Shelter Update 9 16 06

This week was not quite as chaotic as last and I followed all the rules this Saturday. Every one of my cages were closed today. However, I did have one close call with last week's escapee, Bertie, today she almost jumped out of her kennel while I tried to keep her kennel mate from escaping. Yikes, that would have had been bad news because she is about 5 lbs and recovery from surgery, poor thing.

Bertie (Escapee 2)

I did have a great session with her kennel mate, Boyd. First, he snuggled in my lap for the longest time and then we played with a chew toy in auditorium. OH he was fun, I love playing keep away from dogs, they're so cute when they're determined. He was a little mouthy but not nearly as biting as the lab mix Otter who I played with today. I have walked him before and he has been energetic but not quite as wound up as he was today. After we left the potty runs he went straight to the first toy bucket he saw and started pulling toy after toy out of the bucket and throwing them around the dog volunteer office area. I then gathered up all the toys he had thrown around and we went for a play session in the auditorium. He was pretty good at first but then he became really bitey and scratched my arms up a little. He didn't respond to my loud squeals of complaint. During our training we were told to squeal like you are hurt when a dog "mouths" you. Usually they stop and even seem a little alarmed by your reaction. Boyd reacted in that way but otter just kept jumping around. At that point, I took Otter back to kennel and wrote up a recommendation for him to be reevaluated to a higher color so they can work on improving this behavior.

Otter (Mr.Bitey)

Before I began volunteering with the Humane Society, I never thought I would worry about the bowel movements of a dog. But today I found myself fretting about such things. The first dog I walked today, a border collie mix named Domanique, did not go at all yesterday and she didn't this morning either. That can't be good. Although, she seemed healthy- runinng around and barking like crazy. That is weird though. I think I will send an email this week checking up on her.

Domanique

Happy Birthday Mom

Have a great birthday Mom!!

Some Louisiana Pictures

The following posts are some pictures I took on our trip to Baton Rouge. I have been lazy about getting them off my camera and onto the laptop.
This is the little puppy that followed us around on our walk.

Congratulations

Friday night I had a nutty dream that my friend Aimee and I had to transport RVs across the country for some kind of weird job.
She called me Saturday afternoon while we were out and I thought it was so cute we were thinking of each other around the same time. Today, I found out she was calling to tell me that her and her boyfriend had just gotten engaged that day! I am so excited for them. And excited there will be another fun wedding to go to next summer.

Giving the Cat the Cold Shoulder

For months now, Livia has been a much better pet. She has slept through the night without bothering us, she has been playful and affectionate and just very low maintenance and sweet. On Saturday however, she reminded us of why we named her Livia in the first place. In fact, I have been reading Robert Graves' I'Claudius for book club and discovering just how duplicitous and untrustworthy the historical Livia really was. So I can say that on Saturday her behavior was true Livian nature. She started out so sweet rubbing her head against my cheek, purring all the while and when I called to CornyT to look at our adorable little head snoggle she suddenly reared back and boom, bit me under the eye. CornyT was furious. I was stunned and disappointed. She didn't break the skin but it did smart a little bit and of course my trust and affection were injured more. For the last 4 days, we have essentially been ignoring her. At first, we just let her in to eat but we are gradually letting her in the house for longer. CornyT was certainly angrier about it than me. I felt guilty, like I must have done something to upset her. But then I came to my senses and realized she is just a cat doing her cat thing. I am convinced that I am much better suited to be a dog owner. I am way too hands on for cats. They are overwhelmed by my constant attention and petting. I remember as a kid our friends' kittens would always run from me and I would spend half my time trying to fish some terrified cat out from under a bed or from behind a sofa. Not a lot has changed, down deep I am still that exuberant 7 year old who just wants to pet the kitty! However, my 32 year old self is going to have to learn to be a little more cautious around her now.

