AmenWWdN: In Exile
I was going to write something myself, but Wil Wheaton has said this perfectly. Plus I'm obsessed with him. So there's that.
This is one of the only countries founded on an idea. When that idea is lost, what is left?

On a completely separate note, I managed to get a school picture taken today without exposing myself. There will be no repeat of the St. Mary's 2005 yearbook indecency incident. Everyone should breathe a huge sigh of relief.
Tonight I go on a date with my husband. We go out several times a week, but tonight is special because he asked me. Nonsensical, but it makes sense.

6.42
That's how many miles I ran today! I did the 10K program on the treadmill just to prove to myself that I could. That felt so good (and by good I mean that every part of my hurts). It's actually also about how many pounds I have lost so far. Every workout makes the next one easier and the next salad yummier.

Also, yet unrelated,I am disturbed because we just ordered the audio book of Intensity by Dean Koontz, and it is the exact same as the plot for this French movie called High Tension that I saw a year ago--yet Koontz was never mentioned on IMDB. I've always been neutral on the French issue, but now I'm irked.

Send in the Clowns
Today was boring and I have nothing new to add except for something I forgot about this weekend. As I was sitting on that patio at Mother Egan's one of the Austin Duck Boat tours came by. Typically they are filled with tourists checking out the sights and sounds of Austin. Saturday night a group of over a dozen clowns in full regalia were whooping it up, drinking excessively and blowing those silly little horns. I think I even saw one honk his red nose. Any Stephen King reader would have run home to momma.

Satiated
Had a bizarro reversal weekend. For the past six years I've been leaving my home in Austin to spend a weekend in Dallas, seeing friends and family, and returning home with a happy heart and tummy. This weekend was the reverse. We had a quick jaunt down to Austin to stay with the fam. The highlight of the weekend, in additon to snuggling with the cutest poodle in the world, was seeing friends on Saturday. Happy Indian food! It was so nice to see our friends, to fall into that easy conversation and enjoy their company. (Thanks for coming, guys!) It made my heart warm (oh wait, that might have been the curry!) Afterwards we went with PEte downtown. I must say while I still really like going to a bar and hanging out, going to six is not my idea of fun. Perhaps I've become too sedentary, but it seemed like no sooner had we finally found a table, but Pete's friend would want to move to the next place. My feet were killing me! Oh well, there's probably a message there about faded youth but heck if I know what it is. Today we stopped at the new outlet mall in Georgetown, and I bought a couple of new pairs of shoes to avoid hearing the tolling of the end of my downtown days.
I'm glad to be home to Clemmy.

Watch Out A-Town
We're escaping the reaches of the Big D this weekend and are going back to visit Austin. We'll stay with Don and Maria, and I organized a party to get all of our friends together. I cn't wait to see them. It will be a mixed cultures night: yummy Indian food and then Irish bar hopping. I only do "I" countries.
I had a kinda crappy day today, but I guess it's all over and it's time to move on. That beats stewing in my bitter little juices!
We do have exciting news. . . we paid off one more credit card, leaving just one more to go. We'll be done by the new year! I can't wait to have that monkey off my back. It will be nice to actually have access to a whole paycheck.
Anyway, Eric's watching The Creature From the Black Lagoon downstairs, and i need two things: a glass of wine and some escapism.

Testing, 1, 2, 3
I should give a test every day. I got so much done! It was like a deluge of productiveness after a long dry spell of procrastination. I feel truly on top of my classes which is something that has been lacking for awhile. Of course I get another set of papers on Friday, so my exhiliration will most likely be short lived. At least I have some part time good times.
I was at the gym today, and after leaving I felt really good about myself. I love having the gym right by work. There is no excuse for not making it there. The more I go, the better I feel. Four pounds gone, ten to go. More importantly I'm building a new lifestyle.
TOmorrow I 'm meeting an old high school friend who I haven't seen in years. It's part of my quest to feel more comfortable with going to the reunion. Besides, I regret losing touch with her.
I apologize for my complete lack of interesting content. It's hard to be amusing or clever when everything is going pretty well and all is even keel. I'll work on drama tomorrow.

