Do you HEAR me, Don?!

Yes, it has been hot here in Austin. Horribly horribly hot, reltentlessly sweltering, and so so SO dry. But right now, out in the Gulf of Mexico, there is a storm named Don a-brewin'. And as of earlier today, this was Don's projected path:

If there is a God, and if that God doesn't hate Texas, we will be getting some rain from this storm and maybe, just maybe, a day or two where it DOESN'T get to 100 degrees or higher. If we DON'T get any rain and relief from this godawful summer, I cannot be held responsible for my actions which may or may not include, yelling, screaming, crying, ripping out hair at the roots, punching kittens in the face, spitting at preachers, littering, and farting on the elderly. Seriously. This rain NEEDS to happen, or your poor Pine Curtain Refugee may have to go to the loony bin and/or county jail.

I've been up since 4 something a.m.

So please excuse me if I ramble more than usual.

In case you've been ensconced in a climate controlled lair, several miles beneath the surface of the Earth, then you probably know that we're in the midst of a "Weather Event" here in the ol' U. S. of A. I mean, as winter storms go, this one seems pretty epic and insanely widespread.

Yesterday, while more than a thousand cars got stranded on Lakeshore Drive and part of the 103 yr. old roof blew off of Wrigley Field in Chicago, most of the state of Texas had to deal with rolling blackouts caused by our so-cold-we-can't-handle-it temperatures. In fact, the block where my office is located at work was so affected by the power outages, that we actually had to close the office and the store for the day. That, my friends, is a rare event.

It is super chilly again here today, and they're even predicting snow for this afternoon/evening. Not sure about whether or not the rolling blackouts will continue--getting conflicting info on that via the interwebs.

So, enough about that. The big news is: I'm on vacation. WHOOT!! I guess that's why I woke up and was unable to go back to sleep--excitement. Dah is coming to stay with The Geej, and BH and I are embarking on a loooooong roadtrip this morning to far southwest Texas for a few days of R&R in the desert near Big Bend. Yesterday's windfall of time was kind of awesome because we were able to get our shopping done and start prepping for the trip. The house we're renting is going to be about 80 miles from the nearest grocery store, so we had to plan accordingly. I'm taking ye olde laptop with me, so you can expect photos to come.

Remember about a month ago when I posted about how excited I was about my new boss? Well, guess what: Now I have another new boss. That makes my 10th person I've reported to in a little over 11 years. Sigh. I am hopeful about this new reporting situation, but I'm simply sick to death of being tossed around like a hot potato. It just makes you feel unwanted after a while.

Oh, I had a birthday. On Sunday I turned forty fucking two. It was an uneventful day, really. It was gorgeous outside (sunny! 80 degrees!) so we took the convertible out to the lake and had lunch with Dah and her Man at this nice, newish restaurant with incredible views. It was really nice.

And Not to be too whiny, but birthdays have become a serious bummer for me. They just remind me how much of my life has already passed, and how few of my dreams I've actually realized. (Cue the sad trombone.) Again, sigh.

So yeah, VACATION!! Also, I got a new iPHONE 4!! THAT I LOVE!! It's via work, but I still had to kick in $200 for it b/c it was an "out of cycle" upgrade. But I don't care. Totally worth it. BH--who is not a big fan of technology to begin with--gets annoyed with me playing with it all the time. But I just can't help myself!!

Okay, my alarm--the one that was just now supposed to be waking me up--just went off. That means I've got to finish packing and get ready to roll (after I take The Geej to school, that is).

More soon.

Good tidings.

Oh Internets, today is a good day.

The supercalafragalistic weather continues. Chamber of commerce weather. Sit out on a patio catching rays and a sweet buzz weather. SXSWeather.

I got to attend (the first part, at least) The Geej's "100 Day Party" at her school this morning. Man, I love the kids in her class. So creative and hilarious. They've been doing these posterboards where they ask the students things like, "If I could have 100 of anything, what would it be?" and then record each of the kiddo's answers. (GJ's answer to this question: "sparkly shoes," natch.) I noticed another 100-related posterboard today that asked, "If you traveled for 100 miles from Austin, where would you be?" GJ answered, "Alaska", and her classmates said things like "Dallas," "Asia," "Mexico," and (oddly enough) "Kansas." But my two favorites? "A cake store" and "Pixie Hollow". Oh to be 5 again...

After the party, I went to the doctor and got my stiches removed. I still have steristrips on the incision, but I got to see it before he put them on. It doesn't look too bad, aside from some residual bruising (now in the yellowish-green stage, always lovely), and after these strips fall off (some time this weekend), I can start putting on the scar gell stuff to minimize what this sucker looks like. I'll post pics later because, be honest, you wanna see, don't you?

