Where ARE the spoons?

Cough, cough, oink, oink

2009-05-01T14:53:00.004-05:00

Howdy from land of the pig flu. As I'm sure you've read, the entire Fort Worth school district closed Thursday for pig flu. Now the Lewisville district has closed.

Other school districts are just closing one school. But it's throughout in the DFW area....Plano, Dallas, Richardson.

Here at my work, we've on standby with our "flu pandemic" crisis plan. Which, as a PR person, very impressive we have various crises plans based on various illnesses. It makes sense...during a pandemic, a press conference with a bunch of people in one room is not a good idea.

I'll end with a good joke I heard on the radio:

What do you get when you cross bird flu and pig flu?
That's when pigs fly.

More about Houston

2009-04-28T12:03:00.003-05:00

As I promised in my earlier post, here is a bit more about the Houston suburb where we'll live.

The general area is called Clear Lake, named after its nearby body of water. Strangely, this water is not actually a lake. Nor is it clear. It's actually just a channel of Galveston Bay.

Within the Clear Lake area, we'll live in a city called Friendswood. The city was founded by Quakers back in 1895, hence its name.

Mustang will work in a city called League City. It's where all the Galveston County government moved after Hurricane Ike. It's also the home of Houston branch of the National Weather Service! =) What if they had a PR person? Hey, a girl can dream.

We'll be about 45 minutes away from Mustang's family, who live in the southwest corner of Houston. Perfect distance. We can get there quickly if needed, but prevents "drop ins."

As for house hunting, it's going well! I'll post our top contenders on the next post!

There's a blog for everything

2009-04-24T15:00:00.004-05:00

Including bad real estate photos. This is excellent because I need some comic relief in the midst of the stress of house-hunting.

It's Lovely! I'll take it!

An excellent example:

Choctaw fire

2009-04-10T08:59:00.004-05:00

Most of you reading this blog have heard about, if not ran away from, wild grassfires yesterday in Choctaw and Midwest City.

My parents' home is OK and so is my brother's and his in-laws'.

How'd I hear about the fires? Oh, a phone call from my mom at 9:45 p.m.

Me: "Hello?"

Mom: "Hey, honey. I just want you to know we're alright."

Me: "Alright from what?"

Mom: "Oh, there are fires all over Choctaw. We've decided to leave the house. Oh, I gotta go. I'm a roadblock and they're checking IDs to let people through." (hang up.)

Wha??? Then I notice Ya-Ya Julie had called an hour earlier to ask if they were OK. Thanks for calling, Julie.

It is very unsettling to be another state away and not know my town is on fire and my parents are evacuating their home. Very difficult to watch the news coverage on the Internet last night, seeing a neighborhood burn where I could name people who live there, and I'm miles away and there is nothing I can do but pray.

So that's what I'm doing. Prayers are with all those in the area affected by this...firefighters, city workers, and of course, the families. Stay safe, everyone.

Choctaw friends, let me know how your families are.

Stop me if you've heard this one...

2009-04-03T11:32:00.004-05:00

Hey kids! Guess what? We're moving!

That's right. Just a little over a year after my last announcement that we were moving, we are again.

To Houston. Home of NASA, Beyonce, and a few other infamous things...

Technically, we won't be living in Houston per se. We'll be in the southeast suburban area called Clear Lake between Houston and Galveston. That means Galveston will be 30 minutes away from our home. Yay, we can go to the beach on a whim. Boo, we have to buy hurricane shutters.

I have some interesting trivia about Clear Lake to share later.

It does mean to one really good thing: our kids will go to school with the astronauts' kids. No surprise, the school district is one of the best in Texas.

When are we moving? Well, that's still TBD. Mustang finishes his fellowship June 30. Our lease is up then, too.

Let's all just pray right now that we find and close on a house by June 30. I really, really, don't want to live in an apartment temporarily, put things in storage, and move twice. Please, God, no.

I am thankful we don't have to sell again. Blech. Especially in this economy. It's a buyer's market. Our benefit. Sweet.

So guess what? The blog is about to focus on house hunting. I'm excited. Hope yall are, too.

Now, am I excited about Houston? Eh, I'm getting there. Honestly, I've had a really hard time missing my Oklahoma friends & family. But I'm excited about our family that Mustang & I will hopefully build one day, and this new chapter we're about to begin.

I am not Southwest Airlines

2009-03-19T09:29:00.002-05:00

Somebody has apparently given out my cell phone number to people, saying it's the number for Southwest Airlines' baggage claim in OKC.

I've received 4 phone calls since Tuesday of angry people looking for their luggage. On one call, as I was tried to explain to an elderly woman that I'm not Southwest, she abruptly ended our call by saying, "I'm getting a headache. Bye."

Another elderly woman (perhaps the same one) left a voicemail for me about her luggage.

I got a phone call yesterday from a man that went like this:

Me: "Hello?"

Confused Man: "Is this Southwest Airlines?"

Me: "No, sorry. This is a cell phone."

Confused Man: "A cell phone for Southwest Airlines?"

Me: "Um, no, a personal cell phone."

If the phone calls continue today, I think I'm going to call Southwest Airlines myself. Sheesh.

Me v. pork loin

2009-03-02T12:36:00.004-06:00

Last night, I ventured into making a new recipe, and the whole time I kept thinking how I wish I had taken home economics, could ask Pioneer Woman for help, or had a webcam to Skype with my dad and ask his advice.

What, you ask, could be so puzzling?

Pork.

About a month ago, pork loin was on sale at the grocery store. Still doing the Grocery Game, I was a good little shopper, bought some, used half for an immediate recipe, and put the other half in the freezer.

I guess I had this same struggle with the pork a month ago, but conveniently blocked it from my memory.

Anyway, last night I use half 2. Trying to be healthy, I'm trimming the fat off. And trimming. And trimming. I realize there's this gross sinewy stuff that runs through the middle of it, and in an effort to take that out (ewww), I divide the loin in two long pieces. Not good since I was going to slice it.

In the midst of all this, it occurs to me: should I have taken this to the butcher counter at the grocery store? Do people actually use the butcher at the grocery store?

And what's with the two pieces I've now created? They look distinctively different. One is a small, darker piece, and the other larger, lighter piece.

I also realize, in the past, I had purchased pork tenderloin and didn't encounter such troubles. Huh. Note to self: buy only pork tenderloin. Apparently this is different than just plain ol' loin.

Then I move on to cooking it. This is struggle #2. Growing up, if pork chops weren't nasty gray, rubbery, and tasteless, then they weren't fully cooked. I know they say you don't have to cook it so long anymore, and it's OK if it has a trace of pink, but I couldn't do it. I cooked the medallions, removed them from the heat, saw the pink, and threw them back in the pan.

The result: pork medallions that instead were size of coins. A smidgen of pink still left in a piece or two. I ate my plate and silently prayed I wouldn't be sick in four hours.

And hey, I lived to tell my story.

Must. Stop. Watching.

2009-02-17T10:15:00.007-06:00

Stop the cuteness! How will I get work done today?

Live kitten cam - featuring mom Daphne and kittens Tweet (all white), Shanghai (orange and white) and Seven (calico). The webcam was started to generate donations for Daphne's c-section - and it worked!

If you turn up the volume, you can hear their little squeaks and mews. Love it!

As precious as this is, I can't help but to also think of last week's Office episode. Anyone?

Never buying a Honda again

2009-02-14T13:03:00.002-06:00

Hey, guess what, kids?

I need a new transmission in my 2003 Honda Accord. Sound familiar? Oh yeah, because I had to replace the transmission before - less than one year ago!!

Between the jacked-up transmissions and my recalled wipers, I am done. We're selling the Accord after this, replacing it with another Camry and never looking back.

First transmission replacement was while my car was under its 100k warranty. Now they're asking American Honda to do a "goodwill repair" and maybe we'll only have to pay part of the repair. Oh, Google 2003 Accord transmissions and you'll see others have had these goodwill repairs, probably because Honda knows the 03 is a POS and really should be recalled.

Yep, I am on my THIRD transmission in 107,000 miles. On a Honda Accord.

Spread the word.

Hope all is well there

2009-02-10T15:38:00.001-06:00

Thank goodness Channel 5 has a weather blog so I can feed my weather addiction. Sounds like it's gettin' crazy around there. Stay safe, yall.

Man, I miss me some "it could tornado at any time" Mike Morgan.

From one weather post to another...

2009-02-10T13:03:00.006-06:00

Ah, it's been a while! And what brings me back? My inner weather nerd. Moderate risk for severe weather today. OKC is already under a tornado watch but Dallas isn't.

Which reminds me - I need to update about the ice storm TV coverage in Dallas. I've concluded that OKC meteorologists are indeed crazier than Dallas ones.

Apparently the Dallas ice was the worst in 5 years or so, but the weather crew didn't freak out. There was:

Reporters scattered across Dallas, showing extreme close-ups of street signs.
"Extended coverage" one morning of local TV instead of the Today Show, GMA, etc.

But that's it. No dramatic music. No "send us your pictures of the suffering."

However, interesting Dallas tidbit: Imagine the ice on the "High Five," a five-level stack interchange in north Dallas. The entire thing was closed for two days because of the ice. Scary. Thankfully, we don't take it to work. Back roads, thank you very much.

The high-five scares me enough on dry days. I haven't gripped the steering wheel like that since driver's ed.

Here comes the ice

2009-01-26T14:41:00.008-06:00

Thanks for the responses to the previous post about the menarche party. I'm glad I wasn't the only one baffled by this.

In other news...old man winter has been very kind so far (last week it was 79), but rumor is he'll get nasty tomorrow. Dallas has an ice storm warning from tonight until Wednesday. Sounds like OKC will get the lovely "winter mix."

You know my inner weather nerd is kinda excited about this. I hate driving in it, but I'm very curious to see if Dallas meteorologists are as zany as OKC ones.

Hmm...how will I measure this? They must do at least 3 of the following:

Sometime this week it is given a name, i.e. "Ice Storm 2009"
Dramatic music erupts before the weather forecast and/or commercial breaks
Anchors claim the news station is in "storm watch mode" or some level-orange saying that describes their obsession
They break into regular programming
They overestimate the accumulation - since it's ice, they'll say the rain will last longer than it really does. If it were snow, they'd overestimate by 2 inches.
They send at least two reporters scattered through the city for live reports on the ice. These reports involve: a ruler, an extreme close-up of the road, and/or an extreme close-up of a street sign. The reporters will be in full winter gear, advising everyone to stay home....meanwhile, behind them you can see cars driving way too fast on the roads.

Let's see what happens. I'll report their performance and any other funny observations. You do the same.

A menarche party? Really?

2009-01-21T10:07:00.003-06:00

Driving to work last week, I was behind a mini-van with white letters on its back window. You know, how small businesses put their name & phone number on there, or, truck drivers have the sticker of Calvin peeing on the competitor truck's logo (the mom version of this sticker is Calvin praying at a cross).

Anyway, this mini-van says:

Celebrating girlhood into womanhood
www.menarcheparty.com

Is that what I think it is?

I get to work and immediately search online for this website.

Oh, yes, friends. You can host a party for your daughter when she gets her period. Or, you can host a puberty party to teach her and her friends about the birds and the bees. Either party, you'll play fun games like "pin the ovaries on the uterus."

For the most part, I'm all for removing the taboo from women's health issues. Oprah talking openly about menopause. Good. Breast cancer awareness. Good.

But I'm just not sure this idea's going to catch on.

Maybe girls are more open about this today? Maybe I'm too conservative?

Your thoughts, please.

Me audit

2009-01-13T12:14:00.003-06:00

Well, it just wouldn't be January if I didn't post something about New Year's resolutions, now would it?

I've never been a fan of New Year's resolutions. I guess I've never felt the "time to start over" inspiration with New Year's...instead I get that feeling at Easter. Yall know from previous posts how I love Easter.

But lately I have been feeling reflective. I still don't want to make "resolutions" per se, but I've found myself thinking a lot about what I want in life. I guess it's a continuation of my "get busy living" thoughts since November.

I had an idea: take a PR idea and apply it to my life. I should conduct a "me audit."

Okay, a quick PR lesson.

There's a procedure called a communications audit. In a nutshell:
Round up one copy of everything the organization publishes (i.e. magazine, brochures, posters).
Define the organization's mission.
Compare the items you compiled against the mission. Do they match?
Cut things that don't help the mission.
Add things that are needed to fulfill the mission.
It sounds simple, but the audit is actually more helpful than you'd expect. You discover strange projects that were hastily done in response to one person's request.

Or, you realize the organization doesn't make or do a single thing to help an important part of the mission. You just never noticed this gap because you didn't look at things from this perspective. Because most of the time, we're reacting, not planning ahead.

Okay, PR lesson over. What if we applied an audit to ourselves?

If we look at everything we do (i.e. commitments, work, how we spend our time), can we directly identify how they help our overall mission in life? As a people-pleaser, I know I've agreed to do things that I really don't want, or need, to do.

Is there a gap where we should be doing something to fulfill our mission? For me, I know my friendships are extremely important to me, but I need to do more to keep them alive.

And what is our life's mission, anyway? That answer requires a much longer post, but we should at least establish a mission, instead of just reacting to life.

Anyway, that's what I've been doing lately. A lot of thinking. A me audit.

I miss yall

2008-12-17T12:39:00.004-06:00

Dear Santa,
All I want for Christmas is a good laugh with an old friend.

Huh, it's been a long time since I've blogged. Truth be told, it's been difficult to blog ever since I started the new job this summer. I think my creative inkwell is running low because I write so frequently now for work. I never would have guessed I could feel this way. No writer's block, just writer's fatigue.

