Busy Bookworm Challenge 2010!

I'm waiting for CJR to finish up her fabulous 2010 Busy Bookworm Challenge button so I can post it in my blog, but I figured I could still draft my list of all the books I plan to read in 2010.

Here they are in no particular order...

- The Host by Stephanie Meyer

- Look Me in the Eye by John Elder Robison

- To Dance with the White Dog by Terry Kay

- Dogs of Dreamtime by Karen Shanley

- The Hidden Life of Dogs by Elizabeth Marshall Thomas

- The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

- The Hunger Games (#3) by Suzanne Collins

- Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides

- Lord of the Flies by William Golding

- The Giver by Lois Lowry (I want to read this again since I last read it in 6th grade)

Anyone else jumping on the Busy Bookworm bandwagon?

(you totally should.)

(even I'm doing it and I was never a big "reader" until this past year.)

(who doesn't have time to read one book a month?)

(that's why it's called the BUSY bookworm challenge, silly.)

Christmas Shenanigans

I hope everyone had a very merry Christmas. I just so happened to have a great one. Here are a few tidbits of my fabulous last few days.

- Snow on Christmas Eve in Texas! Yup, that's right. We had a blizzard all day on the 24th. I have never seen snow blow completely horizontally. See below...

- Dreaming of a white Christmas? Snow was still on the ground Christmas morning. :)

- My baby drove up Christmas day to spend the next few days with me. I wish he could have been here for all our Christmas Eve traditions, but he had a family shindig. I am just happy to have him when I could. Compromise is something I'm still getting used to when it comes to holidays and families in three different cities.

- Catchphrase is the world's most AWESOME game. Playing sober is fun, but playing after a few drinks is UBER fun. I think we played for 6 hours. I have video on that too, but I don't want to embarrass/incriminate my loved ones in my blog. ;) I would never do such a thing.

- My biggest surprise gift this year had to be my Keurig K-cup coffee machine. I had a perfectly (cheap) basic Mr. Coffee pot and didn't expect anything coffee-related at all. But now that I have my Keurig, I don't see how I've survived 27 years without it! (Ok, only like 8 years of my coffee-drinking life). You plop in a K cup, press it down firmly, press the shiny blue button and BAM, you've got a perfect cup of coffee. Brilliant.

- My most-used gift was definitely my Flip video camera that my boyfriend bought me. I got snow/blizzard footage, church service footage, silly Catchphrase footage, future brother-in-law screaming like a girl while making a snow angel footage, etc.

- I made the infamous Monkey Bread for the first time. Turned out great! So did my broccoli cheese casserole on Christmas day. Score!

- I got sick on Dec. 23 for the second year in a row. I made my annual trip to the doctor and let him do another strep test. This year, it's not strep! Yay! But it was a bacterial thing. Boo! Not to worry though, I got me some amoxicillin.

- I made myself (and my mom) a deal that I wouldn't completely wig out about being unemployed over the holidays (since there is essentially nothing I can do over Christmas). I continued obsessively applying through the 23rd. Since that time, I have made a concerted effort to just relax. That's not to say that a few Eeyore moments haven't crept up on me, but I'm doing fairly well. I will likely (99% sure) get back on the obsessive-compulsive job hunt tomorrow.

- I thoroughly THOROUGHLY enjoyed having the whole family together. I'm so very blessed to have two amazing parents, my sister and her fiance, and my boyfriend all spend quality time together under one roof. I made sure to take lots of mental pictures (and flip videos).

Now that the company has all gone home and the house is quiet, I realize that New Year's Eve is only a few days away. So I must go rest up (I'm going to sleep like a rock) and recover from my tequila induced Catchphrase over-indulgence that was this weekend.

The Happy Award!

Thanks to CJR at Girl v. The World, I now have a new Shiny! A "Ten Things That Make Me Happy" Award!

Here are the rules of the award:

Copy the award image in your post.
List 10 things that make you happy, and try to do at least one of them today.
Then, tag 10 bloggers that make you happy!