At the doctor's office, I got the final pathology report on the thyroid and lymph node that were removed, and I could bore you with the medical mumbo jumbo, but long and short of it is the "pathological staging" of the tumors were T3, NX, MX. This means, "the tumor is either larger than 4 cm or it has begun to grow a small amount into nearby tissues outside the thyroid" (T3) however it had not spread to nearby lymph nodes (NX) and there were no signs of distance metastasis/spread (MX). In other words, I'm a lucky, lucky gal.

Next week, I have my first appointment with an endorinologist to figure out what's next. But right now, I'm feeling pretty happy about how everything has gone.

After the doctor's appointment, I treated myself to lunch at Torchy's along with a Dublin Dr. Pepper. Oh yes I did.

Then I went to my "Plan B" school for a tour with the principal. I'm not gonna lie: I was prepared to be disappointed. I'm not sure why--I guess it's just because I'd had my heart so set on The Geej going to my "Plan A" choice school, and when I got the news that wasn't going to be happening, my heart just sort of sunk through the floor. But, oh my GOSH, y'all! This school? I really, REALLY liked it. The principal was awesome, took her time with me, answered all my questions (and answered them well), led me on a very thorough tour, and I saw a lot of happy, productive kiddos being well attended to by engaged teachers. I can picture The Geej thriving here and her wonderful spirit being appreciated and encouraged. I called the AISD offices as soon as I got back and requested a transfer change to this school, and I'm certain it will be approved. And she can be happy there until 5th grade or until we move into a different school zone--whichever comes first.

Everything's going to be okay, y'all. It really is.

Let's DO this!

Today when my doctor's nurse called to discuss scheduling my surgery, I almost felt like I was asking for a table at a busy restaurant: "I'll take first available." So, the surgery will be happening on 3/5. My pre-op consult will be happening this Friday. Good. I want to get this shit done and done, you know?

In other news, if you know anyone else besides me who lives in Austin, then surely you've heard that IT SNOWED today! Really! But it was a perfect snow--lovely to watch fall from the sky, but not enough to mess with travel and traffic. The Geej got to enjoy it at school when her entire class went out in it and had a snowflake-catching-on-your-tongue-a-thon.

Speaking of The Geej, this morning she woke up with a rash over most of her body, but little itching and no fever. I looked up what was going on (thank you, interwebs) and according to the University of Michigan Children's Hospital website, it is "antibiotic rash", which sounded pretty innocuous. (She's been on Amoxicillin since last Tuesday.) But after dosing her with Benydryl and calling her doctor's office (which was closed due to "inclement weather"), it was only getting worse. Tonight I also added some cortizone cream to the mix. At bed time, she was still COVERED in red, raised bump, from her face to her ankles, and beginning to run a low-grade fever. I'll be calling her doctor again first thing in the morning. Have any of y'all ever dealt with this? I'm starting to freak out a bit...

Sunday drives are good for the soul.

After what felt like an eternity, Austin finally FINALLY got a couple of days of good, solid, soaking rain at the end of last week. It didn't do much to put a dent in our nearly 2-year long drought, but it did momentarily cool things down and dampen things up. However, by Sunday, BH, the Geej and I were all a little stir crazy from too much time being held captive indoors by the weather.

My bird-loving, wildlife biologist husband had told me a few days before that the lovely little hamlet of Johnson City had been having quite a problem with wild turkeys recently--lots of birds bugging the hell out of residents. At that time I informed him that, aside from a pet turkey named Elvira that had wandered around Camp Huawni one summer in the mid-1980s, I'd never seen wild turkeys, you know, doing their thing in the wild. Well this, coupled with the cabin fever, was reason enough for the three of us to pile in the Honda for a little road trip yesterday morning.

The skies were cloudy and it was in the low 70s. The landscape had already greened up a bit in a few short days, and the drive out of town and through the hills to the west was lovely.

Once we got there, we slowly drove around in some of the neighborhoods until--BINGO--a hen and three juvenile turkeys (called "poults"), hanging out in someone's front yard. Awesome. We continued driving around looking for more turkeys, and we encountered this little fella. He was just hanging out, staring at some goats in someone's side yard, and his cuteness nearly killed me. He's like a cross between a schnauzer and a dachsund. What a sweetie! A short while later we encountered an ass ton of turkeys in the common area of a little post-war apartment complex near a creek bottom lined with old oaks (which is apparently where turkeys like to hang out). Seriously, people! There were even more than this that I couldn't get in my shot. I'm not sure why I was so fascinated and delighted by this sight. I guess it's because when all you really see in your yard are mockingbirds, white wing dove, billions of stupid grackles and the occasional blue jay or cardinal, the thought of having a whole flock of this huge, strange birds on my lawn is sort of mind blowing.