But I wanted to blog today to express something that's on my mind: I miss yall. Those of you reading this and those out there who aren't. I miss Ya-Ya Christmases. I miss BC Clark TV commercials. I miss seeing your kids and babies (and your pregnant tummies). As much as we moaned and groaned about work Christmas parties, I miss those, too.

No, this feeling didn't motivate me to send Christmas cards (surprise!) but my thoughts are with you anyway. They're with you more often than you know.

Merry Christmas, friends.

How I wish I could tell you that in person.

For those other font nerds out there....

2008-11-21T11:34:00.004-06:00

If fonts were people....Civil Unrest at the Font Conference

This video is pretty cute. I especially like how they interpreted Wingdings.

But seriously, Comic Sans saves the day??? I don't think so. In my mind, Comic Sans would look like Molly Shannon in Kath & Kim.

Impact would be a good superhero.

Good message - bad, bad delivery

2008-11-19T15:01:00.004-06:00

Honestly, I was online for work, looking up the most popular baby boy name from 2002, so I could give an anonymous child a fake name in a feature story...

When I stumbled onto this very creepy and strange PR attempt.

As a PR person, as a former federal worker, as a taxpayer, I just think...good message, bad, bad delivery. No, that's saying it nicely. In truth, "What were they thinking?"

BTW - The most popular boy name in 2002 is Jacob.

Get busy living

2008-11-07T14:22:00.003-06:00

One of my favorite movie quotes is from The Shawshank Redemption:
"Get busy living, or get busy dying."

Today I'm feeling especially inspired to heed that quote - eh, the living part. At work lately, I've been writing some profiles for our alumni magazine, and after recounting such rich, diverse, adventurous lives, mine feels so stinkin' plain.

I know my life hasn't always been plain - heck, I'm the girl who married a guy she met online - but lately it's felt that way. I'm stuck in a rut. A very boring rut.

Let me share with you these people I've written about:

A lady named Sue* who, after graduating at our college, taught at Temple, was a consultant for the Netherlands Ministry of Social Affairs, started a program at an American school in Germany, worked in Dubai, lectured in Italy, and volunteers for cancer patients after she survived cancer herself 13 years ago.
A guy named Greg* who, after graduating, served in the military, served in Iraq, now teaches here, still is in the reserves, just served in Georgia this summer, and works at the medical examiner's office pro-bono, where he's helped with three murder cases.
A lady named Janice* who was a secretary, went to college in 40s, got her journalism degree, was editor of the town newspaper, was in an Israeli dance troupe, started work here, and now that she's retiring, she's planning to compile her 32 years of journals into a Christian meditations book.

And of course, some of you reading this do pretty amazing things; i.e. moving to a new country every 2 years, eternal students, taking up ballet 7 months after giving birth, etc. You know who you are. =)

So, I am inspired. Need to take a class, maybe hang some art in our house, volunteer, serve at church, etc. Of course it makes soooo much sense to take on a new project right before the holidays, but I should make my move while the inspiration is fresh.

Hmmm...what to do......

*Names have been changed. Don't think our alums would want to be on some quirky girl's blog.

Vote! Vote! Vote!

2008-11-03T08:51:00.005-06:00

Regardless who you choose for president (and remember there are races to decide aside from president) please VOTE!

Here's a few reasons why voting is important to me.

Because less than 100 years ago, it would have been illegal for me to vote because I am a woman.

Because when I was 18, I got to vote, but my dad didn't at that age.

Because my mother-in-law left her native country, left her husband and child, and lived alone in Chicago for four years so she could become a nurse and pay for the rest of her family to move here. If she was willing to sacrifice four years to become a citizen here - shouldn't I, shouldn't we all, give a little of our time to exercise a right that she so bravely sought?

I am so thankful that I was born at this place and time. I have the right to vote for president of the United States of America. Millions of people in this world - including Mustang's own family - would or already have given anything for that priviledge.

Please vote.

Mustang memories

2008-10-31T10:46:00.003-05:00

As we've prepared to sell the Mustang I hadn't been sad so far. I guess it was causing enough stress that we just wanted to get rid of it. But yesterday I was struck with a pang of nostalgia. Mustang picked me up to go vote (yes, in Texas we can vote early, anywhere in Dallas county - it's the best idea ever). Anyway, as he pulled up in the car I thought, "This is going to be one of the last times I see him approaching me in that car." And I got a little soft and smushy inside.

So to properly bid farewell to the Mustang, I've decided to acknowledge a few memories about it.

First off, I've realized we don't even have a picture of the Mustang, so we need to take one tonight. It's weird to think one day we'll tell our kids, "Daddy used to drive a convertible," and I'm sure they'll think that's the weirdest thought ever, because it's difficult to imagine your parents young and hip. A photo will help the cause. I know this because as a child, I was fascinated by a photo of my mom sitting on a step next to her VW bug.
I remember while getting ready for dates, I could always tell when Mustang had pulled into my apartment complex because the engine in the Mustang is so loud. So I'd be getting ready in the bathroom (wow, that's a weird thought - getting all "gussied up" for him), and know when he's about to ring the doorbell because I could hear the car.
There actually were very few occasions that we'd ride with the top down. This is mostly because 1) Oklahoma wind, and 2) Mustang didn't want to get too much sun. So the few times that we'd put the top down felt like a treat (well, aside from the first time going to Easter service, when I was concerned about my hair). When the top was down, it felt exhilarating. Alive. Adventurous. Of course this feeling may just be me, an "inside girl" who defines adventure by riding in a convertible.
After we dated a while, I put a ponytail holder inside the glovebox. I felt a little sneaky because I, the girlfriend, was keeping something in his car. Kind of like Carrie staking her claim in Mr. Big's bathroom cabinet, but on a smaller scale. Last weekend, when we cleaned the car out, I found the ponytail holder. Good times.
A drawback to riding with the Mustang's top down was that it attracted a lot of attention. Typically, I hate drawing attention to myself, so this bothered me for a while. But then I decided I could kind of have this alter-ego in the Mustang, we could crank the music up, draw attention to ourselves, and be "those people." It was kind of fun.
And that leads me to my greatest sense of affection for the Mustang...because it embodies Mustang himself. He doesn't mind attention. He's confident, fun and sexy. When I think about him driving that car, I picture him with his sunglasses on and smiling.

So I prepare to bid farewell to that image of Mustang approaching me in that car, smiling and sunglasses on, ready for a date. But I take heart in knowing that it will be replaced with a better one - him approaching me in the Camry, smiling, and coming home.

My brain is going to implode.

2008-10-30T16:24:00.007-05:00

OMG.

I'm trying to write a press release that explains a $1 million grant our college just received. Yay, a million dollars is good.

Here's the catch: the grant's title is "DMP1 Mutations: Defects in Odontogenesis."

Whaaa?

Alter-ego wants to put headline:

Grant to Study if Missing Stuff Causes Bad Things

Ditching Mustang (the car!)

2008-10-30T10:02:00.004-05:00

Big news, kids. We're getting rid of the Mustang. We actually tried to get rid of it last week....

Mustang (my hubby) takes the car Saturday morning to get an oil change and to get detailed. With the car looking good, ready for a trade-in, we're ready to visit four dealers across Dallas, based on our internet research.

However, in case nobody will take a gas-guzzling V8 Mustang for a trade-in, we stop by CarMax for an estimate to sell it. Ouch. Very low. Add fuel to the fire when we see a similar Mustang for sale there for double the price. I guess this is how CarMax makes money...buys low, sells high. Anyway, at least we now have a baseline for the trade-in value of the car.

Then, on the way to dealer #1, the CHECK ENGINE SOON light comes on. Seriously. I've never seen poor Mustang so frustrated.

(Shhh...I feel bad that he's so upset, but can I secretly admit that I'm strangely attracted to him when he's mad? He gets this look in his eye that makes me swoon. I just want to laugh/kiss him when he's steaming mad, but that would not help the cause, so I resist. But really, I just have to say, he's so stinkin' cute mad.)

Anyway, at this point, we're about 45 minutes away from home, so we proceed anyway to dealer #1 and their car had cigarette burns in the seats. Instant deal-breaker.

We drive to dealer #2 and like their car. We ask if we can have a mechanic check it out this week before we buy it. The dealer agrees and also says they'll take the Mustang as a trade-in (thank God they didn't get in it to see the new light). In the meantime, we take the Mustang in for service. Hopefully, this is the last time we pay money on it!

Anyway, the Mustang is now fixed, and the car we liked was OK'd by the mechanic. So, Saturday, we're trading the Mustang in for.......

A Camry. So sexy!

Mustang's comment: "I am trading in my convertible Mustang for a Camry. I have become an old man."

But a very cute old man. =)

It matters where you shop

2008-10-27T15:09:00.005-05:00

So I've been doing the Grocery Game for about a month and half now. Aside from saving money, I've learned quite a bit about shopping, in general. More than anything, it matters where you shop.

Sure, I remember growing up, mom would say Albertson's (back then it Skaggs) was too expensive so we'd instead brave the madness that is known by Choctaw and Midwest City people as "the old Crest." Yall know what I mean.

Hey, guess what? Mom is right. In September I made a price list of my favorite stuff at several grocery stores - prices when they're NOT on sale. Of course, being the goody-goody I am, I'd carefully write in this teeny-tiny address book in my purse and only write in it when nobody was around. I had this stupid fear of being confronted as a grocery spy. When they'd announce some code over the loudspeaker, I was always worried it was a "we have a spy" code. Thankfully this never came true.

Anyway, I compared Kroger, Tom Thumb and Wal-Mart. OH MY GOSH. (Although I referenced Albertson's above, I didn't compare it because the Albertson's by my house is really small.)

Tom Thumb, while beautiful and carrying more healthy stuff, is typically twice as expensive as Wal-Mart. Now cringing when I think of weeks I bought EVERYTHING there. Holy moly.
I also learned that Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market is slightly more expensive than a Supercenter on a few items. However, I am willing to pay more to avoid a Supercenter. Somehow my irritation level rises past human norms when I'm in a Supercenter.
Although it requires an extra trip, it really is cheaper to buy health & beauty products at CVS/Walgreens than at the grocery store. Here's a crazy example: this week, there is an $80 product at CVS that's on sale for $30 and there's a coupon out that takes $30 off the product. So guess what? An $80 product is free. Wow. (As many of you know, Mustang has a strange devotion to Walgreens, but I hear Walgreens has a very complicated coupon regime, so I'm starting to shop at CVS this week. I'll let you know what Mustang says.)
Finally, it has taken four months, but Mustang have realized we must vow to never shop again at a grocery store by our house named Carnival. Sure, it's the closest to us, and sure, once you're inside, it's fine. It's the parking lot that is just too scary. Last week's run-in with people walking a pit bull was the clincher. According the the owners, and I quote, "He don't bite." Riight.

PS - I would totally shop at Aldi's if there were any here. Rocks in My Dryer has a great post about it from Friday.

Dallas culinary finds - part 1

2008-10-22T09:12:00.008-05:00

A fun part of moving to a new city is exploring. As you all know, I'm a foodie (a bit too much) and so I've enjoyed discovering some culinary delights of Dallas.

Of course, I'm a cheap foodie, too...so this isn't a review of Dallas' 4-star restaurants. Oh no, it's about grocery stores, liquor and a coffee shop. =)

Grocery goodness
When we moved to Dallas, I was so excited about getting better groceries - more ethnic food, healthier choices, more gourmet stuff. Sadly I was disappointed for a while...until I discovered the goodness that is Tom Thumb. I'm not sure what I like more about it: the frou-frou decor (bread in baskets, produce beautifully stacked into pyramids, the florist section), or that it sells Safeway products. When I lived in DC, I got spoiled from Safeway delights (my favorites were chocolate sorbet and vegetable potstickers). I was so excited when I found these old culinary friends, I think I actually squealed at the store. While I'm excited to find groceries that I haven't had since 2003, Tom Thumb is expensive, so I only shop there for particular goodies (or with my coupons from the Grocery Game).

Of course when I think of good (and expensive) groceries , Whole Foods comes to mind. But I haven't shopped there much in Dallas because there's not one by us...YET. They're building one right by work! However I don't expect to shop there often. Talk about pricey. I heard someone call it "Whole Arm Foods" because it costs and arm and a leg to shop there.

Okay, on to the pinnacle of Texas groceries: Central Market. There is only store of these in Dallas, and I had heard repeatedly of its goodness, but I finally got to experience it last month. For our first anniversary, I went there to buy some Gouda cheese for Mustang (we ate Gouda cheese all the time on our honeymoon in Aruba). I knew Central Market would probably have some. Oh, they did: about 10 types, including some made from cow, sheep or goat. The cheese department is organized by country. Amazing. When I stood there forever deciding which one to get, an employee came over to help me and told me about the different types. Wow.

The best part of Central Market: they offer cooking classes. I can finally take the knife skills class I've always wanted to do. They have classes about tapas, risotto, sushi, making roux. Wow. I know what I'm asking Santa for Christmas!

10/27 UPDATE: Holy cow, Central Market just updated their website and it is über-cool. They have their own blog. Wow.

Crime at the local Kroger

2008-10-09T09:36:00.001-05:00

This is my grocery store. About a mile from our house. Ah, Dallas.

Woman tries to steal diamond ring off another woman's finger
October 7, 2008
By BRYAN SHETTIG / The Dallas Morning News

A thief tried to steal a diamond wedding ring off another woman's finger after asking to see her nails, Dallas police said.

The incident occurred Sunday in the Kroger grocery store parking lot in the 10600 block of East Northwest Highway, police said. A woman wearing a white shirt and blue jeans approached another woman leaving the store. The thief asked to see the other woman's nails before the two began to tussle.

The thief then pushed aside the 51-year-old woman and ran away without the ring, police said.

The marquis diamond ring was valued at $10,000, according to a Dallas police report.

