Pilfered pictures...

Happy weekend, everyone! I'm actually already looking forward to next weekend, because it's one of those elusive, sought-after three-day holiday weekends. Oh, Three-Day Holiday Weekend, how I love thee...

I've finally had some time to download the Hawaii pictures I stole from mom and dad's house while they were away a couple weeks ago. So here's the last batch of vacation pictures:

The view from the Beach Tree restaurant where we ate dinner a few times... I think dad must've taken this picture, because the horizon is a little crooked -- and dad has a habit of taking crooked-horizon pictures... ;)

This is what all of the hotel bungalows looked like. They kept everything very natural outside... lots of green and wood and lava rock...

Mom and dad...

Dad and me... this is when we stopped on the side of the road to get waterfall pictures...

Me and Rick and Eric and Debbie...

Aw... nice picture of Debbie and Eric... :)

Fairly decent picture of me and Rick... :) (Although I'm not a fan of the hair... mine, not Rick's... Rick's hair looks great...)

Aunt Carol found a little blue plastic shovel in one of the tide pools... score! :)

Every time we go to Hawaii, we have to seek out "Leilani" signs for mom... Hawaii is the only state where mom can go to Starbucks and they don't have to ask "how do you spell that??" when they put her name on her cup...

The whole group at breakfast...

I don't think I got any good sea turtle pictures while I was there -- so here's one from mom's camera...

Leilani sighting! (Fun fact: my grandfather played steel guitar and he and my grandmother loved Hawaiian music -- their favorite song was called "Sweet Leilani," and that's how mom got her name...)

Eric, Debbie, me and Rick at dinner one night. This table was literally steps from the beach, which was nice... but because of our proximity to all things outdoors, we had a slight flying roach issue... the food, however, (sans roaches) was very good...
 

The adorable shirtless Hawaiian guy who ran around the resort to light all the torches every evening... and I do mean RAN -- I believe Debbie had to actually shout at him to hold still so she and my mom could snap a few pictures. I wasn't there to take a shot myself, although I did happen to see him running down a path a day or two later, and apparently I stopped whatever I was doing to gawk at him... at least that's what I'm told... I'm not sure... you can ask Rick...

And this is what happens when you've been at the airport for a few hours with nothing to do, knowing you have a long journey home ahead of you... things start to get a bit strange... :)

This weekend...

...is, unfortunately, almost over. Why does the weekend fly by so quickly, but the week drags on and on?? Sigh... oh well. Anyway, for the first time in a while, I have about a million things I could blog about. But I don't know where to start. No, wait -- I know where to start:

ERIC AND RACHEL ARE GETTING MARRIED!!!!! Woooooohooooooo!!!!!! My little bro is engaged! To a really awesome girl!! I'm so excited!!!!! (I know it's hard to tell, what with all the exclamation points and everything... ;)) Congratulations Eric and Rachel -- love you guys!! :)

Some other not-quite-as-exciting stuff that happened this weekend: We tried a "famous Texas landmark" barbecue joint for lunch on Saturday called Louie Mueller Barbecue. It's out in the tiny town of Taylor (alliteration not intended... :)), which, we concluded, must only exist because of the barbecue place. I mean, there was really nothing else in the middle of town, except a Mexican restaurant and a party store that sold pinatas.

Louie Mueller is housed in its original building, which was apparently constructed some time during the industrial revolution. I say this because not only is the building OLD, but the owners have decided to revolt against the conveniences of industry and refuse to install air conditioning. And since this place gets extremely busy at lunchtime (I believe the entire population of Taylor was inside that building), that means everyone has the privilege of standing in a painfully slow-moving line in an un-air-conditioned, stifling hot warehouse building filled with meat smokers... in the middle of Texas in June.

Now, I can understand wanting to preserve the "rustic" atmosphere -- the rickety tables, the patched wooden floor, the exposed rafters and ductwork, the old pictures of celebrities who've patronized the restaurant and magazine articles proclaiming it "The Best Barbecue in the Country" -- that's all well and good. But I have to say -- two or three anemic fans and a broken "swamp cooler" blowing warm air around do NOT make for a comfortable dining experience. Add to that the fact that there were about two people working at the counter during the lunch rush, which meant more than an hour in line -- and I have to admit the obviously air-conditioned Mexican restaurant next door was looking better and better. I even considered going across the street and buying a pinata, just so I could eat the candy in my air conditioned car...

But eventually we survived the long line and the heat (only to find out they were completely out of chicken and had only a third of a pound of turkey left -- they only sell the food until they run out), and when we were FINALLY able to eat some of this famous barbecue, it WAS good. But the only way it would've been worth the miserable hour and a half wait in the heat is if the brisket and turkey had jumped up off the table and immediately constructed an air conditioner in the window next to our table. Now THAT would've been good barbecue...
  
We decided it was an "experience," however, and sometimes you have to do something just for the experience. But if I ever go to Louie Mueller Barbecue again, it will either be a) at 10 a.m. before anyone is in line, or b) in December. I'm just not THAT desperate for barbecue...

I have more to blog about, including pilfered Hawaii pictures from mom and dad's house, so hopefully I'll have time to post later this week. Have a great week, everyone!

Breaking the rules...

I have about a half hour before I must succumb to my ridiculously early bedtime, in order to prepare for another early morning. But in the meantime -- a few more Hawaii pics! I need to raid my mom's picture stash sometime soon, because I know she took a bunch of great pictures, too -- and she always manages to get more "people" shots, so you'd have an opportunity to see all of our smiling faces... a big plus, I'm sure... :)

Anyway, these next two pictures aren't all that impressive, but there's kind of a funny story behind them. We stayed on the western side of the island, but decided to visit Hilo (on the eastern side of the island) one day. The main road to the opposite side of the island pretty much follows the coastline -- the more direct route would be to cut across the MIDDLE of the island. And there IS a road that cuts through the middle of the island --it's called Saddle Road. Unfortunately, there was a message stamped at the bottom of our rental car agreement that said something along the lines of, "driving on Saddle Road may void your contract..." So after a long day of driving and spending time in Hilo, what did we decide to do? Why, we decided to cut down on our driving time back to the resort and take a chance on Saddle Road, of course!

