I Love Holiday Week-ends

Its been a lovely holiday week-end so far.

Our Thanksgiving with Katie and Derek was excellent! Their house in Steiner Ranch is about twice the size of ours and absolutely gorgeous! This was Derek's first attempt at baking a turkey, and I have to say, he passed with flying colors - he brined it and everything. Very impressive. Good food and wine followed by wii games and Frangelico. Greg kicked my butt in everything, which irked me but I'll get over it. I was actually sore from the boxing match where I almost kicked his ass. How sad am I! But we ended up crashing at their place and then were treated to yummy breakfast before saying our goodbyes.

On the drive back home, our friends Karl and Terri called to say they were on the way. After spending Thanksgiving with Terri's fam in Houston, they made plans to spend Friday night in Austin to catch up. We met them and the dogs at our place before heading to Trudy's for dinner - no TexMex in Mississippi apparently (I'd die), where we met up with more friends - Mark & Brianna, Erin & Matthew, and Katie & Derek. After stuffing ourselves, we met up at ours again and gossiped into the wee hours. Good times.

So today in Austin the weather is completely conducive to a p.j. day and, as such, we haven't bothered to do anything but nap and watch James Bond. (Greg has learned to associate Bond marathons with holidays in America, and now that we don't have cable, he's making his own with the DVD collections we have.)

Its a good day to be fat and lazy. :)

Happy Birthday, Tricia!

I know my ex-roomie Tricia checks this blog from Italy every now and then so I thought I'd take a moment to sing.

Happy birthday to you!
Happy birthday to you!
Happy birthday, dear Tricia!
Happy birthday to you!

I unearthed some old photos too. :)

Our first Mardi Gras in Austin

Tricia was very happy...

Finishing our first marathon in Feb 2004 -There was no way I would have ever finished without her!

Hope you're having a great birthday, Tricia!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Since our family is scattered to the wind and our usual Thanksgiving crew of foreign grad students and post docs has paired off with other families to entertain now or moved away (boo!), we're having a tamer sort of dinner this year. Its just us and our friends Katie and Derek in their new house for Thanksgiving. However, there has been talk of converting wii games into drinking games so maybe it won't be so tame after all. We'll see.

Its 3 p.m. and I haven't showered or even brushed my teeth yet. Gross! But its a holiday and the weather is finally feeling like fall! Its about damn time! Yesterday at this time, I was hot and sweaty. Now I'm in my fat pants (in early preparation) and a sweatshirt. Its time to change out of my p.j.'s, pretty myself up and start work on the green bean casserole, corn casserole and apple crumble.

I love this holiday...

As Promised...

a picture of our new couch and loveseat!


Since Greg got off work at noon today, he is downstairs performing very scientific studies as to their level of comfort while watching James Bond save the world.

As you can see, our coffee table looks tiny now. We also want to buy a new large rug for the area. But all in good time.

Our house is looking more and more grown up all the time!

Mmmmm, Coffee...

Grande non-fat peppermint white chocolate mocha...


Pretentious? Definitely.

Delicious? Whoa, mama!

Week-End Recovery

We had a great week-end of fun and relaxation. No "work" talk. I hardly got onto the computer - but that was mostly because Greg monopolized it with his soccer addiction. But I'm not complaining.

Early Saturday morning, our new couch and loveseat arrived! Finally! (I'll post pictures later.) They're absolutely massive. You'd think we would have learned our lesson by now because we did the exact same thing with our bedroom furniture too. Note to self: there is a significant difference between the scale of the store floor and that of our house. Nothing looks that big when its sitting in the middle of an open warehouse, but when they're hauling these pieces into our living room, our error in spatial perception becomes abundantly clear. Our living room has definitely filled out. And our coffee table is positively dwarfed. But they're beautiful and comfy and snugglicious. Plus, now I have an excuse to go shopping for a new coffee table - one that will be a bit more functional with an extra shelf below or drawers so I can hide my many, many magazines. Yay!

On Saturday night, we met some friends downtown to see Esther's Follies. If you haven't seen the show, you should definitely check it out. I had been once before over 5 years ago, but I had just moved into town. And since a lot of the content is specific to Austin and local politics, I'm afraid much of the wit was lost on me at the time. But it was hilarious! (By the way, do NOT sit in the aisle seat if you know what's good for you...)

After the show, we wandered up 6th street and into Maggie Mae's. I have to admit that its been a looooong time since I've been bar-hopping on 6th. (These days I'm more of a 4th-street girl, you see.) And I have to say, its highly entertaining in the way of people-watching, one of my favorite lazy-day activities of all time. But it also makes me feel slightly old and distinctly un-fun. Ah, the wild days of early twenty-something. *sigh* I miss them...