Bratz dolls

2008-10-07T15:09:00.006-05:00

When I was in a women's bunko group back in Oklahoma, I learned many things: about a product called Poopourri that really does work, about new recipes, and I learned that it's a no-no to give Bratz dolls as birthday presents.

Wow, a faux pas I never thought about - inappropriate toys. Not inappropriate because they're not suitable for the child's age or too expensive, because they're dangerous - morally. And then you look at Bratz dolls, and you see why.

Anyway, there's an interesting new Newsweek article out that discusses about the Bratz doll, too - from a dad's perspective. Here's an exerpt that scares the crap out of me:

And then, says Scott, an English professor at a small college in Georgia, "I realized porn culture and I were in a death match for my daughter's soul."

Anyway, here's the article: The Pornification Of A Generation

I know I've said this before, but it's gonna be so friggin' hard to be a mom.

Another Web site experiment

2008-10-06T13:25:00.005-05:00

This blog started to chronicle my experiences on eHarmony. It worked. Very well. Thank you ~~Neil Patrick Harris~~ Neil Clark Warren.

Anyway I've been part of another Web site experiment for a few weeks, but didn't want to discuss it until...well...I understood it enough to explain it. It's kinda complicated.

It's called The Grocery Game. In a nutshell, it's about coupons, but it's oh so much more. The key is to use a coupon (or, if you're really lucky, a mix of coupons) AT THE SAME TIME a product is on sale. So for example, by using two coupons while it was on sale, I bought an eight-pack of Mustang's favorite soap yesterday for $2.09. It's usually $5.99.

Okay, I know what you're thinking: I'm cheap/silly/insert word for using coupons because Mustang is a doctor and we have a good income. While we are blessed with a good income, we believe we should be stewards of it and spend it wisely. I'd much rather spend $50 on something fun or helpful than on lame groceries. Also, I don't know if it's because we moved to Dallas or what, but we spent wayyy too much money at the grocery store this summer. Finally: the economy. 'Nuff said.

Ya-Ya Gina has long been a fan of The Grocery Game (or, GG, as it's called by its fans). Now I see why. It indulges my Type-A personality (I will find the last bottle of free Worcestershire sauce!) and also saves money. In other words, it's a healthy addiction.

And I am reminded of my childhood love for The Price is Right and my junior-high summer TV watching of Supermarket Sweep.

Anyway, I signed up for a $1 month trial in September, and at its conclusion, I can say I'm hooked. I saved about $180 in September. On groceries. Seriously.

So anyway, I'll post a few more things I've observed about GG soon.

Mrs. Mustang

2008-09-29T09:31:00.002-05:00

This day one year ago, I became Mrs. Mustang. At current posting time (10 a.m.), I think I was at the makeup artist. I wasn't too nervous and wasn't too tired - I took a Lunesta the night before so I'd be sure to sleep.

Speaking of sleep, last night, Mustang said, "Just think, this time last year was the last time you ever slept in your own bed." That's so weird.

Other memories from my wedding day...

Somehow, I got mosquito bites the night before (I think lingering outside, talking to people after the rehearsal dinner). So I stopped at a pharmacy to pick up some topical Benadryl after my makeup was done.

All of the girls had our hair done at the salon with the same hairdresser I've had since junior high.

My bridesmaids are so modest, they changed in bathroom stalls so the photographer couldn't take pictures of them (even though the photographer was female). The great thing is, the photographer took pictures of their feet in the stalls, which made for fantastic photos. =)

It was a very strange feeling knowing that friends & family were very busy setting up/cleaning up, while I'm off getting ready or leaving for our honeymoon. I am still so grateful for all the things people did for me - the tasks I know about, and probably some troubleshooting that I didn't know about.

My favorite memory (I'm so glad we chose to do this) was seeing Mustang privately in the church before the wedding. We exchanged gifts, prayed and took a few photos together. It was such a peaceful, precious moment for us to share - just the two of us - amidst all the activity of the day.

I am still just as excited to be Mrs. Mustang as this day one year ago!

Toot my own horn

2008-09-26T16:34:00.003-05:00

Okay, I have to share some exciting news. Not one to usually brag, but I'm too stinkin' excited.

Yesterday I was published in the Dallas Morning News.

Sure, it was a news release that didn't bear my name. Sure, it was four sentences in the "News Briefs" in the metro section. But it's the Dallas Morning News, people! I don't know media markets well, but I assume that's a bigger readership than The Oklahoman or the Tulsa World...

Also, part of my job is to create a staff newsletter for our college. This month our president was asked by the system's CEO to send the newsletter to the whole system (which has eight other colleges in it). Today, I got a call from the system's marketing big-wig, telling me how good it was, that it "should be a template for other colleges to use" and how glad she was "that I'm on board."

Anyway, I just feel like I'm rockin' my career! Positive feedback! Creativity! It is glorious!

And I've also learned a lesson: this isn't the highest-paying job I've ever had; it's not the biggest title I've ever had. What makes a job great is the WORK, the PEOPLE and the PLACE. Gee, only took eight years after college to figure that out.

Hurricane update

2008-09-15T14:12:00.004-05:00

Thanks to friends who've been asking about Mustang's family in Houston.

His parents have no power, but thankfully, they have no damage, either. His sister's family went to his parents' house to ride it out. SIL has a 2-story home, so they wanted to leave it. Imagine sitting hours in a house without lights or no AC with:

Two seniors
One adult
A 12-year-old
A 3-year-old

Notice the list above has only ONE adult. That's because SIL, who is an RN, had to stay at work ALL weekend because they were on "lockdown mode" during the hurricane. It was terribly difficult for her to leave her boys behind while she went into work Friday afternoon.

We don't know yet if SIL's house has damage. They haven't gone over there yet.

Thankfully, Mustang's family was wise in the 1970s and moved to west Houston. They originally lived in Pasadena (where Mustang was born), which got hit hard by the hurricane. Now they live in Missouri City and it's doing very well.

Thanks for your inquiries & prayers. Please pray for people in Galveston & other beach towns. It sounds awful there.

So. Not. Cool.

2008-09-11T14:31:00.003-05:00

Here's a tip to the facilities management people in our building:

Don't work on the fire alarm (and accidentally trip it) on 9/11.

Seriously.

Minor heart attack here at my cubicle.

Hurricane Ike: Strike or psyche?

2008-09-11T11:06:00.005-05:00

As a weather nerd since childhood, I've never had much respect for hurricanes. Growing up in Oklahoma, I always thought tornadoes were: 1) way scarier and 2) way cooler.

I always thought hurricanes were lame because you knew they're coming days before they hit. For tornadoes, eh, you get about a 15-minute warning.

But keeping an eye on Hurricane Ike, I have to say they're more interesting than I gave them credit. Primarily because they're such a gamble. Do I stay or do I go? Will it get be a category 2 or a category 4? Where will it hit?

Weird that yesterday we thought it'd hit Corpus and now it's set on Houston.

Which leads to why I'm watching Ike closely. Mustang's family lives in Houston. Of course weather nerd DIL called them yesterday and emailed them today to check if they're ready.

Looks like Ike also will travel through Dallas as it weakens. Bummer! Of course we're traveling to Oklahoma this weekend, so we'll miss the storms. Boo.

One final note: I'd like to say that 2008 has been the weirdest year for hurricane names. Bertha? Dolly? Ike? Do these names denote the concern that they should? My favorites are later down on the list...Sally, Teddy and Wilfred.

The funniest is Marco, which to me, connotes the game "Marco Polo." Correct me if I'm wrong, but I seem to remember the game was played with one person being "it." Whoever was "it" would yell "Marco!" and the people running away would yell "Polo!" I also remember playing the game only in a swimming pool.

Future Hurricane Marco will be over water, moving toward people who are running away from it...is this some lame joke made by a weather nerd at the National Hurricane Center?

Back on the wagon

2008-09-09T15:58:00.004-05:00

Weight Watchers wagon, that is.

My life can be sorted into three phases:

When I'm on WW
When I'm not on WW (which does not equal I'm staying the same weight - no, no, it means that I'm gaining weight)
My life before WW (aka birth - age 12)

I've been on the wagon since we moved to Dallas in June. The good news? I've lost 20 pounds. The bad news? So, so much more to go.

We all have our vices. Our battles. Cue "Everybody Hurts" by REM. My battles have always been my weight and my happiness, and the two are - and will always be - related.

There are days I curse that my battle is visible. You can't identify an alcoholic in a lineup (well, most of the time). But you know just from looking at me when there's been change or stress in my life. Being the natural introvert that I am, I HATE that.

There are days I curse fighting with food, because we need food to live. Going cold turkey will never be an option.

But lately I'm trying to reconcile my weight struggles. God has made me who I am, and God doesn't make junk. Some of my "fruits of the spirit" are very well-developed and lovely, just poor lil' ole "self-control" needs some fertilizer.

I've decided said fertilizer is more prayer along with WW. I've been having quiet time in the mornings, and one day a devotional asked, "What are you holding back from God?" I knew instantly the answer was "my body." In the years I've been a Christian and have known I should surrender all of my life to Him, I've never surrendered my body.

I could go deeper into this thought, but this is already getting deep enough.

In the meantime, I just wanna say I decided to blog about this because I'm serious enough to ask the prayerful readers out there to keep me on their hearts. Maybe it can provide some accountability, too. I don't often blog about personal struggles because I like my blog to be a positive creative outlet. However, I realize that sweeping my weight struggles under the rug means ignoring who I am. After 30 years of specializing in "under the rug sweeping," I can say I'm a pro at it, and that, um, it doesn't work too well.

All the previous times I've been on WW it's been for vanity. Now it's for my health, for my future children and so that I can live many good years with Mustang.

This time I want it to be different. This time I want it to be the last time.

Favorite Dallas radio station

2008-09-06T12:17:00.005-05:00

Ah, time for a few posts about life in Dallas. Let me tell you about my favorite radio station here. This former pom-pom girl is in heaven.

The station is called Movin' 107.5. Their slogans? Music that makes you feel good. The best of today and your schooldays.

Here is a sample of their playlist:

Thriller
Anything by Madonna
Big Poppa
Jump Around
Anything by Fergie
Can't Get You Out of My Head
Humpty Dance
Anything by Beyonce
Brass Monkey

My only request is they stop playing "I'm Your Baby Tonight" by Whitney Houston. Ick.

One of their best things? "The Burn," an hour-long remix of high-tempo music for working out. They do this every night at 6:30 p.m. Has this motivated me to work out during The Burn? No. But I keep thinking that I should.

Seriously, this is a major highlight of my life in Dallas. I'm not sure what that says about the overall quality of life in Dallas...

But YaYa Stacy, who lives in Fort Worth says, "How can you have a bad day when you start your morning drive listening to 'Can't Touch This?'"

Well said, Stacy. Well said.

What brings me back?

2008-09-05T14:34:00.005-05:00

This crap.

Seriously, people. Even down here in Texas, I hear that Oklahoma's NBA team was officially named Wednesday as "OKC Thunder." As a weather nerd, of course I think this is cool. Then I get online to see the logo. My reaction? What all PR/advertising/marketing people must have said:

"No, noo, noooo!"

Please tell me it doesn't look eerily similar to the Centennial Logo.

Please tell me we didn't rip off New Jersey's logo. I mean, of all the states to copy, New Jersey?

And most of all, please tell me we didn't use, what a fellow PR friend calls, "state agency blue."

Seriously, people. Please don't tell me that Oklahoma finally gets its own professional sports team and we make a logo that looks like this.

My only hope is that an internet rumor is true - that a PR firm was hired and created some cool logos, but, as that same friend calls them, the "old white guys" thought they could design a better logo.

If that rumor is true, then I have two things to say:

1. To the graphic design/ad guy who poured his heart, soul & hours of his life into a wasted design: Buddy, all your PR peeps have got your back. I mean, hey, if it can happen to a guy who's designing an NBA logo, it can happen to anybody. And it has. Haven't we all been there?

2. To the Thunder owners: please, please get a new logo. Quickly.

Mexico hiatus before returning to work world

2008-07-23T11:47:00.004-05:00

Well, kids, I have good news, and I have bad news.

The good news is that I'm going to Mexico tomorrow through Sunday.

The bad news is that I start work Monday. (Okay, that's not bad - it's good. I got a job. Yay! Just boo for returning to the work world after a lovely break since March.)

Yep, I'll be on hiatus for a few days while me and the Ya-Yas go on another trip. This time we're going to Guadalajara, Mexico. BTW - don't worry about Hurricane Dolly (and you're probably not - just me, the weather nerd); Guadalajara is on the Pacific coast. So the hurricane won't affect us.

Guadalajara is home to Ya-Ya Amy, whose husband works there temporarily. They've been there since Dec. 2006 and his job is finished this December, so we thought we should see them before they go. In addition to Guadalajara being home to Amy, it's also home of mariachi bands and tequila manufacturing (see the plant on the right). We'll also do some good shopping at the town market. I'm hoping to find some great silver/pottery/etc. for the house. Most of all, I'm looking forward to seeing the Ya-Yas, getting refueled/inspired by them (as I always do), and seeing Amy fluently speak Spanish with the locals.

But come Monday....not only I am I back in the states, but I head back to work. Yes, I FINALLY got the job I posted about. The proverbial chicks hatched. While I've enjoyed not working since March (oh, I have), I seriously am looking forward to working again, for several reasons:

I need more creative outlets. I am bored. Yet somehow, still have not "found the time" to hang the art in our house.
I'm afraid if any more time passes, I'll get rusty at Photoshop/InDesign, etc.
A paycheck.
Meeting new people.
Getting another perspective of Dallas. So far, my perspective has been around the house & shopping (too much shopping) in the suburbs. Need a good grasp on the City of Dallas, itself. And professionals.
Not wasting away the day in scrub pants or t-shirts. Wearing my pretty clothes again. So far, they have only come out at church or dinners out.
The job itself. I really approached this job-hunting-round prayerfully (a first, I admit). It wasn't my prayer that I find a job...but that I find the place where I can serve God the best. And I have a really good feeling about the people & the organization. They're big on community outreach, so I thought that was a great sign about their philosophy.
Did I mention a paycheck?
Oh, and having my own health care benefits that aren't on Mustang's plan. Getting good benefits almost rivals getting a paycheck again.