We kept on driving around this adorable little town, where soon, I found my dream house.

And we marveled at the gorgeous grey skies with the occasional patch of bright blue peeking through. We wondered what it would be like to live on an old farm and be surrounded by nothing but nature for miles around.

And finally, before leaving town, we braved the after-church crowds to eat lunch at the local diner that specializes in good old home cookin' and features menus made of Xeroxed sheets of paper glued on to grocery bags.

All in all, a very nice way to spend a Sunday.

Four things:

1. I'm assuming, but not 100% sure, that there was no toddler sitting in this seat.

2. It's raining! Which is great. But OMFG, people. My mold allergies are making me feel like I consumed 10 gallons of King Cobra last night, but alas, I did not.

3. I think Diane has one of the oddest kitteh coats I've ever seen. She's mostly grey tabby, but then she's got these pieces of her that look like were stolen from an orange tabby (the two toes on her left front paw; her belleh; the stripe on her left back leg and her front right arm). It's like she was assembled from the remnants at the kitten factory. But MAN does she ever know how to stretch out and relax. Sometimes it's like she's boneless.

I mean LOOK at her back legs. What cat lays like this?!

4. This photo does NOT do the weirdness of this lady's outfit justice:

Note the boots; ankle-high, black, fringed. And her hair is braided w/beads. And then there's the "pants." And she was wearing a leopard print bandana/scarf thing on her face with HUGE sunglasses on. And then there's all the Betty Boop--on her back bumper, on her helmet, and (you can't see it from here, but trust me) on her handlebars. I'm guessing that there's a couple of Betty Boop tattoos involved in this story as well, but I really don't want to know where they are.

That is all. For now...

Hot, Hot, HOT Happenings

And I'm using the word "hot," literally here. Here is some bullet-pointy goodness for you. I'm going to get a cool drink...

• Got TOTALLY sucked into the College World series. The Longhorns fought a good fight, but that last game was a heartbreaker.
• The Geej finished her first session of swimming lessons, and her second session begins in a couple of weeks. She’s come so far in four weeks! Much more willing to stick her face in and focus on the mechanics of swimming. Plus, it’s just fun to watch her splash around and become more confident.
• Super worried about my mom’s youngest brother who has a mysterious—and large—mass on his kidneys. We’ll know more about what’s up by the end of this week hopefully. I’m very nervous for him.
• Holy Hell it’s hot, people. Did I already mention that? I took this photo on the way home yesterday. One-oh-freakin’-two!! But it IS summer in Texas, so really, what can we expect? (And look! I’m getting 27 mpg!!)
• Planning on moving to a new area/cubicle at work in the next week or so. In a little less than 10 years, this will make the 8th different location (in 3 different buildings) I’ve sat in.
• Went on a bit of a road trip last weekend, courtesy of BH’s mom and step-father. They put us (and BH’s brother and sister-in-law) up here while they looked after our kids for two nights. Sweet, no? While I was there, I took advantage of the spa, having a great massage and an overdue facial. I also got to meet some more of BH’s family when we attended a 40th birthday party for one of his cousins. It was fun, but it was also a LOT to pack into one weekend. Looking forward to just being at home this weekend.
• I’m sad about the death of Farrah Fawcett. Like most women my age, “Charlie’s Angels” was a weekly staple when I was a tween.
• I’ve been very sucked up into the tense and horrible situation in Iran. For all of its significant flaws, we are truly blessed to live in this country and enjoy all of its freedoms.
• I’ve been researching writing workshops for next spring/summer, and am going to reach out to an actual Famous Published Writer that can hopefully give me some advice. Stay tuned for what I learn.
• Hoping to do some serious garage-cleaning-out this weekend. In the sweltering heat. I know!! Doesn’t that sound like fun?!
• Ate an amazing (and very expensive) salad here for lunch today. Dang, it was good.
• I’ve recently reconnected—in person—with some long lost college friends who I originally reconnected with virtually on FacePlace. It was awesome. Conjured a lot of fond memories but, at the same time, made me realize how very, very long ago those days were. Sigh.
• Happy belated Father’s Day to all those daddies out there. If you’re lucky enough to still have your father in your life, tell him you love him and give him a hug, just for the Hell of it.

So Quiet.

Hey friends.