A Tale of Two Days
I came into the office yessterday readin gto rant, rave, cry and sniffly as I typed up the events of the day, but Blogger was having some sort of server problem. Today has been nice, but I felt so cheated yesterday that I feel I must back track.
First of all, this: Fuck you endometriosis!!!!! I wish you could beat the crap out of a disease. Yesterday I thought I was going to die. They tried to send me home from school, but I was stubborn. I was in the worst pain I've ever had in my life. I couldn't breathe, my heart raced out of my check, my vision was bluring, and I had to throw up several times. It was not good. To say I was not a happy camper is somewhat akin to saying that 30 chipmunks on speed might be a little desstructive. I need to get a doctor who will actually do something to help me. (Snoobie, send me names!)
Anyway, today has been a different sort of day. My pain has been under control, and I've just been truly enjoying my students. They rock the proverbial casbah. As my father always says, you can never have two truly horrific days in a row. Life, thankfully, does not work like that.
Part of my good mood today might be traceable to the fact that Eric and I got our Aerosmith tickets this morning. To those who are about to rock, I salute you.

Blame Canada!
Eric and I just booked our first vacation in over a year and a half. The two of us will be spending 5 days in the lovely city of Montreal in December. We're staying at the faboo Delta Centre-Ville which is awesome because the hotel has indoor access to the underground city and the Metro line so we can be everywhere in the city. This is our European vacation at 1/2 the price and travel time. We were also talking to a travel agent about some summer possibilities, and we might get to do a Hawaiian cruise, so I can dream of pineapples for awhile too. I am really excited about getting to have a real vacation with Eric. I'm picturing jazz clubs, French bakeries, world class art museums, and Gothic architecture. Perhaps I need a beret?

In other travel adventures, we're taking a mini tour of Egypt at the Kimball museum this afternoon. They have an Egyptian exhibit from the latest tomb findings. Eric is such an Egypt nut, so he's practically salivating. I'm looking forward to a Ft. Worth outing too. .. it's such a lovely city.

Au revoir (just getting in the spirit!)

Get Behind Me, Satan!
The devil dog was at it again. He cannot stand the sight of moving water. Isn't that a sign of possession?

But to balance out the horrificness of that image I give you
Snoodles being cute
Snoodles being cuter

I feel like I need to get one of those TLC Life Lesson figureines: not everyone wants to see you pet pictures. However, you clicked here.

We just got back from a yummy and amazing dinner at Anamias where they make the guacamole at the table. I am in danger of falling into a happy tummy coma.

Pep
The Christ the King Crusaders were all riled up today. . . yes, folks, it was pep rally time! Whoot! I thought my ears would fall off.
The moments that were not ear drum shattering were actually pretty cute. I get proud of them at the oddest moments. . . while the cheer leaders (my girls) were doing their thing, I almost teared up.
I'm a little bummed to not be at Austin City Limits this weekend. . . we've been the last three years. Next year I will be there. Oh yes, I will be there. We actually don't have much planned this weekend except we might to go Ft. Worth to hang out tomorrow night. I've heard the downtown is a lot of fun. Tonight we relax in the pool and maybe have someone bring us Chinese.
I just wish I could have someone come feed me in the pool.

Tail Chasing
I've spent the last five minutes trying to fish the drawstring of my gym shorts out from whatever abyss it gets into when its sucked in. That pertains to nothing, but I wanted to get it off my chest.
Toby's Cirtonella collar came last night, but the only effect seems to be that our house smalls slightly citrusy. Not exactly the miracle cure I was hoping for I guess. I need a steel toed boot! (Just one, on my kicking leg!)
I've been mad busy this week between work and the gym, I've been running non-stop. This week was standardized testing--giant pain in the butt! I'm just glad it's coming to a close and I still somewhat have my sanity. It's not been a bad week, just really tiring. Oh well if tired is my big complaint I guess I'm doing pretty well. (actually my big complaint is my drawstring!)
I have lost 3 and 1/2 pounds, so, there's that. Baby steps and all.
Must throw myself down on the fuzzy couch and see what my man will make for dinner.