The first few miles were fine -- there was absolutely nothing unusual about the road that we thought would be cause for rental-car-company panic. A bit narrow, perhaps... and maybe a few more twists and turns than most roads, but other than that, it was typical. And then, about ten miles in, we saw a sign that said "Pavement Ends, 1 Mile" or something like that. Hmmm... generally, pavement is appreciated when driving down a road. So we were a bit apprehensive. Sure enough, we reached a stretch of road that was under construction, and had to maneuver our rental car over a dirt road. But it only lasted about a quarter of a mile, and then it was back to smooth pavement. "Just a little hiccup," Rick remarked. And then we saw another "Pavement Ends" sign. And then another. And another. Hiccup... hiccup... hiccup... By the time we drove through the construction area, we'd probably driven on those dirt roads seven or eight times.

Fortunately, once we were through the Hiccup Zone, Saddle Road turned out to be quite pleasant. In fact, sections of it were smoother and wider than the main highway (although the last few miles were nauseatingly twisty and turny and up and downy...). All in all, though, it was no worse than dozens of other roads in Hawaii we've traveled down in rental cars.

And one of the best parts of Saddle Road is that it passes right by Mauna Kea, which is "technically" the highest mountain in the world... IF it's measured from where it starts on the bottom of the ocean (about 17,000 feet of it is underwater...). It's also frequently covered with snow at the peak (although we couldn't see any when we were there), which means you can ski on it -- yep, skiing in Hawaii. And it's the site of an observatory (which I would love to actually visit someday... except that they don't LET tourists visit the observatory... so unfair. Although that reminds me -- one of the days we were at the resort, an astronomer was out on the beach with a huge telescope -- she had it pointed at Saturn. Everyone was taking turns looking through the lens -- it was pretty awesome. You could actually see the rings...)

Anyway, all of that just to explain that the tiny bit of mountain peeking through the clouds in this picture is Mauna Kea. It was much more impressive in person: 

Yeah. You'll just have to take my word for it.

More of the scenery along the forbidden Saddle Road...

A gecko friend at the hotel...

Sunset from our room at the hotel...

This was the day we left -- the airport on the Big Island is all outdoors...

Like so outdoors that you can practically reach out and touch the planes behind the bushes...

Sunset at the airport the night we left... sigh..

Off to bed!! (Well, you guys can stay up if you want... :))

A few more pics...

So what do you do when you're driving down a road in Hawaii, and you see a picturesque waterfall on one side of the road?

Why, everyone stops their cars and runs to take pictures, of course!

And then some of us hop up on the stone wall on the other side of the road for another "check out my awesome tan" photo op...

Blue water, blue sky, blue shirt...

Hawaii pics...

Here's the first set of Hawaii pics... I'll just upload a few at a time, so I can say that I posted fifteen times over the weekend. :) (Just kidding... but maybe I can manage two or three...)

The understated sign at the entrance to our resort... it was so understated, in fact, that we really had to pay attention to not miss our turn. (But it was worth it once we got to the resort!)


The beach at the hotel -- it had a tendency to be clear and sunny in the morning and cloudy in the afternoon... (but cloudy in Hawaii is still IN HAWAII... so, you know, not so bad... :))


Pensive Rick looking out over the ocean...


Our favorite restaurant at the hotel was called the Beach Tree -- which, coincidentally, was right next to this big tree on the beach...


The view from our room, which I gazed out at every morning... and then I would sigh with a mixture of temporary contentment and resignation that I'd soon have to leave...


I'm not sure what kind of bird this is, but I just decided to call it a Chicken Bird. It was hanging out at the little coffee shop at the hotel, no doubt waiting for pastry crumbs to fall onto the ground. All we had was coffee, but that didn't stop Chicken Bird from being very vocal and repeatedly asking if we had anything to share (at least I think that's what it was saying... I don't actually speak Chicken Birdish, so I'm just guessing...).

Rick at the coffee shop...


Me at the coffee shop -- note that awesome Hawaiian tan...

Chicken bird!

Running with the wild Shelties...

It's been a difficult few days, what with traveling, readjusting to our time zone, getting resettled at home, returning to work, and worrying about a very old puppy (and yes, I realize "puppy" is generally reserved for young dogs, but to us, Echo was always a puppy...). We waited one more day to take her in to the vet, since she ate a tiny little bit on Sunday night... I guess we were hopeful that she'd start to devour all the food we could fit into her bowl. Unfortunately, she wouldn't eat anything else. And by yesterday afternoon, she could hardly even stand to drink water. It was just too heartbreaking to watch that. So we finally made the decision to have her put to sleep. NOT an easy thing to do...

I was "okay" (more or less) at the vet until one of the vet techs came into the room crying, saying how much everyone there loved Echo and how they'd all miss her. Which made ME start crying, and then it was hard to stop. Echo had become quite the regular around the vet's office, as I suppose is wont to happen when an animal gets older. When we went on our cruise last year, we boarded her there at the vet, because we figured if anything bad happened, she'd be right where she needed to be. And the first few days we were gone, she nervously refused to eat much (she often stopped eating for a day or two when we boarded her -- or even when we left her with Rick's parents, which, when possible, was her home away from home). So everyone in the vet's office took turns hand-feeding her bites of food, and they brought her out of her little boarding cage and allowed her to hang out at the front desk. For two weeks, she was the office mascot. 