...sometimes. :)

Then on Sunday afternoon, we met up with some of our soccer team for practice. Um, please note that we just finished our first season as a team in the lowest co-ed bracket. Our record was 1-9. Yes, that means that we won one game and lost nine. And the game we won, well, that was because the other team never showed... So, yeah, we need the practice. But to be fair, most of our team, including me, had never played soccer before in their lives. So we're all learning the game as we go. And besides, everyone is having a ton of fun despite losing. Imagine the elation if we ever actually won a match! A girl can dream, right...

Our next season starts on the 29th. There are a few new members to the team so it may change the dynamics, but hopefully only for the better. Wish us luck!

Another Rough Week

Poor Greg is living with a psychopath these days. I've taken to calling him during the day from time to time when I feel like crying or need to vent about something particularly heinous. He's taking it like a champ, but I know it can't be easy for him to endure me lately.

I feel, for the sake of a happy marriage and his sanity, I should assist him in any way possible. So to avoid redundancy and stream-line the process by which he handles my meltdowns, I thought I'd implement a new recording system for these occasions.

Also when I'm repeating myself, he can quickly access the proper file that documents the fact, and he can show me that he's heard it all before.

And on a related topic, I cannot wait until I'm out of grad school.

When Will We Learn?

We just can't party like we used to, kids. Well, we can actually. But we pay a higher price for living it up these days.

Today has been a wash. After the final party people left last night, Greg, my friend Terra and I stayed up to tidy a bit and shoot the breeze (not to mention polishing off the last of the cheese, nuts and chips). Those drunk munchies are killer! We got to bed at about 4 a.m. I had to kick Greg out at 9. I can sleep like a rock, but when he's hung-over, he gets antsy and starts tossing and turning and grunting. No, sir. So I gave him the nudge he needed to get up, while I rolled over and got another 1.5 hours of shut-eye.

Brunch at Trudy's this morning was the most productive part of our day. After saying bye to Terra, we settled down for a necessary 3-hour nap. So about all we've done today is eat and sleep. There are still crumbs all over the floor and wine splatters on the kitchen tiles. At least we cleared out the bottles yesterday so fumes are at a minimum.

Now we're off for our soccer game. 80% of our players were in fine form at our party last night so this should be an interesting match. At least we'll be sweating out the toxins while we're trying not to chuck. Ugh.

Sixth Annual Wine & Cheese Party

Every year in November Greg and I host a wine & cheese party. Its a good excuse for us to gather about 40-50 of our friends, catch up, try some new smelly cheeses and get absolutely tanked.

We've seen a lot of changes throughout the years. In that first year, we were all crazy early-20-somethings. Now we're a little older and a little wiser. Instead of partying until 4:30, people are gone by 1 a.m. Old friends move away and new friends appear in our lives. Singles become old married couples. A few preggo ladies have joined us now, defaulting into the roles of automatic designated drivers. There are less warm bodies lingering on our couches in the mornings. The hang-overs are a bit harder to take. But, ah, good times...

Its also a bit of an anniversary for us. During the very first wine & cheese party that my roommate Tricia and I hosted back in November 2002, Greg, fortified by alcohol-induced courage, drew me outside away from the crowd and told me his feelings for me. He insisted we had a lot to do together, and he was right. By 2003, Greg and Tricia had swapped places. We were shacking up, and Tricia was living with her boyfriend-to-be and Greg's ex-roomie, Dan. In 2004, it was a combination wine & cheese party/engagement party. In 2005, we had lived in our new home for only a month so it morphed into a house-warming party. In 2006, it was our 6-month wedding anniversary.

No real milestone this year, just a kick-ass party (hopefully). Can't wait!

Booo!

Greg and I had plans to catch Los Amigos Invisibles at Antone's tonight.

BUT I had to cancel our plans at the last minute because my boss dumped a heap of bureaucratic b.s. in my lap earlier today. Oh yes, and did I mention that it's due tomorrow?

Niiiiiiiiice... Appreciated...

At least we should still be able to hit up Capitol City Comedy Club tomorrow night. Unless, of course, my boss has more tricks up his sleeve.



God, am I a Debbie Downer lately...

Enough of this mopey crap! I promise to get back to my usual cheerful self soon. I have refrained from completely losing it (although just barely) so surely I will climb out of this funk by the week-end.