I Saw Salisaw Again
Last night Eric and I went to see Little Miss Sunshine which reminded me so much of my family and our endless trips. We have owned a series of the world's crappiest cars. I mean it shouldn't be possible that one family can own so many pieces of shit.
Right after we moved back to the United States from Japan we got to cars. My parents bought a crap browm Ford station wagon, and my grandfather gave us his old ice-fishing VW pop-up camper van. One day we left crayons in the station wagaon, and they melted into fascinating patterns in the back seat. That car spent more time in the shop than it did in our driveway. One day when I was in kindergarten my mom was picking us up from Greenhill in the VW, and as the teacher tried to open the door, it came off in her hand! Like the amazing person that Mrs. Gindling was, rather than freaking out, she simply handed the door back to my mother while all the snoots in ther Beamers watched. She also never mentioned it again.
After the demise of the VW, my grandparents gave us another car--this one was some sort of black Dodge that had mushrooms growing from the floor boards. Classy. It was shortly after this time that ROdney the cream and brown Dodge Ram entered our lives. OUr lives were never to be the same.
We used to spend every summer on the road, and Rodney was our road warrior. . . well he would have been if he had not broken down in every state. On one trip to Iowa we broke down 3 separate times. We too used to push start the car and hope it would move. When the car died in the middle of nowhere Iowa, we were stranded at the Ho-Hum motel while they ordered necessary parts. No Quality Inn for us, we're midwesterners, and Ho-Hum was good enough for us, darn it. Actually even ho-hum was an exaggeration of it's quality. There were two beds with torn comforters (not matching either)and a bathroom with a pink toilet, a green bathroom and a blue sink. Attractive. =Probably about a year into our relationship with Rodney, the airconditioner died. Rather than fix it, my father drilled a hole in the console and mounted a fan. The ceiling was held together with duct tape and stapes. Also to block the heat, we stuck towels in all of the windows. People must have been frightened to see us coming down the highway. We would always rent books on tape from the library to pass the time, but I remember one particular break down in Oklahoma that began with the tape player dying. It was something ridiculous like "and the murderer was" and then nothing. We then put the tape in a walkman and had my sister narrate for us. A sample "'I don't believe you' said Jane' said my sister." We ended up broken down by the side of the road in Salisaw, Oklahoma. It was 107 degrees, and we had nothing to do. We actually walked from gas station to gas station, sampling the wares for about 8 hours. Yes, we saw Salisaw.
After the van we had a series of shitty Fords, and the airconditioning broke on all of them! I had one of the Tempos (Walt) in college, and my friends Seth, Peter and I had traveled across the state to see Wally Pleasant in concert at a Borders, and the car broke down, leaving us stranded in Cinci and causing us to miss classes. I am not sure I ever laughed that much in my life.
Don't get me wrong, I love Millie my thoroughly modern Matrix, but sometimes knowing that you car will get you where you want to go is so boring, so pedestrian. In a sick way I miss the days of running behind the van, hoping the engine with catch.

Grapes, Locks, and TP
Last night we took in the sights, sounds, and vino at Grapefest, Grapevine's annual celebration of everything cool about the town. It was the perfect night to do it. Afterwards people came back to the house and indulge in a little drunken swimming. The night came complete with light up wine glasses that change color. You never know when that might come in handy.
I was (stop reading mom) quite toasty. When I got up at about 4 to let the mewling Clementine out, I noticed toilet paper all over the floor from the bathroom across the bedroom. I became furious at the cat, convinced she was having fun with it. During my self-righteous rage, I felt something weird. . . it was toilet paper stuck to my underwear. In some sort of a stupor I had gone to the bathroom, gotten caught and pulled the tp across the house! Oops. I liked blaming the cat better!
Anyway to make up for our silliness last night, Eric and I have been working on some home improvement projects all day. Thus far we have installed a new doorbell, a new outside motion sensor light, solar lights in the beds, and a new towel bar, tp dispensor, light fixture, and faucet in the downstairs bathroom. Still to come, we will replace the door knob and dead bolt on the front door. All this has only involved 2 trips to Lowe's. That's like a record for us.
It's a lot of work, but I love adding our touches to the home. It's becomming a place that really represents who we are and what we like. Only 947 more projects to go. . .

Just a Song Before I Go
CSNY in my head. . . scary. But I just have moment before I head to bed. 5 am is pretty damn early.
I am about to go get snuggly with my new book: Something Rotten by Jasper FForde. Because he's English, I'll say this: bloody brillant.
Anyway the note I wanted to make is that I am damn fortunate and happy to be where I am, with the person I am with, and doing what I love.

In Brief
No time for a long post today. In fact all I have time for is to curl up on the couch and snuggle with my honey. Perhaps some sugar free icecream bars will be in order too. But aside from that, I'm booked.
I joined the gym yesterday and had my first work out today. I feel better about myself than I have in awhile. Perhaps this will finally be the time that I lose the last 15 pounds. Regardless it just feels good to move again.
Also, I love my job. No particular reason to mention it, but I figure it's good to keep reminding myself how lucky I am to do what I love.

Aloha
Marco's Magnum,p.i. Homepage
Yes, there's something wrong with me. Thank goodness I go back to work tomorrow.

Are We? We Are
Drop what you are doing, put your fancy pants on and go see The Illusionist. Amazing. We went with mom and dad yesterday. As the movie ended the audience spontanteously burst into applause, as if Ed Norton and Paul Giamatti could somehow hear us. These days I seem increasingly hard to impress, but this blew my little socks off.
It's raining, and the rest of the house is sleeping peacefully (except for Clementine who thinks she wants to go outside). As I wander through the dark house I tend to thinnk it is some sort of dream, that we are really still in Austin or that I am somewhere else entirely. Not a rational sort of reaction, but real. In the if wishes were fishes category, I wish I could have everything wonderful I have here along with having my friends here.
The rain has made all of our trees break forth into bloom. I'm going to silently sneak down, make some coffee and watch them breathe.

Lola Beats Smokey
Kittenwar! May The Cutest Kitten Win!
Because you don't have enough to do.
Daily yummy cuteness.

Taming the Savage Beast
Just a few things:
1. We just ordered a citronella collar for Toby which might hopefully solve some of our problems. As an added bonus our house will smell like a bbq for the forseeable future.
2. E and I saw The Wicker Man last night. I remembered seeing the original years ago at J Lou's place. I can't beleive they did a remake. Anyway the movie was pretty well done--quite freaky at parts. I don't think it's really a mainstream sort of thing, though. As I left the theatre the Southlake residents were pretty freaked out. That alone was worth the price of admission.
3. We also had yummy Thai food and a bottle of wine and just hung out all night. It made me glad to be married.
4. Today we paint the bathroom. I will be glad to be married to someone tall.
5. I don't really have a 5, but 4 points looked a little wimpy.

Taming the Savage Beast
Just a few things:
1. We just ordered a citronella collar for Toby which might hopefully solve some of our problems. As an added bonus our house will smell like a bbq for the forseeable future.
2. E and I saw The Wicker Man last night. I remembered seeing the original years ago at J Lou's place. I can't beleive they did a remake. Anyway the movie was pretty well done--quite freaky at parts. I don't think it's really a mainstream sort of thing, though. As I left the theatre the Southlake residents were pretty freaked out. That alone was worth the price of admission.
3. We also had yummy Thai food and a bottle of wine and just hung out all night. It made me glad to be married.
4. Today we paint the bathroom. I will be glad to be married to someone tall.
5. I don't really have a 5, but 4 points looked a little wimpy.

Pirate Doesn't Trump
As I was coming around today checking in on work, I noticed a student wasn't even on the right page. When I called him on it, he pointed to a pic of a buccaneer and said, "look, Ms. B, a pirate!" As if that explained the whole thing. I told him that while there are many situations where saying "arrrr" and pointing out maurading pirates will trump all other business, that grammar takes priorities over even the menaces of the sea.
It was that sort of day.
I love my students, pirates and all.
I have been told to enjoy the weekend as it is the last day off until Thanksgiving. . . thus the marathon begins.
I had mini-school last night. Jen told me that if Eric could handle the Marines all week, I could tackle a few Highland Park moms. I was not so sure. The night, however, did go off very nicely. All the parents were nice and said complementary things. I am glad, though, that I do not have to do it again any time soon.
Eric has returned safe and sound, and he also learned the primal packing directive the hard way--always pack extra clothes in case of emergency! His presentation went pretty well. . . now he just has to do everything he promised to the big, muscled and well armed men!
My weekend plans are zilch, but that's probably as it should be. . . chilling, grooving, sipping some wine and enjoying my baby's company.