live next to a Colonel in the United States Marine Corp and I have no doubt that he WILL shoot you first and ask questions later. Plus, we don't have anything to steal - so don't get any ideas.

your instructions until I post again

2011-05-18T21:36:00.004-05:00

I want the sun to hit my face
Through oak trees in the open lot
Forget about the things you want
Be thankful for what all you got

(Goin’ Home – Dan Auerbach)

picture by Sarah

basking

2011-05-16T21:22:00.005-05:00

You know that feeling when it just feels like everything is right with the world? I'm basking in that feeling right now.

Everyone knows that I like to throw a party. I like playing hostess and picking up after people. It's in my blood. But I told Larry that I wasn't going to plan my own graduation celebration. I thought we would do something once we got back from the graduation ceremony - maybe sometime in June.

Well, Larry and his crew had different plans. They have been meeting secretly for over a month, planning my party. Larry was the boss and the major investor. The Ninjaneer was in charge of the logistical stuff - I hear he had a spreadsheet and drew detailed drawings of how the tables and chairs would be set up. Mixmaster LL was in charge of all decorations and ambiance. Sarah was in charge of invitations and getting me out of the house. Let me tell you, they all knocked their pieces out of the park!

I thought that I was going to do some girly errands with Sarah on Saturday morning and we were going to go to lunch with our main squeezes. When we headed back to my house around noon, I didn't even think twice when I saw a bunch of cars parked in the the street in front of my house. (I thought that maybe the across the street neighbor was having some people over after a marathon or something.) I told Sarah not to park in the driveway because it would be hard to back out without hitting one of the cars. She said, "I'll just have one of the boys do it." As we got out of the car, I saw a light blue balloon tied to one of the hanging plants. I said, "Why is there a balloon?" But it STILL didn't register. As I got out of the car, I saw Larry standing in the yard and I think I said something like, "Wait a minute.... is this a party for me?!?" It was.

I'll post pictures and whatnot later - if you really want to see them, you can go to my facebook. There are also some funny stories about close calls. Sarah has a wonderful summary up at her blog. But for now, I just want to bask in the memory. I felt so much love - I swear, the whole next day, I teared up every time I thought about it.

The theme was "Rachel Behnke Graduates." Larry even had buttons made.

You'll get the reference if you were a religious follower of 90210, otherwise, watch below. (Or type "Donna Martin Graduates" into youtube.)

Thank you a million times to everyone that helped or was a part of it. It truly was more than I ever could have wished for!

new trend

2011-05-13T23:21:00.000-05:00

So, don't you hate it when you're about 3/4 of the way through writing a post, save it for the night, and then blogger crashes and it all disappears? Boooooo! Blogger, that is going to have people switching to wordpress and all those other platforms that I'm not cool enough to know about. But fortunately, I have lots of extra time these days, so I'll just REWRITE the whole thing.

I am basically a catalog co-worker's dream. You know, the person you can always count on to order gift wrap or cookie dough from your kid's fundraiser. But not only that...

Pampered Chef? Yes, please! I love my pizza stone!

Southern Living at Home? I'll take the casserole dish on page 44.

Avon? Sure, I'd like to see if that Skin-so-Soft stuff really does keep mosquitoes away.

CAbi clothing? I apologize for saying it looks like old lady clothes because OHMYGOSH everything is so cute in person and it all seems to magically look good on me and yes I want to host a party of my own.

Mary Kay? I actually need some bronzer....

Silpada jewelry? If I don't eat for a few weeks, I can order that watch I want!

Which leads me to the point of this story..... I did order a watch from a jewelry party. It has a black leather band that wraps around my wrist three times, like this:
(I liked the face on the brown one better, but since I wear black pretty much every day, I went with this one. The brown one is on my wish list though...)