It's is practically silent at our house right now. I occasionally hear the kitties wrestling and playing, and I can hear the fridge running and--of course--the sound of my typing, but that's it.
Why so quiet? Well, my mom came and got The Geej so they could spend a few days together while school's out. BH and I both have to work tomorrow and Tuesday, and I also have to work 1/2 a day on Wednesday. I took advantage of being Geej-free yesterday to do laundry, run errands, do a tiny bit of shopping, get a pedicure, and see a movie ("Let The Right One In"--meh). Today I slept late, did MORE shopping, saw another movie ("Milk"--excellent), wrapped presents, and ate Tom Kha w/tofu.

One of the accomplishments I'm most proud of from these past two days? I reclaimed the bread box for its rightful purpose--holding bread. For as long as I can remember, the bread box has been like the defacto "junk drawer" that's in every kitchen in America. There was all kinds of crap in there--koozies, play-dough containers, batteries, old birthday cards, a charger for a cellphone I haven't had in three years. You get the idea. Well now all that's in there is a half-gone loaf of multigrain bread, which for some reason, gives me great peace.

Tomorrow's big tasks (besides going to work, of course) is to clean up The Geej's room (it's a freakin' disaster area right now) and get a grocery shopping list together for Christmas Eve dinner. It's just going to be the four of us--BH, Geej, my mom and me--but we're doing a traditional holiday dinner with all the fixins. And I'm also making a breakfast casserole thingie for Christmas morning b/c I KNOW The Geej will be up at the crack of dawn to see what Santa brought.

Speaking of, she keeps adding to her Christmas list. Today she told me she wants a pink iPod, a puppy, a guitar, a kitchen, and a puppy. Um...yeah. I don't think Santa's going to be able to get all that at this late date.

It's been VERY hard shopping for BH's boys F and J. I just have NO idea what to get for an almost 9 and 14 year old boys. Zero. I've asked BH for input at least 50 times, but he's been little help. I'm tempted to get the 14 yr. old a 6 pack of PBR and a subscription to Penthouse, but I'm really stumped for ideas for the 8 yr. old. Ideas from you guys are more than welcome.

Here's a kitteh update (since I know you're dying for one):

Doug ate several keys off my laptop this week--the Alt, X, C, and F3. He is also very curious about people food--something that never interested Earl in the least. Like a good big brother, Doug worries if he doesn't know where Diane is, and will walk around crying for her until he finds her. This week he discovered the joy of sleeping in a sunbeam as well as the wonders of the sink. He's proving to be the more chill of the two and is turning into quite the lover bear.

Diane has gas. It's really unusual for cats to be gassy, but this little gal can clear a room. She also has a total crush on BH, and clearly prefers him to me. Whereas Doug doesn't mind being picked up, Diane can't stand it and will squirm like crazy if held. She's the more aggressive of the two, picking fights and doing sneak attacks on poor Doug. She also has what BH calls "Sponge Bob Eyes" meaning they're big and sort of comically irresistable.

I am so in love with them, it's not funny. I love that one minute they're practically MURDERING each other, and the next, they're totally spooning and sacked out. I love that they have very distinct personalities. What I'm NOT loving is how frequently I'm having to scoop the litterbox. Yowzah.

I hope all of your pre-holiday craziness isn't too crazy. Right now I'm enjoying the fact that it actually feels like winter out there (it's 35 degrees) as opposed to yesterday when it was in the upper 70s. I'm also enjoying the quiet because, like this cold weather, I know it won't last very long.

Ho ho ho, freaks.

Deck Bloggin'

Yes, people. I'm sitting out on the deck on a warm, sunny and breezy Saturday afternoon. The kids--mine and his--are playing, and the dog is chillin'. The kitties are sitting inside on the window sill, looking out at all of us. It' pretty great.

Doug and Diane have settled in to our home very nicely. It's easy to forget how totally insane young kitties are when you haven't had them in your world for many years. They've completely removed all of the ornaments from the lower quarter of the tree and seem to have an immense disdain for upright picture frames. They are both fearless (unlike Earl who was scared of new people, the doorbell, plastic bags, thunderstorms, etc.) and like being with their people. I am their main "person," and as a result, they follow me around EVERYWHERE. They are practically inseparable and, as much as they love each other, they also frequently and vigorously kick each other's asses. Usually at around 5:00am somewhere near our heads in bed.