For the 10 bloggers who get the award, link back to me and spread the happiness!

Here is my list:

1) I couldn't survive day-to-day without the amazing support and love from my mom, dad, and two beautiful (inside and out) sisters. My family makes me incredibly happy.

2) Happy Pants (boyfriend). I'm insanely lucky to have a guy who not only adores me, but talks about the future with me without any fear in his voice, loves his family as much as I love mine, and automatically knows when something is on my mind. Couldn't have asked for a better man.

3) Christmas trees, Christmas music, Christmas gift-giving, Christmas lights, Christmas caroling, Christmas martinis. You see a pattern? I really like Christmas season (minus the annoying crowds).

4) Baking goodies for other people. This is a new love of mine. It's quite fun.

5) My dog. I love to make him happy. I love to see his little face looking up at me. I love waking up next to him. He makes me so happy and I'm not sure he realizes that I may need him more than he needs me.

6) Speaking of my dog - animals. They make me happy. I believe they are inherently good and pure.

7) My Squishy (aka my new SUV). I really love my car. Every time I climb in or see it in my driveway, I giggle. Is that really mine? Did I really buy that? Hehe.

8) A steaming cup of glorious coffee and big breakfast on a Saturday morning. How is that not appealing as heck?

9) Experiencing new things. When you get to feel like a kid again, seeing something for the first time, there's really no better feeling. Everyone should explore their inner child every now and then.

10) Cupcakes. I don't know what it is about them. It could taste like cardboard and I'm thrilled to be eating it!

Four Christmas (in one day)

I attended my 2nd annual "MoB" (mother of boyfriend) gathering. And when I say gathering, I don't use that term lightly. We're talking 25 people (at least) at each party. They all live within walking distance of each other. So when you go visit boyfriend's mom, expect to have dinner with 12-30 others, each arriving with a hefty platter of food. We are never under-fed. ;)

This Christmas I knew it would be a short and sweet visit. Not because I'm busy and employed, but because boyfriend is.

We arrived at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday. Wait, let me back up for a second. I ended up stopping at no other than Starbucks (my mecca) to grab some java, and quickly (ha!) change my clothes into more presentable attire. Once I finally get into the bathroom, I try to change so quickly that I end up twisting my ankle while maneuvering my way into my jeans. Who does that? (It was also brought up later, and I felt silly explaining how one twists one's ankle at Starbucks). But I digress...

So 12:30, and we are already late for par-tay #1. It was at some aunts (??) house. We're really just there to take up space and use up oxygen, as this party is mostly about the kiddos. So we eat dinner #1 (I pace myself) and the four of us (me, boyfriend, his brother, and brother's girlfriend) crack dirty jokes in the corner, laugh and amuse ourselves while 5-year-olds open gifts and squeal with delight.

End of par-tay #1. We then sneak - literally sneak, because I was told "leave now...or else" and realize that obligatory family pictures were being taken. We sneak (run) back over to mom's house and watch football (ugh) until par-tay #2.

Par-tay #2 starts around 2:00 p.m. This party holds a whole different large group of people. I am more familiar with these folks. There was Derek who told me last year, and I quote, "Knowing this guy, I may not see you next year." What??!!! Did he really say that? Everyone gasped. He meant it as a jab at boyfriend that I would surely dump him by next year, but it came out more like he would bring a different girl next year. So, as I greeted Derek on year #2, I made sure to give him the stink eye...and a whole lotta crap!