When I'm not wearing the watch, it lays on the counter like this:
One day, Larry randomly out of the blue asked me something about my leg watch? I was like, "I have no idea what you are talking about." He pointed in the direction of my watch on the counter and said something to the effect of "do you wear that on your leg while you work out or something?" I guess he thought I wore it like this:
I admit, it would be very convenient if I was riding a bike or on an ab machine or something.... I could just glance down and check my pulse or whatever. A leg watch..... HA!

hymleck

2011-05-07T21:35:00.000-05:00

I got to visit with a good friend from college (and her precious 2 year old) this past weekend. She is about to move far away to join her husband, who has been a Food and Beverage Director for all sorts of major hotels. He recently got moved to a giant resort in a place that I won't name. (But that I do plan to visit.) (And if you are my youngest brother and/or his wife, you went there on your honeymoon.)

While she was visiting, she showed me an email that her husband shared with her. It was a customer complaint. Keep in mind, he has been doing this a long time and has seen a lot of complaints. But this one might trump them all.... (in order to maintain some sort of confidentiality, I am re-typing it instead of giving a screen shot - but capturing it exactly as it was written):

WERE EXPECTATIONS MET? No

STAFF RESPONSIVENESS: Below Expectations

COMMENT REPORT

“OTHER” PROBLEM: Wife choked on a piece of meat

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: Even though the lady who took care of the incident did all she could to fix the issue. I don’t know if it is an issue that can be fixed. When someone chokes on a piece of meat and is without oxygen until the hymleck can be performed it is hard to make the situation correct. The incident ruined an expensive vacation for my wife and has left her scared of eating steak. It has truely altered the way she lives her life and left her pretty emotional with this incident being the only memory of her family vacation.

Moral of this story: If you are employed in food service, apparently you are now required to cut a customer's steak into an appropriate sized bite. In addition, should you perform the "hymleck" on a customer, they will still say you performed below expectations and forever be scared of eating steak.

(And I suppose it goes without saying that I am glad this woman did not choke to death. But SERIOUSLY.)

"Samantha"

2011-05-04T17:15:00.000-05:00

Since it is Teacher Appreciation Week, I figured I would pull out a "when I used to be a teacher" story:

As you know, I used to teach high school. You may have not known that I was a "Home Ec" teacher. (The correct term is Family and Consumer Sciences.) I remember one time in college, I was somewhere with my mom and somebody asked what I was majoring in. I guess I kind of apologetically said that I was "just going to be a Home Ec teacher" and my mom said something I'll never forget. She said, "Don't EVER apologize for doing what you love. You are good at what you do, and those classes you teach can make a major difference in the lives of your kids. Be proud of the career you've chosen." I have carried that with me and know without a doubt that my classes changed some people's lives for the better. For example, I had a Child Development class for awhile. The boys (who got stuck in there) would actually tell me at the end of the semester that they thought "every boy should have to take this class." But I digress.

In Child Development, we had to send those stupid electronic babies home with the kids. You know, the ones that are programmed to cry.
They had to take it from Friday after school to Monday morning before school. (For the record, I hate those things. It does the job for most kids... shows them that it stinks to be woken up every 2 hours in the middle of the night, adds an extra level of responsibility in the car - if you don't secure it properly and it gets too shook up, the baby dies - , etc. However, it totally backfires for those kids that are starving for attention. They start having people come up and talk to them while they are in the mall. They start getting attention and think, "Hmmm. If I had a baby, all these people would continue to talk to me." I was also the Teen Parent coordinator on campus, so I actually kind of know what I'm talking about.) So ANYWAY. I had a student in one of my Child Development classes named Samantha.

I'm not going to lie, the first day of school, I was like..."Wow, this girl has had a hard life." She looked a little worn and rugged. Pretty, but tough. Always wore sweat pants and a ponytail. She made a 100 on every single paper/test she completed and had very neat handwriting. She never spoke up in class and while always polite, she never really interacted much with me, even when I tried. She showed up on time the Friday afternoon that she was assigned to take her "baby" home. She returned it on Monday morning, and her computer showed that she had tended to it every single time it cried. She scored a 100 on it. Didn't think much more about her - it was a semester class, so once January hit, she wasn't in my class anymore.

At the end of the year, we all got quite a surprise.....

She was 35 years old and an undercover cop! (And obviously her name wasn't really Samantha.)

Apparently her colleagues got quite a kick of her toting around that stupid baby. I would have to say that this was a pretty memorable moment from my teaching career. Yikes.