This week has been super busy both at work and at home. I'm sure everyone's feeling it. This time of year is always at least 45% more insane than the rest of the year. My main problem is that I'm being meeting-ed to death at work, and as a result, unable to get very much actual WORK work done. I'm actually looking forward to having to work the weeks of Christmas and New Years because no one will be around ergo no meetings. Maybe I can actually get somewhat caught up. At any rate, I'm pretty burnt out on my workplace and could really do with at least a week away from that place. But since our time off policy is absolutely abysmal, any time off I take for the next couple of months (until I get my next paid time off hours disbursement), will be unpaid. In fact, the paycheck I got yesterday included 38 hours unpaid time off (wedding/honeymoon, Geej's walking pneumonia, and Thanksgiving). So, yay!!

The Geej had a big week too. She advanced to the next level in her gymnastics class, had a pajama party/gingerbread house making hoo hah at school on Friday, went to the Trail of Lights preview on Friday night, and went to see a movie this afternoon ("Madagasgar 2"--We've never seen the original, but we were miraculously able to keep up). That's a LOT for her in a short period of time, but luckily there seems to be plenty of holiday candy and sweets to keep her engines on full. This is important since she's got the KITTENS to take care of (and by "take care of" I mean stalk, torment, boss around, tattle on, and torment). She's appointed herself judge, jury, and executioner of the poor felines. They are very patient with her, bless their little hearts.

Let's see...what else. Oh YES, Christmas!! It's coming, isn't it? And I've just barely started shopping. I have no idea what to get most of the people in my life, and my diminished paycheck(s) aren't helping the situation.

Tonight after dinner we're going to pile in the car and partake in the time-honored American tradition of riding around and looking at Christmas lights in the rich neighborhoods around town. Then tomorrow, we head out to BH's work holiday party. That's two hours away. In the middle of the country. With three kids in the car.

Ho! Ho! Ho!

While I'm here, let me post a few recent photos for your viewing enjoyment:

The tree before we put the ornaments on it that the kittehs couldn't help but remove. The Geej thinks she's a present. When I pulled the Christmas tree skirt out of storage, it was COVERED in Earl fur. He used to love sleeping under there and never once messed with the ornaments. Sigh.

There's my little pajama'd reindeer maker (in the middle) at her class's party yesterday.

And here they are--him and her--being nauseatingly sweet and cuddly before going COMPLETELY NUTS.

Ugh.

I know that technically "ugh" is probably not a word, but it's the only one I have that adequately sums up how I feel right now.

First off, I've got a HELLUVA stomach ache. And I would insist that it's stress related, except that BH has it too. Must've been something we ate, but I'm not sure what. Right now I'm enjoying some Immodium washed down with a lovely ginger ale in hopes of achieving some sort of normalcy before I try to go to sleep. And I'm lounging in my bed with my laptop, literally, on top of my lap in a valiant attempt to tend to this horribly neglected blawg.

God, it's been so long since I've written a real post that there is much to catch you fools up on. So now, in no particular order...

Yes, I have high blood pressure. But my foxy doctor put me on meds, and tomorrow I'm going for the stress-test/echocardiogram. Plus, I'll get to learn the results of my blood test where they did all the triglycerides/cholesteral stuff. Today while at the dentist, they took my blood pressure, and it was darn near normal (136/70), so yay for that. I will say that since going on the meds, I haven't felt the heart palpitations I used to feel at least a couple of times a day. Sometimes these "flutters" would lead to full on anxiety attacks because of the freaky inner dialogue that would go on when they would happen (Stuff like: "Holy shit! I'm stroking out!), so it's nice that they've gone away.

The wedding plans are progressing nicely. We bought our wedding rings. I've figured out where I'm going to get our wedding cobbler. I've ordered the flowers. We're meeting with an officiant this week. My dress came in and is at the alteration lady as of today. And, I found a PERFECT pair of shoes to go with that were on sale for $28.50 (down from $115). I also bought a cool comb-y thing for my hair do on the day of. Now I just need to figure out what jewlery I'm going to wear and figure out who the hell is actually going to DO my hair on the big day. Any suggestions? We've still got to get our marriage license, and BH still needs to find something to wear, but other than that, we're pretty much good to go.

Work is super crazy right now. I'm part of a very small planning committee for a very big company event that's being held in mid-October, and we didn't start planning it until about 2 weeks ago. So...yeah. Of course it's taking up WAY more of my time that I anticipated, and that's on top of my normal work stuff. I'm just trying to keep my head above water at this point. Let me just say that, by the time our short little honeymoon gets here, I will be more than ready for some downtime.