Belated Shelter Update

Now that I have exchanged links with the Bestest Blog people in an attempt to generate more traffic over here, I suppose I better actually write posts on a regular basis now. I am not sure if exchanging the link will actually attract more attention to the blog and most readers will probably be bored to tears by my ramblings (only family will tolerate paragraphs and paragraphs of my swooning over puppies, I am sure) I thought I would see what would happen. Anyway, that being said let me commence with the boring puppy yammering. This Saturday's morning at the shelter was not my most shining moment in volunteerism. If you remember, my training was only a month ago and much to my embarrassment I have already forgotten a lot of it. One key item that slipped my mind was to close the kennel doors after I removed a dog. Much to the chagrine of the hard working staff trying to clean the kennels, I left doors open right and left confusing the hell out of them. From what I can tell an open kennel door means the kennel needs be hosed down. So all my open doors meant they were hosing kennels twice and leaving no dry place for the dog to be returned. I found this all out when I tried to return Shags, a sweet, energetic Bearded Collie (a lot like a sheep dog) and asked the staff member, Emily where I could put him. She sternly told me I had to put him back in the wet cage because of my error and that next time I should bring him in from a closer door to prevent the other dogs from going berserk when I walk him next to their cages. I felt so bad for poor Shags having to sit in a wet kennel. To make matters worse, the next dog I decided to take out for a walk was a wiley Dachsund ( in a kennel with another dog- I should just stay away from dogs sharing kennels) who slipped from my grasp and went running through the kennel. Yep, my second escapee. Unfortunately, this time I wasn't so lucky and my bumblingness was found out. The speedy little dog went tearing through the room with me close behind, turned a corner and ran right into the irritated Emily who picked her up in one fluid motion and handed her to me. She simply shrugged when I explained she had slipped out of her leash and asked me to move out of her path. Ugh, well I was certainly not an exemplarly volunteer this week but there is always next week.

Bestest Blog of All Time

I just put a link here to Bestest Blog of All Time. This site collects tons and tons of blogs and features a blog of the day. I have found some fun blogs in just a few minutes of surfing around the site. Two that stood out for me have been flip this body and Tales from an Animal Shelter. My interest in the latter one is obvious but I was surprised by my interest in the weight loss blog. In reality, the writer's weight loss goals are just a fraction of what she posts about. Mostly the posts are cleverly written tales of her adventures as an actress and cube monkey and it really appeals to my voyeuristic nature. I am also impressed by her lengthy posts and her ability to make so many comments to other people's blogs. Hopefully, you will have as much fun as I have had discovering new blogs and exploring more nooks and crannies of the web.

Nice Day to Walk Your Goat

The other evening, I stepped in the living room to ask CornyT something and framed perfectly in the window was a goat. Yep a goat was in my front yard, and not a cute little pigmy goat but a big Nannny, milking goat. Her owner was loosely leading her by a long rope and strolling on the road. However, he didn't bother stopping her from feasting on my flower bed until I whined from the window, "hey don't eat my flowers." I was flabbergasted. Where did the goat come from? Do goat's get restless if they're not walked? Did he want to enjoy the cool evening (the first in a while) and thought it would be even more pleasant with his goat? Was he trying to save feed money by taking her by everyone's flower gardens? Well, he was definitely doing his part to "Keep Austin Weird."

New Orleans Sunday

The last post ended kind of abruptly I know. I realized it was taking me a while to get the post done (I started Wednesday now its Friday) so I thought I would break up my stories about the weekend. Our trip to New Orleans was fun but a little disappointing. We only went to the French Quarter because it hit CornyT and I that we didn't really want to be tourists to some one else's disaster so in order to be respectful we stayed in the traditional touristy areas. These areas were not that visibly hit by the disaster and it was a little hard to tell what damage was caused by the storm and what was just normal wear and tear. The disapointing part came when we realized the FQ is just really not that interesting during the day, it truly does come alive at night but is a little sleepy and smelly in the day. We planned to have lunch at a famous Bourbon street upscale restaurant but discovered they were closed on Mondays and wanted to check out Jazz at the Preservation Hall which is also closed on Mondays. So we wondered around in the heat, ate an over-priced buffet, and I got a little crabby. After a calming hour or two in some air conditioning with snacks and stuff, we decided to drive around the Garden District and then head back to Baton Rouge for dinner and yet again another movie. The Garden District was beautiful and very confusing. Street signs were messed up (taken down or put in the wrong area) in places and quickly got lost and stuck in a less than great part of town. I did see some evidence of the storm, boarded up houses, the famous spray painted Xs and messages from survivors to workers- we are still here 9/30/05. A little chilling and I just feel so sad that those people had to go through that. It is still so hard to believe that just 9 hours away we were all leading such normal, comfortable lives when there people's homes and livelihoods were being destroyed.
But enough of the sad stuff. That evening we had a really yummy Middle Eastern dinner and watched the over-hyped, camp film Snakes on a Plane. Mamie was more eager to see it than us and I think we ended up liking it better than her. Well, I have to say I liked it better, I think CornyT was pretty disgusted with it too. Don't get me wrong it is a TERRIBLE movie but firmly in the category of so bad I you have to laugh movie. Despite the campy enjoyment I got out of it I am SO glad I only had to see it once. Some folks here in Austin were not so lucky. In an effort to be performance artsy and garner some attention to get on the "SOAP" DVD, a local theatre and theatre group sponsored "Snakes On a Day" where people volunteered to watch the movie 24 hours straight. This blog documents the insanity that ensued during that day. We are a little weird in Austin and that is why I like this town so much.
Well I better get back to work. I will catch up on more blog entries this week.