Night #1

2011-05-02T20:03:00.004-05:00

Today is my first "free" weeknight without any school obligations. So far, I have been very productive.

- stripped the guest bed sheets
- went to the gym
- went to the grocery store (but only for dinner ingredients)
- cooked dinner
- unloaded the clean dishwasher
- loaded the dinner dishes
- started a load of laundry
- took 3 pairs of my shoes to the closet
- poured a glass a wine and sat down at the computer
- wrote this blog

Last night, I managed to resize a few of my concert photos. I want to do a blog post for each event, but it is just going to take so long and I don't feel like doing it tonight. So instead, I will show you why it is important to be careful when you are photographed wearing a puffy blouse:

Fortunately, the stranger who took the picture said, "you might want to look at it and make sure you like it." When I said, "Oh my gosh! Look how puffy my shirt is! Can you take another one?", she said, "Yeah, I thought you might want another one." What a difference an arm around the waist can make!
These were taken at the Citizen Cope concert. If you haven't heard him, you should give him a try. He wouldn't be the best person to invite to a "Just Say No to Dope" event, but he puts on the best acoustic show I've ever seen. (Especially from the 2nd row, what-what!) Lifeline and Bullet and a Target are a couple of my favorites, Hurricane is Larry's. But really, I could listen to him all day, doesn't really matter what album. He is one of those artists.

Larry says he reminds him of Jim Croce. I'll be honest - I don't know jack about Jim, but Larry says it is because his songs tell a story. You can decide for yourself.

been a busy bee

2011-04-29T18:00:00.004-05:00

Whooooohweeee, I feel like a big city girl!

I've been celebrating retirements,birthdays, resurrections, Mumford and Sons (twice!), Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes, Old Crow Medicine Show, Citizen Cope (and probably Willie Nelson tomorrow night.) Pictures and stories to come, but I still have ONE MORE PAPER to finish. Everything is due May 1, so I am thisclose to being done. Whoooooooo!

Until then, enjoy this picture of a small, fuzzy piglet.

baby, baby, baby oh!

2011-04-18T18:06:00.002-05:00

Remember like a month ago when I was doing this list of prompts? Well, day #18 is a baby photo. I don't have any children, and I don't have any of my own baby pictures handy in an electronic format, so this baby picture of my dog will have to do.
I was dog sitting a pregnant weenie dog and she had 4 puppies in my bathroom. I had to tend to them and take the crazy mom outside to potty, so I kept one of the puppies. In this picture, she probably still had her umbilical cord. She and her siblings were probably the cutest things I've ever seen. Seriously. She (Blossom) weighed 1.5 pounds in this picture - I know, because I weighed her so that I could send out a "birth announcement." Judge me if you must.

I also have a super cute baby picture of Larry. He never had a baby book, so one year, I took a bunch of old slides and made them into pictures and made him one. He looks exactly the same, except now he is about 6 feet taller and weighs about 200 pounds more. However, his eyes haven't changed a bit.
And one more of him just because he was such a cute little boy.

who wouldn't want to be me?

2011-04-17T22:04:00.002-05:00

Y'all.

Start telling me what you're wishing for, because I'm due to win the lottery like ANY SECOND.

1.) I passed my thesis defense on Friday.

2.) I won Giorgio Armani sunglasses from my eye doctor on Saturday.

3.) I won a yet to be named beauty product from one of my favorite bloggers, Brandy, on Sunday. (here is one of my favorite of her posts, just in case you need somebody new to stalk.)

Looks like I'm all set for awhile.

thesis shmesis indeed

2011-04-15T13:31:00.000-05:00

I'm not a particularly "nervous" person. I don't mind presenting in front of people, I don't get all worked up over things I can't control and I don't usually lose perspective.

But I was nervous this morning. Like "I think I'm gonna be sick" kind of nervous. Not only did I have butterflies, I had break-dancing gymnast butterflies.

****I talked too fast

****I probably said "um" and "like" more times than I should have

****I kept flipping my hair

****and I had a runny nose.

But I passed! They actually said very nice things and were impressed with my "reflective and insightful" comments that demonstrated my growth.