Let's not leave out gift time. We all sat around and did a gift exchange. Just pass and open. Nothing fancy, organized, or quiet. Pretty much as much chaos as you'd expect with a room full of infants and children and smart-alecky 20 and 30-somethings (who, us???). I open my gift from his Mimi and Papaw and realize it's an 8 x 10 picture of boyfriend during his pubescent years!! AHAHAHAHAHA! I have never seen that boy embarrassed, but I think he was. The second his brother and brother's girlfriend cracked some jokes at his expense, the girlfriend opened her own picture of boyf's brother in 8th grade!! AHAHAHAH! But the funniest part was that Mimi was completely serious. Giving us those pics was no joke for Mimi! I told boyfriend I would proudly place it right on my desk. ;)

Par-tay #3. Getting closer. We are presented with yet another dinner. This is a different group of adults and children. I remember the 4 cute little girls well from last year. I became friends with one this year. I let her be my white elephant gift exchange helper. She ate it up! Boyfriend said later that as he was watching us unwrap a gift together, he realized that she looks like she could be my daughter. I guess we DO have the same features. I would have had to have her at 20 though. Totally do-able. (awww, he thinks about me as a mom??!!!)

Anyhoo, I ended up with the SAME white elephant gift as I received at christmas #1. I got a santa holding decorative Christmas towels. Last year it was a reindeer holding decorative Christmas towels. What are the odds? And where will I put them?

Par-tay #4 took place late at night, around 11:00 p.m. with just boyfriend's family; a total of seven. Whew! I was deliriously tired from all previous par-tays, and a speedy trip to Walmart for chillable red wine, but I managed to stay awake. Lots of fab gifts were exchanged.

One thing I learned this Christmas that I will NEVER again forget is this: Never, ever leave the plans to boyfriend. He doesn't know what's going on. Either because he has gotten the wrong information, or because he doesn't bother to ask. I try to make it clear to him that I am a girl and I need details. Well, I could not have felt like a bigger ASS when his brother and brother's girlfriend got me gifts and I had NOTHING to give them in return. I had asked again and again and he said not to worry about it. But I shall try not to dwell on the negative..

All complaints aside, a great, whirl wind-y, four Christmases all in one day! I survived year #2 and Derek better look out when I show up for year #3!

MERRY CHRISTMAS, EVERYONE!

Non-Resolutions of 2010

I got this idea from My Soul is a Butterfly. Genius. Pure genius.

I have mixed feelings on creating New Year's resolutions because, a) it just sets you up for failure, and b) no one ever keeps track of them to see whether you did or did not fail miserably. I find it somewhat freeing to create a list of things you have no intention of changing about yourself.

Non-resolutions of 2010:

- I will likely bite my nails

- I will probably never find the desire to exercise in the dead heat of summer or the bitter cold of winter

- I will continue to claim that Patron is superior to Don Julio

- I will baby my dog

- I will continue to make checklists and not necessarily check everything off each day

- I will continue to tell my mom everything

- I may always have a messy desk and (hopefully) a clear mind

- I will probably never enjoy yoga

- I do not resolve to make my bed every morning, as I will only mess it up each night

- I will continue to have an aversion to sponges as a cleaning tool

- I may always wish I had gone to medical school

- I may never be a "planner" but I will always plan enough

What are some of your resolutions (or non-resolutions)?

My Weekend In Numbers

I had a great weekend. My baby came to visit, I cooked for us (successfully) and there was much football. Had we done any Christmas shopping, then it may have just been the perfect weekend.

My weekend in numbers...

1.5 - number of hours it took me to make King Ranch Chicken. Turned out so good! I will totally make this again.

45 - number of minutes I allowed myself for a nap on Saturday.

10 - number of minutes I actually slept out of that 45 allowance.

4:30 - the time we arrived at the Cowboy's stadium to tailgate for the Big 12 Championship game.

25 - number of minutes I had to stand in line at the ONE port-o-potty near our tailgate. Miserable? Yes, considering it felt like ten degrees outside. And let's not discuss how disgusting the port-o-potty actually was. (shudder). Let's also not discuss how I dropped my glove on the nasty, E. coli covered floor (double shudder). And we may as well just leave out the fact that someone ahead of me went the big #2 and I had to endure it when my turn finally arrived (quadruple shudder!).

2 - number of hours that I froze my little butt off tailgating. I then sat in my car with my heater full blast and let my raw fingers thaw out. They started to itch like crazy (proof that I had minor frostbite as a child).

467 - number of ultimate nachos for $8.50. I ate about 7 of them. Then I had heartburn.

