2006 Florida Vacation Phase 1: The Wedding

OK I know it has been a long time since I have posted but I have a good excuse: Disney World has very limited internet access. I was a little frustrated by that but also kind of liked being cut off from reality. This post and the next will fill you all in on what I have been up to for the last week, because I am sure you have just been dying to know:). Unfortunately, there are no photos of the wedding because I was too lazy to pull my camera out while we were there but I did get lots of shots of Disney.

On Thursday July 13, CornyT and I arrived in Orlando Florida to begin our week-long Florida vacation. We rented a car at the Orlando (MCO) airport and drove to Jacksonville for our friends’ wedding celebration. We flew to Orlando because following the wedding we are meeting his family back in Orlando for a madcap four days in Disney.

Unfortunately, before we even got on the plane the trip was already a little stressful. The night before the flight, as we were packing, CornyT and I had a small disagreement about his wedding attire. The disagreement was the same squabble that couples have had for time immemorial, I am sure; I thought he should wear a suit, he thought he should wear khakis and a sports jacket. After a lot of bickering and phone calls to other wedding attendees, he decided to wear a suite that was not as fancy as his business pin-stripe suit (which I wanted him to wear) but appropriate for the occasion. This particular grey suit will forever be known as the compromise suit. And by the way at the reception he conceded and said that I was 100% right he would have been out of place in the more casual wear. Woo Hoo 1 for women everywhere;).

Once we got to Jacksonvilleand went to the wedding all the stress of the wardrobe war dissipated and we had a wonderful time with our friends. As soon as we got to town, we had dinner with the bride and groom and our little gang of buddies at a fabulous Thai restaurant and then spent the rest of the evening strolling along the beach and chatting.

The next day I spent the WHOLE day with my dear friend Aimee. That day alone was worth the price of the plane ticket. We bobbed in the Ocean and chatted, we lounged in the pool and hot tub with a few fruity drinks and chatted, and we concluded the whole day with a Heineken on her balcony while, yes you guessed it chatting. All the while our significant others were off writing and chatting at a café (Starbucks). In the evening, we attended a “beach themed” dinner hosted by the groom’s family. The highlight of this event was the interpretive dance the groom’s sister performed to express the couple’s long relationship. When asked earlier in the evening if she were giving a toast, the sister replied “no I am doing an interpretive dance. We, of course, all thought she was joking. She wasn’t. She really did perform an interpretive dance depicting the major events in their relationship. Yes, very strange indeed but kind of oddly sweet as well.

After the dinner, all the “kids” hung out around the beach, drinking and talking and finally found our way back to the hotel at about 2 AM.The next morning I took part in a 10 AM Yoga class the bride arranged for all the guests. It was a really good class and a nice way to start my birthday. Yoga was followed by yummy omelets with all our friends and then swimming in the ocean and sipping margaritas. We then went to the reception where the bride’s father surprised me by announcing my birthday and another guest’s birthday at the beginning of the dinner. I thought it was so sweet of him to mention it and I was so surprised and touched that I didn’t know how to react so I stood up and did a silly little princess wave. I didn’t even realize I was doing it until CornyT whispered, “I like the wave.” Later the bride told me that her father was so relieved he could announce our birthdays because he didn't know what to say when he was handed the mic and he really didn't want to give a speech.

The reception was a blast. Lots of dancing and eating; actually I have to recommend having your birthday the same day as someone else’s wedding because it is such a good excuse to get all dressed up, eat great food, hang out with people in a festive mood, and dance the night away. Of course, that is if you like to do those things. Luckily, those are all some of my favorite things to do.

The next morning we all said our goodbyes at the brunch and CornyT and I headed off to Orlando to meet his parents at Mickey’s house.

GIDDY, GIDDY

Tomorrow, CornyT and I head to Florida for our close friends' wedding followed by a few days in Disney with his siblings and their kiddoes. Right now, I seriously feel like a kid before Christmas. Mostly, I am so excited to hang out with all of our friends at the wedding. Some of these folks we haven't seen in months since they moved away on us and they are just such great people I can't wait to hang out with them. Many pictures and accounts of our exploits will be forthcoming!!

Polka dotted Pug

Yes, I know that a pug theme is developing on my blog. But omigod a pug in a couture dress. She is ready to go to tea. This web site, that I honestly just happened upon, has pages and pages of little dogs in dresses. These poor dogs. The indignity that they suffer. What would really be funny is a picture of a pitbull or a doberman in a little dress.
Vicious, vicious dogs. Beware the dog in a sun dress and ribbons.

Happy Friday

This pup has the right idea!

New Blog

To celebrate the one year anniversary of this blog, I am going with a new look here (as you have probably noticed- what do you think?) and starting a new blog with my sis. You can find this new blog at mamiecorp.blogspot.com. This is of course Mame's blog to record her Americorp experiences that she will be beginning next Tuesday, but as the bossy older sister I insisted that I help her with it.

I am looking forward to helping her share this exciting new phase of her life with her friends and our family. And I can guarantee that her blog will have a lot more substance than my yammering about cute men and web fads.

Adventures in Baltimore

My trip to Maryland was fairly uneventful. The first night the rain was unrelenting and I was very pleased with myself for remembering an umbrella. However, that was the only rainy day and the rest of the week was beautiful and sunny and the umbrella and raincoat took a lot of precious baggage space. The training went very well and everyone was just as nice in person as they have been on the phone. One evening the took me out for drinks and fresh crab. I was so excited to learn how to shell my own crab and to clobber the suckers with the hammer. However, I did not get half-way through my first crab before one of the ladies said "Give me that thing, you are demolishing it" and she subsequently removed all the meat in about 5 seconds. From then on I got all the crab meat I could eat from her and a couple other native Marylanders at the table. The crab meat itself was not a disappointment; it truly was better than any crab I have had before. YUM YUM.
On Saturday, I had some time to kill before my plane left at 5 that afternoon so I tooled around Baltimore proper for a while. Finding Babe Ruth's birthplace and the nearby sports museum was no problem and I was really impressed with the quaint narrow streets and the turn of the century architecture in that area. Once, I had gone through the Babe Ruth House and the Sports Museum (YAWN), I was ready for a little adventure. I was determined to find Edgar Allan Poe's House Museum. I was told it was on a less than desirable part of town but it looked so close to the down town area that I was sure it couldn't be that bad. I was so proud of myself for being able to maneuver the narrow, one way, down town streets and find the street that the museum was on but once I got to the stree I could not find the house at all. All I could find was a couple official looking signs that said "E.A. House this way" with an arrow pointing to an empty lot with a couple dillapidated buildings. The museum was probably amongst that mess of derelict homes but I wasn't sure where I could park and the area didn't really seem friendly. So I just drove on. What a wimp huh? If anyone reading this as ever actually been to the museum leave a comment because I spoke to one of my friends who had the same experience trying to find the place. Poor Poe he died peeniless and his legacy isn't doing too much better in that rough part of Baltimore.

Happy 4th!!

Hope all of you are having a good Independence Day? Apparently I liken independence to pure laziness because I slept REALLY late and now I am just laying around the bed in my pjs, surfing the net, reading and doing nothing really all that productive. Our holiday is going to be kind of quiet. We don't have any plans and just having one day off in the middle of the week makes any travel plans hard. I think we are just going to continue the big lazy-fest and maybe venture outside to see Superman and make some hamburgers. We probably should have hosted a bbq here at the house but sometimes a low key holiday isn't bad too. Sunday the neighbors had us over for a bbq and beers, so we have done some socializing in celebration of the good ole' US. It was very fun to go to a party right next door- WE could just jump over the fence when we were ready to go home.

Anybody got a row boat I can borrow?

Tomorrow, I head off for a week long business trip to sunny Baltimore MD and from what I can tell I may need to pack my suit, my pearls, and my water-wings. Holy-apocalyptic-downpour batman- it is nasty over there right now. Oh well, I am a fair swimmer. Actually, I am looking forward to the trip. The client I am training is super nice, we always have a blast on the phone together- she definitely sounds like someone who knows how to have a good time. I can't wait to meet her in person. Also, as it always is with me when I travel, I am very excited to try the local delicacy. So I see a lot of butcher paper, hammers, and crab in my very near future. Plus who wouldn't find pounding their dinner with a hammer FUN and cathartic? Also, I am not flying out until Saturday evening and I plan to play all day in the Baltimore puddles. Edgar Allan Poe and the Bambino hung there hats in the downtown area, so I think I will check out there homes and if the biblical flood has subsided I may just wonder around the wharf till it is time to head back to the blazing Texas sun. Stay tuned for a lot of gray photos.