My legs are still shaking like they are made of jello and I found myself bursting into tears as soon as it was over, but it's over. And I passed.

thesis shmesis

2011-04-15T09:36:00.002-05:00

(picture)

The nerves have set in. I'm ready to get this show on the road.

stupid babies

2011-04-12T23:17:00.002-05:00

http://breakfastontour.com/2011/04/the-avett-brothers-texas-dates-rescheduled/

(Babies are not really stupid. I'm actually quite fond of them. But I am slightly annoyed that my weekend plans are wrecked.)

Thesis gets defended on Friday and I hope for creative juices to resume at that point.

1.....2.....3......

2011-04-06T20:17:00.001-05:00

I'm not sure what is worse:

The fact that I just sent Larry to the grocery store for jelly beans

or

That he had to ask for assistance in finding them

or

That there were only a few white ones in the bag, so when one dropped on the floor, I had to resort to the "3 second rule"

"music washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life"

2011-03-30T22:43:00.005-05:00

(quote by Berthold Auerbach)

I *may* have gotten a little carried away with this whole "I'm getting a masters degree!" thing. I keep thinking I deserve to treat myself to fun things, so for the past 6 months or so, I've been buying concert tickets. Turns out, I have scheduled myself quite a line-up. I "defend" my thesis portfolio at noon on 4/15. After that, all bets are off. I've managed to sucker all sorts of people into going concert hopping with me....

4/15 – Avett Brothers (with my sister)

4/26 – Mumford and Sons/Edward Sharpe/Old Crow Medicine Show (with Sarah)

4/27 – Citizen Cope (with Shelly)

6/1 – Michael Buble (with Larry)

6/26 – New Kids on the Block/Backstreet Boys (with Kristin and Shelby)

(Lindsey/Lana - it isn't right that you aren't in the line-up. Granted, you're going to Kings of Leon without me, but surely we can find a show at La Zona Rosa or something?!?!)

Guess I better graduate, or there won't be much to celebrate. (Although I could probably make a killing if I scalped all these tickets!!!) I am ALMOST DONE! I might be smack dab in the middle of the tunnel, but there is indeed a visible light!

(photo)

not good

2011-03-25T22:04:00.005-05:00

I wrote a post last night and realized this morning that since I kinda sorta work for the state and this is a fairly public blog, I probably need to be a little more careful. I didn't say anything bad, just expressed my disappointment about learning that the school I used to work at laid off 25 people today. 25. And apparently they aren't done yet.

I've deleted the rest of what I wrote last night, because let's face it.... now would not be a good time to make any enemies. I'll just leave it with: I'm sad for the state our current educational system is in.

so this is what anxiety feels like

2011-03-18T14:05:00.004-05:00

You know what is super fun? Taking the day off from work and going to a sports bar at noon to watch some March Madness. Oh, wait - except for the part where in between games, I was checking my e-mail and was "reminded" that my graduate school thesis portfolio is due on April 1st. WHAT?!?!? Where was my initial notice? Can a sista get a timeline or something? That is exactly 2 weeks away! I think I might actually be having a panic attack - I just had to remind myself to unclench my shoulders and take a deep breath.

(photo)

Looks like I'll need to spend a little less time playing on the internet and a little more time being productive. Sorry to disappoint you, but this might mean that you'll never get to see a baby picture, pet peeves and/or a travel story.

Fortunately there is wifi and a plug here at the MVP Sports Bar and Grill, so I'll spend the rest of the day working on getting started. I hope my ability to work under pressure doesn't fail me now!

#16

2011-03-16T19:31:00.002-05:00

Ahhhhh, prompt #16 - a favorite food. Why narrow it down to just one? I mean, seeing as how I don't ever plan to end up on death row, it probably won't be necessary for me to choose my favorite food for one final meal. Instead, let's spice it up and do favorite food depending on the event.

