Can someone please check the temperature in Hell?

The unthinkable has happened. My dear, sweet mom has finally succumbed and bought a cell phone. I've been trying to break her down for years since she takes so many road trips to out-of-the-way places all by herself. I know she can be one tough cookie when she needs to be and can topple a building with one withering glare, but its good to know she now has the option to call for help just in case one of her adventures gets out of hand.

Congrats, Mom, for finally crawling into the 21st century. You'll love it here. :)

Shoe Whore

So my self-imposed shoe-buying moratorium. It lasted all of... um.... ...well, nevermind.

But come on! 80% off at DSW! How do you expect me to pass that up? A person can only be so strong! So, babe, if you're reading this...

...the devil made me do it.

Honest!



***UPDATE***

Greg won poker Thursday night! So he got home last night - I had been home for hours because I lost early - and informed me that his winnings financed my new shoes. What a good husband. :)

A big congratulations goes out to Brianna, who from this day forward shall be known as Dr. White.

And while she logged in a solid 5 hours at Trudy's for the after-celebration and consumed more than her legally allowed two Mexican martinis, she still managed to fall well short of being sloppy drunk - disappointing, Brianna, very disappointing... :)

We just got word from our friends Fred and Kristie. They're flying from England to meet us in Lisbon for a long week-end during our Portugal trip. Yay!

Another (Less Thrilling) Celeb Sighting

Between sucking up the courts of sand volleyball in Zilker Park and a refreshing (yeah, that's the word!) dip in Barton Springs, we stopped for lunch at The Shady Grove where we saw:


Know who she is? Anybody? Bueller? Bueller?

I didn't either, but then again, I'm not up on my daytime soap stars. Michelle Stafford from The Young and the Restless was just a few tables over from us. Well spotted, Alicia.

I liked Luke Wilson better.

Oh! And someone stole my sunglasses! I can't believe it. If you can't trust the hippies at Barton Springs, who can you trust? Honestly!

Kittens in a Tub

This is quite possibly the kids' favorite spot in the whole house.

Gomez is obsessed with my hair bands. He hunts and steals them from me, never to be seen again. He will even go so far as to try to pull them out of my hair while I'm sleeping.

Lani, on the other hand, has a fetish for my metal clips.

Each will bring their bounty to the tub, jump in, and go all Mad Max (a la Beyond Thunderdome) in there, pouncing, charging and flipping as they bat the bands and clips around the tub, providing hours of entertainment for mommy and daddy.

If you have the means, I highly recommend catching the show.

"Welcome to the United States"

Its finally official! Greg is a full-fledged card-carrying resident alien of the U.S. of A.


We received his green card (with correct information this time) in the mail today - it only took us 2.5 months to get it... But at least they didn't charge us the threatened $260 fee for changing his birthday. Yay!

So Excited!!

I just bought our one-day tickets for the Saturday of ACL fest! Yay! I'm so excited! Check out the lineup!

Here's our plan of attack so far:

Raul Malo
Paolo Nutini
Andrew Bird (saw him open for Ani Difranco - he was awesome!)
Damien Rice
Amy Winehouse
Muse
Arcade Fire (saw them at ACL 2005 - amazing!)
White Stripes

Yeah baby!

Detox Saturday

After a hard night celebrating Suzanne's (our wedding bartender) half-birthday on Friday, we decided to give the liver and ears a break. We headed to Lake Travis and Carlos n' Charlies for Aussie Mark's 33rd birthday. We skipped the waverunners earlier in the day but were in great need of the fat (for Greg) and greens (for me) provided for lunch. Good times.

Then later that day we met up downtown with Katie, Derek and their puppy Chamois to run the Keep Austin Wierd 5K. I truly love this race. Its one where you can run as slowly as you'd like and not feel guilty because you're too busy checking out everyone's costumes. Among the crowd of runners were:

• two guys in a thong and a diaper,
• the knights from Monty Python's Holy Grail, complete with clapping coconut sound effects and one killer bunny,

• super-heroes, including Wonderwoman and Duff Man,
• several bats, one with a wingspan of six feet,
• a group of armadillo girls,
• some guy running the whole thing on springy stilts,
• lots of Hawaiians with coconut bras and grass skirts,
• and my personal favorite, the cutest little girl with a live chicken on a leash.

At the finish-line we were rewarded with popsicles. Greg's blue one gave him a nice Smurfy look, which fit in well with the theme of the evening. Our forgetful leg muscles were reminded of what it feels like to experience exertion, so we're officially on the lookout for our next race.


Interesting aside: So during the 5K, we also learned that after buying Greg sly mojito doubles Friday evening, it was poor Derek who ended up sleeping on the floor by the bathroom door because he "just needed to be near the toilet". Hee hee hee. That's kharma for you, baby! :)

Rock On!

I love it when a relatively tame night of celebrating 1/2-birthdays and happy hour martinis at 219 West turns into an '80's hair band tribute and rockin' out to the forgotten tunes of Headbanger's Ball. Don't you?

Metal Shop at Cedar Street.
Don't forget your sparkly pants and Aquanet.

Warped Perceptions

When you look up my hometown on Wikipedia, the last sentence reads as follows:

According to CDC reports, the teen pregnancy rate in Ector County is the highest in the United States with 22.9%.

By the time I left high school, twelve of my classmates and friends, all smart girls in the advanced placement and honors courses, had become pregnant. Back then the P word was generally not considered good news.

Is it any wonder then that my gut reaction upon hearing someone announce they are pregnant is still one of shock and dismay, even if only for a split second? Even if this is now considered good news? At thirty years old, you would think I'd have overcome that impulse by now but no. Some things are engrained early and I may never outgrow...