Sonic Youth

On Friday, CornyT and I saw Sonic Youth at Stubbs BBQ, a restaurant and outdoor amplitheatre. When I saw the tickets for such a reasonable price I was so excited and I didn't think about the show being at an outside stage mid-JUNE. OH boy was it hot. The music was great but I was so hot I barely felt like moving or yelling. And the heat really wouldn't have been that bad if you weren't elbow-to-elbow with a ton of other sweaty. squirmy people. Yuck. You could tell the heat was getting to both CornyT and I because we kept moving to different parts of the theatre to get away from annoying people. Our favorite was some guy who kept screaming "Chapel Hill!" For the rest of the night CT whispered Chapel Hill to me, cracking me up every time.

Kim Gordon however (one of the lead singers) didn't let the heat get here down. She danced and sang like crazy. She was a lot of fun to watch and really gave the show a lot of energy. I am glad I saw them live but I think I will wait until fall before I go to another outdoor show in Austin.

Whale Story

This posting is another of those "check-out-the-cool-stuff-I-found-on-the-internet" entries. Just be glad I am not clogging your email accounts with the sap I am about to share with you. My coworker sent this note to me after I told her a story I recently read about biologists who observed a small school of dolphin swimming in a fashion that can only be described as a procession, surrounding a mother dolphin caring a deceased calf on her back. The biologists were so moved they stopped following the dolphins out of respect. In response, my coworker sent the following story (I didn't write it) and she definitely wins the "cool-animal-story-of-the-day" award. The link takes you to the original article which is a more detailed account of the story below and well worth reading.

"If you read the front page story of the SF Chronicle on Thursday, Dec 14, 2005, you would have read about a female humpback whale who had become entangled in a spider web of crab traps and lines. She was weighted down by hundreds of pounds of traps that caused her to struggle to stay afloat. She also had hundreds of yards of line rope wrapped around her body-her tail, her torso, a line tugging in her mouth. A fisherman spotted her just east of the Farralone Islands (outside the Golden Gate) and radioed an environmental group for help.

Within a few hours, the rescue team arrived and determined that she was so bad off, the only way to save her was to dive in and untangle her-a very dangerous proposition. One slap of the tail could kill a rescuer.

They worked for hours with curved knives and eventually freed her. When she was free, the divers say she swam in what seemed like joyous circles. She then came back to each and every diver, one at a time, and nudged them, pushed them gently around-she thanked them. Some said it was the most incredibly beautiful experience of their lives. The guy who cut the rope out of her mouth says her eye was following him the whole time, and he will never be the same."

Vroom Vroom

This weekend CornyT and I capped off our fairly busy weekend by catching the lastest Pixar hit, Cars. Once again, Pixar has wowed me with their breathe taking animation and endearing characters. However, that being said I think this is not as good as the other Pixars and I was really disappointed that one of the voice actors was Larry the Cable Guy, I hate that guy. Paul Newman was fantastic as the wise and jaded old race car and the SUV boot camp and the "movies" is HIGH-larious. For the last few days we have been on a Pixar kick now and have re-watched a bunch of them including Finding Nemo, which by the way is a good movie. When I saw it the first time in the theatres I really wasn't all that taken with it. I thought it was kind of boring and over-hyped. All I can think is that because it followed Monster's Inc which I saw 3 times in the theatre I was expecting a lot from this movie. Anyway, I loved Finding Nemo this time around. I laughed, I worried about Dorie and the jellyfish and Nemo in the Dentist's net. Good times.

Maceo Parker Rocks

Friday CornyT and I had a nice date-night. We had vegetarian-fed burgers at Huts, went for a walk around down-town, had coffee at Halcyon, played connect four while sipping our coffee, and then headed to the Antone's to catch the Maceo Parker show. Such a nice, active night on the town. CornyT heard from an old friend that Maceo put on the best show ever and I love James Brown so when we heard he was coming into town we were very interested in seeing his famous saxophonist in person. And boy am I glad we did. What a show! What a performer! And "What about the band" you might ask. Well they were amazing.(when Maceo wanted the audience to "give it up" for the band he would say "What about the band..." with absolute authority and power and of course the audience would go crazy.) The music was fantastic but the showmanship and charisma of Maceo was equally entertaining. He is SO cool and so good looking too, especially for a 64 year-old man. Talk about aging well. He honestly looked no older than 40. His trombone player was also cool personified, handsome, and talented. The only drawback of the show was I found the audience really annoying. One psycho girl who confused shadow boxing with dancing smacked me in the stomach, some guy crushed my foot, and lots of people talked while Maceo sang slow Ray Charles songs jerks. We did have the pleasure of witnessing a lovers quarrel. A woman started slow dancing with this guy next to us and half way through the song some other guy grabs her around the waste and pulls her from her partner. Apparently, she came with the guy who pulled her away but just got caught up in the melodies of Maceo. Pretty funny. Anyway, I highly recommend seeing Maceo if you ever get a chance. He does put on a hell of a show and looks fantastic in a suit.

Our own rally

Now SD, you may feel pretty special with your internationaly known motorcycle rally but believe it or not we have our own rally here in Texas. The Republic of Texas (ROT) rally is not as big as the Sturgis rally but I heard it is competitive. Most of the rally takes place outside of Austin on a large private ranch but they do have a parade on Congress street on the opening night. CornyT of course were there in our leather chaps and vintage choppers admiring all the hogs.

Crafty Gals Night

On Wednesday, I had about 8 ladies over for an evening of crafts and chatting. A few months ago, I spent an evening making mosiac coasters at a girlfriend;s house and thought it was so fun I wanted to do it again. So, when I decided I wanted to have a little party to get to know some of my neighbors and other ladies I have meant recently I thought I would throw a mosaic making party as a way of breaking the ice. The one thing I didn't know when I sent out the invitations was that craft stores don't sell pre-made plaster coasters for mosaics. No, they sell the plaster and the molds of course but you have to make them yourself. Luckily, I realized this on Sunday and the party was on Wednesday so I had plenty of time to make the forms and let them dry. Also, this new-fangled plaster that dries in the microwave also saved time and I was able to get about 20 coasters done by WEd night. Overall, I think the night was a resounding success. Everyone seemed to have a nice little coaster to take home with them and the conversation was lively and constant. I think I am going to throw another of these craft parties but I will do a slightly tidier craft next time. There were a lot dirty hands and muck on the table (luckily I put down paper). The same friend who inspired the coaster making told me she has all the materials to make wine charms. Wouldn't that be fun? Cute, practical, quick and there probably won't be any lines to the sink to wash the gunk off your hands. Oh and I imagine craft stores sell wire and charms that I won't have to forge myself:).

Kay-yakity-yaking

Last Saturday, CornyT and I went kayaking with my Big Brothers Big Sisters networking and fundraising group, GAIN. The event was designed to give our members something fun to do together and to drum up more interest in the group. I think we achieved both goals and we definitely had a blast as a group. The only draw back was CornyT and I discovered we are terrible kayakers. WE spent a lot time knocking into the bank and trying to go into a straight line like everyone else in the group. The guide from the kayak rental dock was so nice and even hung around behind trying to help us. We actually had a great time chatting with her. She was a greek immigrant earning her PhD in microbiology at UT and really friendly. I was glad we were so bad because we got to get to know her better. She was even so nice as to tell us that the type of kayak we were in a sit-inside, two person were the hardest to steer. I am sure normal people have no problem with but CornyT are a little rowing challenged. Oh well it got us outside in the warm sun meeting people so I can't complain.

Give me my MTV

Or just all the 80s videos I could want, anytime I want them. That's right all of you children of the 80 who are jonesing to see Tawni Kitaen gyrate on a sports car, Donnie Wahlberg croon in a weird Cosby-esque sweater, or Jon Bon Jovi soulfully "Living on a Prayer" this is the website tailored made for you http://www.milinkito.com/los80.php
A word of warning though, this can be a major time suck. Oh Oh CornyT just put George Michael "I want your sex" on...ooh I haven't seen that video in ages.

Lostie Hotties

WARNING: My truly superficial nature is revealed in this post.
If you surf the web looking for info about the hit show Lost, you will find volumes of commentary regarding the "numbers", the "Others", the Hanso foundation, and many, many other little mysteries they have thrown in to tease viewers. I love all the mystery stuff and am always craving new clues. But I am not too proud to say that the hotties also do a lot to keep me tuned in every week. That Oceanic Airlines flight from Sydney to LA was packed full of pretty people. Have you ever been on a plane with that many gorgeous people?- that is the first clue that something supernatural was up with that plane:). Anyway, I was thinking that there is just not enough chit chat (at least that I have read) about how frickin cute those guys are.
So, please indulge me while I pollute our fine dsl lines with my girlish giggles about all those rippling muscles and charming smiles on ABC. First there are the Calvin Cline models turned castaways like Sawyer and Boone (sadly Boone does not grace the island with his exquisite cheek bones anymore). Boone didn't really do much for me- WAY too pretty- and Sawyer is also a little too traditionally handsome but there are moments when he's all cranky and rugged looking that I can really appreciate. This leads me to my FAVORITES. First, Ecko- holy moly (he he- he kind of plays a priest)that is a hell of a man and that accent- phew. I just love to listen to him talk. And up until this past finale Sayid was my HANDS-DOWN favorite. This actor first got my attention in the English Patient where he played the bomb difuser, Kip. Best part of the movie for me- yes he is a good actor too- I am not THAT shallow. Then I didn't see him for years until he showed up on Lost. And I just have to say he doesn't look arabic at all but that is ok he is still super, super hot. But as I mentioned his position as my fave has been usurped and the new champ is Desmond. Ah brother, that accent, that curly hair, that prominent nose. Oh I did love this finale with lots of Desmond. OK I better get back to work I just wanted to get all that girly gushing out for all the world to know how shallow I am.