Louisianan Weekend

This is the weekend where my personal blog and Mame's Americorp blog converge. On Mame's blog I discuss what her living arrangements, Americorp team and duties are like. Here I will just tell you silly stories about what we did and how great it was to see Mame. She looks adorable in her BDUs (Battle Dress Uniform) and her gvt issue combat boots. When we first arrived at her camp the three of us went on a hike around the bayou and made a little buddy. As I was talking to Mame she suddenly gasped and said oh and CornyT said hey little buddy. I thought they were hallucinating. What was in that Ozarka they drank? But sure enough there was a romping little puppy who wanted to go walking with us behind me. He was the cutest thing with a little tan head and a white body. We thought he looked a little like a floating puppy head. He didn't have the best manners though, he barked at other people on the trail and tried to chase cars that passed by. After he attempted to catch two pickups by the bumpers, I finally carried him for the rest of our walk because I didn't feel like starting the weekend with a smashed puppy. When I set him down in front of the place we first saw him we thought for sure he would run off to his campsite and we would be done wih him. But NO he insisted on following us all the way to Mamie's shed. This wasn't such a bad thing because her teammates were thrilled to see him. When we left the shed to go to dinner he was gone and we are just operating on the assumption that he found his people and is now safe back home. We won't think about the 'gator that may have munched on him or the pickup that may have treaded over him.
After walking we joined her entire gang for dinner at a restaurant in Livonia (near the camp) called Not Your Mamma's Place. The food was great and the service was slow. Pretty much like every restaurant in Louisiana. CornyT was intriqued by the funny name and found out from the waiter that there is another restaurant in LA called Your Mamma's Place and the brother of that restaurant's owner opened this one and thought it would be funny to call it Not Your Mamma's Place. Cute.
Out of the kindest of our hearts CornyT and I let Mamie sleep-in on an actual bed until about 10:00 AM on Saturday. We also didn't want her to feel left out so we kept sleeping as well:). After we pried ourselves out of the cool hotel room and braved the Louisiana heat we made both CT and Mame's dream of having a Waffle House breakfast a reality. I have had many a Waffle House hash brown and patty melt so it was old hat to me, but I it was yummilicious, cheap, and oh so bad for you. We spent the rest of the afternoon touring an old colonial Plantation and visiting the Baton Rouge museum. That evening we had a cajun dinner at Parrain's and watched Little Miss Sunshine. Mame and I loved the movie. We really related to the family; first they were from New Mexico (Albuquerque), second they had serious car troubles culminating in a intermintant, involuntary horn honking disaster which was particular poignant to Mame and I cause something very similar happen to the two of us once in my old Dodge Charger. Anyway, I highly recommend the movie- so funny, sweet, and a little sad.

Shelter Update

I just thought I would share with all of you that the sweet chow, Cole who has been at the shelter a very long time, was adopted yesterday. There is a picture of Cole further down this blog. Apparently, the woman who adopted her was looking for a mellow girl she could "grow old with" (her words exactly). Sounds like a perfect match.
Oh I do love that shelter. In fact, this weekend CornyT and I are driving to Baton Rouge to visit the Mamester, and although I am excited to see her I have been a little sad that I am going to miss my doggie day. Yes, I know I have serious issues. So, I have devised a solution. Today, I have worn some less than perfect jeans (not quite grubby but close) and tennis shoes to work and as soon as they let us out early for the holiday (they typically do) I am going to put in my two hours at the shelter. The funny thing about working with almost all men at a software company is that even in this casual, "weekend-like" I still looked over dressed around the flip-flop, short wearing developers.

