Merry Christmas to Everyone!

And why my dogs will someday gang up and kill me in my sleep!

Where in the world is Mrs. Squirrel Assassin?

Good question! I think I've been taking a break. Partly because I wanted to and partly because I'm doing two jobs right now. In the past I had the time to blog occasionally during the day because my job wasn't all that taxing. For some crazy reason, I got bored with my well paid life of leisure and wanted something to do during the day. And I got what I asked for. What was I thinking?

I have decided to step up and fix the problems with our help desk at work. This is no small task because no one has bothered to help these people understand their job. I thought that I might be the right person to do this. Great you say? Well... maybe... that is if they ever find someone to take over my old tasks. Until then, I am doing both! I didn't think that this would be quite as demanding as it has turned out.

So now it's nearly impossible to take 30 minutes to put a post together during the day and with the holidays, I've been busy in the evenings as well. I'm hoping that someone will be taking over my old job very soon giving me a little less to be stressed out about. I'm not gone just resting!

The other "kids"

Where unsuspecting stuffed animals go to die

Abigail stylin' in her new sweater

Baby's first haircut!

What do you say when you don't disagree

Sometimes I think I've been put in the hardest situation in my life. I was talking to the teenager tonight and the subject of Christmas plans came up. I mentioned that we might travel out to San Francisco to visit my brother and his massive in-law celebration. The teenager was pumped to go even though she knows almost no one there other than my brother and sister-in-law.

Then the subject of Christmas at my husband's family came up and it all went downhill from there. The teenager poured out her soul to me. She said that she feels like no one there really likes her there. I have observed what she is talking about. Everyone thinks that the hubby's older and younger brother's kids are perfect and can do no wrong. Our teenager is criticized for sleeping late, texting too much, and being bored all the time. Pretty much she is a normal teenager and she is being beaten up for it.

This evening was heart wrenching for me. She cried to me about how certain family members treat her like she is a bad kid and I don't know what to tell her other than they have their own personal issues and she shouldn't take it personally. But I feel like such a liar! I've witnessed the way some in that family treat her differently.

I've been treated less than well by them too and one Christmas, I refused to participate in part of it with his family because we were told that we weren't welcome to stay at one of the relative's house. That one is a long story that I did chronicle here at one time. It was one of my first posts to this blog. I chose to take it down so that no one in his family would hold it against me at a later time. But the reality is this is all based on the same issue. My hubby didn't always make the best decisions in his lifetime and his family while on the surface accepts him, thinks we are not quite as Godly or quite as good people as the rest of them. I see it from some of them every time we all get together.

So how do I comfort this girl who feels like she doesn't belong when it's her own family who makes her feel this way. She tells me it hurts when they talk bad about her mom and her middle sister. These people can be merciless when it comes to that topic. How do I tell her that she needs to spend time with these people when I know exactly how she feels when she says she doesn't want to go?

I sit here filled will extreme emotion because I can't fix it and the hubby still loves his family. I feel stuck in the middle trying to comfort a girl that has done nothing to deserve this. I really don't know what to do.

Weight Loss Update - "Well that didn't go as planned" Edition

I had planned on running this morning and I managed to get 2 miles in before I had issues beyond my control ended the running portion of my exercise. I did cover another 1.5 miles walking back to the house and walking the dogs. Oh well, I did try though.

Minutes ran today:	33:57
Miles "ran" today:	3.5
Total miles run:	30.92
Weight loss:	2 lb weight gain

Weight Loss Update - The "Houston, We have a problem" Edition

Again the weight is going in the wrong direction. This does not bode well for Thanksgiving and Christmas!

Minutes ran today:	33:57
Miles ran today:	3.0
Total miles run:	27.42
Weight loss:	2 lb weight gain

Weight Loss Update - The Slacker Edition

I'll admit it! I was a slacker last week and it shows this week

Minutes ran today:	46:10
Miles ran today:	4.0
Total miles run:	24.42
Weight loss:	1.8 lb weight gain

What happens when I leave a blanket on top of the kennel

And I lived through it yet again

Homecoming that is... I have had a really bad week or so that I don't really want to get into but it's kept me from doing a whole lot of blogging as you can tell. I keep meaning to put up pictures from the teenager's homecoming but never could get motivated. So several weeks later, I'm finally getting these pictures up. I apologize to anyone who was anxiously awaiting! ;-)

The monsterous mum!

The only way a guy can look manly wearing a boy mum

Isn't she adorable?

Gotta love the sunglasses and Vans on her date

Goofy pose

Group photo

Pole dancing so young in life!

Weight loss update

Sigh... weight loss sucks!

Minutes ran today:	25:00
Miles ran today:	2.4 (this is approximate since my GPS watch chose to die in the middle of the run)
Total miles run:	20.42
Weight loss:	1.4 lb weight GAIN!

Weight Loss Update - The "Oops I did it again" edition

I'm not so proud to announce that I hit a new highest weight last week. Before you chastise me for not exercising, I haven't been too lazy to run just too lazy to blog. This means that my diet has gone way off course.

Minutes ran today:	30:00
Miles ran today:	2.71
Total miles run:	18.02
Weight loss:	0.2 lb

The Evil Stepmother

I stumbled on a website by someone named Maureen F. McHugh. She wrote an essay of sorts called "The Evil Stepmother." The whole piece was interesting but one part really struck home for me:

"Becoming a stepmother redefined who I am, and nothing I did could resist that inexorable redefining. I suppose motherhood redefines who you are, too. Part of the redefinition of me has been just that--sitting on the bench with the row of anxious mothers at the little league game or at martial arts. Going to school and being Adam's mother. Being Adam's mom. It has made me suddenly feel middle-aged in funny ways. I used to go through the grocery line and buy funky things like endive, a dozen doughnuts, a bottle of champagne and two tuna steaks. Now I buy carts full of cereal and hamburger and juice boxes. I used to buy overpriced jackets and expensive suits. Now I go to Sears and buy four sweat shirts and two packages of socks in the boys department."

"When I bought endive and champagne, the check out clerk used to ask me what I was making. But no one asks you what you are making when you buy cereal and hamburger."

I think that has been the hardest thing about becoming a stepmom. Overnight, the gourmet cooking that I love so very much was out the window and suddenly casseroles are a weekly part of my life. I don't really have the budget for the stylish clothes I used to have either. I can't say that I shop at Sears but I shop more bargains like never before. I sometimes miss the old me who had no one but my dogs to take care of. Now I'm the one responsible to make sure everyone is fed a healthy meal, gets everywhere on time, and apparently to keep track of everything the hubby has misplaced. It's exhausting sometimes and upsetting that the hubby doesn't understand why it's exhausting.

Anyway, it's an interesting essay if you want to read it:
The Evil Stepmother

Weight Loss update - Week 2 (I've been motivated!)

Minutes ran today:	31:10
Miles ran today:	2.66
Total miles run:	7.39
Weight loss:	1.0 lb

Weight Loss Update - Week 2

I have been very, very bad! I have been out to eat a lot which is usually the death of healthy eating for me. On the upside, it's been a very enjoyable time!

Minutes ran today:	27:10
Miles ran today:	2.33
Total miles run:	4.73
Weight loss:	0.4 lbs (at least it didn't go up!)

This is what I deal with twice daily

You expect me to eat this? Where are my green beans, woman!

Teenagers... are they really that stupid?

I will start by say that this is not about my teenager thankfully. Other than being a little overdramatic at times, she is a good kid. No, this is about the teenager down the street and her friends.

Since my teenager was going to an overnight birthday party and the hubby was out hunting, I decided to pack up and head to my friend's house last night. It got late and I just decided to stay there until the next morning rather than drive home. I got up really early to head home and take care of my dogs.

As I'm driving through the neighborhood I come upon a guy walking down the middle of the street thumbing a ride and very obviously drunk. I keep going and turn down my cul-de-sac and find out where he had originated from. All up and down my street there were beer cans, cigarette packages, and fast food bags. There was also a strange car parked in front of the house.