Sis's Big News

On Tuesday, I was lucky enough to be here when my sis got the big news that she was accepted by Americorp and would be "shipping out" to South Carolina on July 11 for 10 months of volunteering and community development. Now, many of you are no doubt scratching your head's and asking "Wait, a minute here, I thought you said she was going to Sweden in August?" Liar!" Well, originally her plan for this coming year was to join Americorp but they had no funding and were going to have to start in January leaving her with a semester of more boring old classes here in SD. So, knowing that she wanted to something a little more that just take classes here I strong-armed her into applying for a study-abroad position and she was subsequently accepted to Sweden. However, yesterday we learned that Americorp has tentative funding (cross your fingers that the funding doesn't get cut) and that she was accepted into the program. Therefore, since Americorp actually grants you money for school after you have completed the program and Sweden costs twice as much as a regular semester here, the decision to ditch Sweden and shop for work gloves was kind of a no-brainer. I am so excited for her (ok a little bummed I won't be spending Thanksgiving in Sweden but just a little:). This is going to be a fantastic experience for her. Congrats sisterino!!

The rest of the vacation

Last Thursday's gratuitous, pampering fest was one of many great days here in SD. Friday I spent with my sister. We played tourist in the kitschy town of Keystone, buying taffy, personalized cowgirl belts (well sis did) and having our photo taken dressed as wild, gun-toting, fearsome cowgirls (in big, toothy grins). My favorite part was definitely dressing up my least favorite part was looking at all my bad pictures. Sepia makes me look like I have a moustache. Anyway, we took a ton of pictures and had so much fun browsing around the shops. We then had lunch in RC's only Indian restaurant, which was mild but very tasty and affordable. After lunch she had to go to work and I hung out around home watching cable; a treat for me because we don't have cable at home. My parents are always so nice when I come here and indulge my Animal Planet obsession. However, this time I found a new obsession: the Dog Whisperer on National Geographic. Somehow I lucked into the Dog Whisperer marathon and watched at least 1/2 dozen episodes over my stay here. CornyT will be happy because now I won't make him put it on the net flicks queue. Anyway, needless to say I am a Cesar Milan fan now and am sold on the calm, assertive method of handling your dog.
Mom and I spent the evening at an uncle's house chatting, playing with their adorable ferret Josie and watching my 12 year-old cousin ride a unicycle. This kid is crazy; he can hopp and ramp on a unicycle. I asked them if they had reached their insurance deductible yet this year.
Saturday we had a picnic at a nearby lake with family and Sunday we hiked Harney peak. Harney is the highest peak in the Black Hills area at 7000 feet. Obviously, at 7000 feet it wasn't a very hard hike but my legs were still a little sore the next day. Afterwards we hiked around breath-taking Sylvan lake and watched people repel up the rock faces. We got home at about 6 and spent the rest of the night vegged-out in front of the TV: i.e. Dog Whisperer and remodeling shows. Monday we had a proper Memorial Day celebration with a big BBQ here at Mom and Dad's with LOTS of family and LOTS of grilled burgers and dogs. Followed by another evening of vegging out and chatting. So all in all it has been a relaxing yet busy vacation and I am sad it is coming to an end.

Girl's Day Out

For some reason, I awoke at an ungodly hour on this, my last day of vacation. Maybe subconsciously I am trying to prolong this last day of relaxation. Anyway, I thought I should use this time constructively and catch up on the last week of blogging. A week ago, I arrived here in SD and spent the day with my Mom. We bought flowers, planted them and then visited my Grandparents. Such a nice day was followed by the long awaited spa day with my cousin. It is rare when you plan a day and it goes off without a hitch but this girl's day out with my cuz did it exactly that. Nothing got in the way; no unexpected emergencies to ruin our perfect little retreat. We started with coffee and chatting at a local cafe, then moved on to the local beauty school for a pedicure. For that one person who reads this blog and does not live in SD, I highly recommend finding a beauty school near you and getting your pedicures there. They are at least half the price of a regular spa and it is harder to mess a pedicure up then say a haircut. I had a fantastic student who gave the best leg massages do mine. Oh how I love pedicures. After the pedicure we had lunch at a local hotel. A dark little, almost cavernous eatery were I imagined all kinds of lunch time trysts have occurred. We gosipped about family and munched on clubs...mmm bacon. After lunch we had a little time to kill, so we browsed around down-town shops where I bought the cutest pair of bejeweled flip-flops for over 70% off. Like an old friend of mine used to say, "'70% off' is my favorite phrase!" After the shopping coupe, we headed to the Spa for the high-light of the day: an hour-long massage. If our day were a rock show, this massage would have been the headlining act! Ah it was amazing. She did this amazing face rub with her fore arms that was just so, so nice. I wish I could have another one right now. Like any good climatic event there must be a dénouement and ours was heading over for the very early happy hour at our favorite bar for a glass of wine/beer and lots of water. Yeah drinking after a massage isn't as fun as it sounds neither one of us actually finished our drinks. We felt too dehydrated and believe it or not beat. Relaxing is exhausting work.
As if this day was not great enough, I came home to my Mom making my very favorite meal in the world (vermicelli and rice) followed by a homemade rhubarb pie! How did I get so lucky to have such a wonderful family. As I write this I am so bummed I will be heading back home in just a couple of hours.

Trip to the big D

This weekend was our friend's couple's wedding shower in Dallas as one of the many celebrations surrounding their wedding this summer. To celebrate the happy event they are having approximately three showers, one wedding ceremony in California, one wedding reception in Florida (a month later), and another reception in Dallas in December:). Whew wedding chaos. I don't envy all the planning and the negotiations they have to make. Anyway, we unfortunately won't be able to make the ceremony in CA but we are going to the Florida one and I was very excited to see them both in Dallas this weekend. Luckily, I was able to go with a close mutual friend of ours whose mother lives in Dallas- in a fabulous, rennovated old house I might add. So, my drive and my accomodations were covered. CornyT, unfortunately, was not able to make it because he has a tight deadline on his story-collection. He missed a great time though. We started the night off with yummy mexican food and great conversation, then we moved off for a few drinks at a local bar and finished the night in my friend's back yard overlooking a picturesque lake sipping great wine and playing fetch with the best golden retriever puppy ever. Oh little Della, she was so sweet. Now I am more than ever sold on gettiing a golden retriever. In fact, I am really glad that I spent time with her because it made me realize I really do enjoy being with dogs and I am not just infatuated with their cuteness. I really crave their company. The cat is just not satisfying my snuggling with a furry creature needs.



The last highlight of the trip was a quaint store outside of WACO called the Style Station. Picture a run-down 1940's era filling station meets a 2nd hand clothing store. It was definitely every hipster's dream; All the snappy shirts, cowboy boots, retro dresses, Pan Am bags, and custom clothes a cool Austinite could ask for. Oh and all for reasonable prices, I might add. None of that inflated to 50 billion dollars because it is "cool" crap. The only draw back for me at least that everything was about two sizes too big. Oh well it's probably good- could I really pull off a snappy shirt converted into a skirt along with a Pan Am bag? No, no I am too much of a nerd through and through. Well excuse me now Star Trek is on. :)

Trip to the Vetty Vet

Now I just can't understand why Livia runs away from me all the time and tries to take a chunk out of my face when I want to snuggle. It isn't like I don't know how to show her a good time or treat her well. In fact, just the morning I woke up with her bright and early (ugh 7 on a Saturday), fed her full of kibble and then stuffed her in a box and jammed her in the front seat of my car with all it's loud noises and jostling motion. And I know she just loved it because who wouldn't love getting so nervous they pee and then being slid around in your own urine for a good 15 minutes. Good times. Then just to prove to her that I was a loving and caring owner, I took her out of the box and let some other humans shove thermometers up her butt and poke her with needles not once but yes, three times. I mean geez, what did you do this morning? I bet you didn't have as much fun as Livia.
Poor kitty. She's healthy though and hopefull won't get kitty AIDS or rabies.