13/12 - final score of the Texas/Nebraska game! HOOK 'EM HORNS!!!

2:30 - time on Sunday that my man had to leave me. Wahh!!!

2:40 - time that he texted me, "Babe, I'm coming back for you. Pack up your stuff." I actually considered and let him know that I would not need much convincing. I could easily pack myself and my chihuahua. Might be fun. No? Then reality set in, and I don't have a job, which means I couldn't get a place of my own...so I guess that won't work.....

45 - number of degrees outside when I took a nice evening stroll - chihuahua wrapped up in my jacket and all. It was cold and misty, but at least I got my walk on.

Hope everyone else had an equally fab weekend.

Another One Bites The Dust

I went on my first job interview in the three months of trying to land a job. Was I at all excited about this interview? Nope.

Did I feel obligated to go since it's the first interview I've been offered. You bet.

So I drive an hour and find the place. I go inside and expect a cattle call of other unemployed folks who, like me, are desperate for a job. Instead, it's just me. Then I go into this office that clearly belongs to no one (blank walls, clean desk, no computer) and interview with a short hispanic guy. He asked me a list of 5 basic interview questions (i.e., what is your favorite color? What is the airspeed velocity of a coconut laden swallow?) (just kidding).

The "interview" takes a total of ten minutes, if that. Then I am dismissed and told that I would be given a call around 4 p.m. if I'm a good fit. Then there would be a series of two more in-depth interviews. Oh joy.

Here's what I wanted to say: "You do realize that this 10 minute chit-chat could have been done BY PHONE, don't you? Then I would have known enough about this so-called "job" and not wasted my time and make-up. And in turn, you could have hired someone who believes they might actually make money off of this crap."

But instead I said: "Thank you."

At exactly 3:40 p.m. I get a phone call. I don't answer. Five minutes later, I listen to the very vague voice message. Then I call back and I'm offered a job. I very politely tell them thanks but no thanks.

Forgive me, but I just don't think I want to go door-to-door selling cable packages. I didn't think you could do door-to-door sales anymore. This was also a legal pyramid scheme and commission pay only. So if I didn't get shot trespassing, I probably still couldn't pay my bills off of commission only.

Sorry Charlie.

Getting Older and Not-So-Much Wiser

Sooooo.... I want to talk about my birthday that I celebrated 2 weeks back. I turned the big 2-7. Ugh. I really would have been thrilled if we all just stopped counting after 25. 25 was just fine. Can't we just stick with what works?

Maybe part of my beef with turning 27 is the fact that I still easily pass for 19. That, in itself, annoys me to no end.

But I digress....

My boyfriend came up on a Friday night and I made us dinner. Spaghetti.

While I was cooking our spaghetti and waiting on him to arrive, I popped open a bottle of red and played some cheesy Italian music (you know the kind you find in your music channels on tv?). I had my second glass of wine with dinner. No harm done, right? Little did I know, he brought a bottle of tequila and we wanted to try it, so we toasted to my birthday. No, I didn't NEED a shot but I took one anyway. My birthday, dammit.

An hour after dinner, I had a splitting headache. I wrote it off as just being sleepy, so we went to bed. The next morning I unwilling got my butt out of bed and baked us some blueberry muffins, feeling like crap the whole time but trying not to be grumpy because I really like to be a good hostess when he's here.

Fast forward a few hours. I still feel like hell, but we have a big night planned for my birthday that night. He got us a hotel room downtown so that we could have a great time and not worry about driving home that night. A very nice surprise :) But instead of getting dolled up as I would normally do, I put on a track suit and dragged my disheveled and unshowered self out the door and he drove us downtown to our hotel.

20 minutes into our drive, I come THIS close to losing my muffins all over the car. But, I make it to the hotel and we check in and I sit on the bed holding my upset tummy. Fun date I am.

Fast forward an hour. My man goes on a wild goose chase to find me some Alka-Seltzer, which ended up being about a 3 block walk down the street from our hotel. I take the Alka-Seltzer and luckily it really helps. So then I finally get showered and dressed and hit my favorite outdoor bar. Whoo!