I park the car in the garage and walk out to pick up the trash that was in front of my house when I hear someone beating on a door. That is when I noticed the Harris County Sheriff's department car at the end of the cul-de-sac. He was beating on the door and yelling for the occupants to open the door.

I picked up the trash and threw it away and then headed to the backyard to make sure there are no foreign objects in the pool. It wouldn't be the first time that has happened to us. Luckily the pool came out of the incident unscathed so I went back in to let my dogs out.

I take them out to the front yard as usual and the cop is STILL beating on the door. I watch for a bit while the dogs were busy and then put them back inside. I stay outside because I'm curious about what has happened. At this point he gave up and decided to leave. I flagged him down to talk and he tells me that the kids down the street had a party and apparently had it all over the street too. He says that he's trying to talk to the parents and asked that I call him when they get home.

At this point I'm thinking it's pretty much over. Oh how wrong I was! People keep showing up off and on to the house presumably to pick up stuff that they had left when the cops showed up around 3am.

Then suddenly the teenager runs down the stairs saying that there was someone screaming outside. We peek at the "party house" and don't see anyone but we could still hear the screaming. So I figured it was time to let the dogs out to do their business again so I could be nosy more easily.

When I go outside, I figure out where the screaming is coming from... there is a girl at the front of the house next to the "party house" yelling for Jessica to let her in. This girl is ranting and raving because Jessica wouldn't let her in. The teenager and I watch for a bit after going back in and laugh about it right up until the girl picks up a large object from the garden and looks like she is about to hurl it at a window.

I decide for my neighbor's sake I should do something to stop her since they were obviously not home. So I run out there and yell at her that she's at the wrong freaking house and to stop beating on people's door. The girl gets an oops look on her face and goes to the correct house were Jessica presumably let her in.

As soon as I see the parents, my new buddy Rocky (Harris County Sheriff) will get a call and pay the parents a visit. So I guess back to my original question... are teenagers really that stupid? Do they think they are going to get away with big underage drinking parties in the parent's house without them eventually finding out? They must be!

Temporary change

I have temporarily changed the name of this blog to reflect the opening of bow hunting season. Can you feel the excitement folks?

During the last few years of hunting season the hubby was actively pursuing his MBA which curbed a lot of his hunting. This year there are no impediments to the pursuit of the perfect deer (buck or doe... he's doesn't discriminate). The hubby works out of town most weeks and then will be hunting many weekends. I will truly be a widow for a while.

Stay tuned for reports and potentially pictures of this weekend's "kill."

Weight Loss Update - Day 1

Yeah, I know I that the last post on this implied that I would be getting started right away. So sue me! Better late than never.

FYI, I am going to try to make these posts pretty regularly so that I can keep up with my progress and hold myself accountable. They won't be even remotely interesting most of the time. For that I apologize but these posts are to try to get me motivated more than anything. Here's hoping that it works....

Minutes ran today:	28:20
Miles ran today:	2.4
Total miles run:	2.4
Weight loss:	0.4 lbs (small but it made me happy anyway)

Yes folks! It's that time of the year again!

It's HOMECOMING! I am so overjoyed I can't even tell you. Mostly I feel like a big ole failure as a mother to not be more excited about this whole thing. All I see are $$ flying out of my wallet and I cannot see past that to share in the excitement with the teenager.

This homecoming is starting out better I must say. There was no confusion with the boys thinking that she already had a date therefore not being asked by someone in her school. She was asked during the first or second week of school. So with all of that drama out of the way we can plan ahead a little better this year. Oh and I kinda know what to expect too. Things have changed since I was in high school.

For starters there is that whole homecoming garter that the boys now wear. Boys wouldn't have been caught dead wearing something like this when I was young:

Boys didn't want to wear a silly flower with ribbons and a stuffed animal on it. When did boys decide this was cool? So I dropped about $55 on that for the teenagers date. I can't wait to see the monstrosity that will be the teenager's mum. If you weren't around for homecoming last year go here for that picture.

Then of course there is the dress, shoes, purse, and jewelry. The teenager showed more restraint this year and all of that only cost a little over $200. We paid the $200 and her mom paid the difference. Last year the dress by itself was $180 and then there were alterations.

But of course that isn't all... there is the cost of an updo, makeup and a mani/pedi. I figure that will be at least another $100. Then if there is a limo... yikes!

Hopefully you can see why I've lost all of my excitement for homecoming ever! The teenager informed us that they have now added another formal winter dance and then there is Sadie Hawkins dance in the springtime. These schools are killing me with all of these freaking dances! I won't be able to send the kid to college because I had to buy her three different dresses/outfits a year. Then of course in her senior year (and God forbid in her junior year) there will be prom. Does anyone else find this a tad excessive besides me? Am I being too much of a scrooge?

Not my proudest moment

Today I weighed in at the heaviest weight I have ever been. I'm not proud of this especially since I was in the best shape since college less than a year ago.

Why you ask? Well there are tons of reasons why it's hard to work out and eat right. Partly it's because I leave my house before it's light outside and get home about the time that dinner needs to be made for the family. My hubby thinks that I should just stop cooking but if I did, the teenager would eat ramen, mac&cheese, burritos or pizza rolls for every meal. There wouldn't be a fruit or vegetable get near her otherwise. And since I get home so late, I often whip up something quick and not quite on the diet. I try not to eat it but most of the time it's just so tasty that I can't resist.

Then there is the fact that I'm just plain wiped out when I get home. Mostly I want to eat and relax in the evenings. I'm better at running in the mornings when I'm completely refreshed. This poses a problem as well. I'm the morning person and the hubby is a night owl. He has a hard time letting me sleep so I am getting less sleep than I have since cramming for finals in college.

Well those are my current excuses but I have to do something to turn this around. I'm doing something even if it means sleeping on the couch when the hubby is home so that I can have more than 4 hours of sleep a night. I going to get back into the shape I was last year at this time if it kills me.

So your job as my faithful bloggy friends is to kick my butt and keep me honest. Ask me often how the workout is coming along and how much healthier I am cooking for the whole family. If I can't give you a satisfactory answer, make me run some laps! That'll teach me!

25 things I learned from Ike (in no particular order)

1. I am spoiled!
2. A blackberry makes a splendid flashlight in a pinch
3. I LOVE generators
4. I hate trees with all of their silly leaves collecting in my pool
5. I really hate pine trees
6. I’m addicted to the internet
7. I’m not as addicted to TV as I thought
8. I finally found a good use for all of those water bottles I got when training for the MS150
9. Boiling water to wash dishes really blows
10. That the doo-hickey that starts the burners on my gas stove is electric
11. I can still get those burners lit with a lighter (Duh!)
12. I can’t enter a room without flipping a switch even though I know full well that nothing will happen when I do
13. The college student is so terrified of tornados that she will sleep in a small closet to feel safe
14. The teenager can actually sleep through a hurricane
15. The dogs can too
16. The pizza stone for the grill that I got for my wedding comes in handy when there is no power
17. The fearless Dachshund would rather explode than walk out in the rain to relieve herself
18. Max the Wonder Dog would rather not explode even during the last remnants of a hurricane
19. Ducks fare pretty well riding out a category 2 hurricane
20. I can fix a darn good meal even without power
21. Coffee can be made without power by boiling water and pouring it through the coffee and filter in the coffee machine
22. When transformers blow, it looks like green lightening from inside the house
23. I don’t think I would stay for a hurricane bigger than a category 3
24. The hubby was more scared than I was
25. You might have to drive 55 miles to find gasoline after a hurricane

WE HAVE POWER!!!

Several of my friends and coworkers still don't have power. I am now wishing them well and hoping they will get power soon too!

I don't know if anyone reading this is one of the workers that came here to help with the recovery. If you are or if you know someone that came here, I would personally like to thank all of them for the hard work to get this city back up and running. I know that they are making a sacrifice being away from their friends and family back home and all of the long hours they are working. The city of Houston is truly grateful for the help! Big bear hug for all of y'all!