Book Club and other reads IV

At last nights book club we had what I think might have been the biggest turn out in our little club's two and half year history: 8 people. And I have to say the old adage, "the more the merrier" really applies in this instance. We all sat under our hostess, Donna's carport in a big circle, munched on yummy finger food like deviled eggs, green olive spread, and bean quesadillas, (while the mosquitos munched on us)and chatted endlessly about the three Brendan O'Carrol books we read. Honestly, I think this is the most we have actually talked about a book in months. I was also pleased that I actually brought a new addition to the book club myself. Typically, my friend C does a great job of populating our group with her wonderful real estate clients but this time I was able to contribute to the group by coaxing my neighbor to join us. I think she enjoyed herself. At least, I hope she did. There are two other women in our area that are in the book club so we all car pooled together and I tried really hard not to talk too much about the book until we actually got to the meeting. The opinion about the books were kind of split amongst the members. Some people really loved them and like me some people really hated them. To be fair, I thought the second book was better than first but they still both annoyed me. The first one, The Mammy, was entirely too contrived, poorly written, and sentimental. Anything bad that might happen to this family is quickly resolved by something sweet and fairly implausible occurring just in time. Please don't think I am one of those people who just likes sad, miserable stories, I appreciate a nice happy ending on occasion. But that happy ending must be earned and believable. Needless to say, I can not recommend these books. That being said they may be fine books for young children. They are very simple to read and the message is wholesome and hopeful.
The upside to the sappy Irish books were they were such fast reads I was able to squeeze in a book I actually wanted to read this month. When we think of technology and all benefits it can bring us we must also consider the moral dillemas and responsibilities they also introduce. In fact, there have always been rumors that Einstein had many more ideas even greater than the theory of relativity and the thinking that led to the bomb , such as cloning. However, after Nagasaki and Hiroshima he refused to share those ideas because he felt human-kind wasn't ready for them. Now I am sure this is an apocryphal story but the book I just finished, Never Let Me Go, by Kazuo Ishiguro presents us with a world were cloning was developed and used for the eradication of disease. I won't go into the details because that does give away some of the beauty of the book and I think this is a book worth reading. However, I don't want to be misleading you will not be horrified with some appalling, sci-fi reality and big mysteries at the end. In fact, this book never mentions the details of the science and I think it only mentions the clone word once. What the author is more interested is more subtle questions about coping with loss, forming bonds and well essentially what does it mean to be human. If you choose to read this book I recommend reading this review
after because it beautifully explores what this book is about a lot better than I can. I have also been listening to the Teaching Company's lecture on the Great Ideas of Psychology. Fascinating stuff- oh I am such a nerd.
For next month's book club we are reading Collapse by Jared Diamond. Apparently this book explores why some civilizations through history collapsed while others thrived and apparently theorizes on the signs of a culture near collapse. I think we should get a good turn out for this book because it is an interesting topic and Jared Diamond is really popular right now. This will be my second Diamond book in one year. Luckily, I am getting on CD; it is like 50 billion pages long.
Happy Reading

One Week till Girl's Day

As I sit here, taking a quick break from power points and business processes it just occurred to me that in only one week I will be breathing in the sweet, perfumed air of my favorite spa instead of this canned, cubicle air that I swear is making my eyes, itchy and runny. I feel like a rheumy, old cat with cataracts. Oh how I have been looking forward to next week. I am also feeling SO distracted and a little cranky. I really need some time to just regroup and have my feet and shoulders rubbed. AHHHH. Don't get me wrong, I am excited about my WHOLE trip up to good ole' SD but I am really looking forward to the time I will spend with my two favorite gals. You know who you are. So I just keep telling myself I will be a much better, focussed, friendly person after next week.

Man of your dreams for only $30

The alternate title for this post could be "What you can get me for Christmas:)"
Ok it is official my blog is one of those pathetic collections of "hey look what I found on the web". I just can't resist though. There are so many funny and cute things on the web worth sharing. One definitely being this charming cake pan available at a French cookware site. My favorite thing about this pan is that his undone top jean button- nice touch. This would be fabulous for bridal showers or hell for bookclubs, or christmas or just cause. If you want an extra laugh read the description- "Get out your man of your dreams of your furnace and invite your friends to nibble!" Would you like a nibble ladies?

Nell Newman is my new hero

This past Christmas, CornyT and I spent a week at his brother and sister-in-law's place in the San Francisco area. While we were there we could not help notice how their kitchen was dominated by organic products. Almost everything you could shove into your kisser was prefaced with that panacea organic. Recently, I thought I would investigate this whole organic nonsense and determine for myself if there was more to this than a fancy marketing trick to manipulate the middle-class. Plus for some strange reason I have become obsessed with getting the freshest, best tasting foods I can get my hands on so I have been interested if organic is different from traditionally grown products. In this quest to understand what constitutes an Organic product and if the organic label is really more than just a status symbol stamped on my food, I discovered Nell Newman. Nell Newman is so sensible. Not only is she the scion of Hollywood power couple, Paul Newman and Joanne Woodwarde, she is also an established animal conservationist and scientist and just a practical, down-to-earth gal. Her book Newman's Own Organics Guide to a Good Life is a sensible guide to living responsibly in the modern world. She never suggests that you drastically change your life and be some kind of annoying, self-righteous tree-hugger chastising your friends for using styro-foam. Her book is chock full of simple, practical ways to be a little more conservative with our resources.
So, all that being said it is still hard to know if Organic is really organic - no pesticides, veg fed beef, - or just a marketing ploy because there is a lot of money to be made on manipulating consumers buying habits. This site can help make some sense of the various organic labels. Also, Walmart has decided there may be something to this organic thing (that something being a way to make more money, of course) so we may see more and more organic labels on our food. This will of course make it harder and harder to determine if this food is really worth the extra price. Anyway, after reading Ms. Newman's fantastic book and all the websites I can crunch in a lunch hour or while watching movies with CornyT on the couch, I still am not buying much organic food from the supermarket. What we are doing now is visiting our local farmer's market every Saturday and for not much more than grocery store prices buying the most delicious strawberries, garlic, pork and lots of other yummy things. There is nothing like a strawberry picked two hours before you plop it in your mouth. YUM YUM!

School's Out for Summer, School's out for EVER

Well, maybe not for ever, we'll see about that. But for now the grades are in and Tuesday and Thursday nights are now mine again. (Not to mention weekends and early mornings.) I am as excited as a bulldog on a skateboard:)!! Oh how I have been looking forward to writing this post. In fact, every time some kid told me they couldn't find their paper, or they had to leave class early because they had diarrhea the Grand Funk Rail Road song - Oops not GFRR it is actually an Alice Cooper song, thanks anonymous poster and sorry Alice- referred to in this title played in my head.

Although, I do have to admit the end is a little bitter sweet. I will miss talking and working with them. They genuinely were nice kids. Last time I taught it felt a little silly to refer to my students as kids because most of them were only a year or two younger than me and some were even older. Not this time though. No, this time I was a good 10 to 12 years older than them and I could legitimately call them young whipper-snappers and tell them lots of stories about the fabled "business world". Last time I just made guesses about what went on in the "real world" this time I could equip them with accurate and useful information Or at least I hope. In graduate school, I would give my teaching a C- or a D. This time around I think I get a B-. Pretty good improvement I think. They have asked me if I wanted to teach again next semester if a spot is available at night and if there is I guess I will do it again. I am glutton for punishment and I liked the extra money.

Oh and by the way just to clarify the diarrhea excuse is by no means an embellishment. I really had someone tell me that. Kids!

Save Us Wonder Woman

Well this week has been nothing but one frustration after another with adjusters, appraisers, and body shops. Help us Wonder Woman!

Proud to be a girl

Last week, my Big Brothers Big Sisters, little Sister (who I will call C) and I attended a girl talk seminar with a handfull of other "Big" and "Little" sisters at a local coffee shop. For those not ensconced in the Big Brothers Big Sisters culture, we grown ups are always referred to as "Bigs" and the kiddoes are always referred to as "Littles". Often at these functions you will hear an adult say "my little loves it when I take her to a pizza buffet." Anyway, the seminar was led by the Torch Light Society, a UT woman's organization and the goal was to foster empowerment and independence. I thought for sure C would be bored and think it was hokey. She hated the teen pregnancy awareness seminar we went to and they even served free food at that one. But much to my surprise she loved it. I did too for that matter. The seminar included discussions about why it was great to be a girl (great clothes, fun hairstyles, smarter than boys), things we can do now that we could not do 30 or 40 years ago, 10 things I like about myself and we analyzed ads for messages about body image. Anyway, we had a lot of fun exploring our girl-ness and I was so impressed that they were able to keep my 13 year old little's attention and teach her a little something while having fun.