Favorite food on a road trip: beef jerky and gummy life savers
Favorite food of my mom's: homemade pizza
Favorite food of my dad's: smoked brisket with Claude's seasoning
Favorite food of Larry's: slow smoked baby-back ribs
Favorite food for a hangover: Long John Silvers - 1 piece fish, 1 piece chicken and extra crunchies or a Wendy's Spicy Chicken sandwich
Favorite fast food meal: Chick-fil-a nuggets with waffle fries and BBQ sauce
Favorite poor girl's meal: Ramen noodles, any flavor
Favorite "I don't know what to cook tonight so we are going to have this" meal: Taco salad with ground turkey meat
Favorite "We are having company so I better figure something out for dinner" meal: kabobs - chicken/beef with zucchini, squash, red bell pepper, onion and mushroom
Favorite food to order at an Austin restaurant: Chicken stuffed avocado at Trudy's (with queso on top) or Seafood Enchiladas at Z'Tejas
Favorite food to order at a Lubbock restaurant: Chicken broccoli casserole at Orlando's or a bean burrito at Taco Villa
Favorite thing to order when I can't decide what I want: a bacon cheeseburger
Favorite "key to a man's heart" meal: Chicken spaghetti or lasagna
Favorite comfort food: tie between Sour cream chicken enchiladas or chicken fried chicken with mashed potatoes and macaroni and cheese
Favorite thing that I've eaten out of town: Chargrilled oysters at Acme Oyster House in New Orleans
Favorite food made out of pure sugar: Peeps

But if pressed to choose just ONE favorite food: I suppose I would go with the baby-back ribs. (which is weird - I really don't like eating chicken off the bone, but I will mow down some ribs.)

Oh - I almost forgot! If you want to participate in March Madness but don't really know anything about basketball, fill out this bracket. It's fun.

all growed up

2011-03-15T11:54:00.005-05:00

Eleven years ago I was in South Padre Island celebrating Spring Break. What I was celebrating, I'm not sure. But I celebrated nonetheless. For those of you who never went, this truly is what it looks like: (well, at least this is what it looked like the times I went. I don't know if it still looks like this. I doubt it, as I heard it is all dirty and has been infiltrated by thugs that bring guns and stuff. But anyway, this is what it looked like back then.)
(I got this picture from the internets but it didn't really have a credit. It is not mine but I especially like the really pale dude on the far left. I bet he got super sunburned by the end of this day and spent the rest of his vacation in extreme pain.) There are just people and beer everywhere. You wake up around noon, go to the beach until about 6pm, go home to shower and change from your swimsuit into your going out clothes (and maybe eat something if you have enough money) and then go out about 9pm until wee hours. The next day you rinse and repeat.

So far this Spring Break has consisted of me doing laundry, going to the gym, playing on the computer, rearranging patio furniture and raking leaves. I almost got a blister from the yard work today.

What a difference 11 years makes.

Day 15 — My celebrity crush

2011-03-15T08:15:00.000-05:00

I kind of already did a post about this - handsome fellas. I don't actually have a celebrity crush. There are several reasons for this:
A.) I'm not 12
B.) Brad Womack isn't actually a celebrity, he was just on a reality show. (twice.)
C.) I just am not the "crushing" type. It seems like it would take time and energy away from my ACTUAL relationship, and that just doesn't seem very productive.

However, I do like Simon Baker, aka Patrick Jane. I would say that if there is one show that the Magical White Guy and I don't want to miss, it would be the Mentalist. (Thursdays at 9 CST) I am choosing to name him as my celebrity crush because I have actually said, "I can't wait for Patrick Jane to come on tonight!"

(photo from USA Today)

So while I would say that out of every celebrity, Jim Caviezel is probably the most attractive to me (as in REALLY attractive), he does not appear to be as witty, clever or eccentric as the fictional Patrick Jane. And we all know that handsome doesn't always last - but clever is forever.

#13

2011-03-13T12:36:00.005-05:00

For the 13th day of the month, the 13th prompt is "Something you want to buy." I cheated a little on this one, because I actually already bought it and applied it yesterday. This is quite possibly the most fun you can have with a 10 dollar bill:
The Sally Hansen Salon Effects are basically little strips of nail polish that you stick on your nails. Since I have short nails, I actually got 2 nails out of each strip, so I have a whole set ready for the next time I want to wear them. Supposedly they last 10 days, at which point you can just remove with nail polish remover. So the answer to the prompt is that something I would like to buy is another set of these suckers. I really like the "Frock Star" look. Another girl named JenPolishAholic has daily pictures on her flickr accout - she is wearing Frock Star and this is what hers looked like on the 10th day:

So there you have it. I could wish for a new car or a new purse or this technique or these shoes (among others), but all of those things require more disposable income that I'm willing/able to part with. Instead, I'll simply stick with Sally Hansen. If you need me, just look for the girl with the fancy nails.

starting with 11

2011-03-11T13:40:00.004-06:00

I'm going to rewrite the rules a little bit. Since today is the 11th and I just don't have the energy to start at the beginning by describing what it is like to pick a favorite song, I am going to start with the 11th prompt from the list:

# 11 — A photo of me taken recently : This would be the last time any pictures were taken of me, 2 weeks ago when my sister was in town. We were both blessed with chubby cheeks and double chins, so this is how we have to smile when we don't want our chin(s) to show. You stretch your face real far out in front of your neck and pull your jaw back. The results are simply stunning:
Ha! Fortunately there is another option - if the photographer stands an appropriate distance away and holds the camera at the correct angle, the chin(s) are minimal. I'm including this one too just because I look way better in it than the one above, and well - isn't that what blogs are for?

the list

2011-03-07T21:26:00.000-06:00

My friend Michelle borrowed something from her friend Martin Randomness who borrowed it from somebody else, so I don't know exactly where it came from. But oh, it is right up my alley. It takes me back to myspace bulletins, and if you were my myspace friend, you know how much I loved the bulletins. I would love to make a promise to do one a day for 30 days, but it is a lot more realistic to admit I'll probably just choose the ones I like the most. Plus, some of them are either too hard for me to think of or none of your business, so unless I am feeling creative enough to make a mockery of a topic I don't want to do, I'll just skip it.

Here is the list. Feel free to borrow it as well. Not sure when I'll start or if I'll do them consecutively, but as a tried and true rule follower, I like to have a structured list to work from. (Convenient that there are 30 of them, as my culminating grad school thesis portfolio is also due in about 30 days. This should be enough distraction to keep me properly balanced between procrastination and panic.)

Day 01 — A favorite song
Day 02 — A favorite movie  
Day 03 — A favorite TV show 
Day 04 — A favorite book
Day 05 — A favorite quote  
Day 06 — A fun fact about me 
Day 07 — A favorite photo 
Day 08 — Something I crave  
Day 09 — Pet peeves 
Day 10 — A photo of me taken over ten years ago  
Day 11 — A photo of me taken recently  
Day 12 — Something I bought recently  
Day 13 — Something I want to buy 
Day 14 — An old photo  
Day 15 — My celebrity crush  
Day 16 — A favorite food 
Day 17 — A photo of my family 
Day 18 — A baby photo 
Day 19 — A fun memory  
Day 20 — A hobby of mine 
Day 21 — A favorite recipe  
Day 22 — A favorite joke 
Day 23 — A video  
Day 24 — A travel story  
Day 25 — A favorite photo 
Day 26 — A funny (true) story 
Day 27 — A child I love 
Day 28 — A place I love  
Day 29 — A person I love  
Day 30 — Hopes, dreams and plans for the next 365 days

not fair!

2011-03-07T09:53:00.003-06:00

Let me preface this by saying I am incredibly thankful for my job.

But why do all the concerts I want to go to fall on the same nights I have to work? Kings of Leon were so good live at ACL that I would have loved to see them when they pass through. But I'll survive. However, Mumford & Sons / Edward Sharpe & Magnetic Zeros / Old Crow Medicine Show at Stubbs?

Must find a way.

while I'm at it...

2011-03-05T09:46:00.001-06:00

I was going through the pictures on my work blackberry and found some that I had forgotten about. Since I'm in the mood to post the precious comings-and-goings of my nieces and nephews, check these out. (the local paper in the small town where live they publishes all the school kids' "Letters to Santa.")

John doesn't mess around. He knows exactly what he wants and provides several options just to cover all his bases:

Vincent has diverse tastes - everything from fuzzy electric hamsters to assorted firearms:

Annie wants something for herself, but mostly so that she can share with her brother:

And then there is Mary.... if you notice, all the other letters were written to Santa. But Mary, she knows the real reason for the season.