So I probably won't blog again until late next week, but stay tuned...I have entries planned about my favorite Dallas radio station, post pics of my wreck in May (no, I hadn't forgotten), feeling old at the movies, a mystery photo game to play with you, interesting alcohol laws in Dallas, and rejoining Weight Watchers yet again.

"I'm melting! I'm melting!"

2008-07-21T11:38:00.007-05:00

Perhaps the Wicked Witch of the West actually lived in Dallas.
Texas is considered part of the West, right?

Weather forecast this week:

Today: 102
Tomorrow: 103
Wednesday: 101
Thursday: 99
Friday: 99
Saturday: 101
Sunday: 101

Dishwasher Watch: Day 39

2008-07-17T11:23:00.003-05:00

So most everything in our move to Dallas has been very smooth - except one small detail. Our dishwasher doesn't work.

Well, it works - it just also forms a lake on our kitchen floor during its cycle.

When we first moved in, we were good little tenants and meticulously checked every detail of the house (former renters, remember that checklist where you indicate previous damage so you don't get charged for it later?). We ran the dishwasher. Thankfully, Mustang was smart enough to suggest letting it run a full cycle. We came back 15 minutes later to Lake Kitchen.

So...here's where it gets complicated. We're renting, right? Well, our landlord (the homeowner) actually uses a property management company. So we never deal directly with our landlord - just the property manager. Thankfully, the PM is REALLY nice, and we could tell he was very professional. So if something goes wrong, we call PM - he calls the landlord - and then the ball gets rolling.

But wait - there's more! Landlord also has a home warranty. This kind of works like health insurance for your home. So anytime there's a problem in the house (i.e. dishwasher), she pays a flat "copay" for the repairs - regardless of the repair cost. So that's one other step. After PM consults LL, then they consult the home warranty company. And then home warranty company contacts a repair dude.

So you can imagine this has been a long process. We got three visits from repairmen, trying something new each time. On the last visit, the repairman claimed "he had done all he can do" and called the dishwasher's time of death. Which yay, means we probably get a new dishwasher - but just have to keep waiting.

Finally, new dishwasher arrives this morning from Sears. But the Sears guys are puzzled by how the old dishwasher is connected - they say it's something they've never seen before. And they don't want to touch it. They recommend we get a plumber. So I've called the PM and this process continues...

Sorry, mother earth, we've been using a lot of disposable plates, cups & plasticware during this time. In a trade-off, I'm considering buying those permanent grocery sacks to reuse everytime I go to the grocery store.

Job hunting is not fun

2008-07-14T14:43:00.003-05:00

So, I've been job hunting a while now. I applied for my first job on May 30, so you do the math. I've applied in higher ed, of course (the field I've been in a while), school systems, even health care stuff and non-profit.

Out of 8 applications:
2 denials,
2 interviews,
and the rest are in a big black hole.

Why is job hunting so friggin' hard? Aside from shopping for a new swimsuit, nothing else makes you feel so crappy about yourself.

"What's wrong with me? Is it my cover letter? My resume? Do I come across too confident? Too weak?"

Sigh.

And the resume thing is always interesting....1 or 2 pages? Should I give past job descriptions, or give examples of projects at those jobs?

But I think the hardest part of job hunting is: waiting for a job you really want VS. the panic of being unemployed. Basically, not settling for a job just because the economy is crappy and you need money STAT.

The first example of this is applying to jobs that don't even say what the company/organization is....they just have some vague "top Dallas company seeks PR professional" listing on a website, and you're supposed to email your resume to some stranger at crazyman@crazy.org. I'll admit, I've applied to those in the past. This time around, not anymore. Because applying to those listings is how, as I've learned, one winds up in a "group interview" for a pyramid scheme to sell bottled water.

The other example of the job quandary is when you're actually blessed enough to get an interview...and while you're in the interview, hearing that little voice in your head that says "hmmm," proverbial red flags, etc, etc. This dilemma, I think, is even tougher, because you're so close to getting a paycheck, why back out? Uh, back out, sister, because you should trust that little voice.

The latter is something I recently experienced. I had a job interview a few weeks ago that just didn't settle right with me. I thought about it over the 4th of July, and prayed about it, and finally took the courage to email them and withdraw my name. It took guts. But I'm glad I did it. Thankfully, I have a spouse who can pay bills while I'm turning down jobs - and supported my decision.

Thankfully, I *think* I have a lead. On the same day as my odd interview, I also had a great one. I felt comfortable, laughed, met nice people, noticed my future office would have....A DOOR! (gasp!) They've already called my references and are now doing my background check. Anyway, they've called me a couple of times to tell me they're still doing the paperwork and to check that I "haven't been lured away by someone else." Yay.

So I'm pretty sure I'll get a job soon, but don't wanna count my chicks until they hatch. But please hatch soon, little chicks. Hatch soon.

One more thing

2008-07-10T09:33:00.004-05:00

I'm not always a fan of the Lolcats (I think it's the grammar Nazi in me disliking the intentional misspelling), but this one is too cute.

Maybe I'm also partial because I like Hot Pockets.

An out-of-state (not out-of-body) experience

2008-07-10T09:02:00.005-05:00

Have you ever slept at a hotel or a friend's house, and when you wake up in the morning, you've forgotten where you are?

I had a similar feeling yesterday. Except I had the feeling as I was leaving Walgreen's.

Mustang LOVES Walgreen's. I tell him we should get some stock in it. When we were first dating, I noticed everything in his house was from there - toilet paper, light bulbs, snacks, everything. And he's a big believer in generics, so everything was even the Walgreen's brand.

So we run out of Advil, and of course, he suggests I run up to Walgreen's. And while there, could I also pick up some contact solution, a birthday card, V8, some wasp spray, and an ankle brace?

This is part of the allure of Walgreen's: despite being relatively small, they carry an odd variety. Sometimes the variety is VERY odd, i.e. homemade pralines, singing alarm clocks, and light-up dice all at the check-out counter.

Anyway, the Walgreen's here is built identically to the one by our OKC house. Faces the same direction to the intersection, same age, the aisles are laid out the same, etc. I spent about 30 minutes in there and got acclimated.

The weird feeling was, walking out, I completely expected to see the intersection of 122nd and May - see the bank with the JumboTron sign, the Blockbuster, the ritzy shopping center with Jamba Juice and J.J. Kelly.

Instead, I faced the intersection of NW Highway and Jupiter - and I see a Burger King, a Lowe's, and a Popeye's chicken. And a whole bunch of people waiting at the bus stop.

It was like I forgot I was in Dallas while I was inside Walgreen's and then was suddenly transported back when I exited the doors. It was a very strange feeling. I realize I felt the same way leaving Target a few days ago.

Just an observation that I don't know my way around the city yet and I find comfort in the familiarity of Target and Walgreen's.

Gratitude for the simple things.

The PR nerd in me eats this stuff up...

2008-07-08T11:14:00.000-05:00

Wal-Mart changed its logo on July 1. Article on MSN. What does Wal-Mart's new logo mean?

Which brings me to a thought...if I ever go to grad school (sheah, right)...AND get a master's degree in PR...I would totally do a thesis on Target's evolution-of-cool. Remember 1980s Target? On the same level as Wal-Mart. Now they're worlds apart. So interesting to me.

Personally, I think a lot of Target's success was from adopting a mascot, Bullseye, the "Target DOOOOG!" as commercials would announce him at the end.

I mean, look, he's workin' the red carpet.

They've made him into a cute & cuddly toy.

Yep, Wal-Mart has no hope until a mascot is created. Hmm....What would that mascot look like?

There was a young lady with too many shoes...

2008-07-07T10:40:00.005-05:00

I've been meaning to post this for a while. A lot of blogging ideas are floating around in my head, but they've been postponed until much of the house was settled. Now it is. =)

Anyway, as we were unpacking at our new house in Dallas, for the first time, I had all of my shoes together. None in storage; none at my parent's house. The gang was finally all together. And as I put them into our master closet (which has wonderful little cubby holes for shoes), I realized that, when on display, there sure a lot of them. So I decided to count how many I own...

I own 51 pairs of shoes!

Okay, okay, let me post a disclaimer. This count includes:

cheap foam flip-flops,
tennis shoes,
boots (not cowboy, of course, but winter ones),
as well as standard shoes of the strappy, loafer, flat or pump variety.

So laughing hysterically, I told Mustang the shoe count.

Mustang did not find it so funny.

To soften the blow, I chose to divide & conquer. The shoes are now stored as follows:

Current season shoes (including cheap flip-flops) are in the master closet.
Special occasion shoes (ones with rhinestones, or ones that really hurt or have über-high heels but look so good) are under the bed.
Boots and out-of-season shoes are in the guest closet.

I also donated two pairs to Salvation Army. Of course, when we packed in OKC, I donated a few pairs there to Salvation Army. So, pre-packing, the shoe-count was actually higher.

I'd also like to say, although I have a lot of shoes, in my crazy rationale, it's not that bad because just a few are expensive. Most are from Target or DSW (a.k.a. the mothership).

Some are from Nine West. And Naturalizer. And Dillard's...But none are of the Carrie Bradshaw variety.

Finally, I vowed to Mustang not to buy another pair of shoes for six months.

Lizards!?!

2008-06-24T18:42:00.003-05:00

Months before moving to Texas, I found a great web forum for moving. It was tremendously helpful to read about Dallas geography and neighborhoods, especially to know which ones to avoid for safety. =) It got to be so helpful that by the time we started house-hunting, when Mustang & I drove to Dallas, I already had a grasp on the lay of the land. The GPS told us a street was behind us, and I argued it was in front of us. I was right! It was awesome. And, quite frankly, a bit freakish to Mustang, who has NO sense of direction.

Anyway, that web forum often discussed some quirks of Dallas. I'll give you some examples: 1) it's very common for houses to have foundation problems because of the recent drought. This is true. EVERY rent house we saw, including the one we now live in, have cracks in the walls and/or ceiling. 2) the bugs are very large in Texas. Also true. I saw a dragonfly last week that could've been from the Jurassic Era.

But nobody, no one told me that there are LIZARDS here! I like to garden and I am okay seeing the occasional snail or worm, but lizards? I've discovered I have quite an aversion to them.

Lizard #1 was spotted when we first moved in, near the garage. He was green, about four inches long, and ran UP the wall from the hedges (which we need to trim soon, and I am so afraid now of encountering green lizard family).

Lizard #2 appeared Thursday. I was on our back patio, and our landlord/home owner had left behind a cute terracotta outdoor clock/thermometer hanging on the wall. Yall know I'd dig the thermometer, right? ;-) Anyway, the clock's time was off, so I lifted the thing off the wall to see if I could change the battery.

See something gray moving.

It's about six inches long.

Toward my hand!

Instinctively (or, perhaps, more like a crazy woman), I THROW the clock about four feet from me to the ground. It never even crossed my mind that concrete was there, and I'd break the clock. All I knew was a lizard was about to crawl on my hand.

Mustang is also on the patio at this time, and looks at me, puzzled, when I do this.

Mustang: "You just broke her clock!"

Me: "Lizard!"

And the best part - upon landing, the lizard scampers into the garage. Where we do our laundry. We have not seen him since.

Well, that's a nice incentive to not let the laundry pile up on the washer.

Settin' up the Texas homestead

2008-06-23T19:06:00.006-05:00

Oh my gosh, I can't believe I haven't checked my blog for this long. Amy and C, I'm sorry I missed happy hour. Sheesh. And I could've used some tasty beverages & good conversations that week. Moving was stressful.

The good news is, we landed in Dallas on June 8. Much of my blog absence was due to an internet absence. This was thanks to a crazy, crazy man who tried to install our cable/internet/phone and screwed up so badly that his supervisor had to come over twice afterward to repair. Seriously. CRAZY man. The man told Mustang he's been declared insane - twice.

Which begs the following questions:
1) why tell a stranger that you've been declared crazy?
2) if this man was truly crazy, why is he working for the cable company?
3) do we tell the cable company that their employee is crazy? Mustang's reply: "Hell, no! Do you want to get stabbed?"

Thankfully, we did not get stabbed, and the crazy man did not fall through our ceiling, which was another great fear after he told us that "he's had a bad month - he's fallen through ceilings three times this month."

The second half of my blog absence was due to an upcoming visit from the in-laws. Yes, they were planning to visit us in Dallas. Within two weeks of us moving in. So I was in a mad rush to look like the gracious hostess/decent daughter-in-law. In truth, it was a good thing, because we all know that I have a tendency to procrastinate. Hey, I'm a journalist. I live on deadlines. That's my excuse.

So now much of the house is unpacked, but the in-laws wound up canceling their trip that very morning because 2 out of 5 came down with bronchitis. So the visit is rescheduled for July. I am pleased. Now we can host people at our house with curtains, not boxes, covering our windows.

Anyway, I now have my precious internet again (which I missed terribly during the tomato/salmonella outbreak - when did that happen, exactly, anyway?) And thank goodness Dayna texted me about Tim Russert, or else I don't know when I would've learned about that.

I have many things "Texas" to post about. Will be back soon.

SOLD!

2008-06-02T10:05:00.004-05:00

WE SOLD OUR HOUSE FRIDAY!!!