We have had better weekends

This Saturday started off wonderfully. We got up early. I cleaned the kitchen, did some writing, and then we mowed and edged. So nice and productive. We felt so good about ourselves getting an early start we decided to run some errands and maybe treat ourselves to a movie. But OH NO that wasn't in the cards for us. We pop in the car, pull out of the garage, notice the porch light was left on stop and turn it off, check the mail and then start on our merry way and then BOOM- some cherry red PT Cruiser hits us on the side as we make a left turn one house down from ours. Oh I should clarify this PT cruiser was behind us. We can't figure out what he was doing and we were already in traffic- CornyT look before he pulled away from the curb. He claimed he just didn't see us but I don't understand we were in front of him. We are still confused. Anyway, poor CornyT, he felt so terrible even though I kept telling him it wasn't his fault. The cops didn't give anyone a ticket, which is kind of unfortunate because we now have to wait for the insurance companies to figure out who was at fault. The cops claimed it wasn't their job to determine who is at fault but I always thought that was exactly their job. Oh well what do I know? I also thought for some weird reason you were suppose to leave the cars in the place they were hit unless it was really obstructing traffic but I was soundly told by one of them that was in fact illegal. Well needless to say the rest of the day was kind of blown. We just stayed home, watched Mr. and Mrs. Smith and ate strawberry shortcake. I wasn't such a fan of the movie but I loved the dessert. Hopefully it will all work out for CornyT in the end and the most important thing is everyone involved is OK.

To all children of the 80's

do you remember these? That's right, it is a bubble skirt and indeed they are back on the racks. You couldn't imagine my surprise as I was browsing Kohl's for cuffed capris and gauchos in the young miss section and wondered across a flouncy, bubble skirt for a mere $8.00. No, I didn't buy it and yes, I know I am just deluding myself by even walking in the young miss section at my advanced age:) of almost 32. I did however stare at it for at least three minutes in sheer disbelief that they were actualy selling these skirts again. What's next? Girl's in ankle socks and pumps or jelly shoes. Oh god please not jelly shoes:)! Honestly though, when I gave away my last bubble skirt in 1987 I thought for sure I had seen the last of them. Well, long live the bubble skirt and may it accentuate all those shapely, twenty-something calves.

Book Club and other reads III

Book club was this past Friday. Once again, I thought I would share with you what we read and the other things I have read this past month. This was our first Friday bookclub and although it was a little quiet, because most of our fellow bookclubbers actually have lives and could not attend, I really enjoyed the festive feel. The weather was nice (meaning it wasn't 160 billion degrees) so we spent the evening enjoying quesadillas, quiche and chaampagne on our hostess' new screened in deck. This month we read Terry Pratchett's Night Watch. A fantasy novel about a time-traveling cop who helps a town insurrection and teaches his younger self a few tricks. Despite this being book number 27 in a series it was easy to get into and I didn't find the fantasy aspects distracting (trying to remember if dwarves and hairy and if elves are nice can be tiresome). In fact, I thought the intricate plot was relevant to today's political and social climate. Plus, it was an entertaining, quick read. Giving me time to read other things this month. The draw back of the book was it didn't really lend itself to much discussion. This surprised me because of it's vaguely political subject matter but it must have been the bubbly because all I could really think to say was "boy do I wish I could give my younger self some advice" and "pass the quiche please." Grand words of literary insight indeed.
The other fantasy/children's series I have been reading or I should say listening to this month is the Phillip Pullman trilogy, His Dark Materials. After book one and two (The Golden Compass and the Subtle Knife) I was sure these were the best children's novels I had ever read. A few months ago I told you how I was obsessed over Harry Potter and counting the hours at work until I could get home and read more of that book. Well if you thought that was obsessive that was nothing. With this book I snuck out at lunch to listen to it in the car and would not stop talking about how plucky Lyra and Will were... poor cornyT. Unfortunately, the third book is a bit of a disappointment. There are few things more frustrating in a story than watching the story take a forced turn that makes little sense. Yes, I am way too invested in these stories but I couldn't help yelling at my stereo "why do you have to do that- it makes no sense." I am a goof. Anyway, these books have been characterized as the anti-Chronicles of Narnia, and I think that is accurate. I also wouldn't recommend reading the 2nd and the 3rd books to your kiddoes but with all that being said I am so happy I read this imaginative and ambitious series.
In the category of be thankful for your cushy life, I read One day in the LIfe of Ivan Denisovich and Persepolis. The first a novel depicting a day in 1950's era Russian gulag and the other is a graphic novel about a young girl growing up during the Iranian Revolution. Both were very moving and important books and fulfill one of favorite requirements of reading - expose me to a world I would not know otherwise.
Next month I will tell you about the wacky adventures of an Irish widow and their scrawny kiddoes.
Happy reading.

Cute Addicted

During lunch the other day, as I was absently surfing the web, while slurping ramen, my pulse began to quicken, my palms became clammy, and continuous squeals of glee could be heard from my cube. I had stumbled across the web site of my dreams, and quite possibly found my calling in life...cutetologist! Cuteoverload.com makes me SO happy- it's like animal planet without the cable bill.

For a day or two, I was conflicted about mentioning cuteoverload here because by revealing the source of all this cuteness to everyone on my email list all the fun derived by mailing out little gems, such as these two little guys (look at those faces)
may be diminished. But I just couldn't keep all this adorable, scrumptious cuteness to myself. Although the cute critters are key to this site, the clever writing and professional web design make the site even more appealing (if that is even possible). I don't know about you, but I just like my baby penguins in sweaters to have a little dignity. (Yes there is such a picture on this website.) The organizer of this well organized, nicely presented, website has turned the presentation of fuzzy, adorable faces into a quantifiable science. In fact, she has established the rules of cute and even has a glossary of cute terms. So, when you see me again and I say "that made me barf rainbows" or "that dress is SO prosh" you will know what I am talking about. Of course, you will also now know what I am doing with every spare minute I have on the internet, especially when I am down.

One more funny thing about this website; Last night at bookclub I told everybody, "I have found this website that I am a little ashamed to admit I love" and before I could even finish one of my fellow bookclubbers said "Cuteoverload? I love that site." CornyT was just a little ashamed of us when I told him that story. But let me ask you, who, WHO could resist these faces.

Easter Brunch

I hope everyone had a nice Easter. I wish I could have spent it with every one of you. We had a quiet but lovely Easter. We invited another couple over and had a low-key brunch together. In the past, I have made a enormous production out of Easter dinner but this year I didn't feel up to a big affair but I wanted to do something. It just doesn't feel right if you don't make a ham on Easter. So, I made a ham, a pasta salad and a carrot cake and our friends brought over grilled asparagus wrapped in bacon, the most amazing roasted potatoes and bread. Oh it was so yummy. The pasta salad and the carrot cake were new recipes. A risky thing for a dinner-party I know, but luckily they turned out ok. I was especially happy with the pasta salad, a really easy and elegant spring pasta salad with some of my favorite things; kalamata olives, tomatoes, and capers. Now I know what to bring to the next pot luck I am invited to. The carrot cake I thought was a little dry but CornyT said it was good- just like a good boyfriend should.

Have a great Easter 

The wonders of Blogs

After finishing both Freakonomics and the Tipping Point earlier this year, I was fascinated about how the authors of both books might respond to their obviously contradictory arguments. What was even more perplexing to me was Malcolm Gladwell gave the book a glowing review when Levitt and Dubner argued against one of Gladwell's key arguments, specifically the broken window theory. Was Gladwell given a different book to read and review, did they edit his real comment and just print the flattering section, like sometimes occurs in movie reviews? Five, ten years ago, I am sure I would not so easily have the answers to these questions. I would have had to wait for Gladwell to publish his next book or happen to catch his response in the New Yorker, but today if I have questions about something I go to Google. And that is just what I did. Actually, I was simply curious about Gladwell and googled his name, found his blog and the current posting was "Thoughts on Freakonomics." From there I was directed to their response and voila...dialog. Now I am obsessed with both blogs, especially the Freakonmomics blog because they update it more often. So, these blogs are opening up a dynamic dialog that makes writers more accessible to readers and vice versa. But it is getting late and I am blabbering.

Friday Walks

CornyT and I are creating a regular Friday night tradition of walking. Last Friday it was Town Lake this week we found a new hiking spot. The Austin Park's websites claims Austin is a town within a Park and as we hiked through Blunn Creek Reserve off South Congress, one of the main arteries of Austin and could barely hear the traffic,I agreed with their claim. The only drawback to the hike was the nagging reminder of the comming Texas summer. Here it is only April but it definitely felt like the low 90s. Ugh I guess Austin would be too perfect if the weather was nice all year long too.

Posting

Earlier today I noticed something on the Comments setting. I think that if you want to post a comment without registering through Blogger.com you can do so by just selecting the Anonymous option on the Posting window. Because I am already registerd so it is difficult for me to test if this accurate. I was wondering if someone I know could check this for me and tell me if they can post to the blog without registering by selecting Anonymous.

Walks

I have decided this weekend that talking while taking walks is probably my favorite way to communicate. Friday night we took a long walk around Town Lake (which is surprisingly not busy on Friday, like people have lives or something) and then last night we took our routine walk to the post office and I just love the rhthym of walking and talking- nothing is more relaxing. Some of my fondest memories of college are of morning walks with one of my close friends; we probably woke up neighborhoods with our giggling but it was the best!

Funny things often happen while you are walking too. Last night, we heard a little tinkle, tinkle come our way and then a medium size animal barreled in front of us. At first, we assumed it was a small dog by the way it came running towards us but then we realized it was a large cat with a little jingle bell on his collar. He was the sweetest thing, stopped and let us pet him and purred. After we had gotten our fill of kitty sweetness, we continued along on our way but the kitty did not have enough and sure enough he was following us. At first we thought it was cute; we would stop, he would stop, we would pet, he would purr, but then we worried he would get lost if he followed us all the way so we didn't want to egg him on. We didn't look back but that wasn't too much of a deterrant because, jingle, jingle he was behind us almost the whole way. He certainly was the cutest cat I have run across in a while and the most dog-like. I don't have to tell you that I wish Livia was like that. And as if to confirm what a stinker cat she is or to punish me for giving another cat attention she took an unprovoked swat at my face shortly after we got home. Ugh, anybody want a cat:).

Couple Blogging

So CornyT (code name for my special someone) and I decided we would try this blogging thing together. As much as we hate to admit it, our favorite, favorite thing to do together is watching tv on DVD. So, we thought it might be fun to record our reactions to various tv shows we have not already seen and give some justification to all those hours perched on the sofa. The link to that blog is here if you are at all interested in our takes on the US version of the Office. As you will see Corny T is a good writer and I just blabber about what makes me laugh.

Yard Woes

Ugh, I feel like I have the brownest thumb in the world today. The beautiful, lush, green grass that I purchased last August is now brown and patchy in just 6 months of my care. Some furry, little wormy thing is munching down on my bush out front and something else has plucked clean the daffodils I was so proud of. Also, I feel like we will never get all the leaves cleaned up out of the yard and apparently the mosquitoes love to live under all those leaves. So, the yard will probably be miserable as the summer progresses. To save the grass that I not only butchered during my initial lawn mowing debacle (who knew the little wheels had to be adjusted) last Sept. and now apparently burned with fertilizer, we planted new sod in places yesterday. However, today that sod looks all wilty and sad. I even watered this morning. I have a feeling the sod is not going to solve my yard patches. Oh well at least it was only $1.70 a piece. Now, I have to figure out how to get rid of those caterpillars that are getting fat off my poor little bushes.

Spring is Springing

I never pay attention to whether or not the 21st of March has passed there are lots of other things that tell me spring is here: Asparagus and Strawberries in the grocery stores, wildflowers dotting the texas road sides, losing that hour of sleep, and of course bulbs blooming. This is the first year ever that a bulb I planted as popped up in my own yard! In November, a few nights before our first freeze, I hurriedly planted some daffodil bulbs in the dark, on the phone with my sister, before running off to a BBBS meeting. With the impending bad weather I wanted to make sure they got into the ground but I thought with the hasty way I planted them they would certainly not grow. Surely, planting such bulbs would require a lot of preparation and care that I just didn't put into the process. Well the other morning I was happily surpised; the first little daffodil popped into flower bed. Of course, if I fancy myself a gardener I just have to look over at my lawn with it's patchy brown spots and I shocked back into the reality of less than green thumb.

Spring Ahead

Daylight savings time equals another hour of sleep ripped mercilessly away from me. I can't believe it is already almost 2 o'clock and I just showered and ate lunch. We need to get our act together, pry our bones from this comfy couch and get our day going but it is so hard. I just love curling up on this couch. Money well spent indeed. Speaking of money well spent, I found some great throw pillows at Linen's and Things on sale for 75% off. That makes the $20 pillow 5 something. I was so excited. What is even better is that I thnk they look nice with the furniture. Last night, I only bought two because I wasn't sure how they were going to look but now I think I am going to run down there and load up on a whole bunch of cheap throw pillows. I love sales.

The new furniture is here, the new furniture is here

I can hardly believe it myself but there is a real sofa and two arm chairs in my living room right now. Woo hoo. The big furniture purchase is done. Now I just have to buy a ton of stuff to make the place look more pulled together but it does look more like grown ups live here now. The sofa is super comfy. I just spent an hour curled up on it watching an episode of Quantum Leap and it was just perfect. All cushy yet firm at the same time. You will notice there are two small towels under the couch. Those towels are sprayed with a very smelly yet effective cat repellant. The cat has not come near the couch since it was delivered and she almost always plopped up on it with us. That was the best quarter I ever spent at a garage sale. Luckily, you can only really smell the repellant when you get down on the floor near it but obviously Livia can and that is all we care about. You can't tell from the pic that I have angled the couch and pulled it a little away from the wall. I kind of like that look but wonder if I have things too crowded. I am glad I took these pictures because now that I look at the pics I can tell I am going to have to get a much larger art piece for the wall behind the couch. Things look really off center with those small posters. If anyone sees anything cool they think might look good anywhere in the living room please shoot me an email. Decorating tips are definitely appreciated.

Flower Garden

This Saturday the weather was beautiful unlike last weekend or right now for that matter. So, after a morning of scouring garage sales for yard tools, I spent the rest of the day putting in a flower garden around our mailbox. Initially, there was a large bush growing around the mailbox. Mike never liked it much and when it started to look a little droopy and sick with no hope of recovery we dug it out. This is the first flower bed I have ever put in and I think it may be too many flowers in one place and may be a lot of work but it was a lot of fun to plant everything. Now I have to put more mulch around them and make sure they thrive in their new little home.
We are also in the process of sanding and varnishing the mailbox post. Thank goodness for electric sander. After only a few short hours of work we are almost done and ready to put a couple coats of varnish. The whole bed will look so much better when the monkey grass grows around the edges. At least I am told they should grow out and you should plant them at least 2 feet apart from eachother. I am constantly winging it with this whole gardening thing. Hopefully, at least some fo the flowers will grow.

Congratulations Mamie Yompin Yimminy

Mamie was accepted by Jönköping University to study for a semester in Sweden! Way to go Mame, I am so proud of you. Barring any insurmountable financial obstacles she should be spending next semester munching on meatballs and pickled herring. We're going to have to convince her to start up a blog of her experiences so we can all learn what studying abroad is like. This is a picture of the town she will be living in.

Book Club and other reads II

Last week was book club. I love book club. Lots of finger food, wine and chatting and occasionally talking about books. We read 8:55 to Baghdad, a travel memoir about retracing Agatha Christie's travels on the Orient Express. I didn't really love the book and I wasn't alone. WE all agree that the author never really committed to a focus of the book. Some chapters would focus on the history of the countries the train traveled through (the Balkans, Syria, Iraq) other times he would focus on Agatha Christie. And oh boy was it over-written; flowery, fowery prose. One sentence bears repeating just because it was so colorful "We ignored the subject of ethnic cleansing like a fart at a cocktail party." So, we picked something a little more fun and fictional this time. A fantasy novel by Terry Pratchett called Night Watch. I haven't read much fantasy so I am looking forward to trying something new and this sounds funny. I haven't started it yet though I am waiting till I finish Freakanomics, which I only have about 50 more pages left of. I recommend Freakanomics, it is a quick read and it makes you think a little. I also have been listening to books on tape in the car and I just finished The Nature of Alexander by Mary Renault. It may, in fact be this book that inspired me to name the kitty Livia because Alexander's mother was also a formiddable woman. But Livia has a better ring than Olympias. Before Alexander I finished Guns, Germs, and STeel, which I highly recommend but getting on tape rather than reading. I am sure it is easier to get through the chapters on acorn flavors and evolution of domesticated horses if you are listening to it. Now I am listening to Phillip Pullman's The Golden Compass, a children's fantasy novel along the lines of Harry Potter except much better writing and a lot more violent. Oh and while I am drying my hair in the morning I have been reading The Restraunt at the End of the Universe by Douglas Adams. Wow I am a big nerd.

Bye Bye Booger Cat, Kim Jong Ill and Pol Pot

For the last six months we have tried a string of names on the cat but nothing has stuck. She came with a name, Booger. Although, we both agree most times it is a suitable name, I just hate saying it. Yuck. Initially I wanted to call her Mariah or Whitney because she is such a little diva but it really didn't fit. Then we tried out a string of small dictators. First, Napoleon but it was too masculine, then Kim Jong Ill. We enjoyed that one. We particularly liked saying "Kim Jong Ill is drinking out of the toilet again." But Kim Jong Ill just doesn't roll off the tongue so it didn't stick. Then we tried Pol Pot. We thought we could shorten it to Pollie but after a couple of days we just reverted back to calling her kitty or on some days bitch cakes. Then about a week ago we came up with Livia. This is it, I am sure. Livia fits everything we were looking for in a cat name. It is literary so we can do something with the 5 English degrees we have between the both of us and it is a good pop-cultural reference so we don't see too pretentious and it fits her perfectly. Like both namesakes she can be a biatch who knows when to purr when she needs too.