We could all learn a little bit from her, don't you think? (And how many 1st graders use words like "fortunate?")

make my day

2011-03-01T20:41:00.000-06:00

My sister brought her two kids on an impromptu trip this weekend. It worked out beautifully, as I didn't have any work commitments and was able to rearrange a few other things.

Annie (6) loves to draw and color and is doing an excellent job at reading and writing. When I asked her if she would like to accompany me to the cupcake store to pick up an order, she asked if she could write the cupcake lady a note. I said, "of course! That would make her day!" After the discussion on "what does make your day" mean, she produced this precious note:
Up close shot of the note (and Annie's dirty nail):

And I totally called it - the cupcake lady said it made her day.

We spent time visiting and then my sister wanted to go out with some friends. Larry wanted me to be able to go with them, so he volunteered to watch the kids for us. Aidan (15 months) was asleep when we left and Annie was tucked in watching a movie. I guess at some point the movie ended and Annie came out to ask Larry to put in a new one. Somehow they got into a conversation about swimming. We know this because the very first thing Annie told her mom the next morning was, "Larry said maybe this summer he can teach me to swim like a mermaid! But that I have to learn to swim really good before we can swim in the ocean with the dolphins and sharks."

Before they left, Annie drew Larry a reminder of his promise:

Safe to say it made his day.

on notice

2011-02-27T15:44:00.003-06:00

I'm easily amused. I can pretty much have fun anywhere, anytime, with anybody. (Although there are those occasional people that you run into that have a personality of a rock. I try to visit with them and get nothing. I suppose it *is* possible that I just annoy them and they don't feel like answering my trifle questions about what their favorite flavor of ice cream is, but whatever.)

Since I am easily amused, I really enjoy changing the "wallpaper" of my work computer every month. I get to look at something brand new approximately every 30 days, which is fun. I usually find my wallpapers at Smashing magazine. I like theirs because I can include a calendar on screen. This month I chose this one:

(Says: February - because sometimes months are just too long)

I think that March is the month with the best name. For me, March is the turning point of the year. We get to march away from cold, dreary days into days where the bright bursts of green appear. The trees start to bloom and the sun stays out a little longer. The wind still blows and there is still a slight chill to the evening, but we get to march towards long, lazy summer days. There is motivation to get outside and move and take the kind of deep breaths that fill up your entire lungs. There isn't the temptation to sit inside and eat too much or go shopping and spend too much. There is a promise of a little more sunshine every single day. There is Spring Break and Lent and chirping birds and crossing names of a bracket I filled out just so that I could stay engaged in the marathon of basketball watching. March means that the semester is about halfway through. It is proof to the little orphan Annie inside of us all that the sun will indeed come out tomorrow. I don't know about y'all, but I'm so ready to March forward.

February, here is your notice.

the answer is D

2011-02-24T20:45:00.003-06:00

Reasons I could never be Gil Grissom:

A.) I don't like bugs.
B.) I don't have my own wikipedia page.
C.) I am not a fictional character.
D.) All of the above.

(photo)

I miss Gil Grissom. Lawrence Fishburn (sp?) just isn't fit to handle the crimes that happen in Las Vegas.

(But I do love Nick Stokes. Did you know he is from Belton, just a mere 45 minutes from Austin? His sister went through our teacher certification program.)

That's all for now.

not a worry in the world

2011-02-20T18:57:00.004-06:00

I'm going to pretend I'm still in high school as I answer these questions....

1. I am doing everything possible to pad my resume. I'm president of as many clubs as I can be, I'm in Youth Group, I make straight As.... and I'm a cheerleader. So, like - duh! Why wouldn't I get scholarships?

2. The bravest thing I've ever done was try out for cheerleading. Oh, and stand on my tippy-toes to hang those giant posters in the gym before pep rallies.

3. I feel prettiest when ugh. If only I weren't so fat. I'm like, so giant. My cheerleading skirt barely even fits. Although that mini-skirt and crop top that I got at Wet Seal does look pretty cute on me.