There's so much I could say about my Echo -- she was such a sweetheart, so smart, and so unbelievably well-behaved, that I wonder if it's even possible to ever find another dog that amazing...

She loved pizza -- it might've been her favorite food in the world -- and when we'd share a scrap of crust or a bite of cheese, she suddenly turned into an athletic soccer goalie, blocking anything we tossed in the air and making it vanish almost instantly. 

When she was younger and wanted to play, all you had to do was say "go find your ball!" and she would systematically search the house for her favorite tennis ball. She'd even jump up on chairs and couches and stick her nose behind pillows until she found it...

One time we accidentally left our back gate open, when Echo was in the backyard while we were at work. I got home from work that day, saw the gate swinging wide open, and panicked -- I jumped out of my car, ran into the backyard, and there was Echo, walking toward me (and quite startled by my crazy behavior). That was the day we learned that Shelties are very territorial, and love to be HOME. We never worried about her running off.

When she was a puppy, we thought it was adorable when she barked her cute little bark, so we foolishly encouraged it. The cute little bark, of course, turned into a very loud adult dog bark, which she would unleash at the slightest sign of anything amiss. And while I can't count the number of times I must've said, "Echo, quiet!" I greatly missed the cacophony when she went deaf and no longer heard all those noises that used to prompt her barks. And this last year, she stopped barking altogether, even when strangers came to the house or she saw another dog through a window...

She used to bury her head in the crook of my arm or leg or wherever she could find a place, when she wanted to be scratched behind the ears and petted... and if I stopped, she'd nudge me with her head to get me to start again. 

She used to jump on the side of her food bowl and send it skidding across the floor, which was her way of telling me she was hungry -- it would make me laugh so much to see her jump up and plant her feet just right, so that they didn't land IN the bowl, but rather just OUTSIDE it, so the bowl would fly off to the side. And then she would give me a gruff little "woof," just in case I hadn't gotten the point with the flying bowl...

When she could still hear, she HATED loud noises, which made her not unlike me. :) She would attack the vacuum cleaner with fervor, apparently convinced it was an evil presence in the house that needed to be eradicated. She barked at the blender, she hated thunder, and she was not exactly fond of crying, screaming children.

She had a stuffed animal that I dubbed "Workout Bear," because every time I would work out -- whether it was walking on the treadmill or following an aerobics DVD or just jumping rope -- she would grab Workout Bear and toss it around while I worked out. (That dog would actually work out while I was working out!!)

And she never once complained -- we're sure she must've been in pain the last few months of her life. But sweet little Echo was stoic and brave as ever, never once complaining about what we're sure she must've been feeling. Which is probably why it was so hard to finally make our decision...

What's funny is that this morning I just happened to glance at some of the mail that Rick's parents collected for us while we were in Hawaii, and one of the things that came was a new Guideposts magazine. On the cover, where it lists a few teasers for the stories inside, my eyes went straight to a line that said, "Yes! Your Pets DO Go to Heaven." This is something I've always believed... I know some people believe that when animals die they just die and vanish into nothingness -- but I could never believe that. There's no way I could look into Echo's intelligent eyes and NOT believe there was a soul behind them. In the Guideposts story, the author wrote about how his old dog used to have dreams where his paws moved back and forth like he was running... it was, the author believed, a way for his dog to have a preview of that place where he'd once again be able to run and play, just as he had as a young dog.

Echo had those same kinds of dreams -- even when she was old, and could no longer jump up the step on the back porch and had to be carried, she would have dreams where she appeared to be running... maybe she was searching for her favorite tennis ball, or playing with Workout Bear, or perhaps even vanquishing the Evil Vacuum. But Rick and I have a different vision of where she is today: the sun is shining on a huge, grassy, green field that goes on for miles... and Echo, young and agile and barking her loudest bark, is running... running to meet up with the herd of wild Shelties. They bark joyfully and loudly... and Echo, with silky, fluffy fur, stretches her legs, free from arthritis and pain, and joins them, running her fastest run...   

 

 

More to come...

I know I've been taking forever to get some pictures up -- I've been sidetracked by the fact that our sweet 16-year-old Echo has been going downhill since we got home. Apparently vacations are not good for our pets -- we had to say goodbye to Allegro the day we left for Vegas, and now it looks like we'll be saying goodbye to Echo very soon. She stopped eating while we were away, and she's barely eaten anything since we got back. I was able to hand-feed her a few bites of bread and a couple tiny pieces of steak last night, but that's about it. She's been having a lot of trouble walking very far the last few months, and now she can hardly even STAND anymore, let alone walk anywhere. So we've been trying to make some really difficult decisions today. The vet won't be in until tomorrow, so we'll probably take her in some time tomorrow... I'm hoping to take "pet leave" from work (I think it's cool that my job actually offers that!), because I don't think I'll be able to function too well tomorrow.

So for now, here are a few random pictures I took the day we arrived in Hawaii, as I wandered around the (amazing-beautiful-didn't-want-to-leave) resort:

Aloooooha!

Aloha can mean "hello," "goodbye" OR "I love you"... so depending on who you are, you can make a judgment call on what I'm trying to say to you... :)

We made it safe and sound to the Big Island of Hawaii, and have lounged on the beach, done some shopping and eating plenty of really good food. Today's plan is to either drive to the other side of the island and check out Hilo, or drive to the other side of the island and check out Kilauea volcano. Either way, we'll be seeing plenty of scenery today, so the camera will be getting some good use...

I've taken lots of pictures already, but haven't uploaded any of them yet -- hopefully within the next few days. But right now, I have about fifteen minutes until we're meeting everyone for breakfast, and I still have a head of rather damp hair, so I'd better go get ready to leave.