Major development!

No we don't have power. However today I drove up to a gas station and got gasoline without waiting in line. Then I went to the grocery store and didn't wait in line there either. HALLELUJAH!!

The lastest news

I'm at work for the first time in a week. I could have come in yesterday but my company sent out emails that they were bringing in a truckload of gas for those who needed it for generators. Luckily it was set up near my home so I didn't have to drive too far.

And speaking of the generosity of my company, a few of the guys in upper management here drove out of town as I understand it and bought generators, electrical cords, ice, water, gas cans full with gas, etc. for the employees to come get if they needed them. I can't say enough about how Enbridge is doing for the hardest hit employees. Normally I don't blog about my company but I felt that I had to give kudos to them because I truly appreciated the gas that they gave me yesterday. Running that generator is getting expensive!

We are still out of power but the latest report puts my zip code in the group that should have power on by Monday evening. I feel fortunate because every zip code surrounding us is in the group that won't get power until after Monday and they can't even tell them when it will be.

Lines for gas and food are getting more manageable as of yesterday afternoon so it's starting feel more normal now. Our water has the "boil notice" lifted so yesterday I gave the rest of our water jugs and ice to the hubby's ex-wife when she dropped off the teenager. Her mom has no water or ice so I figured that it should to someone more needy than myself.

The teenager has been at her mom's house since Thursday before the storm. They haven't eaten too many hot meals since everything in their house is electric. I thought she was going to cry when I told her that she wouldn't have to do that anymore. She's been a trouper through all of it though.

Not much more to report other than it's been really nice to get to know all of the neighbors finally. Usually everyone stays so holed up in their homes that you don't get to know anyone too well. Now that there isn't as much to do, everyone is out and talking to everyone else. It's neat how something like this has made us a much closer knit community.

When we get power up, I will have lots of pictures and videos. Stay tuned...

Still not over quite yet

I sit here at 4am on Tuesday writing this. I'm not even sure if I will get a chance to post it since mobile phone signals are really sketchy here. I can't connect during the day too easily but at night it's a little easier. Problem is that we turn off the generator at night for a quieter evening and to avoid wasting fuel unnecessarily and I can't stay on the computer too long at night. Obviously we are still without power but a cool front moved in yesterday morning. Between having a generator and the weather cooperating, things are actually very bearable.

It's almost bizarre sitting here writing at a time of the night when there is normally extreme quiet. In some neighborhoods, it's probably quieter than normal. In ours however, all I hear is the hum of generators all around me. The only light I see is from an airplane flying overhead. It is a shame that it is overcast this evening. Normally the glow of the city lights prevents you from seeing the stars. I imagine that if there were no clouds I could see every star out there. Maybe tomorrow night we will be luckier in that respect.

I will have to say that I feel highly blessed. Many did not fare as well as my family did. We sustained no damage to our home. We did have roof damage to our Conroe rental home so we didn't come out completely unscathed from Ike. However we aren't dealing with not being able to get back to our home as the people from Galveston are. We didn't lose any loved ones either. There is no telling how many of the people who refused to leave the evacuation zones that didn't make it.

I have a list a mile long of things that I'm able to do that others are not. We are don't sit in the dark in the evenings. I have a working refrigerator and deep freeze. I watch television almost whenever I want. I can get on the internet occasionally. I can charge up my mobile phone and computer. We have running water and natural gas service. I don't know if the water is safe to drink yet but we can boil it on the stove if necessary and I have plenty of clean drinking water from before the storm as well.

I could go on and on about how blessed my family is but you get the idea. You may wonder if this is easy. The answer is no. We drove about 55 miles out of town to find a gas station with a line that was only about 45 minutes long. Around here if you can find a station open, the line is at least two hours long. Going to the grocery store poses the same problem of long lines. We stopped for supplies at a little grocery where we got gas and they were out of things like bread. It is the little things that you expect will always be there that is hard.

One would think that this of all things would trigger my anxiety issues that I often suffer from. The funny thing is that I'm about as relaxed as I've ever been in my life. Maybe it's because I've gotten to spend quality time with my husband where he isn't being constantly interrupted by a work call. Or because I haven't been to work since last Wednesday. It could be that I see on TV the people of Houston and the surrounding area are pulling together to help each other. I see that in my neighborhood as well.

It also could be recollection of being curled up in my bed listening to the worst part of that storm and feeling an unnatural calm and sense of feeling safe. Everyone else tells me how scared they were. I don't recall having that feeling at any point. I feared that a tree would come down on our house but somehow I knew that we were going to be OK anyway. I had faith that God would pull us through this and he did.

Ike Update #8

Well we lost power right after my last update. That was about the time that the highest winds were getting to Spring. It was really freaky from what little I could see. At this point I think the eye has passed us and we are on the other side of the storm. I slept through the eye passing which I am not happy about but at least I got an hour or two of solid sleep.

I did take some video from before it got really bad but I'm not sure how much you will be able to see. I will post that later. The hubby is getting motivated to get up and film another update so you may be getting several videos in the next post.

Ike Update #7

Satellite, internet and power are sketchy at the moment. We keep have power flickering and tv is even less reliable right now. I slept a little bit earlier but now I can't seem to sleep at all. Looking at the radar on tv, we are at the edge of the highest winds and will see those very soon.

They are warning of tornadoes so I'm up will be listening for that since everyone else is asleep. I can pretty much deal with the hurricane winds but tornadoes are much scarier.

I am completely amazed that I can still watch tv even off and on and that I can still post on my normal internet connection. I do have a work computer which has a Cingular card so I will continue to post updates after we lose all of our creature comforts. At least I'll have the internet to keep me company!

Ike Update # 6

The wind is still howling outside and the rain is hard. We are getting to the hurricane force winds and within the hour we should have the worst of that. No damage that I can see so far. We lose the dish signal off and on so our updates outside of the computer are getting spotty. I still have power and will continue to update everyone as long as I can.

On a sad note, Brennen's is on fire and the general manager and his family are in the hospital right now. Wonderful restaurant that is a staple of midtown Houston. Hopefully they will be ok.

Ike Update #5

At the moment, it's raining hard and the wind is super strong. The eye of the storm is close to making landfall so it's still going to get a lot worse for us. We have electricity and tv still (tv is surprising since we lose Dish Network in a light rain usually). The hubby is all sleepy so his video updates may not be happening until tomorrow morning. I'll try to get a picture to post though.

Ike Update #4.5

Mark finally got the latest video up on youtube. Nothing much more to report other than the wind is getting pretty high.

Ike Update #4

We are getting some pretty good wind now. We made some video earlier and then were talking to our neighbors and didn't get to post it right away so you are getting that one. We have recorded another but the hubby doesn't have that one up on youtube yet.



For dinner this evening I decided to go all gourmet on the family and did a pan seared salmon recipe that I created myself. It had a chipotle lime sauce that was a little too spicy if you asked me but the family loved it. Also had some lovely baked asparagus with olive oil and garlic. Then I added a little frozen broccoli and cheese because I was lazy. It was good too though.

There will be another video very soon when Mark bothers to upload it.

Ike Update #3

I had a request for an update so here it is. We are finally starting to get a little sprinkling of rain and it's a little windy now but nothing out of the ordinary yet. As I was watching the news, I did catch a picture of this dumbass running around behind the newsmen on the seawall in Galveston wearing a freaking bear suit. Some people are idiots! The picture is a little hard to see but you get the idea.






This will be the first video update from my husband with his new camcorder.

Non-Ike update

I have been so concerned about the storm that I went to get my hair done. 'Cause it really would take a hurricane blowing me away to get me to not show up. Anyway... here is my new look for the hurricane. If I'm going to live with this mess, I may as well look good!

Ike Update #2

So far nothing to report up here. It's starting out to be another beautiful day which is so very odd knowing that a very huge hurricane is less than 24 hours from landfall. I would take another picture but it would pretty much look like the picture in the sidebar.