Too adorable not to share

Ahh this guy looks like Chester (everyone reading this knows who Chester is right). And I just love how he looks kind of like a seal in the bath towel. Dogs look so precious with stuff on their heads:)!! Why is that? If you don't believe me put a towel or a bed sheet over your dog. Instant cute.

Craiglisters

In my last post, I mentioned I was waiting for someone come by and pay for the privilege of taking away my old loveseats. Well, I waited. To be fair, they did email to tell me they would be late, 1/2 an hour after they were suppose to be here. At about 9:15, CornyT wanted to go to a 9:45 movie and I, in a sad example of girly, scaredy-catness decided I didn't want to be at home by myself when these strange, flaky people came. Anyway, I am not sure if they did come by but the next day she still wanted the loveseats. However, I am not giving my old, uncomfortable furniture to flakes and told her they already sold. I did have a young couple, who didn't look much older than Mame, look at the couches the next night. I don't think they were all that impressed. I also displayed a strange fit of greed wioth them. When they asked me how much for both I upped the price to 30 ffrom 25. Not sure why I did that but they didn't call me on it. They also haven't called back. Guess I am stuck with the ratty old things for a little longer. The guy's need to reassure me was cute though. When the girl said they needed to look at other stuff and would call me later, he piped in "don't worry we will be back." Yeah right. Not that I really care though. I am sure I'll eventually get the sad sacks out of the house if I have to drag them out to the curb. I wonder how long it would take for someone to carry the couches away if I did that? Maybe I could set up a poll and have people bet on how long they will last in front of my house. That would be more fun than actually selling them, I think. That reminds me, the weirdest thing is going on at the house across the street. The house belongs to an old couple who have moved (possibly temporarily/possibly not) to assisted living while she recovers from a broken hip. They have been gone for several months and their kids were taking care of the lawn but in the last week a lot of random junk has started to slowly pile up in the yard; a broken lawn chair, a lamp shade, a collapsed, wire shelf. Every day there seems to be one more thing out there. I have been tempted to throw it in our dumpster but haven't yet.

Weekend

This weekend felt jam packed with activity but as I think about it we didn't really do too much. I started Saturday by talking to Mame and going to the shelter. After the shelter, we ran some errands and stopped for lunch at a local crepe place we had been wanting to try. The crepes were good, very small and very expensive. Although that wasn't by far the worse part. What was even worse was that the "restaurant" is really just an air stream trailer with a few bistro tables for diners out front. This is very charming and cute in October or in Seatlle. However, in Austin in August, especially this dry, apocalyptic version of August, it is just plain mean. After I recovered from heat stroke, we spent the rest of the afternoon cleaning up for an evening of pizza and movie watching with friends. I have to tell you how sweet these friends are, not only did they bring a bottle of wine over (that I drank a lot of- very yummy Beaujalais (sp?)) they also hauled a mattress we bought from Costco over in their truck for us. What great friends huh? We are so excited to have a Queen size bed and to get such an amazing deal. Less than 500 for both a Sealy mattress and box springs. And even better, now any of you who come to visit me have a place to lay your weary heads! The only drawback is it didn't come with a frame and unbeknowest to me those are really hard to get at a reasonable price. The mattress stores, in my opinion, obsecenly over charge for them and no where else seems to carry them. So, I have done what every person with a laptop and need for crap does...no not ebay, but close. I went to Craigslist and begged for a bed frame. So far I have gotten a couple of offers. In fact, right now I am waiting for someone to buy the old loveseats we had in the apartment. They are ratty and I am shocked someone is willing to pay even 25 bucks for them. But hey, I 'll take the cash - hell I'd pay them to get them out of the house but I like this arrangement better.
Anyway, Sunday was a lot of fun too because we went over to a friends for a waffle brunch - yum yum. The whole occasion for the brunch was to try the homemade maple syrup that one of our friends brought back from his uncle's grove in up-state New York. Very tasty stuff. So light and flavorful. Mmm Mrs. Butterworth's is forever ruined.