4. Something that keeps me awake at night is wondering what those dreamy boys are doing. Where is the next party going to be? What dress will I wear to the next dance? Should I try to make sure it is one that I will cringe at when I'm in my 30's and look back at pictures? Will I win the title of FHA Sweetheart?
5. My favorite meal in the entire world is a Mrs. Baird's fried cherry pie - what I eat every day for lunch.

6. The way to my heart is oh, high school boys, you don't stand a chance. I prefer college men. Although MD 20/20 does make you a little cuter.*

7. I would like to hurry up and graduate so that I can go to college. I'm so over high school.

*If I am ever blessed with a child of my own, it is quite likely that he/she will never be allowed to leave the house. Like, ever.

U R Sweet

2011-02-14T21:42:00.002-06:00

I am not ashamed of the fact that I love conversation hearts. I have eaten two bags in 12 days. Whats it to ya?

The last bag was a giant resealable bag of "sparkly" conversation hearts from Target. These are a little more "tart" than the regular hearts and quite tasty. As I eat them, I like to see what they say. This year, I was caught off guard by this one:

And then I kept eating and figured it out:

Do you know how many hipsters it takes to change a light bulb?

Oh. (insert the "you poor thing" smirk.)

You don't know? I've known about that for several years.

Let me just go all hipster on you and remind you that I read each of the Twilight books as soon as it came out. I was in a teacher book club and the librarian held them for me as soon as they arrived. One night I stayed up until 4am to finish one of the books and then I was pretty much worthless the next day at school. I probably made my kids watch a video or something. (But at least I knew what happened between Bella and Edward and Jacob.)

Anyway, I love Edward Cullen just as much as the next thirty-something lady, but keep your vampire messages off my conversation hearts. Please and thanks.

at ease

2011-02-12T19:45:00.004-06:00

At first glance, you'll think I love him because his green eyes sparkle in the sunlight and his eyelashes have the perfect hint of curl. You may think it is his strong jawline and broad shoulders, or even that I like his height. You may wonder if I'm just smitten with his skin that stays tan year-round and never wrinkles. Or perhaps the fact that his playing baseball in college and competing in triathlons as an adult contributed to pretty much the best set of legs you've ever seen on a man. But those are the obvious things. And while I certainly don't mind any of the above, those aren't the reasons I love him.

I love that he is 100% comfortable in his own skin.

He exudes confidence and with-it-ness and makes me feel at ease. He feels like home.

He is exactly who he says he is - and doesn't apologize for it.

I am amazed that he compromises his "holiday hesitations" to celebrate with me and my family - just because he knows how important it is to me.

I love that "you can take a boy out of the streets but you can't take the street out of the boy." What once would embarrass me now reminds me that sometimes I need to just get over myself.

I love that even though he is a germophobe, he still sits next to me when I have a runny nose.

I love that he reads the Love Dare devotional with me every night.

I love that after I threw a fit about the fact that he wouldn't dance with me at the wedding, he ignored my pouting, asked me to dance and continued to wear a hole in the dancefloor. (to my credit, I quit pouting and said yes.)

(photo courtesy of Sarah)

He knows the drycleaner. And the post office lady. And the mailman helped him plant the vegetable garden. He doesn't treat them like "the help," he makes an effort to know them and to talk to them. And of course he is on a first name basis with every bartender in a 5 mile radius. (In fact, one of our favorites had to *ahem* spend a few days "away" due to some legal trouble... he wrote Larry a note stating that having him as a friend since he has been in Austin has contributed to the best 10 months OF HIS LIFE.)

I love feeling confident that no matter what I do or what I say, he is going to support me. And even if he WAS the type of knucklehead that went out for "guys nights," I wouldn't worry about his faithfulness.

I love knowing that we make each other better people by being together.

I've kissed my share of frogs.

And I never, ever imagined that I would someday find my prince. But I did. Nothing says it better than Phil 1:3 - "I thank my God whenever I think of you."

Happy (early) St. Valentine's Day to the Magical White Guy. You sure did work a spell over on me.

left ovary spaghetti

2011-02-10T19:15:00.003-06:00

You've probably seen these. But if I don't post this as a blog, then I've got nuthin'. (Unless you want to hear about grad school. And you don't. So read these auto corrected messages and laugh.)