On Thursday, we got an offer that was really, really low. Mustang & I weren't too optimistic about it because it was SO low. As you know, in early May we had negotiated on an offer that started low, and the contract fell out. So, once bitten.....

We decide to try to counteroffer anyway and submitted a number we thought was probably too high for the buyers, but would give us "wiggle room" to negotiate one more time and bring it down to the final price we'd live with.

BUT, the buyers took our first counteroffer!!! We couldn't believe it - and I think our realtor was surprised, too.

So, we close on our house July 1. The only catch is the contract is pending on THEIR house closing, but they've already sold, passed inspection & got it appraised, so our realtor thinks that's no big deal. Please pray it all works out!!

We are so thrilled that we don't have to live in Dallas while our OKC house is still on the market. And we can pack like normal people, with boxes in our house and pack up anything we want! This is SO much better than than last week, when I was trying to pack things that were only in cabinets, but still keep the house clean & "staged" in case we had a house showing that day (which was typical).

Overall, I think we've had 20 showings, and about 5 people saw our house more than once. One girl came three times and her last showing took two hours! Seriously, WHAT was she looking at??? I don't know....but I can promise we have valuables locked, so that made me feel better. The irony is, she isn't the person who bought the house!

Anyway, thanks to everyone for your prayers & encouragement during all this! Total time on the market: about 35 days! Not bad at all!!!

It's officially summer

2008-05-28T08:54:00.005-05:00

My nephew Justus would like to announce that summer has begun. These are his 6-month pics.

I'm not sure what's cuter here:
his little muscle shirt & jams,
or that you can see Mom & Dad's hands helping him stand.

The new abode

2008-05-26T10:39:00.005-05:00

Time to share pics of our new house in Dallas. It will be our new home on June 8.

Yesterday, as Mustang & I were landing at the OKC airport, the flight attendant announced:"If OKC is your final destination, welcome home."

Mustang looks at me and says, "Home for only 2 more weeks!"

Whoa. Pang of sadness. I can't believe we're finally moving - it's a deadline that has loomed for soooo long, and now that it's here, it's just surreal. I seriously think I'm in denial. Maybe it's because we're already planning to come back to OKC on June 14, so I don't think I've mentally cut the ties.

If I really acknowledge my feelings, it's bittersweet. Poor Mustang is so sensitive that if I mention that I'm sad to leave, he takes it to mean I don't want to leave. Not so. I'm excited for us. I believe Dallas will be a new chapter in our lives, and it holds new adventures & possibilities ahead. But, I think, it's also normal to feel two emotions about it - excited for the future, but it hurts to let go.

Mentally, I need to focus on the adventures awaiting us. God has already brought me a lot of extraordinary surprises in my life, and they've been better than anything I could plan. So I know he'll continue to do so, and need to pray for patience while they unfold.

Anyway, here are a few pics of our new house. There were better ones posted online of the living room & backyard, but they're already taken down. Dang. So these are the ones I took to remember details of the house. Not too sexy, but you'll get the gist.

The outside

The kitchen - sorry for the closeup; I wanted to remember the countertop.

The guest room

This will be our office.

The master bedroom

The master closet. Look at the lovely home for shoes.

It also has a great backyard with lots of roses, a covered patio, and a greenhouse! And it has two living areas, so we'll use one for the TV & one as a library/sitting area because it has built-in bookshelves.

Oh, and it has a wine cooler (the owner works for a wine distributer). Mustang & I aren't that into wine (only the sweet dessert stuff), so I guess we'll keep bottled water & cokes in there.

Headin' to Houston, house news, AI observation

2008-05-23T14:48:00.011-05:00

This will be a pretty long post, cause I'll be out of town this weekend. Mustang & I are flying to Houston tonight because it's his dad's 70th birthday. We're throwing him a surprise party tomorrow, and I admit I've been a little worried if surprise party + 70-year-old don't mix, i.e. cause too much surprise and induce a heart attack. Thankfully, he has no heart conditions so I think it will be okay, but if you're the praying type, pray for a good surprise, in every sense of the word "good."

Looking forward to seeing nephews. Oldest nephew's voice is changing right now. I tell Mustang that we should savor every visit with him, because right now he thinks we're cool, but any day now he could become a teenager who thinks we're so not cool and doesn't want anything to do with us. Hopefully that day will never come, but just in case, I always make an effort to be extra good to him because time is precious.

Also - great news: we FINALLY signed a lease for our rent house in Dallas! Long story short, it was the first house we saw. I have a problem that when shopping, a find something perfectly acceptable but I am convinced I still need "to shop around," then usually return to original find. Alas, the house was this way, too. Anyway, pics coming.

Finally, I have been dying to blog about the following comparison since the American Idol finale earlier this week. First though, HOORAY that David Cook won. Although I was a big fan, I was convinced David A. would win because of the judges' comments (which I agreed with - Cook was off that night). Thankfully his dreamy eyes and previous performances helped build him a devoted fan base.

Anyway, my observation is this: Carrie Underwood performed, which yay for our fellow Oklahoman, but I noticed her outfit resembled an outfit worn earlier in the season by another guest performer:

Not sure if this was Carrie's intention or not. Hmmm.

Thank God for friends

2008-05-22T10:54:00.005-05:00

Last weekend, after I picked up my car from Dallas, I continued my travels north to God's country - Stillwater.

I had a weekend scheduled with two of my best friends from college, and even though I was tired from the hassles of Dallas, I knew I would be glad I made the trip.

These days, visits with the girlfriends (the "Ya-Yas," as we affectionately call ourselves) are fewer and far between. We live in five different states and two countries. Four of us have master's degrees; all of us work either full or part time. All are married (me being the last). We have five children among us and one on the way.

It's amazing to think back to a time where we shared rooms, shared trips to the grocery store, spent nearly every waking moment with one another. We brushed our teeth together, took one another to the hospital, pulled all-nighters, cried together. And of course, did countless goofy things together, like wrap another's car with saran wrap or drive by boy's houses just to see if their car would be outside (which helps explain why we didn't date a lot).

And now to think we go months without seeing eachother. Sometimes, months without talking, too.

I wish the future me could visit the college me. I'd tell her to stop studying so much. Definitely stop stressing so much. And to relish in all those moments with the girls that seemed so small, but now the mere thought of them bring tears to my eyes.

Eight years later, here we are, all grown up. I'm immensely proud of my friends. They have chosen wonderful men as their life partners and fathers for their children. They have exciting and successful careers. They travel, they volunteer, they take classes for fun. They are always on a quest to improve themselves. The only downside to all of these journeys is that they make it more difficult to keep in touch, but at least the reason it's hard to stay in touch is because all of our lives are so fulfilled.

So, back to Stillwater, where I spent time with J and her precious princess of a daughter, who is 19 months and loves to wear high heels and can identify and say the sounds of farm animals. She is her mother's daughter. I don't know if I found more joy in watching her child, or in watching my old friend who's become as a fantastic mother.

I spent time with my sorority Big Sister, who has gone through tremendous health challenges in the past three years, but still teaches business to high school students through Junior Achievement. She is the very definition of grace - grace through pressure, grace with mean people, grace despite getting dealt a bad hand that she didn't deserve, and never letting it get her down.

And even though we don't see one another much, that's okay, and here's why: one weekend with my friends fills my heart and revitalizes me enough to last weeks. I spend time with them and the world makes sense again. My priorities get back in order. Most of all, I'm filled with such gratitude for them and for the God that gave them to me.

There are too few times in life we're brave enough or jolted by our emotions (i.e. knowing a death is coming) to let down our guard, be completely transparent and tell our truest, deepest feelings to people. That's too bad. Because when we do that, it's incredibly freeing and beautiful. Several years ago, when I lived in DC, I was part of a group therapy session that lasted nine months. At our last session, we were asked to look at each person and tell them what we learned from them and what we admired in them. It was an incredibly powerful experience because, 1) it felt very unusual because we, as people, never do this, and 2) we could honestly confess our gratitude and not feel cheesy, worried about rejection, or whatever. It was AMAZING. What if we, as society, did that more often? How would we feel? How would others feel? Would it change the world?

Anyway, this is a very long post to say that I am deeply, deeply thankful for my friends. They challenge me. They make me want to be a better person. They open my eyes to the goodness in this world. They give me love, friendship and support that I never knew existed before college - and now that I've been in the "real world" for eight years - know you can't find that often.

How do you say thank you in a way that's appropriate for these feelings? How can you emphasize thank you enough? A blog is probably one of the most ineffective ways. So I will work earnestly and pray hard that I talk to them more often. Because I admit, I'm one of those people who doesn't keep in touch like I should. And that's too bad, because I have so much I want to tell them.

Crazy times

2008-05-16T12:41:00.004-05:00

Sorry I've fallen off the planet for a while. As many who know me would agree, when I get stressed, I tend to get withdrawn/seek solitude, and indeed I've done that.

And in times of stress, I get forgetful. Done that, too. On Tuesday, I drove all the way out to Piedmont for Bunko, and when I got to the house I was confused since no one was there. Proceeded to call fellow Bunko member and friend Dayna, who gently chuckled and said, "Bunko's next week."Then went to Walgreens with a prescription bottle on Wednesday - and the pharmacist says, "Uh, this isn't us" - the prescription was instead from Albertsons.

Why the stress? Well, in my last post, we had a contract going to sell our house and I was heading to Dallas to find a rental house. Since then, well, let's take it a day at a time:

Monday: last post, drive to Dallas that night
Tuesday: house contract fell through, had wreck in Dallas*, got rental car, found a cute rent house
Wednesday: took Mom in for outpatient procedure, hid from tornado
Thursday: took Dad in for outpatient procedure, scared after having nightmare he died during the surgery (of course he didn't)
Friday: I think I napped a lot, and been napping a lot since then

But on the positive side, this Monday, we found out we got approved for our rent house in Dallas. So yay! And photos are coming so you can see what it looks like. Turns out it's not one of the earlier houses I blogged about.

And we've had four house showings this week, and one is coming back tonight for a second showing (a good sign).

*Tonight, I think we're driving back to Dallas to stay the night & pick up my car from the body shop in the morning. Obviously, there's more to the story here - having a wreck that required my car to stay in the body shop for a week & a half, and I am now driving a rental Ford Focus. Don't worry, the story is coming. Photos too. Involving a semi.

Wish me better luck in Dallas this time.

Quick house update

2008-05-05T12:16:00.002-05:00

I'll try to put this weekend in a nutshell.

The offer Friday on our house was lower than we wanted - by about six thousand dollars. So we counter offered Friday afternoon. I just got a call that the buyer then counter offered this morning, and we've just now counter-counter-counter offered. Our realtor says the buyers should take it because it's so close, so maybe in the next few hours we'll have sold our house.

In Dallas, we wound up seeing eight properties and driving by five. Why? Because after our original five we saw in the morning, we were so disappointed, we got online found a few more and kept looking. So we saw our 1st house at 10 a.m. and the last house at 9 p.m. We got back into OKC at 2:30 a.m. Of course, I was so tense from the day, that I didn't fall asleep until 4 a.m.

We have two top choices in Dallas, but are very tempted on one of the "drive-bys", so.....I think I'm going back to Dallas tomorrow to look at our top choices again (which happen to be the first and last house) and the drive-by. I'm bringing a camera, our completed applications, and prepared to get a money order while I'm in town so we can apply for whichever we choose.

Whatever we decide in Dallas, I can report our new zip code will either be 75214 or 75218.

I'll keep you posted!

Oh. My. Gosh.

2008-05-01T14:27:00.004-05:00

I can't believe this as I'm typing...but this could be one HECK of a weekend.

Our realtor said we'll get an OFFER on our house tomorrow!

and

We're going to Dallas Friday/Saturday to look at two rent houses!

Trying to not get too excited. "An offer" doesn't mean it will be an offer that we want, and the Dallas houses may not work, but I just have to give a moment of praise for what will be a very EXCITING weekend, in the least.

I'm sure you're thinking, "What?? That was fast!" So lemme back up a bit:

Friday: house goes on market
Sunday: first showing
Monday: hear from realtor that lady from first showing was single and worried about the safety of apartments near our house. Well, if two streets away counts as "near," whatever. On a good note, she said she looked at several houses in the neighborhood and ours was the cutest of them.
Tuesday: while we were at the Kanye West concert (which was a 6.5 of 10 - another post), we had a showing.
Wednesday: In the morning, I find two Dallas houses online that meet our criteria and set up appointments to see them Saturday. In the evening, Tuesday's people come back for a second showing.
Today: At approximately 2:15 p.m., I couldn't wait any longer and called our realtor. He said the people are working up an offer and we'll see it tomorrow!!!

So, our plans this weekend were for me to pick up Mustang from work tomorrow and drive to Dallas, where we're staying at the Westin (thanks, Priceline). But now we may need to come home before leaving town TO POSSIBLY SIGN PAPERS!! Ahhhhh!

I'll keep you posted!!! In the meantime, telling myself, "Be cool. Be cool."

Watco II: The Before & After

2008-04-30T10:38:00.002-05:00

Here's my attempt at showcasing the miracle product I shared earlier. Photos don't do it justice. My digital camera isn't too good.

Anyway, all of these are in our master bathroom.

First showing today!

2008-04-27T21:18:00.005-05:00

We had our first house showing this afternoon. Mustang was on call, my mom was over helping me do a few last projects in the house, and we got a call at 2 p.m. that a person wanted to see the house at 3:30.