The Geej has started her karate class at school, and she's digging it. It's cool because most of the kiddos in the class are new to her (as opposed to her already knowing everyone in her gymnastics class). I think her favorite part of karate may be getting to wear her "karate unicorn." She's also going through a "baseball" phase where she's wanting for me to throw the wiffle ball for her to swat at with her big red bat every night. Since she's not related to me by blood, she may actually have a shot at having some athletic skills!

I managed to completely avoid the Austin City Limits music festival this weekend by staying totally south of the river. There were a lot of bands I would've loved to have seen, but I've just gotten where I can't DEAL with the hassle of big huge crowds like that anymore. I know...I'm a fucking senior citizen.

BH and I are talking about re-doing our bathroom. Nothing huge--some new mirrors, new paint, new drawers. But I'm excited!! I'm sure we won't do anything until after we get the wedding behind us, but I'll be ready to rock when we finally get going.

If I hear "Wall Street versus Main Street" one more time, I may vomit.

We've been sleeping with the windows open every night since it's cooled off here, and I'm LOVING it. The only problem: I cannot get up in the morning. It's just too comfy and cozy.

I tried to watch the new Allan Ball series on HBO, "True Blood." I gave it three episodes, and then I said, "Screw this crap." I had real hopes for it since I loved "Six Feet Under" and "American Beauty" so much. However, the best thing about "True Blood" are the opening credits. Seriously: The accents, acting, and writing are SO bad that even sexy blood suckers couldn't keep me interested.

I know I've got more to tell y'all, but I'm beat and still feeling queasy, so I'm gonna sign off and go top off my ginger ale.

More soon...

Signs of autumn.

Well, we've FINALLY gotten a wee bit of relief from the heat and humidity that has dominated this summer. The past couple of days have been glorious--with highs in the low 80s, very little humidity, and lows in the upper 50s. Usually this first little taste of cooler weather is followed by a brutal bitch slap of hot misery, so I'm bracing myself for that.


However, there has been one positive sign that perhaps fall is here to stay. Much like Punxsutawney Phil of Groundhog Day fame, Austin has its own weather-predicting mammal--Lard Ass Earl. And yesterday, September 16th, he sleepily showed his belly, meaning we're in for an early fall.

Or maybe he was just in the mood to air out his junk. It's really hard to say.

Come on in, the water's fine!

Dive into my stream of consciousness...if you DARE:


I caught Olympic fever, albeit a bit late in the game. The thing that caught me? The women's marathon finish this past weekend. I wept when the winner made her way into the Bird's Nest. And I don't even LIKE running!! But since then, I've been glued to the t.v. each night, staying up way too late to watch sports I normally don't care about. Damn you, Olympic fever! Let me be!


I scheduled and had a termite inspection done at the house today. Why? Well, paranoia basically. I'd had one done when I bought the house (back in late 2005), but not since then. Good news: We're termite free! Yay!


However, we DID kill a "roof rat" last night. I say "we", but really it was the brave and fearless BH who handled the whole thing (thank God). Being a wildlife biologist, he'd noticed some suspicious "droppings" on the roof of the house underneath where it and the deck roof meet. So he bought this evil looking trap and set it last night (with peanut butter) and when he checked this morning, grisly victory. I didn't look at the victim, but I could make out its outlines in the plastic shopping bag that served as its coffin, and that mofo was BIG, y'all. Ewww... BH claims we caught "the dumb one", but has set the trap again hoping for another, you know, capture.


Geej survived her first ever visit to the dentist yesterday. She was kind of freaked at the concept, but thanks to the VERY friendly atmosphere and totally kid-focused office space, she chilled out and did great. And how BIG does she look?

Why did I take this photo? So I could send it to her Dah who is on an Alaskan cruise this week. I'm SO jealous because it sounds like she is seeing some amazing sights and experiencing some exceptional weather. Today she took a helicopter tour of Glacier National Park. I'm so glad she's doing this!!



Today I also met with a cleaning service to see about getting them to clean our house periodically. Let me back up: my mom had a lady who cleaned our house FOR YEARS named Rosella. Anyway, she came once every other week, and did the big stuff that my mom couldn't get to b/c she worked full time and was a mom, etc. At the time, I was sort of horrified b/c I thought it was rather bourgeoisie. But, being a lazy teenager, I was secretly grateful that my lazy ass wasn't having to do the heavy lifting. Since then, however, I've been proud of how I've managed to keep a clean house and stay on top of things no matter how crazy busy my life has been. However, even though BH does his fair share of housework, the big stuff--cleaning the bathrooms, dusting, mopping the floors, etc.--eat up my weekends, and that? Sucks. So a couple of weeks ago, I'm on my way home on a Friday afternoon after a stressful week at work, and BH's boys were coming to visit, and all I could think about was, "I've got to get home and clean up the house." Like a sign from Jah, I ended up behind a cleaning service's van with its slogan: "Don't Go Home to a Second Job, " and I was like HELL YES, I shouldn't have to go home to a second job! I'm calling these people! I met with their rep today, and she couldn't have been more pleasant and professional. And their service sounds completely awesome and totally what I'm looking for. So we're starting them out at just a once-a-month cleaning, which should be plenty for us. If not--and if I can afford it--I'll bump it up to twice a month. I'm still feeling a bit guilty about having to enlist help for this part of my life, but right now, I really need it.


