Colon Cleanser Hot Sauce

Mr. Mac collects hot sauces. As far as I can tell, he never actually uses them but still insists on accumulating more and more.

When I ran across this at Rustlin' Rob's, I just had to get it for him:



He may never actually taste the stuff, but I'm sure he'll appreciate the sentiment. Ha ha! :)

Touristing in Fredericksburg

We're back from our belated wedding anniversary get-away in Fredericksburg. Our little cabin at Cotton Gin Village was a-d-o-r-a-b-l-e. I took lots of pics that I'll post later, but it was just so relaxing to have a slow-paced week-end where we didn't have to worry about work, house plans, obligations or being responsible in any way, shape or form.

We left Austin on Friday afternoon (but not early enough to be beat traffic jams, of course) and arrived at around 6:30 p.m. A vegetative state was assumed until dinner at the Cotton Gin restaurant, which was delicious. I had my very first mint julep ever and have been fantasizing about it ever since. They put their special twist on the traditional Kentucky Derby standard by adding lavender syrup, which gave it a strangely comforting appeal. Here's the recipe (or at least what I could figure out as our waitress mixed it in front of us):

Lavender Mint Julep

Add equal parts cognac, rum (I think), and lavender syrup to fresh spearmint sprigs (she was very insistent on the fact that it be spearmint) in a shaker with ice; shake vigorously and pour into a cute, silver mint julep cup.

Sip and pretend you're rocking on the porch of your colonial mansion in Georgia. Of course if you don't have a mint julep cup, any will do. But it's significantly less fun that way. Just holding it in my hand made me want to bust out the Southern drawl, strictly reserved for special occasions, i.e. high levels of intoxication.

The next day we spent window shopping in Fredericksburg. We were hoping to run across some furniture or paintings that we could truck back to Austin with us, but it wasn't to be. Instead we snagged some jams and pepper sauces from Rustlin' Rob's, an Oriental-looking red plate for the living room, and strands of turquoise & snail jasper (gorgeous! This may replace laboradorite as my new favorite stone) that I'll use to make jewelry. That night we rocked on our cabin porch, listened to the crazy-loud frog croaking in the pond, drank a bottle and a half of wine, and talked into the wee hours of the morning. It was really, really lovely...

The next morning Greg was awake at 6 a.m. to catch his Formula One race - yes, he took full advantage of the satellite T.V. Then he crawled back into bed with me to snuggle until we had to pack it up and check out.

We left Fredericksburg feeling cuddly and refreshed. I think we were both surprised at how much we needed this. And at the rejuvenating power of a simple week-end away in the hill country. If you have the means, I highly recommend it.

And what's better, we arrived in Austin to a fully refinished deck and front door. Let the deck beautification begin!

Improvement #5

Poor Greg. Our walls are still mostly bare after living in this house for over 2 years. He gets so frustrated with me because I have serious commitment issues when it comes to choosing wall decor. Leave me alone - I'm working through it. In teeny, tiny baby steps...

Well, I finally relented and gave in when he pointed out this painting that he spotted at Thomasville.


I have to say, it's pretty perfect. The blue in it exactly compliments the blue of our dining room wall. The green compliments the green of our kitchen. And the brown tones compliment the beige of our living room.

He actually picked a piece that tied all three rooms together! Good job, babe!

We're going to be on the look-out for more great finds when we're in Fredericksburg this week-end. Should be stressful fun and full of arguments healthy debate.

Ooooh, I Could Just EAT Them!

You Thought I Was Kidding, Didn't You?

I am so not kidding.

Kitty potty training is in full force! Although it's been on temporary hiatus while I prepared for my committee meeting.

First I found aluminum pans that fit perfectly into the toilet bowl of our guest bathroom.


There are two pans there. One wouldn't support Gomez's fat belly.
Then I taped the seat and lid down to help secure them in place. And filled the pans with litter.


The next step is to slowly use phone books to elevate the regular litter tray up to the higher level of the toilet. Once they get used to having to jump up to use the potty, I'll remove the litter tray so the pans will be the only option. Then I'll cut a hole in the middle of the pan and gradually make it bigger and bigger until they have no foothold and are forced to balance on the seat. And voila! Potty trained children! No more stepping on nasty litter and finding it all over the house. I can't wait!

Gomez inspecting of the new facilities.

Go ahead and laugh, but we've already found three peepees in the pan. They're using it and I'm not even trying!

Yes, I'm a proud, proud Mama... :)

What Do YOU Google Search?

Ha ha! This is so insane that I felt I had to share...

Someone from Ohio recently found my blog by google searching the following phrase:

"retarded no legged chipmunk -deer from bangkok"

WHAT?!? And hello, strange person looking for retarded chipmunks and deer! I'm not here to judge. Whatever floats your boat is fine by me. Although I have to say, I sincerely hope you are not poking fun at the mentally and physically handicapped - homo sapien or otherwise. Because that's just wrong. And shame on you!

:)

Who Needs Reviews When You Have Women's Intuition?