However, to help me along in the process of changing perceptions are our friends Brad & Alisha. A BIG congratulations to the both of them! After months and months of trying and almost giving up, they have finally announced the good news. I'm so happy for you both, and I'm sure Maddie is going to make a wonderful big sister. :)

Poker Night 4

Oh my God. This is beautiful.


Two things you need to know to make this even better:

1. Brian is a 6' 7" Texan good 'ol boy in the making, and
2.

Low-Level Threats

I just got this UT Safety Alert email in my inbox:

"The University Teaching Center (UTC) and the Perry-Castaneda Library (PCL) have been cleared as safe by The University of Texas at Austin (UTPD) after being evacuated for a short time earlier today. The UTC has been reopened and will proceed with a normal schedule, but due to the indefinite duration of the threat, a decision was made to close the PCL for the remainder of the day. It will reopen at 7 a.m., Tuesday, June 12.

"At about 9 a.m. UTPD received a report of a low-level threat to the UTC near the intersection of 21st Street and Speedway. Police immediately investigated and swept the building with officers and their dogs in accordance with their protocol. As a precaution, both the UTC and the adjoining Perry-Castaneda Library were evacuated at 10:30 a.m."

UT students have received several of these "low-level threat" emails since the system was implemented after the tragic Virginia Tech shootings. And I'm left thinking what I always think after receiving one:

Thanks for making my day just a bit more freaky...

Danskin 2007

Courtney, Mel and me

Mel & Courtney survived their first triathlon today! With the minor exception of Mel's early morning meltdown, the whole thing went off without a hitch. They both finished in respectable times and already have their next tri planned.

This was my fourth Danskin - I've done the whole thing 3x now and did a relay last year, Team Boobs Not Bombs with Kristine and Dilek. With a finish time exactly 10 minutes slower than the last time I competed in the whole course in 2005, I'm thrilled (all things considered).

And the vodka shots begin

If a gauge of birthday party success is dictated by how thoroughly polluted the guest of honor becomes, I'd say Greg's special day was a hit! The poor guy held out until about 1:30 a.m. before crawling away for some private time with the toilet. An hour later after saying goodnight to the last of the guests, I helped him pour himself into bed. He barely budged from the couch for the whole of Saturday. Despite it all, he still contends that he had a great time. We're so fortunate to have such a great circle of friends. Thanks to everyone who helped make it a blast!

To see the rest of the photos and a progression of the night's debauchery, click here.

Six Word Story 2

Oh, what fun we will have...

***Update numero dos***

FIRST

With triumphant grin


SECOND

Well done, Doug.
You've tripled your money. Kim should be well pleased.


THIRD

A very dejected shumma. :(

Does this look odd to anyone else?

My British husband playing Texas Hold 'Em with a Lone Star beer.
Look what Texas has done to him...

Right now my house is over-run with boys, 11 of them. The high testosterone quotient of this poker game makes it a bit more intense than the one I usally play. While they duke it out, I'm hiding upstairs at the computer and (mostly) minding my own business. But every now and then I get sucked into their conversations. There's smack talk, yo' mama talk, some slightly pissy whining talk, some vulgarity (I think some of them have forgotten I'm sitting up here). I feel like I'm getting some illicit, unauthorized insider's view into a world I'm not supposed to see.

Our realtor Mikey has obviously just lost, judging from the stream of cursing drifting upward. Greg is still in it after being almost the first person out and doing well by the sounds of things. I don't want to jinx him, but my curiosity is starting to get the better of me.

Yes, that is Greg you see flexing his muscles in the back. :)

***Update***

Doug Howe, current Chip Leader and Happy Camper
He is under strict instructions by his wife to bring home the bacon.

Six Word Story

Legs akimbo, she is grace personified.

Someone's extra-special day...

Happy birthday to you!
Happy birthday to you!
Happy birthday, dear Greg!
Happy birthday to you!

My shumma turns 33 today. I feel so lucky to have him in my life. I could go on and on about the reasons why I love him, but the most important to me today is the fact that he knows when a girl just needs a long, hard hug.

Happy birthday, babe. And... um... I'm sorry I didn't say this to you at midnight last night. :)

Farewell, purple Teva

By now you are well on your way to frolicking with the marine life in the Gulf of Mexico. But fear not! Joining you are my UT baseball cap, my sunglasses, at least a 12-pack of Bud Light, a whole slew of other clothing items, a few busted coolers, snacks, hats, shoes, waterproof cameras, sunscreen and heaven knows what else... You will not be lonely for long.

It seems that kayaking and canoing with 20 other people down the Guadalupe River this week-end demanded a sacrifice. Thankfully, it was not in the form of human casualty (although a few of us may be emotionally scarred).

The breaking point was a sketchy set of rapids with a huge rock rudely jutting out into our path. We all went right when we should have gone left. For most of us this meant toppling over at a small but angry little whirlpool. For Brent and Lauren, however, this meant twisting sideways and swiping against the rock splitting their fiberglass canoe in two. I didn't see it happen, but I saw the wreckage of the smashed up canoe as it drifted by. And then came the rumor that Lauren was missing - thankfully she was fine, a bit shaken up but fine. That was enough to get a few people out of the water at the early pick-up spot. I almost joined them but was convinced that the worst was behind us. And thankfully, it was.

The rest of the trip was pretty uneventful, but you could feel the tension mounting every time we saw or heard anything resembling rapids. As far as I know, everyone tipped at least once, except for The Amazing Kim who was happily buzzed throughout. Maybe that's the secret... I'll have to try that next time. If there is a next time. I could not fall asleep later that night to save my life. I kept seeing whirlpools and water snakes and missing Gregs.

Deep breaths. Let the healing begin.

The pink shoe pictured above is the only surviving member of Katie's flip-flop duo. Luckily for me, she lost the right foot-er and we're close enough to the same size that it worked...

Side note: Man, I could really use a pedicure...