Speaking of stress relief...I finally went and got some acupuncture this week. I've done this before--for endometriosis and for sciatica, both times with great success--but it's been a while. I found this great local place, and hooked up with one of their practicioners, and am very happy with all of it. I'll be going for a weekly series of treatments for about a month and then go on maintenence. This is step one in Operation: Get Healthy Before I'm Freakin' Forty. Wish me luck.


Things at work seem a bit less grim this week, but there's still layoffs going on (in the regional offices) this week, so I'm feeling a lot of compassion (and worry) for my friends and colleagues who work in those offices. Just trying to keep focused and be productive and positive is my main goal at the moment.


I cannot wait until "Burn After Reading" comes out.


I'm happy that we've gotten a bit of rain this week. In fact, we got 1/2" in ye olde rain gauge yesterday. Wish we could get some more...


I won something!! Free lunch at this place (which is damn tasty, btw)! I put my business card in the proverbial fish bowl, and boom: I got an e-mail to tell me I'd won!! Why am I so excited? Because I swear that this is the first thing I've won since I won a strawberry sheet cake in the Kilgore Jaycee's cake walk at the city's Halloween carnival when I was 9. Honestly.


Okay. The U.S. just won beach volleyball gold, so I'm safe to turn off the tube and go to bed until I feel the fever tomorrow night.

This:

Is a thing of beauty.

We only got a 10th of an inch, but the rainbarrel is now a little more than half full. More please!!

They looked so promising as they rolled in from the east.

And gorgeous.

And the wind picked up. And the temperature fell.

But after about 25 big, fat raindrops fell, it was done.

Damnit.

Enough!

Y’all, it’s hot. I’m talking pit stains before 9:00am hot. I’m talking sweat down your butt crack hot. I’m talking sticky, unpleasant, relentless, late-August HOT! And I don’t know about the rest of you, but it is making me cranky as Hell. If you’ll recall, this time last year, Central Texas was reveling in a wetter-than-normal cooler-than-normal spring filled with gorgeous wildflowers. I don’t think we even hit 100 but a couple of times last year, and it was way later in the summer. But now? The rivers are quickly receding, we’re already on water rationing per the City, and the grass is crispy beneath our feet. To the east of Austin, it’s not quite as bad. To the west, it’s worse. I’m a Texan. I understand “hot,” and normally I can tolerate it. But to have it be so brutal so early in the year (Hell, it’s not even “officially” summer yet), is enough to turn even the toughest Texan into a sweaty, miserable grump.

Now that I’ve gotten THAT out of the way, how was your Father’s Day? Ours was good. BH’s boys were in town with one of their friends. The Geej and I skeedaddled for Saturday and Saturday night so that they could do “dude stuff” without us getting in the way. They fished. They skateboarded. They swam. They grilled. They had a nice time, and BH was a happy guy. I tried to get BH a new grill to replace our crappy one, but the jerks at Lowe’s weren’t helpful (i.e., I couldn’t get anyone to help me lift the huge box the grill I wanted comes in), so he ended up getting a Lowe’s gift card (designated for a grill purchase) instead. Totally unoriginal, I realize, but I know he—and the rest of us—will enjoy it.

Speaking of fathers, I had a funny memory of mine today: I remember when I was about 6-ish—skinny, with a light blonde and VERY unflattering chili bowl haircut—I would go visit my dad at his “Singles Only” swinging 70s apartment complex. His unit was on the ground floor, right in front of the pool. So of course I spent every waking moment of the summer days I was over there swimming. Daddy would lay out by the pool with a cooler of cold Coors and a portable radio next to him and doze all day while I yelled, “Watch this! Watch this! Watch this! Daddy! Watch!” at him about a gazillion times. (As if he might actually be interested in my canon balls or water ballet moves.) But the thing I remembered today was how annoying I was when he’d dare to bring something poolside to read. He’d be checking out the newspaper or a magazine, and I would splash him from the pool, getting whatever he was reading all wet. If THAT didn’t work, then I’d actually get out of the pool and come punch the back of the paper or magazine. And if I still wasn’t getting what I thought was adequate attention from him, I would administer a karate chop to the spine of the reading material that was often times fatal (since whatever it was probably already wet). God, what a brat, right? He would just sigh, light another cigarette and pop open another beer, and watch me for a while until he fell asleep. Those were the days…