I promised myself I would have a good time no matter how I felt. So I had a few drinks at my favorite bar. Then more people started showing up and things got a bit more silly. Perfect! :) By then I've had about 4 drinks. Nothing crazy, nothing unusual, but enough to feel it. As people started leaving, he and I left with another couple who took us to 2 more bars, where (apparently) I had a Red Bull & vodka drink at each bar. No biggie. Nothing horribly unusual.

Next thing I know, I wake up in my hotel bed and have ZERO recollection of anything past the piano bar. Yikes. I'm ashamed to admit that because I don't think it's safe or normal. Thank God I was with my boyfriend, who I trust completely to take care of me. And he did.

(side note: I NEVER get sick after drinking. The worst I ever experience is a headache and/or dehydration.)

After my boyfriend explains to me what I "missed" last night, I roll my happy, hung-over butt out of bed and go throw up. I do that three more times in the hotel. Then we leave the hotel, and I throw up twice in my brand new car.

Awesome.

My parents had my cake and presents ready and awaiting my arrival and it was all I could do to not throw up on all of it. I put on a smile for b-day pictures, but in my head I was just repeating, "Please don't puke, please don't puke..." But I successfully blew out my candles and everyone gobbled up the world's yummiest cake. Everyone but me. (Waaahhh!!)

My point of this way-too-long story is that:

a) I am an idiot who drank too much on her 27th birthday, OR

b) I was already sick to begin with, and drinking didn't help, OR

c) All of the above

Happy 25th....er....27th to me! My goal for this year: Don't be an idiot ;)

Going To The Chapel...

I have the BESTEST news EVER! My sister, C, is now happily engaged to her boyfriend, Lobster!!!

I am so ready to take on the challenge and responsibility of my new title: Maid of Honor.

Being the girl who refuses to plan things until absolutely necessary, I have no idea how to go about planning a wedding, but since hearing of the engagement plans, I have been researching like the good little MOH I am. Plus, I am determined to be the best darn MOH on planet earth.

Mwahahahahaha! <---evil laugh

Observe the adorable new MOH badgey wadgey on my bloggy woggy. ---->

Congratulations C and Lobster!

Popcorn, anyone?

Since I'm officially uber excited about New Moon (which comes out Nov. 20), I have become the ultimate nerd by posting a countdown on my blog!!

See? ---->

Twilight nerds UNITE!

While I'm all worked up, I should mentioned that if I could also add nerdy countdown widgets for other movies I'm giddy about, they would include the following:

1) A Christmas Carol (in 3D!!!!)

2) 2012

3) Planet 51

That's all for now. Perhaps November will be the month of movies!!

Mwahahahaha!

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

Let's start with the bad and the ugly, shall we?

I'm STILL unemployed. It has now been a long 2 months and 6 days. I have not only called The Boss Man on an (almost) weekly basis, but I have also applied for jobs on my side of Texas and on my boyfriend's side of Texas. Yes, we have sides. I have yet to receive ONE call or email back from a real job prospect. When I say "real" it's because I have received a crapola response back from a scam artist. (Note: Never do business via e-mail with someone who claims to be in Australia, wants to have a strictly online business relationship, wants you to go purchase goodies for the orphanage he sponsors, and claimed he loved your resume when you never sent him one.)

I'm now at the point of dipping into my savings that I was saving for bigger and better things than just paying my bills, but whatever.

Enough depressing stuff. Time for the good!!

Today is my dad's birthday! Hooray! 'Tis also the month of many birthdays, including mine and my aunt's! November babies ROCK!

Another good thing: We attended another fun Halloween costume party this year, as usual. I dressed as Daisy Duke, my man was (you'll never guess) a banana. Many jokes stemmed from his random costume choice. We also had wolverine, a couple of sexy pirates, a witch, Dr. Acula, a killer bee (a big letter "B" with blood all over him), and a few other costumes I paid no attention to. All and all, it was a good time.