Things are a little different in Galveston though. We are seeing pictures of parts of the island underwater already. The island will be completely underwater before this storm is over yet people stay there. That is something I don't understand. There will be storm surge in Galveston and potentially all the way to downtown Houston. If I lived south of I-10 on the east side and south of Hwy 59 on the west side, I would be heading to someone else's house for sure. Oh well, I'm sure there are plenty of people who think it's nuts for me to stay. Maybe so... We shall know soon enough.

Ike Update #1

It's coming! Damn that Jim Cantore for showing up in Galveston. It was headed to Victoria until he showed up. That man and his shiny bald head attracts hurricanes.

I've stocked up on the essentials. We have lots of beer, wine, bloody marys and mimosas. We should be good for the duration of the storm. Oh and I have water and canned food. We have a little camp light that is powered by propane for when we lose power (it's not if but when). We are riding this thing out. Fortunately we are about 90 miles away from Freeport area which I believe is where it's still supposed to come in.

It's actually beautiful weather here today and nobody I know is evacuating completely. I have a friend who lives south of Houston who "evacuated" to my other friend's house not too far from here but so far she is the only one I'm aware of. I think that they were in an official evacuation zone so they were told to leave. We were not so hopefully it won't be too bad.

My hubby is currently playing with his new toy. He bought an HD camcorder today so I may have some video to post. Right now nothing exciting to report other than we are preparing for this storm.

We have moved all potential "torpedos" off of the patio and put them all into the garage. We will be rearranging everything in the garage so that we can get two of the four vehicles in there. We don't have any plywood so we will not be boarding up the windows but we are prepared to cover any broken windows.

I will post updates as long as we have power. Here is a picture of the current conditions.

Oh and my hairdresser will be working tomorrow so I will be keeping that appointment barring any extreme weather tomorrow morning. And yes, my hair color really is that important!

Oh CRAP!

Jim Cantore showed up in Galveston. We're all gonna die!

What's new since last year

An anonymous commenter has brought me back to this post I had mostly forgotten about from nearly a year ago. She told me that she envied me and my relationship with the teenager. It prompted me to re-read the post to see where my head was at that time. As I read through my thoughts on becoming a full-time parent a year ago I started thinking about what has changed and what is still the same.

What has changed... my husband has taken a job that keeps him traveling about 75% of the time making me essentially a single mom for that same amount of time. This has been the hardest change for me because I wasn't prepared to have a kid whose well-being is my sole responsibility much of the time. I worry about her all the time and the decisions that I make each and every day. I can say the added stress of this responsibility has caused many an argument with the hubby because sometimes I feel overwhelmed by it all. My biggest fear around this is that the teenager will think it's her fault and it's really not. It's me and my stupid anxiety and coping issues.

The teenager no longer confides in me quite as much as she used to which probably means that she thinks of me more like a parent than a friend. It makes me sad because sometimes we had conversations about her life that amazed me. However feeling more like a parent is ok with me too.

To make things even more interesting, the teenager's older sister moved in early this year (from here on to be known as the college student). Keep in mind that this is not the hubby's child by blood but he did raise her from about the age of 5 on but he loves her as if she were his own. this was a weird situation for me at first but I now find it to be a blessing. The college student is another very good kid (I use that term loosely because she is 22) and helps lots with the teenager by driving her places and generally being a good example to follow. This alone has relieved some of my anxiety about doing this alone during the week. I don't know if I could cope without her help.

What is the same... I still believe that this is the hardest thing I will ever do in my life. I'm still terrified that I'm going to somehow screw her up and we will all be on Dr. Phil someday hashing out what I did wrong.

She's still a good kid though and I feel lucky to have her in my life daily. I like to think that I also give her good yet different examples to follow on how to be a woman. While her mom was the quintessential mom who loved having her kids as the center of her existance, I am the woman who was determined to make it in the world of business and became independent and strong. I hope that we both help make her a well-rounded woman who is a good wife and mother when she has a family but is perfectly capable of being ok without a man until she finds that one right guy for her.

All in all, I think that this has been a really good for me since I chose to not have children of my own. I feel like I'm at not completly missing out on the experience of motherhood. I still occasionally feel like I've missed something by not having a little one running around the house but mostly I think it was the right decision for me at this juncture of my life. I don't want to give up my freedom now for a baby. I feel very selfish that way now that I'm 40-something. The thought of having a kid in college when I'm 60 scares the crap out of me too. However, having a kid in the house who can mostly take care of herself and will be out of college before I hit 50 is ok.

My conclusions about being a parent? I think I will live through it and be a better person for it in the end.

Happy Belated Birthday to me!

My niece singing happy birthday to me on YouTube. I would have to say that this is one of the best birthday presents ever!

Update: In case the embedded video isn't working, here is the link: www.youtube.com/watch?v=62qv4umpch0

Being a parent has just gotten harder!

I was told the most ridiculous thing by the teenager yesterday. I knew this was coming because the same sort of thing happened when I was about her age. Kids her age are turning 16 and getting cars of their own to drive. I find this ridiculous in itself... I think a teenager shouldn't get their own car until they have had at least 6 months of experience. I may lose that battle with the hubby but that one is ok I guess.

Now to the ridiculousness that makes it harder to be a parent today... I was taking the teenager to church last night when she said that her friend was very spoiled and told me to guess what she got for her 16th birthday. I couldn't guess so she told me. And guess what it was... a vehicle!

But not just any vehicle either. Oh no, her parents thought that it would be a spectacular idea to get this kid a Hummer. Really? Does a kid who has very little experience driving need a vehicle such as a Hummer? That sounds like a fatality waiting to happen (not for her mind you, for some other unsuspecting driver or unlucky pedestrian in her path).

I don't personally have a problem with Hummers. I have a very good friend who owns one and if she can afford the gas on a vehicle then more power to her! But I do have a problem with giving one to an unexperienced teenager. Not to mention the fact that even if you have the cheapest H3 out there, it is going to cost at least $30K. Does a teenager really need a vehicle that expensive?

Keep in mind that this did happen when I was growing up. A girl in my class got a tricked out Camaro (which she promptly wrecked and was lucky to survive) and another guy got a Jaguar as a graduation present. The difference is that these two kids were the super rich kids. All of us average kids were thrilled to death to have anything to drive even the uncool station wagon. This girl's parents are not super rich. They do well like me and the hubby do but they are not of the elite kind of rich like the kids were when I was young.

So where does this leave me and the hubby? We are still going to make sure that we bring up a girl with realistic expectations for when she is out of our home. She may or may not have the money to live like that after college. We try to make sure she understands that when she gets a Coach purse from us that it's a very special gift rather than something she should always expect. I will say that this lesson is becoming harder to teach when everyone her age does seem to think Coach purses and Hummers as the norm.

My friends know me well!

Lazy mom

Anyone who has been reading lately may know that I've been dealing with some amount of insomnia. It's mostly related to the decongestant I've been taking that has kept me from being too miserable while I was sick. Yesterday I felt like I could make it through the night without taking any and I slept like I haven't slept in weeks.

This morning at 5am when the waking of the teenager was to commence, I didn't really feel like getting up quite yet so I hit snooze for five minutes. The alarm went off again I still didn't want to get up but I knew that if I didn't wake her up, I was not getting to work anytime soon. So I called her cell phone to give her a hotel style wake up call and went back to sleep for 30 minutes. Does this make me a bad person? ;)

A beautiful mistake?

Because my birthday is coming up next weekend, my wonderful hubby told me that I could go get a new table either for the breakfast area or the dining room. As much as I would like to have a table for the dining room, we wouldn't use a formal table as often so I decided that I wanted a new table for the breakfast nook. I have been patient for a long time to get a new table. I bought the old one from my grandmother not long after I graduated from college. We relocated the old table to the dining room as seen here:



I set out on my quest for the perfect table. I went to several stores to look around but none could beat the table I found at Gallery Furniture. For those who are unfamiliar, Gallery Furniture is a massive warehouse of furniture that used to carry lower end furniture only. They have started carrying a lot more higher end furniture in the last several years so I have started shopping there more.