Shelter Ups and Downs

This Saturday I went to the shelter at 8:00 instead of 10:00 AM to get a head start on the day. I soon discovered there are a few pros and cons to coming in as soon as the shelter opens. The good thing was the dogs were so excited to see you and because I was the only "green" volunteer there that early I was able to walk all the green dogs- yes, I am such a dork. The down side is well that's a lot of dogs to walk and clean up after. Although, it did really appeal to my sense of completion to get all 8 of those green dogs walked and cleaned up. There was also a nice sense of celebration at the shelter. A little terrier, named Tommy, who had been at the shelter since January battling various health problems was finally adopted on Friday. Now the fluffy chow, Cole, who has been there since May needs to be adopted.

Book Club and other reads IV

Thursday I had my book club meeting and we discussed Gilead, by Marilynne Robinson. This is the author's first book in twenty-five years and only her second novel of her entire career. That is a long time to wait for a book and not all books are worth it but this one certainly is. I loved this book but I have to tell you it wasn't exactly an immediate love. At first, I wasn't even sure if I liked the book. The pace is extremely slow and there is no real plot and very few characters. It was about 100 pages in when I realized this book is much like listening to an instrumental song for me; I always anticipate the lyrics to start and it takes me a while to realize it is just music. Essentially, the novel is structured as a letter a dying pastor is writing to his young son telling him all the things he will not be around to tell him as the boy grows up. Sounds depressing, I know, but it is actually quite a life-affirming book.
For next month, we are reading I'Claudius by Robert Graves. I thought this book would be very esoteric and dry about Roman history. However, I was pleasantly surprised to find that it reads a lot like a Mafia story. Those Romans were full of alliances and betrayals and bloody assasinanations. My favorite line so far which I think is very famous is "Augustus ruled the world and Livia ruled Augustus."

OK OK I know I need to get to work

and I will in 5 seconds...but I had to share this t-shirt. As I read on the blog I was browsing, "it is funny because it is so true!" Have a great Wednesday.

Wasting Time

CornyT is out getting his car fixed so I am plopped on the couch wasting a good hour surfing the net. All is not lost though, I found some really fun sites. The best is this blog, HatetoHelp.blogspot.com. The writers divest you of any object that has negative sentimental value, your boyfriend's old t-shirt for example, and pass these items out around the world to people who really need them. If you don't have the item or got rid of it yourself they can still help you. You simply tell them about a creative way you got rid of this object of misery ("fed your med-school rejection to a very large animal"), take a picture and they will blog about it. Pretty cute idea, I think. Right now, I hate these girls though because they are running all around the world without a care seeing fantastic things like the Everest Base Camp, and getting paid to it by travel writing for magazines. What a fantastic job.

Stuff on My Cat

Just when you thought the web sites I go to can not possibly get any sillier, I bring you stuffonmycat.com. This also is taking me dangerously closer to being the crazy dog and cat lady, I know. But putting things on cats is really quite entertaining. We like to drape t-shirts on Livia occasionally and watch her struggle to get them off. Ah our Friday nights are wild!

Home Kevetching

My cousin, aka Shoe Goddess, said that if I am not careful I am going to end-up the crazy, old dog lady! She's probably right, but it is slightly better than cats, isn't it? But while we are talking about dogs, I thought I would share with you that Faith, the timid dog I walked on my first Saturday, was adopted yesterday. She was so sad and skittish at the shelter, poor thing. I am sure she will be much happier in her new home.
Anyway, I spent the rest of the weekend running errands, doing housework, and continuing my the-house-isn't-cute-enough freak out that I started last weekend. Last week, I was fixated on a lack of furniture. The front room in the living area has nothing in it and it looks so tacky. Also, the walls are so dingy and marred. Everytime I look at them I notice a new scratch or smudge. Anyway, it is probably better to paint before I fill the place up with furniture so now there are Behr paint chips decorating all the walls. The problem is now I can't decide what color and the choices are overwhelming. Poor CornyT, I am following him around every room making him look at paint chips and choose the one he likes. Yes, our life has come to this I told him. So far, he isn't crazy about many of them and I am not really either. Also, I want to install crown molding but the more I read about it the more nervous I get. It also seems to require a lot of tools; a mitre saw, a nail gun, a ladder;). Ah the joys of home ownership.

