Have you missed me?

I need to catch up. I haven't done a substantive blog post in...forever.

So I'll start with Halloween. Geej was a Texas Cheeseleader, and she was a darn cute one if I do say so myself. She's totally OBSESSED with candy and ringing the doorbell, so she was super enthused about the whole Halloween concept. Like last year, we trick-or-treated with La Turista's chilluns in thier 'hood. It was great because almost every house on their street really did it up in the decor and candy department. Especially this one house on the end: They went NUTS!

Geej literally RAN from house to house, getting sugary goodies and saying "Thank you, Halloween!" as she hightailed it to the next doorbell. Too funny.

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You've seen photos of my new dog Shiloh. But now it's time to meet the leopard gecko, Leo! Leo (who is actually a girl gecko) is way cool. She doesn't mind being held and petted and knows how to lick her own eyeballs. Pretty neat, no?

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I've got a new boss at work. My little team has merged with two other small-ish teams to form the "Integrated Media" team. (Yeah, I reall;y have no idea what it means either.) We had the interviews for the leader of this team last week, and I'm quite pleased with the outcome. I think I may (finally) have that mentor I've been needing. We'll see how it all unfolds.

Also, I had my annual perfomance review last week and got a raise. HooRAY!

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My work trip to Nashville was short but sweet--I was literally there for a little over 24 hours. The hotel I stayed at--The Gaylord Opryland--was pretty out of control. I mean, it was HUGE--a scale like I haven't seen outside of Las Vegas. It had all of these indoor atriums with rivers and gardens and pedestrian malls and walkways and all sorts of crazy shit. And it had all just been decorated for the holidays, which was quite pretty. While I was there, I saw a group of Orthodox Jewish men doing morning prayers out by one of the pools, Amish folks enjoying the scenery, and a nun.If I'd seen some gals walking around in a burqa, it would've rounded things out quite nicely.

The night I was there, we went to a "dinner show" at the Nashville Nightlife theater. When we walked in and saw the gaggle of gussied up senior citizens gathered around the rather pitiful buffet, I knew we were in for a treat. I was right--it was SUPER corny and cheesy and included quite possibly the most hauntingly horrible rendition of June and Johnny's "Jackson" I'll ever hear. Imagine one of the Sweeney Sisters singing the June Carter Cash part, and you get the idea. Oh yeah, and of course there was a ventriloquist.

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Y'all, it's 84 flippin' degrees here right now, and I am SICK of the warm weather and having to run the A/C in the middle of November. Where's my cold snap, damnit?!

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Mr. Wonderful started his new job on Monday. I know he's happy to get back onto a regular schedule and get out of the house. The adjustment to all of us cohabiting has gone well so far. In fact, it's pretty fun. I still can't get over the fact that when I wake up every morning, he's there. It's so awesome.

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And finally: When I saw this clock, I had to buy it. Now I gaze at it every day and wonder, "What the Hell is 'Cram Cream'?"