Bouncing on her Italian Leather Sofa

Today I woke up a different person. I awoke as someone who owns a couch and two arm chairs. That is right faithful reader,I finally made the plunge. In a week and half I will be lounging about on my brand new, italian leather sofa from Copenhagen. No, I didn't knock off a couple of convience stores or run a pyramid scheme, I just got a great deal at Copenhagen. We love Copenhagen now. The sofa is a modern style in an espresso brown leather and the chairs are a sand colored microfiber. The sales lady actually suggested we get the two arm chairs instead of the loveseat opposed to a sand loveseat (he leather loveseat was out of stock). This gesture of selflessness and decorating advice really gained Mike and I's respect. As soon as they come in I will take pictures to prove to everyone I didn't run into the store and take my check back (see previous sofa post:).In fact I did actually commit to a large furniture purchase. Now I just have to buy accent pillows, end tables, side lamps, art, a dining room table, a new bed.... ugh

Crashing the Ahhpp

The Ahhpp conference, like I like to call it or as all those fancy writers call it the Association of Writers and Writing Programs (AWP), came to Austin last weekend. Mike paid his $45 dollars and was a good writer supporting the cause. I crashed it. No name badge or cloth tote bag for me. No, no, I was the lone tech-writer hanging around to soak up some of the spilled bourbon and gossip of 4000 writers. The weekend was also distinguished as being one of those rare occasion where the company I was keeping loves reading poetry as much I do. In fact one, friend said that Austin had over this weekend all the people in the country who actually write and read poetry. Very true and very sad. I think poetry just doesn't get enough exposure. In some countries the government hires people to write poetry and poets are immortalized in coins and statues but we have different priorities here and that is fine.
There are some great websites like http://www.poems.com/ that brings poems right to your CPU in easy bite size pieces.

Anyway, I digress on my poetry soap box. With the conference came a handfull of our good friends from around the country. Some I had seen as little as two months ago, others I hadn't seen in almost 8 years and some confused me with other people. I took the mistaken identity as a compliment (even though it was from a professor I admired) - I am just going to tell myself I look better than my bad dye job, cheap clothes, out of shape college days.
As you would expect when a mass of writers gather, there were a few good stories/experiences to come out of the weekend. On the first night of the conference, Mike and I went to dinner with an old friend of his from undergrad, who has become now an old friend of mine. After a wonderful dinner of Thai food and a fantastic Pinot Noir we headed back to the Hilton. Our friend needed to buy a bottle of wine for "room party" later in the weekend (apparently if you stay in the hotel there is a lot of craziness after the readings and the panels) so we stopped at the only convenient store within walking distance of the hotel. As we approached the door, a large woman, puffing on a cigarette stood in front of the door and told us we were not going in there until she had finished her smoke. She was working until 1 AM without any relief (it was now 9) and she was going to enjoy this cigarette. We had no problem waiting for her to finish we could take a walk down sixth and show our friend the famed row of live music venues. As we were turning around we decided to ask her if she even had wine. In answer to our question she said "oh yeah wine has been real popular tonight. I have sold more bottles than I ever have this early on the shift." We were cracking up by this point. We told her her sudden rush in wine had to be because of the 4 thousand wino writers in town. She later told us one guy even bought 4 bottles. Our friend said "he must have just gotten a rejection." We laughed and she looked sad for the imagined, rejected artist. I hope she restocked the wine for the rest of the weekend because after this conference a week long film and music festival begins and I am sure film makers and musicians make writers look like Mormon school teachers.
The other exceptional story to come out of the weekend was told to me by a friend. As wesat around our favorite table in the hotel bar we began talking about cats because in the last six months Mike and I find any excuse we can to talk about cats. I was complaining about the cat's recent swat at me the night before and our friend said well at least she didn't pierce your nose. We all got really quiet. Recently, she was leaning over her cat to give him a kiss on the forehead and a lock of her hair fell in front of his face. As we all know, no cat can resist something dangling in front of him so he followed his kitty instincts and batted at the wily hair. As he batted at the hair his claw caught our friend's nostril and pierced right through the lobe. Apparently, though it was a lot easier to get the claw through the nostril than out of it and our friend describe that both her and the cat were pretty panicked. Someone then asked her how long he was stuck to her nose and she responded "When you have a cat attached to your nose 5 seconds is a long time." The lesson of the stoy is of course don't give your cat kisses.
The weekend came to an end with a reception of free booze and food and lot of chatting up of old friends. Not a bad way to spend a weekend. Of course I am looking forward to my day off on Friday and spending a weekend of just hunkering down at home.

A teachable moment

Recently, Mike told me about a 24 year old, Boston lawyer who declined a job offer with a Boston firm in a less than professional manner. This sounded like a great, real world example to show to my class. The emails were a resounding success and besides just being funny and shocking they did provide some good examples of Business Communication principles. Anyway, I thought I would share them with all of you.

This is the beginning of the emails:
At this time, I am writing to inform you that I will not be accepting your offer.
After careful consideration, I have come to the conclusion that the pay you are offering would neither fulfill me nor support the lifestyle I am living in light of the work I would be doing for you. I have decided instead to work for myself, and reap 100% of the benefits that I sow.
Thank you for the interviews.
Dianna L. Abdala, Esq.
——-Original Message——-
Monday, February 06, 2006 12:15 PM
Subject: RE: Thank you
—
Given that you had two interviews, were offered and accepted the job (indeed, you had a definite start date), I am surprised that you chose an e-mail and a 9:30 PM voicemail message to convey this information to me. It smacks of immaturity and is quite unprofessional. Indeed, I did rely upon your acceptance by ordering stationary and business cards with your name, reformatting a computer and setting up both internal and external e-mails for you here at the office. While I do not quarrel with your reasoning, I am extremely disappointed in the way this played out. I sincerely wish you the best of luck in your future endeavors.

——-Original Message——-

Sent: Monday, February 06, 2006 4:01 PM

Subject: Re: Thank you
A real lawyer would have put the contract into writing and not exercised any such reliance until he did so.
Again, thank you.
——-Original Message——-
From:
To:
Sent: Monday, February 06, 2006 4:18 PM
Subject: RE: Thank you
Thank you for the refresher course on contracts. This is not a bar exam question. You need to realize that this is a very small legal community, especially the criminal defense bar. Do you really want to start pissing off more experienced lawyers at this early stage of your career?
——-Original Message——-
From:
To:
Sent: Monday, February 06, 2006 4:28 PM
Subject: Re: Thank you
bla bla bla

Yoga

As annoying as our cat can be, she is occasionally entertaining. This morning I did yoga in the office here at home with my favorite new software program, Yourself Fitness. This program is essentially an interactive workout video featuring your own computerized, personal trainer named Maya. We love Maya. Anyway, While I was yoga-ing I was wearing a little warm-up top with a draw-string hoodie. Usually when I do downward dog I have my eyes closed and as I was about to move into plank I looked down and saw a little furry claw a half-inch from my face and another batting at my defenseless drawstring. She looked so cute reclined on her back, focussed on those oh so wily drawstrings. I stayed in the pose as long as I could just to watch her.

Our President's Day Weekend

This weekend has been both relaxing and busy and now, unfortunately, almost over. We don't get a lot of random day's off like President's day or Columbus day in the private sector. So when we do it is very exciting to me. So I thought I would tell all you about the high lights. Saturday I reunited with my old hairstylist, Mark. He always did a fantastic job but when I bought the house I felt like his trendy, chic salon, Wet, was too spendy for a new homeowner. Also, I was getting tired of the same old bob. So I found a new girl who was $15 cheaper and gave a fabulous head massage. However, after two high maintenance haircuts and a surprise raise in rates that made her just as expensive as Mark, I decided to sheepishly go back to him. I did insist on NO bobs this time around and I now have a nice layer cut.
After the haircut, I spent the entire afternoon grading papers at the Green Muse. Luckily, the weather was drizzly and cold all weekend so being stuck inside wasn't as bad as it could have been. After paper grading we met some friends at the Alamo Drafthouse for the Sinus, Flashdance show. Sinus Theatre is an improv comedy troupe that tells jokes over old, usually bad movies, a la Mystery Science Theatre 3000. This was my first time seeing Flashdance and boy am I glad I had waited this long. What a stinker. Thankfully, the jokes were hilarious and a couple of our friends dressed up in oversized sweatshirts, headbands, leg warmers, and feathered hair. The funniest thing about the the movie was the ridiculous dancing. Apparently Jennifer Beals could not dance and in the final big number three different people are her dance double: a professional dancer, an acrobat, and a 16 year old, Spanish boy named Crazy Legs who break dances.
Sunday we decided to try what one of our friends calls the best eating experience in Austin; The Sunday brunch at San de Fon Miguel. Our friend was not exaggerating the meal was the most amazing buffet you could imagine. The chicken moles and salads were bursting with flavor but they had nothing on the corn souflle. Every mouthful was like a rumba on my tongue- mmmm mmm yum! The other benefit to the meal was that Mike and I didn't have to eat for the rest of the day it was that filling.
The best day of the weekend was Sunday, it was like my dream day. We started it out with that great meal, went home and cuddled up all afternoon reading while it rained outside, and then went to a friend's for dinner that night. All my favorite things: good food, books, and friends. Ahh so nice. Monday, on the other hand not such a dream day but I got of class work done.
Hope you all had nice weekends.