Quickly, mom & I scurried like little mice, since we were mid-project, and I was too frantic to think straight. Our wonderful realtor gave me some great advice to make a "showing" checklist, because when I get a call, I'll be so excited & panic, and it will be hard to remember everything. That was SUCH great advice, because indeed, I was like a chicken with its head cut off. Thankfully the handy checklist helped. A few of the obvious items:

Make bed
Wipe down bathroom vanities & toilets
Wipe down kitchen sink
Open blinds to let light in
Turn on lamps
Turn on soft music

The list also includes getting out items that come out only for showings:

New, fluffy towels in both bathrooms
Light candles (all are Yankee Candle Clean Cotton scent)
New soap dispensers in bathrooms
Chocolate in candy dish at entryway (with red wrappers to match the decor - and as I type this, I realize I've officially gone Lt. Intenso* if I've shopped for red-wrapped chocolate)

Our realtor also suggested to store/secure all valuables, bills and prescriptions. Interesting.

And, I store away Mustang's CPAP, which he wears as a mask every night to prevent snoring/sleep apnea. I'm sure people would wonder what the heck this weird mask machine is on our nightstand.

We leave at 3:15 and I return at 4. Mustang got there a few minutes before me and said the people were still at the house, so he had to circle the neighborhood for a while. So I'd like to think them taking 30 minutes is a good sign.

I planned with my realtor that I'd call him every Tuesday to get feedback from the showings. I can't wait.

*"Lt. Intenso" was my nickname in college for when I got really stressed out. I was lieutenant and my sorority big sister was sergeant, which now I realize is backward...

Before & after

2008-04-26T01:01:00.005-05:00

Well, these are the best before & after shots I have.

The outside...
(granted, photo 1 was in winter, photo 2 in spring. )
The kitchen...
(Please ignore us dressed in costume for a murder-mystery party).
But notice the bad navy floral wallpaper is gone!...

We're on the Market!

2008-04-25T22:50:00.003-05:00

As they say on Designed to Sell on HGTV...

"Let's sell this place!"

THANK GOD this day has finally arrived!!!

Pray for lots of interest! I'll post before/after pics soon!!!

So many movies...so little time

2008-04-23T10:43:00.005-05:00

Believe it or not, one of my first clues that Mustang & I were destined for eachother was that he subscribes to Entertainment Weekly. Seriously. My maid of honor even referred to this in her wedding toast. I guess when I called her to gush about our first date, I must have mentioned it.

(Aside from Entertainment Weekly, which I learned about during my first phone call with Mustang, another clue of destiny was that he had a large collection of Calvin & Hobbes books, which I noticed the first time I saw his house.) A doctor who enjoys Calvin & Hobbes? I mean, really, does it get any better?

Anyway, I digress...the point of this post is how excited I am for summer movies. A couple of years ago, I finally figured out that:

Winter movies = Oscar attempts
Summer movies = Fun

So, this week's Entertainment Weekly previewed the whole summer (and featured a cover with Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones - sigh). I will quickly summarize my faves & their opening dates:

Chronicles of Narnia - May 18
Indiana Jones - May 22
Sex and the City - May 30
Get Smart - June 20
The Love Guru - June 20
Wall-E - June 27
Hancock - July 2
The Dark Knight - July 18
Step Brothers - July 25
The Mummy - Aug. 1

I also want to see Forgetting Sarah Marshall, which is already out.

Finally, I predict I also will see the following movies this summer, unless Mustang has some boys' nights:

Iron Man - May 2
Speed Racer - May 9 (please, someone take him to this)
Incredible Hulk - June 13
Tropic Thunder - Aug. 13

Oscars? Bah! Bring on the CGI! Bring on the risqué comedy! Bring on the fun!

Happy Earth Day!

2008-04-22T13:16:00.004-05:00

Save the planet for this cute kiddo and all the others...

Go to HGTV.com for easy ideas you can do at home...change your lightbulbs, recycle, etc.

Miracle product

2008-04-21T11:30:00.003-05:00

We had major drama at our house yesterday with our tile contractor...I'll share it with you soon, but I just don't have the energy today. As a teaser, I'll just say that there are now a few blood drops on our carpet by the tile.

So...instead, I'll post a positive note. I HAVE to share with you the BEST thing I've enjoyed while prepping this house to sell (well, aside from creating a house that causes pride, not embarrassment, if someone wants to come over).

Our real estate agent recommended this great product called Watco to cover the scratches on our cabinets, baseboards, etc. IT IS FABULOUS. Seriously, it looks like we have new cabinets in our kitchen.

It costs about $8 for a can, but it's lasted the whole house + extra for later. You can buy it at home repair places in the wood stain aisle. It comes in three shades. We use the darkest.

Tip: be sure to wear gloves when using it, and open up some windows. The fumes aren't great - but the results make up for it!

Off now to Watco the master bath...I think some before & after photos may be in order...

Accord drama continues

2008-04-18T11:01:00.006-05:00

Damn it.

Honda recalls 353K Accord sedans over windshield wiper motor

Guess I'll call Honda this week. Really, I've already had enough from my transmission failure in February. And, I had my wipers repaired about 9 months ago because they were wayyy too forceful. They were crazy loud when they'd hit the windshield side. Cost about $100 bucks. Wiper problems...coincidence? I think not.

I think I may become a Toyota girl after this.

Home improvement is like china

2008-04-15T00:06:00.010-05:00

I'm glad I went to Chicago. I needed a break & QT with Mustang. But like always, when you return to work after vacation, the lovely restfulness you acquired is completely depleted by 3 p.m. the first day back.

As you can see I'm posting late tonight. In times of stress my insomnia returns, like a bully who kicks me when I'm already down. Especially not good considering I have a dentist appointment at 7 a.m. tomorrow in Midwest City. WHY an unemployed person would schedule a dentist appointment at 7 a.m., I don't know. Clearly, the paint fumes have gone to my head.

I'm awake with millions of to-do lists running in my mind. I can't believe it's April 15 and we are STILL not on the market. Delaying this, in turn, delays all other plans: finding a place to live in Dallas, where we're needed by July 2. Finding a job so I can feel better about the money we're spending on "upgrades" to this house. And, of course, selling the house. I have GOT to bust my butt this week and get our house on the market next week. Granted, not all delays are my own. Here's a quick update of house happenings:

Started painting with my parents. Learned that house projects with: (parents+new husband) x 7 days in a row does not = good times. Seriously, people, don't try this. We quit after priming and painting 2 baths, kitchen & dining. Hired professionals for the remaining paint. To quote Mustang, "It was the best $300 ever spent."

The professionals did not come in, though, before the refrigerator was broken, the kitchen light was broken, and the newly-patched kitchen doorknob wall hole got dented in again. All of these by my father, who bless his soul, has good intentions but is like a bull in a china shop.

Painted guest bathroom twice. First color clashed with the tile. Second color, named "Suede," now matches tile but possibly has a slight pink tinge to it. I will pretend this is not so. Refuse to paint it again.

Painter's blue tape pulled off varnish of woodwork. Hence, I am now polishing the whole house's woodwork (i.e. baseboards) with lemon oil. If this doesn't work, will have to re-varnish, which I sooo don't want to do. Help me, lemon oil, you are my only hope.

In an attempt to improve a shoddy patch job in the living room, where former house owner cut into sheetrock to repair plumbing, we open the patch to discover...plumbing problems had returned.

Losing faith in construction industry. A tile guy stood us up yesterday, the handyman to repair the living room patch (post-plumber) stood us up today. Another tile guy won't return our calls.

And finally, this weekend, house #7 has gone up for sale in our neighborhood. Within a month, five have appeared. And I hear another will be on sale next week - not ours - so of course, I hope ours does, too.

Sharing all of this in part just to vent. But also to share this important message with you, dear readers, in hope that our suffering is not in vain: if you think you'll move in the next couple of years, do some home projects NOW! Don't put off "ideas" you casually mull in your mind, because by the time you're ready to sell your house, you'll realize many of those ideas are actually necessary and you'll wind up doing them anyway - only in a much more stressed pace. And, squeezing it all in within a budget instead of spreading costs out over time.

If there's a room you're always envisioning in a new color, go for it. Never fond of that wallpaper? Pull it off. Something broken that you're always intending to fix one day? Do it. Pick one project, one weekend, and feel good about it.

And most of all: you can enjoy the fruits of your labor while you live in your house, as opposed to doing all the work for somebody else to enjoy. I have a new theory that home improvement is like china: don't save it for other people to enjoy. YOU deserve to eat on your own china, and YOU deserve to live your house at its best.

I'm on the Magnificent Mile

2008-04-08T15:03:00.004-05:00

Won't be blogging for a few days. Mustang & I are going to Chicago & will stay on the Magnificent Mile! (Doesn't hearing that just make you think of Oprah?) Home of 4 of the world's tallest buildings, including the Hancock Tower (right). Also home of the flagship stores for Pottery Barn & Banana. Must. Stay. Away. I will allow myself to go into Crate & Barrel because we don't have any in Oklahoma. Oh, how I miss it.

Also cool is that the Magnificent Mile's official tulip festival starts next week, so I'm hoping some tulips will be open early. Love tulips.

And the best part...we're staying here. SWEET. Probably the only time ever I'll stay there, thanks to Mustang's travel reimbursement.

Need to decide some things to do - this will be my second trip to Chi town, and Mustang will be in work meetings until 5, so that will limit us. I do know we'll be eating some deep-dish pizza, and will check if Sears or Hancock tower tours are open that late.

I'm really hoping to get Oprah tickets...they have a "late reservation" site online, and I'm checking it. Actually, tickets are open for Wednesday morning's taping at 7 a.m.!!! But we'll be in the OKC airport then. =( Maybe there will be more open later in the week. Keep your fingers crossed!!!

(April) Fools in Love

2008-04-02T12:11:00.010-05:00

Yesterday marked 2 years since I met Mustang. With all the activity in our lives right now, we didn't celebrate much - just cards & he got me flowers. I cooked us a very sexy, romantic dinner. Manwich.

But seriously, it is amazing to think how my life has changed in two years. I'm married, I'm not working, I'm about to move out of state. Wow.

If I could travel in time to visit "past me," I would tell myself that the occasional loneliness was all worth it. And I guess that's a message I wish I could relay to all single women:

don't settle,
don't lose faith,
but also don't put your life on hold until he arrives.

Those who know me would agree that I don't like to brag, but I do have to say, I'm SO proud of my life before Mustang. That I took chances personally, that I didn't date just because I was lonely, that I learned my life ISN'T incomplete without a guy in the picture (a problem I had in high school).

I recall a discussion once with fellow single, female coworkers in DC. None of us were dating at the time. One was rather cynical and decided that "fireworks" is not reality. That all romantic comedies are just fiction, and quite frankly, that they are a social myth that women buy into. Sadly, the conversation shook my faith in love. I wondered, is a marriage only about compatabilty? A friend you can live with, who just happens to be the opposite gender? Have I bought into the world's greatest fallacy?

But also around that time, many of my girlfriends met their (future) husbands and were engaged. And in each instance, when you met the guy, he was the perfect complement to each girl. And every one of them was foolishly giddy and crazy in love. I have to admit, while I felt some selfish jealousy at the time that they found love but I hadn't, I also have to say how much I appreciated them. Their happiness gave me hope when I needed it.

And now that I think of it, many of my girlfriends were like me - didn't date too much before marriage, just didn't want to waste our time (or the guy's time) in relationships that weren't right. Sometimes we joke that we lived in our own "bubble," and were truly unique - or odd - girls, but now I see that God was just preparing each of us in our own ways.

Once in college, my friend Woot & I were studying late one night in the "old dining room" of the sorority house, and got to talking about how much we wished we had dates. She gave me fantastic advice: "I realized one day that God wants me to think about what kind of wife I should be, instead of focusing so much on what kind of husband I want." And that stuck with me for years.

So here I am this April, becoming that wife that God wants me to be. I just want to say how truly thankful I am that God has brought me here at this moment - and brought me Mustang.

I'll end with a Bible verse that I repeatedly wrote & prayed about MANY times before Mustang, in times of loneliness. One time at singles' Sunday School at our church (and Mustang was there, just an hour earlier), it was the focus of our lesson. When I got home, I wrote it down one last time & hung it on my fridge. It gave me faith when I had fear I would never find a husband. Just a few months later, I met Mustang. And for those reasons, it was read at our wedding.

And as a perfect finish, when moving into Mustang's house a few months ago, I found this same scripture framed, stored in his garage, where he'd received it as a gift years ago but hadn't hung it up yet. It's now in our bedroom.

Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see. ~Hebrews 11:1

Easter cuteness

2008-03-27T10:03:00.004-05:00

We now break from home repair updates to show you the CUTEST baby ever.

Yes, my nephew Justus had his Easter pics made, and isn't he so precious? He's four months old now. I think he's a perfect hybrid of my bro & SIL. He has his cleft chin and her eyes. Okay, here's just a couple more.

Twenty-two feet

2008-03-25T10:12:00.006-05:00

So the drywall guy has finished blowing the 80s "blobs" onto the walls once covered with wallpaper. I'm not crazy about the 80s blob texture, but our realtor suggested we have the same wall texture throughout the house, so we continued the stuff already established.

Now on to paint. I originally selected a lovely color at Lowe's called "Cincinnatian Hotel Hannaford," which is basically a light khaki. Until I went back to Lowe's to price it and discovered 5 gallons cost $110. After that, I priced paint all over town. So if you're thinking about painting a room in your house, get out a pen and paper because I'm about to share my notes:

Lowe's is the most expensive around. That color I liked was their best quality paint, but even going "cheap" there still cost $94 for 5 gallons.
Next up was Home Depot. Their cheapest paint was $75 for 5 gallons.
I also checked Sears but was scared off, not only that they had no 5-gallon buckets, but also that nobody, I mean nobody, was around. I don't think they've used that paint-mixer machine in like, 15 years, judging by its looks.
And finally, a winner: Wal-Mart. A 5-gallon bucket was $55 dollars, my friends. Sure, it's their lowest-quality paint, but we're moving, right?

So I chose a new color at Wal-Mart called Cottonwood. Again, just a light khaki.

Next up, how much paint to buy? Here's a handy calculator to use. This is much easier than my math, which got me the crazy number of 94 gallons. Uh, no. More like 9 gallons and 2 quarts. Thank God for the Internet.

To estimate the amount of paint to buy, I had to measure the walls throughout my house. In the process, I finally learned the height of our vaulted ceiling in our living room.

There are vaulted ceilings, and then there are vaulted ceilings on drugs. And the latter is ours.

It has major heating/cooling struggles. It has cobwebs in its corners that I can't clean, even with a handy expandable stick from Home Depot. Mustang never used the overhead light in fear that it'd burn out without a solution to change it, until I found the handy stick.

So, officially: It's 22 feet tall, kids. Average ceiling height is 8 feet. So yes, it's almost 3 stories tall. We're still wondering how to paint up that high. Existing ladder VS. renting scaffolding VS. hiring labor just for that room.

Anyway, I better go prime. My goal is to finish priming the bathrooms today, and paint the light fixture areas so we can install our new lights and have real light in there again, instead of using lamps. Lamps in bathrooms=not good.

Found a realtor - wait, a Realtor®

2008-03-20T10:11:00.005-05:00

Sweet! Meeting with realtor #2 last night surpassed all expectations.

First, though, I have to go on a tangent...how in the world did realtors get that word to be officially capitalized & trademarked? Seriously, spell check wants me to capitalize it. Upon consulting Merriam-Webster, it is indeed capitalized and trademarked, as in a brand name. A Realtor® is a real estate agent who belongs to the National Association of Realtors, like Band-Aid is a adhesive bandage manufactured by Johnson & Johnson. I wish I could consult my AP style book to see what it says about realtor, but it's packed. Dang.

That is just so weird to me. How did the realtors go about this? Is there some application or petition process? Who thought of trademarking your profession? What if a bunch of teachers decided to be called Teachers®?

My friend C used to joke about how entries in the AP style book were decided. She wondered if there was some committee or just this crusty old man who decided that Web site is spelled that way instead of website, and once "they" decided, we just all take it at face value.

Anyway, back to the real reason for the post - we LOVED realtor #2. He was detailed, friendly, and has a much more aggressive advertising plan than realtor #1's "we print out fliers" plan. He's even doing targeted marketing: for empty nesters, listings in three real estate booklets at the grocery store, and for first-time buyers, listings on seven Web sites. So of course, as a PR person, I was in love. And, best of all, he estimated our house will sell $4,000 above market value. That's more like it.

BUT, I need some advice, readers: Tomorrow we have a previously-scheduled appointment with realtor #3. Should we keep it, just to see what she says? Or should we cancel, since I can't imagine liking her more?

My temp job: operation sell

2008-03-19T14:23:00.005-05:00

Today marks a new trend: posts not created during work break. That's right, kids, I'm at home now. I resigned from my job last Friday.

Monday, as I was loading laundry, a little voice in my head said, "I'm a housewife." NO!! NO! It's not true! I must view this new phase of my life as a temporary job. My job is to sell this house. Remodel, clean, pack and stage. We must sell it by June 1. Time is ticking.

I must tell myself the above mantra everyday or I will wind up sleeping until 9 and spending the day watching Rachel Ray, Golden Girls, Food Network, etc.

I will allow myself to watch some pre-approved HGTV - "Designed to Sell" and "Get it Sold" because it's homework/research. I will also watch an episode of The Electric Company a day because we've had it from Netflix forever and Mustang's bugging me to return it.

But seriously, I have already been productive. The drywall man came yesterday to start fixing the walls formerly covered with navy, mauve and salmon wallpaper. I should have photographed the former wallpaper as a documentary.

Tonight, realtor #2 is coming over. Realtor #1 was vetoed because, although nice, they seemed out of our league, as in they were slumming with us 2-bedroom-homeowners. I don't know real estate and I've heard the market is bad, but they estimated our house will sell for about $5,000 below its market value. Ouch. After they left, I looked at their website. "Specializing in North OKC and Nichols Hills." All houses listed on their site were above $200,000. Alrighty then. Perhaps we were out of their comfort zone. Let's hope that's why they gave us such a low quote.

Anyway, my goal is to blog more often the adventures of selling, and to take more photos. I wonder if any of that dead wallpaper is still around...

Lighter (and wackier) news story

2008-03-11T13:55:00.004-05:00

I'll miss many things about Oklahoma, but the Crosstown is not one of them.

Stretch of I-40 Crosstown Closed

Westbound Interstate 40 in downtown Oklahoma City is narrowed this afternoon while state Transportation Department crews make repairs to the highway.

Only the north lane of I-40 is open between I-235 and Classen Boulevard. The left lane of southbound Classen under I-40 has also been closed.

A hole measuring 4 feet wide by 18 inches deep is in the center lane of the overpass near Classen, said Brenda Perry, Transportation Department spokeswoman.

Repairs could last through today's rush-hour drive, Perry said.

Sad news story

2008-03-11T13:06:00.003-05:00

This really breaks my heart.

1 in 4 teen girls has sexually transmitted disease

How is this happening? Girls think birth control is all they need? Blurred boundaries - a la Monica Lewinsky?

Ugh, times like these make me think how freakin' hard it would be if I were a mom.

Cue the theme to Dallas

2008-03-05T08:55:00.002-06:00

Because we're moving there.

Big news, kids, we're moving to Texas. Mustang got a fellowship position at Baylor Medical Center in Dallas. Yes, this is confusing because Baylor University is in Waco. Even more confusing is that Baylor Medical School is in Houston. Whatever.

Anyway, Baylor Med Center is often named one the nation's best hospitals in U.S. News & World Report. And Mustang competed against lots of other doctors to get the one fellowship position. So I am very proud of him, but not at all surprised. =)

What will Mustang be studying? Boobs. Yes, he's going to study Breast Imaging....not only diagnosing mammograms, but also doing biopsies. Apparently this is a field within radiology that's in high demand and not enough doctors do it. After Mustangs' own mama having breast cancer last year (which she's all good now), he noticed this void and decided to help.

With the aging Baby Boomer population, plus women being more proactive with breast cancer than ever, I think Mustang has made a good career choice. And he'll never have to work on weekends again. Yay!

One note of clarification: I've had several women (squished & scorned by the mammography, I assume) ask if Mustang will be the one who'd actually do the mammography - as in, do the squishing. No. So don't hate on him, ladies. The squishers are techs. Doctors determine the results from the squish.

Anyway....I'm just realizing this post has taken a strange turn from "big news: we're moving" to squishing. I better end this thing.

Oklahoma Opera (no, not Oklahoma Opry)

2008-03-03T12:36:00.010-06:00

Who knew? There is opera in Oklahoma. Well, it's in Tulsa. Go figure. Sometimes I think Tulsans who brag their city is better than OKC may really be onto something...

Anyway, Mustang & I attended our first opera yesterday. It was mere coincidence - I happened to be reading the Tulsa World for work on President's Day and noticed this lovely full-page, full-color ad on a section back. It had the image of an Indian woman's hand, decorated with mehndi and wearing lots of bangles while she's holding a flower. Hmm. Interesting.

The star role is played by Oklahoma native Sarah Coburn in her home-state professional premiere. And yes, that Coburn, as in daughter of Senator Dr. Tom Coburn. Huh, Tom Coburn, the self-proclaimed "pork buster" and seemingly no-nonsense kind of guy, has a 30-year-old daughter who's an opera singer. Very interesting.

The opera was Lakmé, a French opera set in British Colonial India (confusing, isn't that?). Lakmé is the daughter of a Hindu priest and falls in love with a British soldier. The opera was written in 1883 and first performed in the U.S. in 1886. And then first performed in Oklahoma 201 years later. =)

The cool thing about the opera itself, aside from it being set in India, was that it featured a very famous piece of music, "The Flower Duet," known in today's pop culture as "the British Airways theme song." So it was very fun to recognize a song.

Other interesting observations:

We sang the national anthem before the opera started (yeah, the whole crowd standing & singing, just like before a football game).
There were two intermissions, not just one.
They served a full bar (which seemed odd to me at a Sunday 2:30 p.m. matinée). But it was indeed popular.
Much to Mustang's delight, they also served M&Ms at another stand.
There are no microphones. So it's pretty darn amazing to realize the strength of the singers' voices are entirely on their own.
Considering the opera was set in India, the roles were cast with no regard to race, and no performers wore makeup to look otherwise. So people of all colors (including Caucasians & African-Americans) were playing Indians. In addition to the couple of native Indian performers.
There were more young people attending than I expected. In fact, a nice couple about our age sat next to us, and they were season ticket holders.
Still, the audience was largely silver-haired and VERY heavily perfumed. No wonder the Tulsa Opera's website recommends to "use perfume with moderation."
At the end of the performance, they announced Senator Coburn was indeed there with the family, watching Sarah (who was very good, BTW). The bummer was, in addition to this being Sarah's debut performance in Oklahoma, I guess it was also the final performance for the conductor. So a lot of hoopla was geared to the conductor's farewell. Which, in my mind, I felt like poor Sarah got her spotlight stolen while Mom & Dad were there (no pun intended).

Overall, it was OK. I wouldn't say the opera is for everyone. Personally, I'd rather see a musical because there's often dancing involved. But it was a good experience and I can say I supported a fellow Okie and OSU grad who was brave enough to break the mold and enter the un-Oklahoma career of opera singer. Props to her.

My 3 cent rant

2008-02-28T17:22:00.003-06:00

I try to keep this blog fairly positive, but I must take a moment and rant.

1. Took my Accord in today for service because it's having trouble shifting. Oh, it only needs a new transmission! It's a 2003. I bought it used in June 2006. I honestly feel so BETRAYED by my car! By Honda! I thought Hondas were reliable! Smart! That's why I chose my first car purchase as a cookie-cutter, no-nonsense, everyone-else-owns Accord. I could have had a sexy 2-door sportscar, but no. I chose practicality. And it bit me in the rear.

2. Stupid dealer doesn't look up my VIN # to realize my car is still under warranty. Calls Mustang to say it will cost $3,000 to repair! Thankfully a coworker overheard this and recommended we call a small mechanic shop called Hondura. They were wise enough to think, huh, a 2003 certified car with 93,000 miles and a dead transmission......that should still be under warranty! They kindly gave Mustang the 1-800 number to Honda Corporate so he can inquire if we indeed qualify. And we do. So Mustang calls dealer back with this news & asks why they didn't offer this. Dealer says it's because they looked up my car warranty under my married name, and my warranty is actually under my maiden name, so they didn't see it. But still. They should make some magical system to identify by the car, rather than by the owner. Oh, yeah, like a Vehicle Identification Number!

3. This leads me to my last cent (phew). Stupid social tradition/norm/expectation that women change their last names at marriage. I've never been a girl that swore she'd keep her maiden name, but seriously, it is such a pain in the rear! Sure, I thought of changing my SSN, my driver's license, my pay stubs, but seriously, my car warranty? Really? And it's oh-so-difficult for Honda to believe that Jane Dawn X has changed to Jane Dawn Z, and both Janes happen to live in Oklahoma and have the same VIN? Really?

Okay. That's all. I feel better now.

And if you own a Honda, get it serviced at Hondura off N. Villa Ave in OKC. They are good people. Dealers, not so much.

And if any guy out there is reading this, and your wife changed her last name when you got married, please take a moment tonight and tell her how much you appreciated her doing that.

And don't buy a 2003 Accord. Apparently they have transmission failures.

Now I'm really done.

3 filters for 1 vacuum

2008-02-19T14:48:00.004-06:00

I've decided that a dust bomb has exploded at our house.

Sadly, I admit I used to think Mustang didn't clean well. I have since learned otherwise.

Everything gets dusty immediately after I clean it. I've discovered dust on our wine bottles, dust on magazines, dust on the coffeemaker that we use everyday. Embarrassing when I returned a wedding gift to Williams Sonoma last weekend and dust was on the box.

So, I've decided to spruce up the vacuum. Perhaps some troubleshooting also is in order.

I have discovered on Eureka.com that our stupid vacuum takes THREE FILTERS. Yes, the HEPA filter on the back, a motor filter, and an exhaust filter. Ah! I only knew of two! Perhaps this mysterious 3rd filter will solve all our problems.

Off to Home Depot for elusive filter after work.

The sky is falling? No, just a satellite.

2008-02-15T10:58:00.004-06:00

Chalk this up the "um, what?" category:

US satellite to enter atmosphere around March 6

Great HVAC technology here at Research Park

2008-02-14T14:33:00.005-06:00

For the past two weeks, the Oklahoma wacky weather (60 degrees one day, ice the next) has been a pain to all of us. Coat or no coat? Salt on the roads or no salt? Certainly not good for that flu bug that's hitting everyone, it seems (including my brother - who's trying to stay away from his 3-mo-old baby). Why he didn't get a flu shot, I don't know. He's a teacher. Seriously.

Anyway, the weather seems to be most challenging to the heating & air units in my work building. It is SO FRIGGIN HOT in here. Ironically, my building is in a complex called Research Park. One would think this name would imply good technology.

This is absurd, but it kinda makes me slightly curious/paranoid. My office occupies floors B-3 in the building, but none of us are sure what's in floors 4 & 5. Something involving OU and research. And that would be biomedical research. Methinks 80 degrees is not good for the petri dishes growing who-knows-what.

80 degrees is also not good for the roses I got for Valentine's Day from Mustang. =) I will take them home tonight where they can be properly enjoyed (and cared for!).

I heart Kanye

2008-02-11T11:29:00.001-06:00

I sacrificed watching the Grammys last night so I could tackle cleaning our crazy office. It paid off, but bummer...I missed an awesome performance by Kanye West, finishing with a beautiful tribute to his mom, singing the song I posted in November.