I drove there after work and walked back to the area where they display the tables. Instantly I fell in love with a certain line of tables they carry that are made of Mango wood. I'm in a mode of trying to be more eco-friendly and the wood that they use in these tables is supposed to qualify (although I will admit I didn't research it so hopefully they aren't lying to me).

So I bring the hubby back in to make sure he likes these table too and he does. The tables I considered are bigger so that I can can get a lot more people around it. We regularly have more than four people at our dinner table these days since four actually live here and then the college student's boyfriend is here often as well. I've always loved the pub height tables so I was leaning towards those but still considering regular height tables too

Each of these tables are solid wood with no wood veneers. Rather than finishing the table to be smooth, the company that makes these tables do them all by hand and leave the beauty of the wood evident. After lots of hand-wringing over which of these beautiful tables I wanted, I chose the 58 inch square pub height table with eight leather chairs. Yes, I said eight. We have a lot of space in that breakfast nook and I'm not afraid to fill it!

Another reason I love Gallery Furniture is that they guarantee same day delivery and this works well with my need for instant gratification. We bought it Saturday morning and as promised they delivered it Saturday evening. The delivery guys bring this table in and they struggled with it because is just that heavy. They put it where I wanted in the breakfast area and it's BIG! It looks bigger than it did in the store but I love it anyway. You can see it in the picture below:



Sunday evening was our first family meal at this table and tonight it was just the four of us. I wasn't prepared for the feelings that I had when I got ready to set things on such an expensive real wood table. I put all of the food on silicone trivets to protect the wood from the heat. Then the teenager sat down and promptly set a soda can on the table. I just about came unglued inside and got a coaster to put her drink on.

We all decided on a new spot to sit and plopped down to eat. As I sat there across from the teenager I found that I was very sad that she was nearly five feet away. I realize now that I enjoyed the more intimate feel of that little old table.

Have I made mistake? Only time will tell. As I sit here looking at it, I think I know what must be done. I need to put the new table in the formal dining area and continue to use the old table. At some point in time I will have the money to buy a nicer table for my breakfast area. The next new one will be a good bit smaller and much more abusable than my birthday gift is.

Business Casual

A few months ago my company sent out an email regarding proper business casual for our company. I don't really have a problem with anything they said just a dilemma on the definition of one particular section of the policy. So instead of going to the source of the email (HR) and getting them to clarify, I felt the need to let you, the internet, help me out with this one. Makes perfect sense in my insomniac fog (read the next post for explanation).

The section in question is the following:

"For all locations, unacceptable dress includes, but is not limited to: t-shirts or tank tops; sweatpants, sweatshirts, or workout attire; shorts, cutoffs; beach attire; halter or tank tops; sheer clothing or clothing that is otherwise revealing or tight fitting; mini or short skirts; loose fitting sandals or flip-flops; clothing that is frayed, faded, or torn; or any other attire that is excessively distracting. Any clothing displaying offensive, derogatory or inappropriate language, slogans, or images is strictly prohibited."

This is from the policy that they have posted on our intranet. I have no problems with anything stated there. I think the request above is completely appropriate. In an email reminding us of the policy, they stated that we could wear casual sandals. This is where my problem occurs. Where does one draw the line between casual sandal and flip flop?

For instance is this considered a flip flop?

No one has commented to me on those sandals. Consider the next photo... Sandal or flip flop?

The white sandals have garnered some attention from the male coworkers on my floor. I have worn both shoes to work without management making a comment. However a group of my male coworkers who are obviously jealous said that the white pair were flip flops.

I'm trying to figure out what the distinction is between the two. They are both flip flop shaped. Both are leather with some sort of decoration and both have normal sandal type of soles rather than the flip flop style. I personally think the brown pair is much more casual looking than the white ones but the brown one seem to be more accepted.

My definition of a casual sandal is one that I wouldn't wear to the beach for fear of ruining them. Another female coworker agreed with that definition. So internet, am I right to wear either of these sandals or should I be flogged with a wet noodle by HR?

Lack of sleep promotes bursts of blog activity

Every once in a while I have a short period of insomnia. There are usually two types of insomnia for me. The first is due to something stressful happening in my life and I find it impossible to shut my brain off. For me this is the worst kind but there is nothing I can do about it short of taking some sort of sleep aid.

Fortunately my current insomnia is due to the second reason which is physical discomfort. The reason this is fortunate is that I can generally do something about it. Last night it was all about the cough I have developed from the cold that I've been suffering. I didn't have any good medicines that would allow me to sleep so finally at midnight I took the one that would likely keep me awake all night but at least I would be comfortable and wide awake.

The side effect of this sort of insomnia is that I have an idle mind at a time when there is no one to talk to. I got up and read a magazine for about an hour then went back to bed around 1:15am. I slept for about 2 hours and was wide awake again. So I laid there for an hour with my mind pondering things like whether people who weren't born as pasty white as I was are bothered by the fact that their are no band aids to match their skin color... or maybe there is and I just needed to find them since the standard color matches my skin almost perfectly. You know, important stuff like that.

So if you are reading this later today after my little burst of blog postings, you will know two things:

1. I haven't had much sleep which will explain any lack of coherent thoughts
2. My idle mind is a dangerous thing

Don't judge me!

I don't enjoy grocery shopping much anymore. I like it less these days now that I have a teenager and a college student living with me that can eat anything they want and still lose weight (join me as I hate them for a second). It's painful for me to buy all of the things I love to eat but just can't anymore.

I don't really need anything to add to my dislike of grocery shopping since I'm the only one in the house who will actually do it. However, I found another reason to hate grocery shopping this week. I had already been to the store before the weekend to pick up food for the visit from my family. However Monday evening we were out of milk and a few other things so I decided that I would just stock up on a few of those items that the young, skinny things love to eat. This means a basket full of frozen pizza, quesadilla, taquitos, oreo cookies, etc.

I gathered up all of these items and headed to check out. I don't mind it when the checker wants to chat. It can't be too fun to just check groceries all day without chatting with the customers. However I draw the line at the conversation I had with this particular Target checker. He started off commenting about my Weight Watcher cookie crumb covered ice cream bars. He said that he needed to buy some of those too. Not a bad comment so I engage in conversation.

Then came the 12 pack of oreo cookie single serving packages. He commented that I must really love oreo cookies. For some reason I needed to explain that THOSE were for the teenager. He keeps checking my groceries which includes 4 personal size frozen pizzas and then the fixings to make a pizza (for the teenager and her friend because the like doing that sort of thing). At this point the checker comments how I must love pizza and again I felt like I had to explain my purchases.

Why do I care what this Target checker thinks?? Because I have too many moms out there who are APPALLED that I let the teenager eat so much processed food. I was even told once that this wasn't who I am. My response to that is... No really it is who I am! NOW STOP JUDGING ME!

My cars hate me

I don't know why they hate me but they do. And really it's not just my cars it's also other cars around me that hate me. As soon as I get near them, they make me pay. It's really a shame too because I had planned on a really awesome post featuring Max the mutt-iferic puppy. He will always be this mutt-ilicious so that can wait. Right now I must talk about why my cars are making think that I should never drive again.

It all started after a perfectly innocent happy hour with friends a few weeks ago. I was happily driving home in the nearly brand-new Mini and out of nowhere came a ginormous piece of 18-wheeler tire rubber. The car in front of me ran over this huge piece of tire. It came at me fast and hit my car on the windshield on the passenger side. It pretty much scared the crap out of me because it hit my car with a very loud bang. I immediately checked the windshield and miraculously there were no cracks at all. I was joyous.... until.... I looked out the passenger window and where the mirror used to be there were only lovely colorful wires sticking out. WONDERFUL!!

So I take the car straight up to the Mini dealership since it was pretty close by to let them look at it and make an appointment to get it replaced. They tell me it will take a few days to get the parts in so I make an appointment for the next Tuesday right before vacation. I ask if they can get me a loaner and they say they can.