Book Club and other reads

This past Monday I had a book club meeting at my friend's adorable, remodeled south Austin home where we discussed Nick Hornby's A Long Way Down. This books gets the rare distinction of being one every member of the club actually enjoyed. Finding a book everyone will enjoy and is cheap and available is a real exercise in diplomacy. Anyway, A Long WAy Down is also the funniest book I have ever read about suicide. The book is told from the point of view of four Londoners (1 American expatriate) that meet New Year's eve on top of a tower block where they plan to kill themselves. They find solace in their strange aquaintanceship and begin to work through the depression. Yes, I know it sounds like a real downer but it actually is really funny and extremely entertaining. A lot like salad with ranch dressing- kind of good for you but also very tasty.

Today,I finished an audio book called Killer Angels, a historical novel about the battle of Gettysburg . This sounds like a real downer because in fact it is. There were a couple of time where I was near tears. However, there were only a handful of gorey battle scenes, which made it more interesting to me- it really was about the human reaction to war. Now, that I have finished Killer Angels I am starting, Guns, Germs, and Steel on tape. Right now, I am one tape into it but I have already learned there once were giant kangaroos and one ton lizards on Australia. What I wouldn't give to see a giant kangaroo:).

Our next book club book is 8:55 to Baghdad- a journalist's memoir about retracing the route Agatha Christie took on the Orient Express. Sounds very interesting but it is hard to find and sadly not at our library.

House Crisis: A Time Line

Warning:Contains a lot of references to bathroom functions and toilet water.

Saturday Morning
8:15 AM: I wake up from a deep sleep and rush to the bathroom. Notice a piece of paper on the toilet lid, wonder why it is there, brush it off in a hurry and pee.

8:20 AM: Jump back into bed very cold and ready for another hour of well deserved sleep.

8:21 AM: Mike asks me if I used the bathroom. I say, of course and cuddle up. He says didn't you see the sign. I say what sign- think of paper I tossed on the floor.

8:22 AM MIke informs me that at 2:00 AM I used the restroom (I still don't remember doing this) and when I returned he heard a gurgling noise, inspected the sound and noticed the toilet was overflowing. And rather than wake me, places a sign saying DO NOT USE on the toilet seat. (He was very smart not to wake me)

8:23 AM I rush out of bed go to the bathroom, notice water all over the floor, begin chanting Oh my God and am near tears.

8:27 AM Go back to the bedroom and ask MIke what we should do near hysterics while he is propted up in bed realizing he will not being getting back to sleep for a while. He then tells me he also noticed dirt in the shower stall last night.

8:28 AM Rush back to bathroom, see shower stall full of water. Am convinced a pipe burst while I was blissfully sleeping because we didn't let a faucet drip. Begin crying.

8:30 AM Mike steps in the door way of bathroom and comments it is gross I have my hand on the toilet seat and have touched my head in despair.

8:30.5 AM Yell at Mike and storm out of bathroom crying.

8:32 AM Cry and look for my realtor's number.

8:33 Call realtor luckily for her she is not home.

8:35 Cry

8:40 Root around in purse and find plumber's number.

8:41 Call plumber, get his answering machine.

8:42 Go outside notice water on the ground by the bathroom.

8:43 Fly into the house shouting that the pipe has burst.

8:45 Demand that Mike turn the water off to the house.

8:46 Mike turns off water with me close behind, weeping.


8:50 Now resigned that he will not be going back to sleep Mike apologizes for comment and turns on Battlestar Galatica DVD. He convinces me to watch through my tears.

9:00 Imagine plumber tearing up bathroom floor to fix burst pipe while Apollo shoots cylons.

9:30 Call plumber again, he answers and says "Oh that sounds bad" after I tell him about water shooting into the shower. No I never saw water actually "shoot" into the shower but I imagined it.

9:45 Plumber comes, MIke explains the gurgling sound.

9:50 Plumber snakes line. Water does not shoot out of the toilet.

10:05 I give plumber check for a shit load of money. Line is cleaned out from possible years of build up. We blame the former owner or a squirrel.

10:06 Plumber leaves. MIke calls me toilet head or TH for the next 3 days.
I hope that tax breakis worth it all.

Happy Birthday Mamie

Oooh la la

Well it certainly has been a while since I have written in here. EArlier this month I started teaching a business communication class at a local, private university, so it has been difficult to find time to write in here. Not only is the class and my day job keeping me busy, I also have a lot of Lost, Gilmore Girls, and Scrubs to watch every week. So, things like writing in the blog, yardwork, and shopping for a couch are on the proverbial back burner. However, I did make time last weekend to attend a Red Light Burlesque show with my sweetie and some of our friends. http://www.redlightburlesque.net/
Yeah I know it sounds raunchy but I was really intriqued. I don't think I had ever seen a pasty on anyone before and the whole twirling in opposite directions is absolutely inspiring. I don't know about you, but I can barely turn my hands in opposite directions at the same time, so the coordination involved in moving the girls in circles is frankly astonishing to me. Also, I have a fascination with vaudeville and burlesque show felt like a way to experience something from a by-gone era. Austin's ability to dig up these old forms of entertainment and infuse them with new hipness is something I really love about this place. The 1970's Rollerderby has found a very comfortable home here in Austin and created a whole bevy of buxom local celebs that even have their own reality show on UPN now. At least, I think it is UPN. I hear it is awful. Anyway, back to the burlesque. The show was a wholesome evening's entertainment with live music (a girl surf-rock band in pick teddies), stand-up comedy, and girls dressed as comic book heroines such as Poison Ivy, Wonder Woman, and Lady Death (yeah we hadn't heard of her either) doing cute little dances. My favorite was Poison Ivy who suggestively waved a pair of large paper fans around occasionally giving us a glimpse of her... well you know.
This weekend will just be a quiet one catching up on the ugh... yard work.

D'oh

Umm I have an embarrassing confession to make... I didn't really realize you could set comment properties on this blog and well I have had it set to "only registered users" can comment. So, now that is changed you canall comment with abandon.

Hope to hear from you all soon and yes you are free to remind me that I do work in software and it is my job to not only write instructions but to read them:).

The Austin Diaspora

As of last night, life is going to be a little different in Austin. Our friends Alex and Aimee are heading back to New Hampshire where Alex teaches English at the University of NH. I am very happy for them as they start this new life together but I am very sad to lose two great friends in Austin. We have had a lot of great times getting drinks at the San Jose, gorging on burritos at Chuys, strolling around town lake and just giggling a lot over wine. Things are not going to be the same without them. How much money do you think it would take to bribe a UT English professor to quit and then bribe the English dpt to hire Alex? I have a little money saved. It is very sad, this is the second time in the last six months a really close friend of ours has left Austin and another of our friends may be going abroad for six months. Blech it is hard enough to make friends without them running away all the time. Bye Bye guys, have fun in sunny New Hampshire (this time I am being sarcastic:).

Christmas in Sunny South Dakota

If you weren't in SD for Christmas this year, you would instinctively think the title of this post was very sarcastic. But you would be wrong. After weeks of sub-zero, bitterly cold weather Rapid City cleaned up its act for our visit and had record warm temperatures. Woo Hoo, it made the trip very comfortable and pleasant. The rest of the trip was as nice as the weather. We had a great time watching movies and hanging out with my family eating lots of grass-fed beef and taking in some of the local sites. The highlight of the trip was our ski trip to Deer Mountain. We had only skied twice before and didn't really improve but I am blaming it on the terrible condition of the snow. It was that very icy, wet snow and there wasn't a lot of it. By the end of the day you could see patches of brown on parts of the slope. So, my numerous tumbles down the hill had nothing to do with my inability to ski but with the poor conditions. This would be a solid argument if it wasn't for the ringer we had in the bunch who skiied like a pro. My sister claimed she had only been on the slopes once before but I think when she tells mom and dad she is "studying" she is really heading up to the slopes, practicing to be Rapid City's very own Peekaboo Street. I can't count the times she literally zoomed by me as I lay sprawled out on the bunny slope, desperately trying to become upright again- a position that people without wooded sticks strapped to their legs take for granted. Actually, everyone but us was pretty good at skiing. My Dad however didn't leave without a couple scratches. The most harrowing moment was when he took about 45 minutes to come down from the advanced run. We were all ready to send the ski patrol to look for him as he came down the hill with a scratched up nose. Turns out he took the wrong turn and ended up on the most advanced run, aptly named "Racer's Cliff". Geesh I think I inherited all the fear and lack of skiing ability in the family.

At the end of the week we went to famous Deadwood. We spent the afternoon seeing some of the sites (Hickock's grave, fancy victorian houses, etc.) and the evening gambling and eating a crab and prime rib buffett. We were also the big gambling losers- luckily my sister is still a little too young to gamble or she probably would have showed us up at that too:). Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures of the ski trip but I did get some of Deadwood and the culminating event of the xmas eve party at our house.