And speaking of getting attention: I’m auditioning for a GAME SHOW on Thursday. Seriously, if there were ever a game show a) made for me that b) I might actually have a shot at winning some money on, it’s this one. I’ve never actually WATCHED the show, mind you, but I know the premise, and it taps straight into my special gift/curse, which is remembering a ridiculous amount of song lyrics in my tiny little brain. Remember my aunt’s birthday? No chance. Remember every word to “Right Down the Line” by Gerry Rafferty? I’m you’re gal. I’m actually taking a day off of work and going to the auditions, which are from like 7am to 7pm. If I don't get on the show, at least I’ll have some good people-watching story to tell with you freaks.

Whattaweek.

It's been windy. Hot and freakishly windy most of the week. Today we finally got some rain, but not enough to do anything other than turn things into a sauna outside. Of course the rain came after we soaked our yard on our designated watering day (yesterday).


My blog sort of got "outed" on my Team Leader survey at work. Someone thought I needed to use a bit more discretion when blogging about work. (Hi there, whoever you are!!) Anyway, I've never kept my blog a secret, but I also never went around advertising the fact I had one to folks at work. That is, until this week. I decided to just give it up, and I e-mailed the URL to the entire team because, dear friends, I have nothing to hide.


Speaking of work, things are more nuts than ususal there right now. My team is super busy, and of course everyone (including me) is taking some time off here and there because it's summer vacation season. Also, our company is sort of under a microscope right now for several reasons, and the team I'm on is being asked to create some material to respond to some of what's going on. It's just a lot, and my stomach has been in knots all week about it.


The Geej's last day of school was on Wednesday. She's spent the latter half of this week at Dah's house, but will be coming back tomorrow just in time to attend a classmate's birthday party at some place that's filled with bouncy houses. After the party, I'm going to get my hair did. My roots are (once again) out of control, and I'm looking like a shaggy mess.


But tonight? I'm going to see this guy perform:
And I could REALLY use some comedy by a handsome, cross-dressing British man and a couple of cocktails right about now.

The Salad Days.

Yes, summer is upon us here in the ATX. Big time. Thankfully we've gotten a wee bit of a reprieve from the INSANE humid-laden heat of this past weekend, but still... Spring is over. Around my house that means that there are two things you can count on finding in the fridge: a container of iced tea, ready to be poured, and some salad to eat.

I mentioned a few posts back that I'm on a big main-dish salad making kick right now. I've been using recipes I find in my homemade recipe notebooks (i.e., stuff I've collected from friends or clipped out of magazines over the years) and from the Moosewood Simple Suppers cookbook. For now.

This week I prepared "Potato, White and Green Bean Salad" AND "Southwestern Black Bean Salad" both from the Moosewood book. Don't they look good? They were.

In fact, they were both SUPER yummy the first night they were served and also made insanely good leftovers. Now I'm stressing about what salads I'll make next. Let me know if you have suggestions...

I know I owe y'all a post about Las Vegas and Cher and whatnot, but I'm so flippin' hot and sweaty due to this damn humidity, I can barely think. So, in the meantime, please feast your eyes upon our sweet dawg, Shiloh, beating the heat by slurping up a frozen treat made just for dogs called "Frosty Paws."

Awww...yeah.

Things that are making me very happy at the moment.

The fact that we've gotten quite a bit of rain over the past few days, and everything is green and healthy. Oh yeah, and it's about 15 degrees cooler than normal right now. Freakin' sweet.

This dadgum dog.

Would you PLEASE look at her sweet face?! I just can't stand it sometimes. She is such a sweetpea.

Whole Foods Market's 365 brand popcorn in a bag. Addictive.

The owl house that BH built and put in a tree in the back yard. The welcome lingo was my bit of customization.

The fact that my pre-beach pedicure still looks pretty damn awesome.

Oh and last but not least...MY NEW CAR!!

Holy crap, I'm excited about this little number. As of right now, it's got 21 miles on it, 15 of which I put on it today. I've put the days of the gas guzzling (albeit, comfortable) Murano behind me. Viva la CR-V!

Aahhhhh...

This is what the weather is like in Austin today:

Light breeze.

No humidity. 75 degrees.

The perfect kind of weather to do this, apparently: