My Stepson is a Badass.

Not only is he one of the skaters featured in this video, he also helped film it. He is fearless and talented and kind and funny, and he's only 11 1/2 years old.

He is a badass, and I adore him.

Summer Skatepark Sessions from Greg Melish on Vimeo.

Why No Lunch Bloggee?

Y'all it's been a helluva week so far, and it's only freakin' Wednesday. I've had to more-or-less work through lunch so I've had zero time to sneak in more than a wisp of a lunchtime blog entry. Tomorrow promises more of the same.

So some quick reverse updates (most recent to least), bullet-point style before I begin to snooze:

• Had a great workout tonight: treadmill, rowing machine and front press.
• Learned a lot about tea today at work.
• Went to the dentist this morning for a checkup and discovered that I need a crown on one of my molars. A very expensive crown. Yay.
• Took BH out to dinner and to see Neko Case last night at Stubb's as a belated b-day present.
• Show was good, weather was perfect. My shoes hurt so badly, that on our way home I left one on Red River and left another one near the intersection of Brodie and Wm. Cannon. So THAT'S how those random shoes end up on the side of the road!!
• Ate dinner before the show at the recently relocated El Sol y La Luna. Don't recommend it.
• Had a very tweaked-out and stressful day at work, punctuated by all sorts of odd goings on.
• Like the COMPLETELY fucked up young man with his 10-speed on his shoulder who came up and started banging on my car window, yelling at me and flipping me off at the intersection of 6th/Lamar during evening rush hour (until one of those "I'm biking from Texas to Alaska to fight cancer!" fundraising dudes intervened. I gave the intervener $2 for his cause, and for his chivalry.
• And the tall redheaded young man who was practicing his Swiss goatherd-style yodeling in parking garage at my work at the top of his lungs (the garage has great acoustics, dontcha know).
• And the fact that the whole day got started off on the wrong foot when The Geej had a meltdown getting into the car to go to school (which she never EVER does) and then another one when we got to school (which she almost never does).
• Had a really good workout Monday night after being away from the gym for a week (due to scheduling difficulties). I was surprised how much I missed my workouts! You have NO idea how un-like me that is.
• I worked at home on Monday and got a lot accomplished. I'd like to do that once a week or at least a couple of regular times a month, but my boss, he isn't a fan, so I don't want to push it.
• Blake's boys were here for four days. It was fun having them here, but it only emphasized to me how much we could use a bigger house. At least one additional bedroom and living area.

So that's pretty much it in a nutshell. I mean, of course, there's more--and pictures--but I've got no brain cells left this evening. Hopefully I'll be back to some more regular blogging soon.

Too wiped to post...

...but had to share these with you.

Last week was BH's 40th b-day. (He share's a b-day with the lovely Ms. Lindsay Franklin, btw.) Anyhoo, his boys came to stay with us this weekend, and they brought gifts. AWESOME gifts. Behold:

A box of gnovelty gnoses.

And, as if the gnoses didn't bring enough joy into our home, this magnet:

These wonderful gifts made me love these two little dudes a wee bit more than I already did.

Tomorrow? Lunchtime blogging!! Stay tuned!!

Saying goodbye to 2008 from the relative sanity of my cube at work.

I'm not working. I'm eating lunch at my desk, and then I'm leaving to go--gasp--grocery shopping. Why the gasp? Because I was just down in the godforsaken store, and it is a freakin' MADHOUSE, people. But shopping must occur because I'm preparing a vegetarian stew for Miss Lindsay's New Year's Day soiree tomorrow and, well, we just need groceries.

Okay, so lots has happened since I last posted. Here's the update (stay with me):

Tuesday evening (12/23)
Started having very sharp chest pains unlike anything I'd ever experienced while shopping at Whole Foods. Figured they'd go away. They didn't. After over an hour of this mess, I called my insurance's "nurse line," and described my symptoms and my medical history, and they were like, "Get thee to the emergency room!" So my darling husband drove my reluctant and beligerent ass to the ER, during which time the chest pains stopped (natch). But we went in anyway and spent 4 hours having the whole work-up done--blood tests, chest X-ray, EKG, cat scan, etc. By the time we left (around 10:30 pm), we were starving and we had no clue what had caused the chest pains. And they haven't happened again since (thank goodness). I'm really looking forward to getting the bills for that little night of fun.

Wednesday (12/24)
Woke up and started prepping to cook The Monochromatic Feast. First I prepared a breakfast casserole to be baked on Christmas morning. Then I prepped the squash and corn casserole and au gratin potatoes with goat cheese and chives for that evening's dinner. My mom and The Geej arrived from Horseshoe Bay, and I thought The Geej's eye's were going to bug out of her head when she saw all the new presents wrapped and placed under the tree since the last time she'd seen it. She was one excited little girl. Mom brought the smoked turkey breast and dressing, and we rounded out our dinner with a mixed green salad with bleu cheese, walnuts and pears. Needless to say, we were all STUFFED when dinner was over. We somehow convinced The Geej that she needed to go to sleep so that Santa could come and do his thing, and then we followed pretty soon after.


Thursday, 12/25
The Geej woke up at the crack of dawn to see her loot from the fat man. She was very happy with everything she got, especially the new baby stroller to replace her old one that she'd literally worn out. I got BH a set of rowing lessons and a one-month membership to The Rowing Dock, and he got me a gift certificate for not one, but THREE massages. We also got each other garden gnomes--Matthew and Norm--but that's a whole 'nother story. Christmas evening, we went over to La Turista's to visit with her family and chow down on tamales.


Friday, 12/26
BH fetched his boys, and we had a second round of present-opening. They each wanted--and received--kick-ass new skateboards, and the weather was great outside, so there was much skateboarding in the afternoon. BH also gave the family a 40-lb. punching bag and a bunch of boxing gloves so we can punch and hit and kick to our hearts' content. Dah went back to HSB.



Saturday, 12/27 thru Monday, 12/29
Hung out. Ate. Cooked. Napped. Played with the kids. Hung out some more. Played with the kittens. Tried to keep The Geej and BH's youngest from bugging each other to death. Had dinner with BH's mom and step-dad who were visiting. Had another round of present opening during which The Geej received this ensemble:
On Monday, I went back to work.


Tuesday, 12/30
Worked, and then went to happy hour with four of my favorite gals at the recently remodeled and reopened Paggi House. It was AWESOME. We sat outside (yes, it was nice enough to sit outside), drank wine, ate cheese and crackers, talked, and laughed laughed laughed.

Which brings us to today. As I said, I've got to go grocery shop, then I will fill up my car, go fetch The Geej (she's been at my mom's since Sunday b/c school's closed), return home and cook, clean, and (hopefully) take down that dadgum Christmas tree/kitten magnet.

So goodbye, and good riddance 2008. During this past year I landed a new husband and two step-sons, got a new car, and voted in a new president. I watched my 401(k) and Roth IRAs dwindle and the price of gas soar and plunge. I joined Facebook and didn't blog as much as I should've. I had to put the best cat of all time to sleep because he had an advanced, incurable disease, and I welcomed two new, absolutely insane kittens into our family. I watched my daughter complete her transformation from toddler to little girl. I spent my last year in my thirties. I faced very difficult and trying times at work and passed my 9 year anniversary there as well. And I celebrated my 4 year blogiversary.

Thanks for coming by and reading about my silly life. Hope to see you again in '09.