Hope everyone has a great Monday on the mainland! :)

Am I weird...

...because I don't like hamburgers or any other sort of "ground up" meat, and honestly think veggie burgers taste about 100 times better than the "real" thing?

...because I took a purple marker out of a box of purple markers on the office supply shelf at work, just because "I want a purple marker!" but not because I'll ever actually use it?

...because I've never embraced the use of "y'all" as an acceptable way to refer to people, yet I wholeheartedly believe that "you guys" is fine, even in a room full of women?

...because I keep about fifteen various tubes of lip balm in random places around my house (and that's not an exaggeration)?

...because I hate talking to strangers on the phone, even more than talking to them in person?

...because I think it's absolute lunacy that it's become "offensive" to be a proud American... IN AMERICA?

...because I think my brother is just the coolest guy ever, and I don't even know the meaning of the words "sibling rivalry"? (Except when it comes to who's the favorite... but we all know it's me...)

...because I hate carrots but love carrot cake?

...because nine times out of ten, I'd rather watch an action flick than a chick flick?

...because I find myself worrying about not blogging enough, therefore I must resort to the randomness that has appeared here lately???

Well, stay tuned, because this weekend I'm heading to the Big Island of Hawaii, where I'm hoping to have many lazy, free hours to blog to my heart's content. There will be exciting stories of intrigue, hilarious anecdotes, and beautiful pictures... Okay, maybe just the pictures. I will definitely have pictures.

Traveling usually affords a decent story or two, though, so I'll see what I can come up with. In the meantime, if I happen to stumble upon inspiration and discover a few minutes to post again this week, I shall... Oh, yes... I shall... (forgive me, I'm tired... :)) 

Determined...

... to post something, she turns to her trusty "photos" folder on the desktop, even as she acknowledges such a move is about as "random" as it gets..

 

:)

Why is it Monday already??

Hello family, friends and random people! How's everyone doing today? How was everyone's weekend? Although it is Monday, I am slightly cheered by the fact that it's clear and sunny today -- we've had FAR too many gray, gloomy days the last few weeks (including most weekends... except for this past one, which, thankfully, was sunny). The lack of sunlight lately has NOT been good for my mood or energy level...

The other thing that hasn't been good for my mood or energy level is the fact that I've had no TIME to bother with silly little things like "being in a good mood" or "feeling energetic." This past week, in fact, for the FIRST time since I started the Insanity program, I was unable to finish one of my weekday workouts, and I ended up altogether SKIPPING my workout yesterday. I HATE that. I was already off my schedule -- I took Friday as a "rest" day (and I use the word "rest" rather loosely, seeing as I was still up at 5:30, had to work all day, had to rush home and finish making pies for Rick's birthday dinner, and had to rush to his parents' house to COOK his birthday dinner... so there was really no "resting" involved...), but I intended to make up for it by moving my workout to Sunday (which is a "scheduled" rest day).

Unfortunately, weekends are the only time I get to catch up on all the things I really SHOULD be doing during the week. And by 3 o'clock yesterday afternoon, I found myself knee-deep in laundry and dishes, fighting off a sinus headache I'd had all day. I also had hours of freelance work to tackle, and dinner to make, and daily chores to take care of before I could call it a night. Something had to fall by the wayside, and as much as I hate skipping a workout, I knew I wouldn't have been able to give it my all, anyway. Hopefully today I can jump right back into it -- I've really done pretty well with sticking to the Insanity schedule, overall. One missed workout won't negate the progress I've made...

Speaking of working out and dinner and healthy living -- I forgot to mention that my awesome Cooking Light subscription, courtesy of my awesome brother and his awesome girlfriend (what? I like the word "awesome"...), has yielded yet another excellent dish (or should I say awesome?? :)) -- a simple-to-make and yummy-to-eat chicken shawarma. Although I will probably add a bit more spice next time, as I'm all about spicy. (Speaking of which, does anyone find it bizarre when a recipe calls for "1/4 tsp. black pepper"?? A quarter teaspoon? For an entire recipe?? I use a quarter teaspoon of black pepper for about every three bites I take...) My newest issue of Cooking Light has about twenty recipes I want to try, including an entire section about pizza (and another about ice cream... I need an ice cream maker, don'tcha think? :)). Oh, so many recipes, so few meals in a day...

And backing up to the second paragraph -- like I said, Friday was Rick's birthday. Happy (blog belated) birthday, Rick!!! I made two key lime pies in honor of his birthday -- and I'd forgotten just how long it takes to make one of those things. It seems so deceptively simple, because there are so few ingredients. But I always use fresh lime juice, and I make my own graham cracker crust instead of buying one pre-made -- do you know how long it takes to squeeze half a cup of juice out of a bag of tiny key limes?? And I needed an entire CUP of juice, since I made two pies. It's a much longer process than it seems like it should be... good thing the final product is so good... :)

Well, that's about all for today -- hey, I'm just impressed that I was able to post ANYTHING today, with the way things have been going lately. Maybe I'll aim for TWO posts this week... how exciting would THAT be?? :)

I'm still alive...

Yes, I am still here... and maybe someday I'll discover a way to blog more efficiently... In the meantime: Random Thoughts!! :)

So I was complaining to Rick this afternoon that I'd forgotten to get my baseball lineup in for today, and lamenting the fact that this "work" thing gets in the way of such utterly important activities as fantasy baseball. And then he informed me that our new fantasy baseball provider (a free system, as opposed to the pay system we've used the last few years) allows you to change your lineup even AFTER games have started, as long as whoever you want to move around hasn't started playing yet. This may actually be an improvement over previous years, as our old system would not allow ANY changes after ANY game had started. And I often had a tendency to forget about my lineup until mid-afternoon, at which point it was too late to do anything. (And for some reason, I always seem to end up with a lot of West Coast pitchers?? So half of my pitchers don't start playing until around 9 o'clock Central time...)