More Doggie Goodness

Cole

It is Saturday and you know what that means. Yep, me boring you to death with my stories of shelter dogs. Today, there were less green volunteers and more green dogs to take for walks. So, I got lots of doggie loving. Also, there were less mishaps today and just pleasant doggie bonding. Although, the last dog I took out, Riley Jane, a shepherd mix almost got into 2 dog fights. She is a little feisty for a green dog. I was pleased that I was able to calm her down with out too much fuss though. Distracting a stressed out dogs with treats seems to work surprisingly well. The first dog I took out was, Dawn an Australian shepherd. She is definitely one of the sweetest dog I have walked so far. She couldn't get enough petting and loved to play fetch. She is going to make someone a great dog. I also spent time with a sweet beagle named Bernard. He had the sweetest droopy ears and weepy hound dog eyes. I also took Butter out again this week and he was much better behaved this time around, no wild escapes this weekend. I also took a very calm and friendly Chow, named Cole out for a walk and petting session. She is one mellow dog, I can't imagine her ever being a feisty Chow. So far the saddest thing about this volunteer gig is putting the dogs back in their kennels. Bernard howled when I put him back in and Riley Jane had to be coaxed with a trail of bacon treats. Poor guys, it must be so miserable in there.
Oh and I can't forget the fluffy pups, Blondie and Tux. We can't touch the pups because they haven't got their shots yet but you can oggle them from their kennels. And boy did I. Oh they were the most adorable, sleeping balls of cuteness. Ah puppies make everything right in the world!!

Riley Jane

Celebration and Other Entertainment

The publishing celebration was so much fun. We had been waiting to have that celebratory dinner for a long time. I am not sure of the exact number of rejections CornyT has recieved for all of his stories but I know that one story alone was rejected 29 times. This shows that his perseverance is paying off a little though and I think this is just the affirmation he needed to keep going. I am so proud of him and I can't wait to see his story printed up in a slick, little journal. We dined at a local Cuban restaurant that just reopened after a kitchen fire about a year ago. The fire seems to have been somewhat of a blessing because the food was even yummier than before. Although I think their mojito recipe must have been a victim of the flames because the watered down version they served us was a pretty pathetic. Anyway, it was a wonderful meal and very well deserved on CornyT's part. He has worked so hard and I am glad that he has gotten this accomplishment.
Continuing the theme of literary achievements, last night we stopped by CornyT's favorite coffee shop, the Green Muse, to listen to a fellow writer and Green Muse regular give a reading with a folk band accompanionment. Truly an Austin thing to do. CornyT felt obligated to attend because he knows this guy pretty well and the free beer was enough incentive for me!!:). Also, when I say that Green Muse is CT's favorite coffee shop and that he is a regular it doesn't properly describe his relationship with this establishment. Think Norm on cheers. Yes, the Barrista's often greet him by name when he walks in. And we regularly go to movies with one of the owner's. I tease him a lot about how he should pay the owners rent for the table he sits at all the time but I think it is nice that he has a place he can feel so comfortable in to write.

WOO HOO

CornyT has just been published in the Seatlle Review. We are off to celebrate! I am so excited for him!!

Oh My legs hurt

I spent yesterday afternoon rock climbing with some my BBBS networking group and boy are my limbs sore. Before you get really impressed with me I have to tell you that I was actually in a well air conditioned building, with fake rock walls and a soft, foaming ground. If it were the real thing I would probably have a lot more than sore arms and legs. But honestly just because it is fake doesn't mean it's easy. I still had a hard time summiting anything but the beginner walls. There is always next time though. When I told CornyT (he opted out this time) there were automatic belays (rope and pulley system keeping you up on the wall) and you didn't have to trust some punk kid to hold you up he was all for it. So, next time I will conquer that harder walls.

Doggie Saturday

Shadow
Butter (escapee)

This morning I got up bright and early and headed with great enthusiasm to the Humane Society. Luckily, when I got to the shelter I ran into the volunteer who trained me last week and she reminded me of some of the procedures so I didn't feel too lost. After she gave me a refresher and I had my sanitized leash ready I headed over to my first "green" dog kennel. A green dog is a dog suitable in temperment and behavior for a novice volunteer. Anyway, when I got to the green dog kennel there were two spunky dogs scampering in the kennel, one golden, fluffy collie-mix and a small, black lab. So, how do you get one dog on the leash and keep the other in kennel? Um well I am still working on that. Sure enough as soon as I got the black one, Shadow, on the leash his buddy, Butter, brok free and charged to the end of the hallway riling up every dog in the entire shelter it seemed. After, much coaxing with treats I eventually got Butter back into her kennel before anyone came back into the room to see me struggling to control the dogs. Later, I took a small shepherd mix named Faith who had a freak out in the hallway and refused to move for at least five minutes.