More good news, you say? But of course!

I played golf for my very first time on Sunday. It's quite the accomplishment. You have no idea.

My dad is an avid (and pretty much obsessive) golfer. My boyfriend loves to golf and doesn't get to do it often, so when he's in town, he tries to play golf with my dad. This time, the boys invited my mom and I to join them. "Of course we want to ride along!" I said. But what they meant was that they wanted us to PLAY along. Have they lost their marbles?

"What??!!! Oh no, you don't want that." I say.

Then I ran down a list of excuses as to why that was a huge mistake on their part:

We'll slow you down.

I may injure someone with a bad shot.

I may injure myself with a bad shot.

You guys will laugh at me.

I have nothing to wear.

I may be so talented that I embarrass the two of you.

My resistance was futile, so my mom and I ended up playing the front nine with them. It was a painfully slow front nine. I will say I had a few good shots, and a few hundred terrible shots. I am proud of myself for getting out and playing though, because it's the only way to learn. I have a feeling there will be a lot more golfing in my future and I'd like to be able to play alongside the men in my life.

Ok, time to go try to be productive. Peace out, Bloggies!

Domestically Challenged....NO MORE!

People who know me well may agree that I'm a tad domestically disabled. But once in a blue moon I get a strong urge to either clean something or cook/bake something. Lately, my baking urge is strong.

So, my friends, I have decided to develop a list of things I must learn how to bake before I tie the knot. I don't want to be the wifey who shows up to every gathering with grocery store bought cookies. BO-RING! (fyi - no one is getting married yet. I'm just sayin'...)

Here are the things that I have already tackled:

Sugar cookies - these stuck to my counter top when I rolled them out. Then I decorated them. Badly. They tasted great though.

Banana bread - This was excellent if I do say so myself.

Pumpkin bread - This was very good, although I already know what to do differently next time.

Crepes - made fresh this morning. No small fires, no cursing, no mess with flour. I'd say a valiant effort!

Things I must tackle:

Pumpkin pie - this is my boyfriend's fave!

Cupcakes - any kind, but the key is to make sure it does not look like a 6 year old did the icing.

Cheesecake - the springy pan intimidates me.

Sourdough bread - warm & delicious.

Homemade blueberry muffins - another favorite of both mine and boyfriend's.

Mom's 'Monkey Bread' - cinnamon-y buttery goodness in a bundt pan!

Booze and Boos!

I had a wonderful and long weekend with my man. The deal was that we (by "we" I am referring to me, my man, my sister, and her man)... anyhoo, we were all going to watch the big Red River Rivalry game together in Dallas and party hardy and then go State Fairing. That plan shifted when my man's dad's cousin unexpectedly passed away from a heart attack. It was a rough week for his family. Long story short, the only option I had to spend time with him was to go stay with him while he dog sat for the weekend.

So I go to Austin, where I proceed to meet all of his lawyer co-workers for happy hour on Friday night. They were really fun. I am glad that they all seemed to like me. (Or perhaps they didn't. These are lawyers we're talking about. And there was alcohol involved).

Then we spent Saturday watching the big game. I will admit, this is one of the few football games that I have watched from start to finish and was truly interested in. I know...I'm shocked too. I even sported my new burnt orange #10 jersey and may or may not have screamed at Colt McCoy a few times.

Then I proposed the brilliant idea of carving pumpkins and he obliged. I should mention that after some time, he was more excited about this idea than I was. Tee hee.

So, on Sunday we went to the pumpkin patch!

Then we started the long process of carving. We agreed on our two favorite stencils: the haunted house with a ghost and the little goblin guy, and we carved away while briefly pausing to pose for pictures.

The momma and baby pumpkin.

Deep concentration is key to a successful design.

Using the big boy knife.

We are officially nerds. (And I'm NOT holding a knife, that is a spoon everyone!)

Finished product!

And we patiently waited until dark to light them and show their awesome-ness. I'm not gonna lie. We were pretty impressed with ourselves.