That next Tuesday only a few hours before I am to drop the car off to be fixed the next morning, the service chick calls and asks me about my appointment. She lets me know that they will need to order all of those parts for my mirror. I'm thinking that they really should have had time for that but I decide not to be bitchy about it. I tell her that we are going on vacation and I would just bring it in when I get back. I remind her that I will need a loaner.

After my wonderful and restful vacation, I take my car into the dealership. She happily takes the car and is acting like we are done. I remind her nicely that I asked for a loaner and she gives me this look like she has no memory of this (keep in mind that I've told them twice about this!) She looks through the available cars, tells me that they don't have much, and asks if I can drive a standard. I give her a nice blank stare since I just gave her my car... a standard.

So she sends me off with the loaner which incidentally is the spitting image of my car. I happily left driving my car twin and went to work without any problems the next morning. On the way home that next afternoon, I was gunning it a little to get out into the crazy Houston traffic and I felt a weird pop in the car.

I didn't think much of it right away and took the car to get some overpriced fuel. When I left the gas station the car felt a little weird and sluggish but it still seemed ok. I drive home to pick up the hubby and Max's kennel so that we can pick him up from the vet. As I drive back out of the neighborhood, the car keeps getting worse and worse until it gets to the point that I can accelerate and nothing happens. So I turn around and limp home.... very.... slowly.... to the annoyance of about 10 cars behind me. We make it back and call Mini to come get their stupid loaner.

Mini was only supposed to have my car from Thursday until Saturday morning. On Saturday they call to let me know that they don't have all of the parts. Really? Mrs. Mini Serviceperson, you have only had two weeks to get these freaking parts! Apparently Mrs. Mini Serviceperson hates me too.

So I've come full circle and I'm driving my Miata again. I really don't mind it all that much because I still love that car but it is a little annoying when I need to carry more than one person. On Monday or Tuesday (I am losing track now...) they call to let me know the part is still not in so they keep the car and I continue to drive the trusty Miata. On Thursday (which was this last Thursday by the way) they inform that due to a miscommunication, no one ordered the part. REALLY??? Yep, Mrs. Mini Serviceperson definitely hates me but at least trusty Miata loves me.

Until today! Trusty Miata hates me too. Trusty Miata gets me about halfway home in rush hour Houston traffic when Trusty Miata decides to join the "Cars who hate Carol" club. Did I mention that Trusty Miata decided to die in front of a very impatient angry 18-wheeler? And did I also mention that I had to move in front of a very impatient angry Big-Ole-Pickup redneck driver?? I think Trusty Miata was the ringleader of the club personally.

So my cars all hate me. I don't think I'm gonna drive ever again!

Pictures!

Sorry for the delay! They have been making me work lately! The horror!!

View from the cliff at Romney Manor

The teenagers posing for the camera

Fort Brimstone view (one of the best places to take pictures on the island!)

The black rocks... the picture doesn't do it justice. This is proof that the inactive volcano hasn't always been inactive. That and the black sand beaches in parts of the island.

The hubby and I posing in the roots of a tree from the ficus family. This isn't like any ficus I had ever seen before! This was part of our rainforest hike. Very fun!

One of the many reasons I love St Kitts. It's a much different attitude there... they just say it like it is. "Smokers Die Younger" Plain and simple. I like it!

The view as we walk out the front door of our hotel room. Not an ocean view room but still nice!

Our hotel! It was nice but I would stay at the Four Seasons in Nevis in a heartbeat if I come without the kiddos!

Our last view of the island as we were leaving. :-(

Back home and well rested!

I'm back home from beautiful St. Kitts and Nevis. We had a really great time staying at the Marriott resort there. There was a lot to do for the teenager and her friend as well as planned excursions for all of us to see the island of St. Kitts, the rainforest, and a catamaran trip to go snorkeling and visit Nevis.

St. Kitts (or St. Christopher as it is officially named) has a very interesting history as most of these Carribbean islands do I'm sure. This island was named by Christopher Columbus after himself because it was supposedly his favorite island. St. Kitts is not very big with much of the island take up by an "inactive" volcano. Incidentally, don't ask the locals about the fact that it is inactive as they know good and well that it will someday erupt again. I guess they believe it will jinx it to talk about it.

It seemed to me that the gap between rich and poor was vast... much worse than anything here in the United States. They have what they call middle class but they seemed more like the poor here in the states. The people that they called poor are desperately so. I would say that it was hard to see this but to tell you the truth, everyone I saw seemed really happy despite their living conditions.

And there really isn't too much crime to speak of. I had forgotten to leave my expensive jewelry at home so when I got to the hotel, I asked the lady there if it was safe to where my jewelry. She looked at me as if I was completely insane. I explained that there were places in the world that you just don't want to take that chance and she seemed really surprised. Wouldn't it be nice to not have to worry about that?

The only complaint one might have in St. Kitts is that the service is a little lacking. By that, I mean they move at a much slower pace than we do. After about a day of getting used to this new way of thinking, I found it quite refreshing and feel like I could get used to that all of the time. It's a shame that the American culture is so rushed all of the time!

I can't really say what my favorite part of the trip was because I liked all of it. I did discover that I like hiking though... more than I ever dreamed I would. The description of our rainforest tour claimed that it was a moderate hike. I might have agreed with that statement if I had ever done anything more than an easy hike. There were parts of this hike that were quite strenuous for a beginner especially considering that I had running shoes on. Still I made it through ok and really liked it. This brings up the possibility of doing more hiking on vacations. I don't mean the kind where you are packing your sleeping bag and staying overnight. I had enough of camping when I was a kid. However an all day "moderate" hike seems like it might be fun.

The catamaran trip was a blast as usual. This has become something that we do whenever we go somewhere tropical. I was a little disappointed in the snorkeling because there weren't all that many fish and I got bored quickly. The rest of the sailing was really relaxing though. They sailed us to the island of Nevis and dropped us off on the beach next to the Four Seasons. If I go back I'm definitely staying at the Four Seasons. It's not really a place I would take the kids but it was really quiet and relaxing.

I think if I had to do it over again, I would have tried to get one of the condo style rooms with a kitchen. After a while, I really got tired of eating out constantly. Occasionally I just wanted a bowl of cereal or a sandwich that didn't cost me 10 apiece. But other than that, it was awesome and I would definitely go back. Pictures to be added to this post soon....

Hi from St. Kitts

Thought I would blog just a bit while I wait for the teenagers to make themselves beautiful. Love it here. I think I'm not coming back! Just kidding... sorta...

See everyone in a few days... maybe

Gone for a while

I'm going to St. Kitts and Nevis on vacation for a week and don't intend to blog. So for all 4 of you who come by, I will be unavailable.

My husband is bringing his laptop with him and there is a prediction of lots of rain. I might change my mind about blogging. We'll see. Toodles for now!

Sad day

Dainty Musings has shut down shop. No more witty, amusing entries about her food adventures. Sad day.

Oh Deer!

I'm at the in-laws house in central Louisiana for the 4th of July weekend. I think I have mentioned that I never know what to expect here. The first time I visited, they were raising squirrels in cages. Then when we went on Thanksgiving last year, it was the racoon in a cage. Later in the Thanksgiving visit, Ruth Buzzi showed up (thankfully not in a cage!)

This visit is no different! This time it is a deer in the house. They have rescued a baby deer. It has got to be the sweetest little animal ever. It came out of the cage to see me immediately and was licking my hand and face. VERY CUTE!!!

Oh and Max was terrified of the deer. Not sure how anyone or anything could be terrified of that sweet!

For anyone reading this who may be in law enforcement, they aren't keeping the baby deer. The poor thing was attacked by a dog and they are just trying to figure out who will take him on Monday.

Boot Camp - the final week

It was better than the prior weeks meaning that I am in better shape so it did that for me. I still have the week to make up during the next camp so I'm not really done yet. The final total weight loss is -1 pound. I gained a pound (and inches around my belly) mainly because I only followed good eating habits the first week hence the 2.5 pound weight loss that week.