So I spent yesterday afternoon grading from home and took breaks every hour to meet with pro deck dudes and to show them the work we needed done. When I told them about our disastrous attempts at stripping the deck ourselves with the base solution, every single one of them groaned and shook their heads. I could read their minds. Each was thinking Silly, stupid amateurs...

That and dollar signs were dancing in their eyes...

I liked all three but got the best impression from the first guy, Brett from Apex Wood Restoration. He's been in the business for 14 years, discussed his plan of action, had pictures of previous work, was very professional, and told us to check out his reviews on Angie's List. We don't subscribe to Angie's List, but I'm assuming they're raves if he's referring to them. I've tried googling his business, but only found one on-line review. To be honest, it was not particularly glowing. I'm just going to hope that it's not representative of his work in general. If I'm wrong I can (and will) kick myself later.

So basically what I'm saying is that we're hiring him based solely on women's intuition. :) We're following my gut, which coincidentally has little to no experience with interviewing and hiring contractors. So this may be a huge mistake, one that I'm sure I will never live down, but we'll see.

He starts washing, sanding and bleaching tomorrow while we're at work. We'll pick a new color from paint chips he's leaving for us, and he'll finish the job on Friday or Saturday. He's also going to sand and repaint our front door, and he'll power wash our cement side walk for free. Gotta love the freebies.

I'll be sure to post the finished results and a review of his work after the job's done. Until then, we're keeping our fingers crossed.

Throwing in the Towel

Greg and I are stupid, stupid homeowners with delusions of grandeur and masochistic tendencies. That's what our imaginary therapist would call it anyway.

Our Saturday ended in whimpers of pain and delirium after spending EIGHT back-breaking hours trying to strip the old stain off our 400+ square foot deck (man, I seriously got woozy and light-headed just typing that... I am so not kidding! I think I have emotional scars from this week-end). It was a disaster! Why, oh why did we think we could tackle this task on our own? Ugh.

After making it through 70% of the deck, we finally called it quits. We were done and just could not go on any longer. We barely had enough energy to drag our tired, demoralized asses in to shower, and then we crashed. Hard. We're still recovering...

We're sunburned and inhaled way too many corrosive chemicals. Soreness is everywhere, even in the palms of our hands. Making a fist hurts right now. What's worse is that the stripping only partially worked. There are still scattered bits of red all over. If you didn't know any better, you'd think our deck was beaten within an inch of its life and is now covered in red welts and blisters. It hurts to look at. Our poor, abused deck...

We've decided to do what we should have done in the first place. We're calling in the experts to clean up our mess and finish the job. We don't even care what it costs as long as we don't have to lift another finger on this awful mess.

Enough whining. Just remember this if you're ever considering stripping and refinishing the deck yourselves. I would seriously advise against it. Call the professionals! Some things are worth the money!

T Minus 10 Pounds

Once upon a time, I was a girl who could comfortably run 8 miles straight. No cramping legs. No labored breathing. No needles in my chest. I was in the best shape of my life and feeling good. I sported some truly rockin' legs if I do say so myself and mercifully saddlebag-free thighs.

Sadly those days are long gone, my friends.

Now my chunky-monkey self is 10 pounds heavier and significantly more squishy, jiggly & cumbersome. Right now the word bikini strikes fear into my heart and kick starts a mild panic attack. Week-ends lounging at Barton Creek seem more torturous than relaxing at the moment. This is no way to start the summer... No, with chipmunk cheeks and a spare tire around my middle bits, I think it's high time I kick my butt into gear.

Here's the deal: When I lose those 10 pounds, I'm treating myself to a mini-shopping spree. So as of today, I'm on a complete shopping hiatus until those 10 are gone. And for accountability, I'm going to blog about my efforts. Extremely dull, I know, but I'm desperate...

Wednesday night I went for my first jog in a long time. According to my Garmin Forerunner, I lasted a total 4.05 miles. But in the interests of full disclosure, I walked 0.46 of those. So I actually jogged for about 3.5 miles at an average pace of 9 minutes, 30 seconds per mile, which is encouraging! That's much better than I thought I could do. I'm going to try to make it out tonight too. Wish me luck and determination...

More BABIES!!

While living in Boulder, CO back in 1999, I briefly dated this guy named Karl. Karl and I were not suited for each other. I mean, not at all. Soon after starting to date, I discovered him to be a bit of a self-absorbed ass, to be quite honest. As for his objections to me, well, I'm not quite sure about that. You'd have to ask him. We didn't last but for maybe a month or two. Good riddance to that brief, misguided affair.

However, the one good thing about Karl was that he had the coolest roommates ever. Rick and Balaji. I adore Rick and Balaji. They are two hilarious, stand-up guys with a lot to say for themselves. I think the only reason I didn't break up with Karl sooner was because I had such a good time hanging out with these two. By the time we finally split, it was too late. I had already grown attached to Rick and Balaji, and I wasn't giving them back. Ha! We've all stayed in touch ever since.

About a month and half ago, I got an email from Rick saying that he and his beautiful wife Tamiko had their first baby! Rick and Balaji are now both daddies! How adorable...

Meet the new cutie Kiyomi.

Looks like this parenthood stuff is hard work...

That is going to be one beautiful little girl. Rick, you better start polishing off that shotgun now...