Don't act like you're not impressed ;)

Happy trick-or-treating, everyone!

Note: don't bother baking the pumpkin seeds unless you like the taste of incinerated gourd.

Hooray for Awards!

Thanks to CJR at the wonderful, entertaining, and educational Busy Bookworm Reviews, for my second EVER blog award (which I probably don't deserve, but I'll take it)!

The rules of accepting this award is that I have to answer the following questions and then pass the award on to six other bloggers. So...

1. Where is your cell phone: as always, by my side.
   
2. Your hair: in a ponytail and wet from a shower.
   
3. Your mother: my personality twin. Love her.
   
4. Your father: my personality opposite. Love him.
   
5. Your favorite food: Mom's chicken and dumplins.
   
6. Your dream from last night: involved flooding and books. Analyze that.
   
7. Your favorite drink: not too sweet. Alcohol is a plus.
   
8. Your dream/goal: feel like I gave it up 2 years ago. I don't wanna talk about it.
   
9. What room are you in: upstairs living room.
   
10. What is your hobby: lately, reading, scrapbooking, paying bills, searching for jobs..
    
11. What is your fear: not having enough to get by, never finding a job, losing a loved one.
    
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years: married, kids, house, and job.
    
13. Where were you last night: home. Watching Bruce Almighty because my tv is screwy.
    
14. Something you are not: lately, productive.
    
15. Muffins: yes please. Blueberry.
    
16. Wish list items: A place. A treadmill. A job. Perhaps some earmuffs too.
    
17. Where did you grow up: a small suburb outside of Houston.
    
18. Last thing you did: check my stuff I'm selling on eBay.
    
19. What are you wearing: a tee shirt and comfy pants. What? It's raining and I'm stuck inside.
    
20. Your TV: honestly freaks me out. Changes channels on its own.
    
21. Your pets: I love my chihuahua. Dogs are truly the greatest companion.
    
22. Your friends: I wish I could see them so much more than I do :(
    
23. Your life: an adventure
    
24. Your mood: a bit more dark & twisty than usual (lately)
    
25. Missing someone: my man.
    
26. Vehicle: SUV.
    
27. Something you're not wearing: shoes. Who needs 'em.
    
28. Your favorite store: I'm pretty happy in a Super Target.
    
29. Your favorite color: greens, blues, pink..
    
30. When's the last time you laughed: yesterday.
    
31. When's the last time you cried: can't remember when or why.
    
32. Your best friend: knows me better than most.
    
33. One place you go over and over: no where (lately). Otherwise, I'd say Starbucks.
    
34. One person who emails me regularly: mom, sis, karen... crap, that's three.
    
35. Favorite place to eat: at a table.

And the six bloggers I have deemed worthy of the blog award are....

godsongsgal at DreamSpirations

CJR at Girl v. The World

NatureCat at Pacific Chatter

V at *uncorked

Tia at Clever Girl Goes Blog

AmericanTribal at The Daily Tribal

Spring...Er...Fall Cleaning!!

So, it's officially Fall!

Whether I like it or not, fall has fallen! Spring is well past sprung! Old Man Winter is on his way!

That's enough of that...

All I know is that for the past 4 days, the weather in Texas has been a bit chilly. All I have whined about is wanting a pair of earmuffs, but had to settle for a beanie (also know as a toboggan, which I think is a really odd name) to cover my ice cube ears. And because I needed a beanie, I had to go digging in my under-bed storage where I keep my scarves, gloves, and hats that I pull out once a year, if that.

This digging up my winter goodies started a domino effect.

A very rare domino effect (for me).

I decided that my winter things needed a nice place to live for the season. And my strappy tanks have no place here anymore, so why don't I put those away? So that's what I did. I traded my (light & airy) summer clothes for my (bulky & annoying) winter clothes.

I then stood back and realized how unsatisfying that was. Here were my winter things, all neatly folded in a closet that looked like a twister just tore through it. Ugh.

Observe...

This will never do.