Mom and dad ran off to Chicago without me last week. (Thanks a LOT, you guys... :)) I happily would've tagged along, but I'm saving my vacation time for an upcoming excursion, which will be revealed at a later date. (Actually, I think just about everyone reading this already knows... I mean, I have about five regular readers, and four of you are coming with me, so...) I told mom and dad to return with some Argo tea and Ghirardelli chocolate, because if they were going to leave me here while they went off to have fun in the big city, the least they could do was bring back presents. That's the way it works, right? Right. Well, when they returned, I received exactly ZERO pieces of chocolate, and not a single tea leaf. This only reinforces my conviction that I MUST be present for any excursions to the City of Chicago. Obviously if I want something done right, I have to do it myself. (Heehee... just kidding mom and dad! Okay, not really -- I'm coming with you next time... :))

So my awesome brother Eric just passed the Illinois ethics exam, which is the first step toward taking the Illinois State Bar exam. Apparently he took the same exam (or something similar) years ago when he was fresh off the turnip truck (or fresh off the farm... or fresh off his stint as a trapeze artist in the circus... or fresh off the stroll he was taking down a random street when he saw an "Ethics Exam Today" sign and decided to pop in and take a stab at it...), and he passed, but juuuuuust barely. Well, this time, after many years away from the turnip truck/farm/circus/random strolls, he totally blew it out of the water -- I mean, this guy has developed some serious ethics in his years on the police force. I bet he never even returns home from work with a pilfered post-it note or paper clip. That would be unethical. Anyway, like I said, my brother is awesome, and that bar exam doesn't stand a chance against his ethical brain and his #2-pencil-wielding hand... (Little does he know that the final question is, "Could you please write out your favorite recipe that uses mayonnaise? The more mayo the better... lawyers love mayo...")

I discovered tonight that I don't hate Brussels sprouts as much as I thought I did. The few times I've tried them, I've only been able to choke down a few bites before giving up. But my older brother Robert (who used to work as a chef and is still quite the proficient cook) told me that I should try peeling away the outer layers of Brussels sprouts before cooking, because apparently those are the most bitter. So I prepared Brussels Sprouts a la Robert tonight, making sure to peel away the first couple layers of sprout... then I tossed them with olive oil and salt and pepper, and roasted them in the oven (probably a tad too long, as a few of them were slightly charred...). The result was definitely not bad... I'm not going to say Brussels sprouts are my FAVORITE vegetable, but they're definitely not my LEAST favorite, either. (That honor is bestowed upon the horrible carrot, which I just CAN'T seem to enjoy no matter HOW it's prepared. Unless it's been cooked so long that it's flavorless...) I would definitely make them again... I'm happy that I can finally add another veggie to my slowly growing rotation of dinnertime options.

Okay, I'm off to bed... it's about to be past my ridiculously early bedtime... Good night! :)

An open letter...

To the girl wearing Ugg boots and shorts on an 85-degree day in Austin, Texas:

First of all, everyone knows that "Ugg" translates to "ugly." Just because something is trendy does not mean it's attractive (see: skinny jeans). Second, please don't dress like that. You look ridiculous. Your outfit is saying, "is it warm? Is it cold? I can't tell, so I'd better be prepared for either."

Let me answer the questions postulated by your warm-weather attire and cold-weather shoes -- it's WARM. I would think you'd be able to confirm this fact as soon as you opened your front door and set your snug-as-a-bug tootsies onto a slab of heat-radiating concrete.

But no, apparently you STILL worry about the prospect of casually strolling down the sidewalk, without a care in the world, and accidentally stumbling upon a wayward snowbank displaced from Wisconsin or North Dakota. Let me assure you -- this almost never happens. The odds of needing a pair of cushy, sheepskin-lined boots are practically nil.

Or perhaps you're striving for that most elusive of melanin enhancers -- the always-sexy two-thirds-of-a-leg tan. Look, I realize, as an ultra-white person myself, that I'm really not qualified to give tanning advice. But c'mon -- "pale calves/tan knees" is never a good look. Either go for the whole leg, or just wear jeans. Pick one. 

And I don't care if you saw a picture of Britney Spears rocking the same outfit outside a gas station in Malibu a couple weeks ago. Considering Britney really hasn't "rocked" an outfit since, oh, 2003, I wouldn't rely on her for fashion cues.

So go ahead -- break out the sandals. Or, if that seems a bit extreme, a nice pair of Nikes or Converse would be totally acceptable. If you do end up stepping ankle-deep into a cold, slushy puddle, you can blame me. I take full responsibility.

Thank you.

Sincerely,
A Neighbor

Mmmmm... tastes like New Jersey...

And NO, New Jersey does NOT taste like sewer water and petroleum products... I swear, trying to convince people that the "New Jersey is nothing but concrete and oil refineries" stereotype is untrue and unfair is almost as difficult as trying to convince people that the "Republicans are all a bunch of hateful, racist, violent, rednecks" stereotype is untrue and unfair. I guess in both cases, people just believe whatever they're fed through the magic box with the little moving pictures inside it... if the TV tells you so, it must be true... never mind critical thinking or open-mindedness... (Sorry, but it's been a ridiculous week with the media -- I could definitely go on another rant, but I'll try to restrain myself for now... :))