After Faith, I took Amelia, an eight month old dalmation/spaniel mix. She walked on the leash like a dream and I took her to the auditorium area to play ball for a while. She was a blast, she had a set system. We had two balls on the floor and as soon I threw one ball she would catch it, drop it next to the other ball, pick up that ball and bring that one back to me. So funny. After Amelia, I took the escapee, Butter, out for a walk around the auditorium and nice brushing. She looked so fluffy and shiny. Oh it was so much fun hanging out with the dogs and I already can't wait until next week.

Faith

Amelia

Return of the Girl's Night

Before my dear friend Aimee ran off to be with her boyfriend in New Hampshire, we would routinely meet for drinks, finger-food, and chatting. These girls-nights would usually take place at her cozy South Austin apartment behind a local wedding reception venue. I can't tell you how fun it was to sip wine and giggle amid the dulcet tones of the chicken dance wafting in through the open window. Needless to say, I cherished these nights a great deal and have been sorely missing them. Don't get me wrong I have had some great girl time this year- girl's day with my cuz is the high-light of the year and the craft night was fabulous- but I have missed the more regular girl bonding. Luckily, I have started to get know a pal's new girlfriend and on Monday we met for a Chile Margarita at El Chile. Yep, you read that correctly, a chile the Chilango is a "Spicy orange infused frozen margarita" with the rim of the glass lined with the most delectable and savory red chile salt concoction. If my sparkling personality is not enough to lure you to Austin, you should make the trip down here just for this amazing Margarita!! My favorite moment of the night was when I saw my gal pal ravenously lick the chile goodness from her forefinger. As I proceeded to the same, I knew I liked her tons:). Hopefully, there will be many more gab sessions with yummilicious margaritas.

You know your sister loves you

when she takes a picture of a dog in a dress just for you!! Don't let the fire ants bite you too much Mame!
For everyone else don't forget to check out how Mame is doing in Americorp at her blog.

Puppies Puppies Puppies

Lately, I have been thinking more and more seriously about adding a puppy to our little household. We have been in the new house and had the cat for almost a year now and are getting very comfortable in our routines. So, I think we need something to shake us up a bit and a frisky, sweet puppy would be just perfect to do that:). To prepare myself for this enormous commitment I have been reading lots of dog training books from the library ( I highly recommend The Other End of the Leash by Patricia McConnell), made CornyT place the Dog Whisperer in the Net Flicks queue, and started volunteering at the local Humane Society. I thought volunteering at the shelter would expose me to a lot of dogs so I can get a feel for the type of dog I want, teach me more about training, and just give me more experience around doggies. The shelter also offers a lot of dog training classes so what better way to supplement my doggie education.

Now, when I start a new volunteer experience I always worry if this will be something I will really enjoy donating my time too or if I will regret my sacrificed Saturdays and feel like it would have been better spent pulling weeds, raking leaves, or spackling. But after the first training class and one hour dog walking stint I had NO doubt I had made a good choice. I was so HAPPY being around all the dogs, walking them, learning how to train them etc. that when I came home I was in the best mood. CornyT suggested I go over on my lunch hours to relax me because work has been so stressful lately- not a bad idea. Also, it really helps that we don't have to do any of the yucky work like clean their cages or their messes. Another set of volunteers who are working off community service have to do that. It is pathetic but I actually am just dying for Saturday to get here so I can spend 10 to 12 in doggie heaven petting, walking and playing with as many sweet pups as I can get my hands on.

Family website

Yesterday, I learned from an out-of-the-blue call by my Mom that a meteor crashed outside of Austin, Dallas and Houston are flooding, and my family has their very own website. All of these tidbits were very interesting to me but none more so than the Besahra family website. And I have to say it is a very nice site, with great old family pictures and a nice contact form I happily filled out this morning. Those of you reading this who have any real interest in the website have undoubtedly seen it and I am sure I sound hopelessly out of touch but I was so excited by it. I am a sentimental dork and really get into family stuff, so I was very excited by the pictures and the possibility of keeping in touch.