I'm disappointed in myself for not being disciplined enough to eat right since I do know how but happy that I went to the boot camp 4 out of 5 days each week for the last two weeks and 5 out of 5 the first week. I'm not sure what I will do now for exercise but I may do the boot camp again in August because it will be the last month I will be able to manage it. It's a lot harder when school starts back up for the non-driving teenager.

Any suggestions on workouts that are fun and working for you?

Weekend fun

Last weekend I attended a wine tasting party at a friends house. Well at least they used to be wine tastings in the beginning. Now it's really an excuse to have a party and drink lots of really good wines. This one happened to be a themed party. Everyone was to dress 70's, bring two bottles of cabernet and an appetizer or dessert.


Originally I was supposed to be out of town at a family reunion which we decided not to go to because friends in Oklahoma had adopted a son and were having a party to celebrate. Then we found out that my old house was coming up for rent and it needed work so we stayed in town.


At the last minute I was rushing around to find appropriate outfits for both my hubby and I with the hubby out of town. So while I was able to try stuff on, the hubby was not home and did not try anything on until the morning of the party. This is also the day that he had to hurry over to my rental house and powerwash the whole thing. By the time he got home it would have been too late to go get anything else to wear. Fortunately it all fit pretty well. The shirt was a little big but not too bad. Everything else was perfect.

My husband is the one with the big hair

My bestest friends and I

More of the great costumes

And a few more in a blurry pic (and I hadn't drank at all at this point)

My husband always popping up in all the pictures!

See the trend here?

Needless to say the hubby LOVED this costume! He is a complete ham most of the time

Max's Wine Dive, Coco's Round 2, etc.

I love my husband. I start out with that statement because I don't want anyone to think otherwise. However, I didn't get married for the first time until I was 38. Let's just say I'm accustomed to doing what I want when I want. That is the part of single life I do miss occasionally.

This week I got to pretend to be single for a couple of days. When I say that, don't misunderstand and think I was out prowling for men. What I mean is that I got to do what I wanted when I wanted for two whole days and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The teenager was off being a camp counselor and the hubby was traveling. The college student can completely take care of herself so she was on her own for those days.

Wednesday after work, I went to Max's Wine Dive with Heather and Kim. I would describe Max's as gourmet comfort food with fantastic wines. For instance they have mac & cheese on the menu but theirs is described as "Cavatappi pasta tossed in truffle cream with fresh mozzarella, Veldhuizen Farms Texas gruyere, and grana padano cheese blend." And the burger isn't just a burger it is "Yama Kobe Beef Burger - Yama Farms Texas Kobe beef burger with Belletoielle triple cream brie, in-house pickled jalapenos, Texas tomato and organic bib lettuce on Kraftsmen brioche bun, served with frites."

I went once with the same friends plus others and fell in love with the idea of having really nice wines with food you don't normally think of with wine. It also makes me feel better about the fact that I discovered the perfect French Bordeaux to go with a Pizza Hut meat lovers pizza a few years back. What can I say... I'm a visionary!

Last night, Heather was kind enough to join me out again for Coco's and the Tasting Room. Her boss/client joined us for some really great conversation and a wine that I really loved (Nigl Gruner Veltliner if you are interested) I had a wonderful time talking to adults for a change. With my husband traveling so much lately, my conversations are about who is "likes" who and how much fun hanging at the mall is. Love the teenager to death but need to talk to people my own age occasionally! I think I may have monopolized the conversation but I apparently I really needed to express myself last night. I thank both of them for the opportunity.

Since I promised a weekly update of my crepe adventures, will give a run down on the two we tried. I think I like going with other people so I can try more than one at a time. It speeds up my goal of trying them all. Heather ordered Chicken, Roasted Vegetables, Baby Greens, and Goat Cheese with Sun Dried Tomato Pesto Sauce. I ordered Spinach, Ricotta, and Oven Dried Tomatoes with Roasted Red Pepper Pesto Sauce. Heather said she liked mine better and I personally liked hers more. However, I still love my first one best.

It was a very good week for me!

Wife in mud

I have analytics running on my blog. This is mostly for my own amusement and ego. The ego part is to see how many different people from other parts of the country/world are popping in and also how many people per day, etc.

The amusement part was a more unexpected benefit of analytics. I find enjoyment seeing how people get to my blog through a google search. It has been mostly boring until lately. Let me share a list of my favorites:

Volvo jokes
i am not my wife's first true love
i don't like being a stepmom
mating peking drakes female goose (really? people search for that?)
what happens to the female ducks when it is mating season
ducks that bully
wife in mud

Apparently I'm a resident expert about mating ducks because that seems to bring me more traffic than anything (that and Coco's Crepes anyway). Not sure when I became a duck expert but seems like people come to me to read about duck romance.

Most of these searches make sense to me. I know which posts they come from except for the last one. Wife in mud? This is going to take some research. I'll get back to you on this one.

Impossible you say? I think not!

I may have mentioned that I have a picky eater in my house. In addition to the teenagers pickiness is her religious limitations that are even more difficult in my book. She can't eat any seafood that doesn't have scales. She can't eat pork either. This is even limiting when I buy frozen pizza! There aren't many without a pork product on it that she can't eat and if it does, it likely has a vegetable that she refuses to try.

I try my best to accomodate her because I do respect her beliefs but not having been raised that way, I often have to think twice... or maybe a hundred times about what I'm cooking for the family.

There is one major rule at dinner though... if you are allowed to eat it, you have to at least try it (this includes the hubby too but that is much less of an issue). Sometimes I feel like I'm feeding a toddler. The teenager will put off eating the things she doesn't like until the bitter end. At this point it is usually cold and doesn't taste as good as it did earlier so my rule is almost pointless.

Sunday (with the help of some unexpected peer pressure), I got the teenager to try something that I was never going to even attempt to get her to try. SUSHI!!! The same kid who won't even try spinach tried sushi!

The hubby and I were going to Tokyohana to have sushi which has become my hubby's favorite food lately. The teenager's friend heard that and commented that she had always wanted to try sushi. This wasn't unexpected since the friend is an adventurous girl. So because of this the teenager and the college student came along too. Keep in mind that I wasn't going to bother getting either to try sushi...

I was in for a HUGE surprise though! When I gave the teenager the other menu with the "normal" food, she announced that she was trying sushi! I nearly fell out of my chair in shock!

Don't think for a moment that the actual eating of the sushi was drama-free however. She picked up one that I thought she might like (Tiger Eye Roll - smoked salmon, cream cheese, and a slice of jalapeno). Nothing super crazy in that one so she agrees to try it. She bites it in half and says she likes it ok at first. Then she decides that one is too fishy and spits the other half into her napkin (see where the toddler reference comes in?)

Then her older sister (a.k.a. the college student) tells her that the other roll is super yummy. This one is called a Fuji roll. The Fuji roll also has smoked salmon but this one has avocado, green onion and special mayonaise. On this roll there are two items she doesn't like... onion and mayo. However she LOVED this one! I couldn't be more surprised but I will take every opportunity to use this incident against her 'cause that's what being a parent is all about!

As a side note, the friend had the Tokyohana roll which had shrimp and eel on it. She was pretty much game for anything that I said she might like. She loved her roll too!

It was such a momentous event that I needed to record it in photos. I'm so very proud of her bravery!

Tiger Eye and Tokyohana Rolls

The teenager and the friend doing a cheesy teenager pose

The teenager actually trying a piece of sushi! YAY!

Boot Camp Week 3

I actually don't have any clear memory of bootcamp last week other than pushing an SUV down the street. I think I must have been asleep for most of it. I have decided that 5 days a week of waking up at or before 4am is entirely too hard to keep up with. So I skipped on Friday and slept in. I am bad!

Another thing that has been bad are my eating habits. I truly believe that when someone tells me I have to cut something out of my diet, I will always rebel. Last Friday you could find my friend and I hunched over a very large and expensive wedge of cheese. We didn't finish it but we did try hard (I finished it before the weekend was over though). Then there was the day of crepes... sushi and wine later that evening. Sushi and wine twice over the weekend... the list of my dietary indiscretions goes on and on.