That's when I decide I must clean out the whole mess-of-a-closet. And here's the thing: I scare easily from organization projects. Even the mention of a good closet cleaning is enough to make me run away screaming, "Save yourseeeellllves!" So I devise a master plan.

I will need sustenance:

And I'll definitely need an assistant:

...but beware, he also scares easily.

Also, a live band wouldn't be a bad idea.

I find some interesting things during The Great Closet Cleaning of 2009...

Observe...

Ahh, my pretty black pumps I never wear.

Hellooo 5 year old lip balm!

Is that a feather boa? Why yes it is..

Bunny costume anyone?

How about a naughty maid costume? (last year's Halloween costume. Judge away.)

Girly tools!

And last but not least..

Ahh memories. I will never get rid of this thing. I hope I have a daughter.

About 2 hours after messing around with random closet findings, I finally finished. Observe...

Glad you could experience The Great Closet Cleaning of 2009. This rare event probably won't happen again for another 2 years.

The end!

Bald Beans and Refried Eagles

This is officially the week I learn or see something new every day. I'm now over two and a half decades old and there are certain things that I have believed my whole life that I am JUST NOW learning are simply, well, crap.

Two ways to look at this: I could either be really p*ssed that I've been BS'd or naive all these years, or be really thrilled because I can wake up every day knowing that there's more to learn.

I choose the latter.

I consider myself a city girl who has been "trapped" in the country. This week has been the biggest Country Girl 101 course thus far. Yesterday, my bloggies, I saw my very first...

BALD EAGLE.

I kid you not. Bald Eagle. 100 yards from MY house. Sitting right in the middle of an open field! Little did I know that he wasn't just sitting there enjoying the northerly breeze. I realized after he spread his 8 foot wingspan and took flight that he was also carrying a large Jackrabbit in his huge talons. This was amazing to see first-hand!!!!

Yet, even though I was watching a Bald Eagle with my own eyes, I still doubted this was really an Eagle. "We don't have Bald Eagles in Texas!" This is what I had always assumed.

You know what they always say about people who assume? Makes an ass of of "u" and "me".

Uh huh...I'm an ass. It's a Bald Eagle folks. Google it yourself.

So later that night, I am eating Mexican food, which, unfortunately, always seems to involve refried beans. I decided to share my so-called knowledge about how refried beans were uber unhealthy. Then I was informed that refried beans were, in fact, very healthy if cooked the proper way. What????

HOW COME NO ONE TOLD ME THIS? This is strike two for the day.

Here I am walking around like an idiot, "Bald Eagles don't exist..." and "Refried beans are the devil..." and I'm wrong. Drat!!!

So back to my country girl/nature experience. Today on my run, I see a huge green caterpillar. I'd say about 4 inches long and about the width of someone's finger. Just crossing the road like it's no big thing. So I said hi to him, naturally, and took a few awful pictures with my iPhone. (Oh yeah...Steve Jobs, we seriously need ZOOM on the iPhone. Please get right on that, Apple peeps.)

And sometime today after my run, I get home and spot a very chaotic web in my garage (chaotic = total Black Widow territory) (I am an obsessive Googler). I debate for some time, and then decide I have to take care of it. I hate to kill anything, but when it's between my animals and family and a spider such as this, I have to do what's best for my loved ones. And I was scared the whole time that somehow it would build enough strength/anger to jump 9 feet and bite me and then my internal killing debate would be a moot point. Ugh..

[Sorry folks, no pictures of this guy. My hands were full. And by full I mean bug spray, fly swatter, and metal shield.]

And finally, this evening on my aptly named "nature" walk, I see a massive hawk (hide all tiny chihuahuas!)

And on the way home, I'm fairly certain that I jumped 16 feet in the air when I saw Mr. Tarantula crossing the road. So casually, just like Mr. Caterpillar. I'll bet they're friends.

I think maybe I've had enough Biology for one week. HA! Who am I kidding? I love Biology!

But seriously, let's keep the spiders at a safe distance, shall we?