No, no -- New Jersey, for those who are truly interested, tastes like Dunkin Donuts hazelnut coffee with milk and sugar. Yuuuum. Okay, I'm sure different people associate different tastes with the Garden State, but for me, the one thing that immediately takes me back to our awesome house with the huge picture windows and the purple-carpeted media room is Dunkin Donuts hazelnut coffee. Back when we lived there, we used to frequent the Dunkin Donuts in the Exxon station down the street -- we were a good half hour away from a Starbucks. (And that's if we wanted to chance going to the one in the Albertson's grocery store, which was NOT a "real" Starbucks... in fact, Rick once hated his Albertson's Starbucks coffee so much he literally spit it out onto the sidewalk... Sadly, he was with my dad at the time, not me, so I was not a witness to this event... but I have relished the oft-repeated tale and laughed in amusement many times... I'm sure Rick was NOT amused when it happened, but c'mon, it's funny NOW... :))

So in lieu of our favorite frou frou coffee shop, Dunkin Donuts was an excellent back up. We would always stop in and say hello to the sweet Indian family who ran the shop, and they'd have our coffee ready before we even got to the counter. And my mom would always require my presence if she went into the store, because apparently for some reason I'm really good at understanding heavily-accented English?? I don't know what that's about... Although I suspect it has something to do with being a quiet person... seriously -- because as a quiet person, I'm much more attuned to non-verbal communication than most people. Sometimes you can tell what someone is trying to say just by paying attention to the situation and the surroundings, and then matching it up with whatever sounds you happen to hear. For instance, if you're in a restaurant, and you've just been seated, and a waiter comes over and gestures in an inquisitive way and says, "I have a kite and some ink," well, you can probably be pretty certain that you heard wrong. BUT, you COULD probably figure out that he asked if "you'd like something to drink," because, well, that's almost always the first thing waiters ask when you sit down at a table.

Wow... I have no idea where I was going with that. (This is one of those posts that really lives up to my "random tangets" blog title... :)) I think my original point was that yesterday, while Rick and I were out and about, we decided to eschew our usual cappuccinos at Starbucks and hit up a Dunkin Donuts. I got my old standby -- hazelnut with milk and sugar -- and as soon as I took one sip, I was momentarily transported back to New Jersey. And occasionally, I really DO miss New Jersey -- especially this time of year, when baseball is about to start again. Next week (next week?!?) is opening day, and tonight is our hastily scheduled, impromptu, online fantasy baseball draft. (Things are a little unorganized this year...)

So I'm off to make a quick dinner and then head upstairs with my laptop to scrape up some semblance of a fantasy team... I don't have high hopes for this year, but who knows. The important thing is -- baseball is back!!! :)      

Let's try this again...

I'm so excited! (You know I just split this up into two posts so I could say I posted TWICE today... how often does THAT happen? :)) And it's a really silly reason to be excited, but nevertheless -- there is a new frozen yogurt/coffee shop right across the street from our neighborhood (take note of the COFFEE part -- it's not just frozen yogurt, but also Sweet, Sweet, Nectar of the Gods...). And what REALLY makes this great is the fact that it's within walking distance of our house. One of the things I was really looking forward to the most about moving to Chicago was the promise of stores/restaurants within walking distance of wherever we'd be living. It's much more difficult to come across locations like that in suburbia...

But we have, within the last couple years, found ourselves within walking distance of two drug stores (which can be handy now and then), at least four banks (which is never handy, since none of them are OUR bank), a decent restaurant (Z Tejas -- good southwestern-style food), and a few fast-food/casual places (McDonald's, a Quizno's, a really good pizza place). But all of them pale in comparison to the arrival of our new frozen yogurt/coffee shop. To have frozen yogurt within walking distance is already pretty awesome -- espcially since the walk to and from serves to burn off some of those (not much less than ice cream) calories. But to also have COFFEE within walking distance?? That's like my dream...

At one time, the now-exclusively-pizza place was actually a coffee shop (I believe I wrote about it on the blog a few times, because they also had some of the BEST carrot cake I've ever had), and I fully expected to make it a regular summertime walk destination... but the "coffee shop" barely lasted a few months before it was converted to a "Brooklyn-style" pizza place... and while they DO have some of the best pizza around, I don't consume pizza nearly as often as I consume coffee -- ergo, I haven't been there in quite a while (whereas I've been to Starbucks fifteen thousand times in the last week ALONE... okay, I may be exaggerating... but not by much... :)).

So now I just need to encourage everyone else in my neighborhood to patronize the new frozen yogurt/coffee shop, lest it suffer the same fate as the Brooklyn pizza place and turn into, oh, I don't know, a Philly cheesesteak joint or something. And I am NOT usually one to discourage the northeast from encroaching upon Austin -- we have FAR too many barbecue and tex-mex restaurants, and not nearly enough Brooklyn-style pizza or New York bagel shops. Still, I really like the idea of a regular summertime walking destination that ends with either dessert or caffeine...

Or possibly both... :)

I'm so excited!

No, no -- NOT about the unconstitutional monstrosity that our Dear Leader has forced upon a population of Americans, who, for the most part, were OPPOSED to said monstrosity... and not about the fact that Dear Leader resorted to bribery and threats to attain the votes he needed (which just seems, oh, I don't know... wrong??)... and certainly not about the fact that apparently, passing this bill means we can finally see what's actually in it (yes, they had "to pass the bill so you can find out what is in it," according to Nancy Pelosi... gosh, do you mean it, Nancy Pelosi? That's swell...). And I'm DEFINITELY not excited about the fact that half the people in this country have turned into a bunch of whining, selfish babies who all believe they are "entitled" to every single little thing under the sun, and if they don't get it, well, then it must be because of racisim, sexism, homophobia, intolerance, hatred, or some combination of the bunch...