So without further adieu my weight loss is -2! That's right, I gained back a pound and added another for good measure! I can see this boot camp is working well for me! Maybe if I stopped trying to eat everything in the house... I'll try that this week. Other than the Coco's breakfast or dinner... eating cheese... drinking wine... Aw heck! I give up!

I'm in heaven

After my truly evil bootcamp workout this morning that involved lots and lots of running, I decided to reward myself. The college student who lives with us told me about a really awesome crepe and coffee shop. It is almost on my way to work from the workout so I decided to stop for some breakfast.

I had the most yummiest crepe ever! It had smoked salmon, cream cheese, baby greens, and red onion capers on it. I was in heaven after every bite and mourned a little when it was gone. I think next week when I go back I will be getting the one with goat cheese, spinach and roasted red peppers.

It is called Coco's Crepes & Coffee (http://www.cocoscrepes.com/). If you are around downtown Houston, I highly recommend stopping by. I personally plan to go back every week until I've tried them all! A person has to have goals you know!

Boot Camp Week 2

Did I mention throwing my back out in week one? I was hoping it would get better by Monday for week 2. No such luck! I missed a whole week and managed to keep my one pound loss. Hey, at least I didn't gain!

Boot Camp Week 1

It went really well all week. I was enjoying myself despite the 5am start time until Friday. Then it happened... yes, I have injured myself. And it's not a little minor thing that I can work out with. It had to be my back. During Friday's boot camp when she was making us do some sort of crazy monkey walk up a hill, I pulled a muscle or pinched a nerve or something. Doesn't really matter what I did to myself because I could barely straighten up the next day.

I was doing really well with the weight loss too. On Friday morning I had lost 2.5 pounds total. Great you say? Then the diet-busting birthday party happened. My wonderful friend, Rhonda, decided to celebrate her birthday by going to Cafe Adobe (my favorite Tex-Mex restaurant) and going to see Sex and the City with the girls. I was doing pretty good at first. I didn't eat many chips and had ordered the tilapia with a side of grilled veggies. Admittedly it all had butter on it but it was at least better than the cheese and white sauce soaked spinach enchiladas that I normally get.

I was so proud of myself for standing strong! Then the truly evil part of the party happened. I was thinking that we would have the restaurant bring out a dessert for Rhonda's birthday and I would just not partake in the calorie laden goodness because there wouldn't be enough. Oh no... this is not how things went down. KB decided to make a ding dong cake. Now most people know that I pretty much don't eat cake because I don't consider most cakes to be worth the calories. I would estimate that the massive piece that I was given to have approximately 10,000 calories and it was worth every single one. Did I stop at the one piece? No, I had to pick at the piece in the middle of the table that no one claimed because it didn't have the yummy filling. I picked at it until it was gone. I stopped short of embarrassing myself by licking the plate (I did think about it though).

After that orgy of calories and the inability to move, my net loss barely 1 pound. Sigh... maybe I will do better next weekend.

Boot Camp Day 2

I hadn't planned on giving a daily update really but since Trix asked I will give a quick update. I have learned two things since Sunday. The first was to not forget to take any medicine and my vitamins before I leave for work (forgot on Monday). The second was to bring them with me rather than taking them before I leave the house.

Unfortunately I have discovered the hard way that vitamins make me sick before a workout. I've always known that most food does that but it never occurred to me to not take a vitamin. I got a little sick in the middle of the workout so the instructor suggested that between the strength exercise that I just do situps. I think I did about 100 - 150 situps total today!! The upside is that I'll have fantastic abs once I drop some of the excess weight I have gained recently.

So today didn't go quite as well as yesterday but hopefully tomorrow will be better.

Boot Camp Day 1

I survived it! I think this was partially because I was not quite awake at 5am when I got there. It was a major undertaking to just leave this morning. Since I live in Spring and I'm doing this boot camp in the Heights near work, I must shower close by. So I am hauling 4 separate bags this morning. My purse and laptop bag are normal for work. Then I need a bag to hold the yoga mat, water bottle weights and the towel that I need for the boot camp. The last bag hold everything I need to get ready.

It was all going well until I realized I had forgotten my hair dryer. Now this isn't a real tragedy since I have curly hair and can let it dry naturally but it was still extremely wet when I got to work. Heck an hour later it's still pretty damp.

I did remember to bring makeup with me but after I showered, I was still sweating quite a bit so I decided to put on the makeup at work. Great plan but I left it in the car and I'm feeling too lazy to go get it.

Showering was an experience all on it's own. I do have a gym membership but the closest one isn't all that close to work. I had heard there were showers at Memorial Park in the tennis center for a small fee. It was definitely small... 75 cents to be exact. It was a typical locker room type of shower. It wasn't bad but it sorta reminded me of a high school locker room. Nothing like the LA Fitness set up that I'm more accustomed to.

All in all a good experience for the first day... back to it tomorrow.

And so I can keep track of my progress... my beginning weight is 148. My goal for this 4 weeks is at least 10 pounds. I would love a 15 pound loss but I'm not really going to be upset if I don't make that one.

"What the F*ck?" Wednesday

In honor of Rhonda's birthday and since she is taking the whole day off, I thought I would have a "What the F*ck?" Wednesday post. Happy Birthday Rhonda!!

I have been meaning to get this posted for days but somehow with all of the Memorial weekend festivities, I haven't quite had the time. While grocery shopping this weekend, I saw this guy driving out of the Kroger parking lot.

Yes, I saw the "Road Warrior." It says so on the side!!

Note that it's a dually...

And the front pipes sticking out of the hood

When will I ever learn?

I'm not usually known for doing anything in a small way when it comes to exercise. I run marathons and cycle 160 miles on a fairly regular basis. Lately I've been somewhat bored with just running and cycling so I wanted to do something a bit different. Inspired by the results that Amber (a.k.a the Crazy Bloggin' Canuck) has achieved, I decided to try a fitness boot camp.

I did a little research and decided on this one... Houston Adventure Boot Camp They seem to be popular and have people come back for more sessions. This boot camp will last 4 weeks starting on June 2nd. I was pretty pumped about it until I looked over the registration form. The things they make you agree to are going to be difficult





No alcohol at all??? I don't intend to drink at all on the evenings before I have to go to the boot camp because I really don't enjoy being hungover, waking up at 4am and getting yelled at by the instructor when I can't move too fast.

No fried foods, sugar, or saturated fat??? I can probably do without the fried foods. I don't eat them often anyway. I'm ok with cutting down on sugar and saturated fats but to cut them out completely seems a little extreme! I have a sweet tooth and I do try not to eat much sugar but when I cut it out completely, I find that I end up having awful cravings. Limiting myself to smaller amounts seems to work better for me. Same with cheese which happens to be one of my major sources of saturated fats. I will cut back and I will eat lower fat cheese. However if you ask me to eliminate them, you will eventually find me hiding in a corner like a rat gnawing on a huge wedge of fully fat cheese. And don't even try to take it away from me... you might lose a hand!

So I signed up anyway knowing that these people are probably going to yell at me for my food choices. The point of this little story? Stay away from me between June 2nd through the 28th. I expect to be a BIIIIAAAATCH!

The light at the end of the tunnel wasn't a train

It was actually graduation! My hubby finally got his MBA this weekend! YAY!! Sometimes he felt like that light was a train running over him but he persevered and got it done. This was despite being discouraged by an ex-wife who didn't see the value of this achievement and working a full time traveling job. I can't say enough how proud I am!

We went to San Antonio this weekend to graduation. I tried to get a few pictures of him walking the stage but my poor little camera really does not perform well at a distance in low light (really gotta get a real camera!) The pic is blurry and could be anybody but I assure you this is my husband.

Hubby and his best friend

The teenager wanted to try on the cap and gown and get a picture. This one was my favorite. Note the diploma that she is holding... it's upside down. We are so proud! :)