Austin Weekend

When I started this blog I meant for it to be a log of all the fun things there are to do here in Austin. Unfortunately, lately we have done very little "Austiny" things. We have been busy with the house and traveling so we haven't really taken advantage of all that Austin has to offer. Last night though we did two very Austiny things. We went to an art opening at a local coffee shop to check out one of the barrister's work and to see if there was anything reasonably priced that we could hang up in the house. The work was stunning and actually really affordable but we are such cheapstakes and didn't get a thing but we are thinking about one or two pieces. On the back patio, a small group of musicians were playing the entire Jesus Christ Superstar soundtrack. WE missed the first half of the performance but the second half was really impressive and very professional. Actually, it was surprising how entertaining the whole performance was. After the art show and performance we headed town down to meet friends at a new bar. The bar was nice but we all admitted we are just too old for the loud recorded music. I don't mind if it is loud live music, I expect it to be loud but it is annoying when you go to have a beer and chat with friends and you have to scream at them. Excuses, excuses, I guess it is true if it is too loud you are too old.

2006 Florida Vacation Phase 2: Disney World

Disney, wow where do I start? From the moment we got to the Magic Kingdom on Sunday night I was so taken with all the shiny, prettiness of the park. Everything is clean and dazzling. I thought that I would be bored but really I had a fabulous time at the happiest place on earth. The first night we had a buffet dinner with CornyT's family and all the Winnie the Pooh characters, eyeore, tigger, piglet, they were all there. We then headed to Big Thunder Railroad, then we caught the first of a lot of great 3-D shows, and then we completed the night with a ride on the less than stellar Buzz Lightyear ride in Tomorrowland.

With that small taste of Disney we were ready to really get to it the next day at the Disney/MGM studios park. We first hit the Tower of Terror and picked up a Fast Pass for the Rockin' Roller Coaster. Our favorite ride was without a doubt the new Expedition Everest at the Animal Kingdom park. The roller coaster is housed in a replica of Mount Everest which actually looks like a real mountain and creates some beautiful views throughout the park and you actually have to remind yourself that it is not a real mountain. In fact, it is the highest "mountain peak" in Florida. Anyway, the theme of the ride is that you are treking through Mt Everest and run into some local wildlife. I won't give the whole ride away but it is truly Disney at it's best.



To anyone going to Disney, I recommend grabbing fast passes for the popular rides first. The fast pass is an ingenious system that allows you to make a reservation to ride the attraction at a specific time and go through the fast line. This can often cut as much as an hour or two off of your wait. And while I am giving recommendations, I also highly recommend staying at a Disney Resort because you get access to early and after hours access to certain parks on certain days. Also, if you go get the Disney meal plan. Disney food is notoriously over-priced and the quality is only about mediocre. The meal plan however makes eating at Disney a lot more affordable. For 38 dollars a day you get a huge lunch, a snack, and a sit-down dinner. The dinners alone were typically 30 dollars a person if you didn't have the meal plan so it was quite a bargain. Plus you didn't have to carry any money around, just your Disney room key. They certainly have extracting money from the guest down to an art. If you are staying at a resort and purchase a souvenir, they will deliver that souvenir to your room so you don't have carry it around with you all day. What better way to convince you to buy even more things. The one thing I found actually a little creepy about the whole Disney experience was the biometric/fingerprint reading they take as you enter the park. That's right, Mickey has your fingerprints on file. Feels a little creepy and big brotherly to me and I am not really sure what purpose it serves but it is written on your ticket that you cannot enter the park without a providing a biometric reading. Strange. But the park is so much fun and everyone is so happy that you forget all about the potential invasion of privacy;). I also learned that it really is actually a lot of fun to go as a couple without kids. I am sure going with school-aged kids is a lot of fun but with really young ones it just looks like more work than fun. Their scared of all the creepy dancing animals and the loud noises, heat and crowds just make them tired and cranky.

The Princess dinner was probably the time the little kids in our group were the happiest. Five Disney Princess, Belle, Alice, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, and Jasmine, walk around the dining room and stop at every table to meet you and take numerous pictures with you. It really was a lot of fun to watch CornyT's 3 year old niece become overwhelmed with excitement and absolutely starstruck by each Princess. Although, she I am not sure she was completely fooled by it all because later she said "they looked different." Smarty pants.

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.