Meanwhile hard-working (and, by the way, TOLERANT and LOVING) people are being penalized simply for living their lives in a responsible, logical manner... but this is NOT about logic, it's about emotion... and it is certainly NOT about "health care," it's about control. (This has baffled me from the beginning -- how have so many people been duped into believing this whole debate has been about "health care"???) I have a feeling there will be a few Democrats out of a job come November...

But like I said, that is NOT why I'm excited, and I don't want to write too much more about this because it's pointless. There will always be logic on one side and emotion on the other. There will always be those who believe that with personal freedom, you can succeed no matter WHO you are -- whether you were born in the poorest of conditions in the worst part of a city, or in a mansion in an expensive suburb... whether you're black, white, Asian, Hispanic, whoever, whatever... whether you went to a public school or a private school... whether you wore hand-me-downs or designer jeans -- WHOEVER you are and WHEREVER you came from, you can do whatever you set your mind to, IF you have the freedom to do so, and IF you take the responsibility for your OWN LIFE, and IF you make the decision to WORK HARD...

Unfortunately, there will also always be people who believe that WHO you are and WHERE you come from can be "unfair"... that depending on who you are and where you come from, you're not ABLE to create a decent life for yourself, so the government has to step in and "help" you, by penalizing OTHERS and by TAKING AWAY from those people who HAVE made the choice to live responsibly and to work hard. And let me ask: what is more "unfair" -- having to work harder than others to attain the life you want, or TAKING AWAY from people who have already made that decision, to "redistribute" what they've rightfully worked for?? It's so simple, yet people still don't seem to "get" it...

As for me, I still choose to believe that ANYONE -- regardless of who they are, where they're from or what they believe -- can create a better life for themselves IF the government gets out of the way and gives them the FREEDOM they need to do so, and IF the government STOPS telling people that they CAN'T possibly create a better life because the country is so "unfair." What MADE this country great to begin with was the idea that people could come here from ANYWHERE and make a better life for themselves... unfortunately, the goverment has now decided that it's not possible anymore. Wealth envy, hatred, and the love of power have won out for now. We can only hope that SOMEHOW there will be some REAL "change" in our futures and people will wake up before it's too late.

And since this has turned into a completely political post (a rarity for my blog... :))... I shall continue my original thought (which I never got around to saying) in my next post... I really AM excited about something really trivial, that has nothing whatsoever to do with our corrupt goverment...

Occam's in action...

A few days ago, my dad gave me a copy of an article about Occam's Razor. For anyone who's unfamiliar with it, Occam's Razor states, "entia non sunt multiplicanda praeter necessitatem." I know that everyone who's reading this already speaks Latin, so I'm sure no translation is necessary. (What? You guys DON'T speak Latin?!? What kind of craziness is the world coming to??) Okay, translated, this means "entities must not be multiplied beyond necessity." And translated into REAL English, Occam's Razor is the idea that the simplest explaination to a problem is generally the best one. (I think I may have touched on this idea in one of my "global warming" posts, where I had the audacity to postulate that the SUN has a much bigger impact on our climate than human beings. Apparently, that idea is a bit too "simple" for some people... but I won't name any names... algorealgorealgorealgore... um, where was I? ;))

Oh yes... so last night, after Rick and I had eaten dinner, I decided to make a nice cup of tea. (I know it sounds like I'm changing the subject, but just hang with me for a minute...) I also decided to get my coffeemaker ready to go for morning. And I refilled Echo's water bowl with some fresh water. In other words, I was running the tap quite a bit to fill up teapots and coffee carafes and dog bowls. As I put the teakettle on the burner to boil, I thought I heard the sound of water dripping. I glanced back at the faucet on the sink (which has had a tendency to be very temperamental lately -- it doesn't always shut off properly, so the handle has to be firmly mashed down to prevent the faucet from dripping), but it seemed to be completely off. And then I realized the sound was coming from somewhere near my FEET -- I looked down, and water was pouring out of the cabinet below the sink, soaking the little throw rug I keep on the floor.

I immediately ran to my computer to summon Rick. And yes, I know it's pathetic that we IM each other in the house, but in this case, it saved me from having to run upstairs while all that water was collecting on the floor. Instead, I just sent out an IM SOS, and ran to the bathroom for towels. Meanwhile, Rick ran downstairs and turned off the water under the sink (duh... I should've done that before I went to get towels... I'm such a girl... :)). We then proceeded to take everything out from under the sink and sop up the mess, while we tried to figure out WHERE the leak was coming from. Rick tentatively turned the water back on so I could run the faucet for a few seconds... there was some discussion about perhaps needing to replace the faucet, since it had been acting so finicky... maybe the whole SINK needed to be replaced, pipes and all... maybe we just needed an ENTIRELY NEW KITCHEN... actually, you know what? Bulldoze the whole house... it's the only way to be certain we really get to the source of the problem...

After a few seconds of running the water, Rick realized that the "leak" was definitely coming from the faucet -- it was dripping down the hose that connects the faucet to the water pipe. We have one of those faucets that pull out, so you can use it like a showerhead. Well, a showerhead for your vegetables (woe to he who tries to shower in the sink...). Pull it out, you've got a sprayer; thread it back into the housing, it's a regular faucet. Well, when we pulled out the hose and attempted to use it in "sprayer" mode, water indeed began spraying -- UP from the faucet, instead of down into the sink. So when the faucet was nestled into its housing and the water was turned on, all that water was flying back up the OUTSIDE of the hose and dripping down into the cabinet. The solution? A two-second tightening of the loose nut inside the faucet.

So to get back to Occam's Razor (see? I told you I'd get back to it...), we were all ready to start dismantling our kitchen and to spend who-knows-how-much money on a brand-new faucet in an effort to figure out how to fix that leak... when, in fact, the solution was simple, free and took two seconds. You don't always have to destroy the kitchen to fix the faucet. If the faucet is leaking, it's probably not the oven's fault. And the great thing is, Occam's Razor can be applied to just about any aspect of life: home, work... recreation, auto repair... finances, travel, weight loss (you mean it really IS as simple as calories in vs. calories burned?? Yup...). In fact, you would think that politicians could apply this same principle to all the things they like to screw up in Washington, D.C....

