Odds 'n' ends...

... a.k.a. "random thoughts." :) Not much time to write today, since I'm getting ready for our trip down to Austin tomorrow. I'm sort of half-packed (which means I've created a pile of clothes in the closet that I WANT to pack... but nothing has actually made its way into a suitcase yet), but I still have a lot to do before tomorrow. I must not forget to pack a swimsuit, as it's about fifteen thousand degrees in Austin right now, and mom and dad have a pool...

Speaking of the heat in Austin -- Texas SERIOUSLY needs some rain. A few days ago, a grass fire broke out in a little town north of Austin -- about 20 mobile homes were either damaged or destroyed. Some people lost everything they owned. And I can't help but think that the fire was started by some idiot who threw a cigarette butt out a window... that seems to be the cause of about 90 percent of those grass fires in Texas... (Hint: if it's a million degrees outside and it hasn't rained in fourteen years, do NOT toss any kind of burning object into the grass... I make the assumption that this is common sense, but perhaps not...)

I saw someone walking down the street holding a clipboard earlier today, and it reminded me of one of the things I REALLY like about living in a condo -- no solicitors! I used to HATE it when my doorbell would ring at random times during the day if I wasn't expecting anyone... because I always had to make the decision to either take a chance and open the door, or hide in my closet until the person left. (And I wasn't literally hiding in the closet -- our closet had a window that overlooked the front porch, so I could see who was standing there... I would check to see who it was, and then wait to make sure they eventually walked away. This, of course, makes me sound like some kind of creepy reverse-voyeur -- yeah, I don't walk around looking into unsuspecting people's houses, but I DO look out of my OWN house to watch unsuspecting doorbell-ringers...) When I DID take a chance and answer the door, nine times out of ten it was someone trying to sell me something. And if they happened to have a really good story (like the single mom who was selling magazines to make ends meet...), I was always too nice to turn them away or say no. Which means I ended up with far too many candy bars for charity and magazines for single moms...

I'm getting a little freaked out by the maneuvers of several military jets which have been flying over the city for the last twenty minutes. I'm not sure what they're doing, but they're making a lot of noise and there doesn't seem to be much rhyme or reason to their flight... (They've also obviously disrupted the commercial flights in the area, since no one else can fly when these things are zipping around the airspace...)

We're meeting up with Eric for dinner tonight, so I can give him our keys and he can take care of these crazies while we're gone:

And no, I did NOT just say that so I could put more pictures of my cats on the blog...

Okay, maybe I did...