But that's a whole different blog post for another time... :)

Bad blogger...

Yes, I've been the WORST blogger lately... along with the fact that annual report season at work pretty much turned my brain to mush (therefore rendering all creativity inaccessible), I've been having difficulty finding the TIME to sit down and write. I have to be honest -- the last few months have been very disheartening to me. I feel like I have no LIFE anymore -- every day is just rush, rush, rush, work, rush, rush, rush, sleep, repeat the next day. But I guess this IS life -- it's only the lucky few who can escape the drudgery. And of course I shouldn't complain -- there are a lot of people out there who NEED jobs right now and can't find any... so I should be thankful for what I have...

But enough about that. :) I've actually been half-wanting to start a NEW blog -- one solely devoted to health/food/working out. (But that would probably require an amount of time of which I am obviously not in possession at the moment...) I just started a new workout program to mix things up with my daily exercise -- while I absolutely LOVE my treadmill, I think it's a good idea to do something a little more challenging now and then. Supposedly there's this thing called "muscle memory," which is when your muscles become accustomed to whatever you normally do, and they actually "anticipate" the movement. So they don't have to work as hard as they used to. So your workout is a bit less effective than it once was...

Enter the aptly named "Insanity" workout. And if the last week is any indication, Insanity is pretty much a 60-day bootcamp, guaranteed to make you sweat a whole lot and possibly yell at the very mean instructor inside the television. But I love a good challenge, so I'm determined to stick it out for the 60-day duration. I've been working out in the afternoon for the past week, which I think might be the better schedule with these workouts -- I'm not sure I can summon the energy I need first thing in the morning...

And that is the only reason I'm still awake and blogging right now -- because I'll be "sleeping in" until about 5:30 tomorrow morning instead of getting out of bed by 4:45 to hit the treadmill. Unfortunately, it doesn't give me THAT much more time, so I'll have to sign off for now.

Hopefully I can return to "good blogger" status soon... :)

Sunday evening random thoughts...

How was everyone's weekend? I feel slightly rested up from two weeks of crazy at work, including a weekend of annual report proofing last weekend. Thankfully, I didn't have any at-home work this weekend... which was good, because by Friday afternoon I believe my eyeballs were attempting to pop themselves out of my head, desperately trying to avoid any more reading. So these last two days have been quite nice, although I'm anticipating another crazy week starting tomorrow... hope my eyes forgive me...

So the Academy Awards are tonight... and I just really couldn't care less. I mean, is it just me, or are these awards shows pretty much just a way for actors to pat themselves on the back for being so "awesome"? Seriously, what do they DO, exactly?? Basically, they dress in costumes and play pretend for a living... we ALL did that when we were five years old... it's not like it's brain surgery... (when are the Brain Surgeon Awards??) Not to mention the fact that more often than not, half of them use awards shows as a political platform to spout their hatred of evil, conservative, rich, capitalists -- all while traveling in their private jets and fancy limos and wearing thousands of dollars worth of jewelry and designer dresses. Hmmm... Everyone is a hypocrite, but Hollywood seems to be full of super-hypocrites...

I think that our "Texas winter" is pretty much over. We came SO close to having REAL snow this year -- it actually did snow for a few hours a couple weeks ago. But as usual, it amounted to nothing. It was hilarious, however, to see people driving 25 miles per hour on roads that were no more treacherous than when it rains, simply because they could SEE snow flying around in the air. (Just a little hint: if it was 75 degrees the day before the "snow" falls, it's not likely to stay on the warm ground...) My friend Nick dubbed me a "snow snob" because of my derision towards the innocuous Austin snow... but I'd love to see some real, honest-to-goodness SNOW in this city some year -- you know, the kind that closes roads and shuts down the airport and forces everyone to stay home with cups of hot cocoa and blankets. Sigh... :)

Speaking of weather, it seems like we've had SO much rain the last few months. Which should translate into lots of bluebonnets this spring. That should be nice, anyway... I hate the seemingly never-ending rain, but at least we should get some great photo opportunities out of it...

We had a much-too-big lunch this afternoon, but since it's going on 7 o'clock, I should probably go heat up some soup or something. NOT looking forward to this week, but it's just five days and then I get another weekend... yay for weekends!!

Just five days... just five little days... 

The lone bubble...

Well, this is it. It took me a little over a year, but I finally finished off the very last piece of my Chicago Tootsie Roll stash. I managed to polish off a plethora of sugar-laden treats: regular Tootsie Rolls, flavored Tootsie Rolls, Tootsie Pops, cotton candy, chocolate-covered cherries, Andes mints, Blow Pops, Dots... And it's no surprise (to me, anyway) that the last man standing was a piece of Double Bubble bubble gum -- I rarely chew "sugared" gum, choosing to spend most of my gum-chewing hours on sugarLESS gum. (Four out of five dentists recommend it, after all, and that's a pretty big majority...)


So I went from this:

To this:

That's it. End of the line. No more sugar highs for me.

Incidentally, Dubble Bubble bubble gum (I just noticed, as I was looking at the picture above, that it's spelled "Dubble." Hmmm... Why not Double Bouble??), gets less-than-chewable after months in a pantry. My last few pieces resembled something akin to mostly hardened modeling clay, and probably would've been better suited to be used as bottle stoppers, or maybe some sort of ballast... but I was determined to chew them into oblivion, nonetheless.

Sigh... it was yummy while it lasted... :)