Thankfully, I found it on YouTube (wonder how long it stays up before CBS gets it). BTW, no worries about cursing....Kanye kept it clean.

Love, love that he shaved "Mama" in his hair.

Survey says...

2008-02-07T12:57:00.000-06:00

My sleep study reveals I do indeed have Restless Legs Syndrome. It also said I slept 6 hours during my study - which I find so hard to believe.

The report also said it took 70 minutes for me to fall asleep. Yeah. It didn't say anything about hearing my cursing during those 70 minutes. "Soft snoring" was recorded through the night, but not bad enough to require the nerdy breathing machine. At least Mustang & I won't be the CPAP wonder twins.

So, what to do? Meds, of course. You've probably seen commercials on TV about Restless Legs. "The creepy crawly feeling." But my very considerate(!) doctor said they're rather costly, so he's first going to try me on another medicine that's much cheaper. When I went to Walgreen's to get it filled, they had to check my ID because it's a controlled substance. Yikes.

So yeah, I'm on a controlled substance. Please pray that doesn't get too interesting.

Sleep study: the advertising, the truth

2008-01-30T14:15:00.000-06:00

Ahhh...get a sleep study. Sleep & we'll study you. Easy as that. Call now to get yours.

Don't let this photo fool you.

Here's the real way it looks. Thanks to these guys I found on AltaVista. Obviously, they too thought it was blog-worthy.

Yep, there were wayyy more wires involved than I expected. Notice wires weren't attached only to your head - also to your chest & calves. The wires attached to your calves are threaded through a belt on your waist. You also wear a belt on your chest, a oxygen tube on your nose, a mike taped to your neck, and a pulse clamp on your index finger. When I moved, I felt like I was in a spider web, i.e. moving my legs resulted in tugging at my waist. I imagine the neck mike recorded some grumbling & mild cursing while I discovered the spider web phenomenon.

And for some reason, the nose tubes didn't work well, and it took 3 tries to find one that did. So just as I got sleepy....lights on. "Well, that one's not working, either." Put on new tube.

Finally, the technician didn't explain to me that I didn't have to stay on my back. I'm a tummy sleeper, so after lying there for what seemed like forever, I finally paged the tech and asked if I could roll over. Yes? Ah, wish I knew that about 2 hours earlier....

Overall, my sleep study was such an unusual night that I asked the technician if people ever have "do-overs." She said they'll review to see if I had enough data from the times I did sleep, and if there isn't, they do occasionally have people return. With a sleeping pill.

But, alas, my doctor called Monday and scheduled a follow-up appointment to discuss the results tomorrow. Perhaps a diagnosis is awaiting me. To quote Gary, I'll keep you advised.

While I Am Sleeping

2008-01-24T10:29:00.001-06:00

Tonight I'm having a sleep study. Yep, I finally got around to seeing my doctor about being so tired and he ordered a study for me.

I arrive at 9:30 p.m. in "pajamas that I don't mind someone seeing me in." I'm not sure those exist, especially sans-bra. I guess they're medical people so I should get over it. They'll attach those little circular things to my head and watch me sleep. I leave at 6:30 a.m. They'll give me breakfast snacks.

Watching me sleep. Huh. Visions of men in white coats gathered around a window while I'm on display. Remember on Friends when Ross had that dot on his rear, and the doctors were fascinated and got their buddies to come look? Visions of me kicking and talking and the doctors are laughing up a storm. Visions of them making a "Greatest Hits" video and I'm on it.

Okay, seriously. I am glad I'm doing this. Actually even looking forward to the results. As I told Mustang, God didn't design us to be this tired.

In preparation I cannot drink caffeine after noon. I also can't nap - no problem since I'm at work. For me, my worry is stage fright. Being nervous and not able to fall asleep. So I've only had 4 hours of sleep last night, and only 5 hours the night before. I am sufficiently sleep-deprived. I am also very cranky.

I'll let you know how it goes.

Heading to Houston

2008-01-18T17:21:00.003-06:00

We're going to Houston this weekend for a wedding. I'm looking forward to it; the couple is very nice and they went to both of our wedding receptions, so we should certainly come to theirs.

Quick horror story I have to share: while the bride's dress was at the tailor, the tailor's dog peed on the dress. Bride didn't discover this until her bridal portraits sometime later. Now the tailor has skipped town and they can't contact her. Horrible, huh? Thankfully, the stain came out with drycleaning.

Anyway, we've been going to Houston every month now since November. I'm getting to know it more. Maybe we can do some sightseeing while we're there this time. Last visit, Mustang's family took us to Little India, which was very cool.

Houston trivia:

Houston is the 4th largest city in the U.S. and the biggest city in Texas.
Texas is the only state that allows residents to vote while in space. The mayor was the recipient of the first space vote when astronaut David Wolf cast a vote from the Mir space station.
Houston has the 9th largest community of Indians in the U.S., which includes Mustang's family. =)
Houston has given us celebrities like Beyonce, Hilary Duff, Renee Zelleweger, Isaiah Washington and George Foreman. Also.....Patrick Swayze, Anna Nicole Smith, and the lady that started Mary Kay.

Back next week.

Um, what?

2008-01-16T17:01:00.000-06:00

U.S. to study bizarre medical condition

No breasts (chicken, that is)

2008-01-15T13:50:00.000-06:00

Last night, I went to the Crest on Rockwell & Hefner to get chicken breasts for a recipe I'm making this week. It's a good recipe, and it's fun because it involves a can of Diet Coke. I bought all the other ingredients on Sunday...everything to make this BBQ chicken...except the chicken.

Anyway, believe it or not, this Crest had NO chicken breasts. None. I was so sure that I was mistaken that I became convinced I was looking at the turkey section instead. I paced back and forth through the whole meat counter, looking for the obviously-missed chicken section. Nope. I had indeed found the chicken. No breasts. No breast tenderloins. No thighs, either. There were drumsticks, there were whole chickens, there were "pick of the chick" bags (which frightened me), but no chicken breasts.

I left Crest muttering over & over, "How can you not have chicken breasts?" I was genuinely confused and angry.

Then it occurred to me what a silly thing it was to be mad that Crest didn't have a particular cut of chicken. How lucky I am that I get to cook whatever I want. There were times in history people got rations. People would be glad to have a chicken. My former roommate's mom, when she was single and poor, cooked a whole chicken on Monday and ate a piece a day for the rest of the week.

So by the time I got home, I had been through this strange journey of
Crest
to mad
to grateful.

And finally, forgetful. At Crest, I settled for the giant bag of Tyson frozen breasts. When I put them in the freezer at home, I discovered I already had chicken breasts in there.

Quick post

2008-01-09T12:54:00.000-06:00

I've just got one thing to say today and then I need to get back to work so I can clean up this mess I created.....

But I just had to share. Yesterday was the first time in my life I had to explain a jacked-up situation to coworkers by starting with the phrase, "Well, knowing this week was going to be busy, I tried to be proactive and email people last week..."

That's all. I'm done now.

Air conditioning in January

2008-01-07T10:25:00.000-06:00

On the way to dinner party yesterday, we turned on the air conditioning in the car. In January. Why? Oh, cause it's 75 degrees outside. 75 in January. A new record high temperature for OKC.

Today it's supposed to be 70, but I'm more excited about the slight risk of severe weather in eastern Oklahoma. A tornado in January? Awesome. It was awfully balmy this morning...

Speaking of tornadoes, I'm reading a book right now about May 3. (First I just want to brag that I'm reading, a recreation long lost during wedding planning). Actually, the book was given to me months ago by another PR person who knew I'm a weather junkie....and I'm just now getting around to reading it. And it's soooo good.

If you're a sucker for the Weather Channel or those TLC specials about storm chasers, this is a fun read. Oklahomans will delight in the many references to our state....Gary England....Tinker AFB....and of course, May 3, 1999, the most amazing day ever for weather junkies. No pun intended, but that day tore open common weather beliefs. Hide under a bridge if you're outside? Not after May 3! F5 the worst tornado? Not after May 3! Hide underground? Yes, it actually was necessary on May 3.

All this weather reading has me thinking about storm chasing...a lifetime goal. Oops, I should say "storm spotting." Professionals spot storms for safety purposes of warning the general public, they don't chase storms for thrills. Yeah, yeah. Anyway, One day, I'd love to hop in a car with a professional storm spotter. I once had a missed opportunity. Around 2000, I met an OU meteorology student who said he'd call me when there was bad weather. The day he called, all my friends were in town, a girl got engaged the night before, and we all went wedding dress shopping for her. I wish I still had that guy's number...

Storm spotter training starts this month. I've been to it before in college; I'm really wanting to go again and see if I could tag along with somebody. The OKC one is next Tuesday; open only to city emergency managers. Thoughts of sneaking in....stalking outside....hmmm.....

Goodbye, 2007

2007-12-31T10:53:00.002-06:00

Apologies for missing posts awhile...I spent Christmas in Houston with Mustang's family. I'll recap in a later post, but overall, it was great.

Today is the last day of 2007. The introspective, "carpe diem" side of me stops for a moment to ponder the year. There will never be a 2007 again. Hmmm... Some years, I've been ready to put the previous year behind me and never look back. But 2007 was actually a very good year. So I'd like to reflect & enjoy:

In January, I got engaged. I also returned to my previous employer, which I learned from experience, was a very good thing. Cue 80's rock ballad, "Don't know whatcha got till it's gone."
In February through March, I got strep throat enough times that I was labeled a "carrier" by my doctor and ultimately led to my tonsils getting removed. It also led to getting a new doctor, since the previous one didn't realize that 4 rounds of the same antibiotic wasn't working.
In June, I traveled to Chicago for work, which was exciting because it was the next "big city" on my list of places to visit. Authentic deep dish pizza is delish, and I realized the Great Lakes are so massive that you can't see the opposite shoreline. Chi town was cool. I'd like to go back.
(Brace yourself for this next nerdy comment.) In August, Oklahoma got hit by a tropical storm in the middle of the night. Did we ever think that could happen? Awesome.
In September, I married Mustang. Okay, okay....I'll try to spare you the mushiness.
In October, I also achieved other life goals: I got a passport and FINALLY traveled outside the U.S. when we went to Aruba for our honeymoon. Now there's a place I'd love to return to....but not in October. Too hot. Maybe during Carnival.
In November, my nephew Justus was born on Thanksgiving Day. He's healthy, happy, and already spoiled rotten. (whispering) Also in November, I turned 30. It's a good thing. I'd like to think I'm a bit wiser now.
In December, I'm still unpacking into Mustang's (oops, I should say my) house. While sometimes I fear I'm turning into those women on Oprah who chronically hoard things, I should be thankful I have everything I need.

Finally, I admit 2007 is a year that I'm feeling, pop-culture-wise, um, old. Some realizations:

I don't have a page on MySpace/Facebook/whatever.
I somehow never heard the songs "Umbrella" by Rihanna or "Souljaboy" by some rap kid, until I saw those "Year in Review" shows on VH1, or my flabbergasted brother played them for me.
I've never seen The O.C., The Hills or Gossip Girl.
I took Wild 97.9 off my programmed stations in my car stereo. Stereo seems to be on Magic 104 or K-Love a lot.
I considered buying toys at Dollar Tree for Toys for Tots, but hesitated because they were made in China and could be part of the lead recall.
I went in Abercrombie for the first time ever this weekend, not to shop for me, but for my 12-year-old nephew. Why the loud music? Why the dim lights? Then I saw the infamous half-naked Abercrombie models and felt guilty for taking young nephew there.

What will 2008 hold? I'm excited to see. Happy New Year, everyone!

Remember the registries

2007-12-20T16:33:00.000-06:00

I have a new social cause that I'm spearheading. My life and observing my sister-in-law's life has led me to my quest.

I received two items as a wedding gifts that were not on my registry and had no gift receipts with them. They are lovely, but I already have other items similar to them. THAT'S WHY I REGISTERED.

So I'm toting these gifts in my backseat of my car, going into stores, heading to the customer service counters and asking "Do you sell this XXX?" It's a fun game. Most of the workers laugh with me and sympathize. But so far I can't find the gifts' homes.

Please, help the homeless gifts. They're so sad, they'll never fulfill their usefulness destinies, because they were given without considering the consequences. What will happen to them? We may never know. Please, remember the registries.

Not only do registries help gifts find a good home, it also helps the gift recipient. In my case, as a 30-year-old marrying another 30-something, we both had established homes. So we carefully registered for items we really needed. The registries help us complete our nest.

To aid in your shopping convenience, many brides and moms-to-be register at multiple places. I registered at three stores. I posted the registries on our website. Gifts could be purchased online.

When my SIL had her baby showers, she received every baby-boy outfit under the sun. But no bottles. Two Boppy covers, but no Boppy. Tons of diapers, but no diaper pail. My nephew would be the most stylin' kid in OKC, but he didn't have basic necessities.

So, please help spread the word. If you or someone you love is shopping for a bride or mom-to-be, please remember the registry. Chances are, the registry isn't about want they want, it's about what they NEED. Creativity is overrated. Be practical. Remember the registries.

This message does not necessarily reflect the views of Blogger, the author's sister-in-law, or her husband. Void where prohibited. Please drink responsibly.

Shabby school, lost and costumes

2007-12-18T14:07:00.001-06:00

Sweet. I've been anticipating this post. I've realized recently that my blog used to have a theme (eHarmony) and it really doesn't anymore. So I'm wondering if I should narrow it to a few themes (and if anyone would want to read about those) and one theme popped up: dreams.

I have very vivid dreams and used to entertain a DC coworker with my recount of the night before. So perhaps that would make good blog fodder. And last night had some doozies!

Things started off with two HS friends (C, one was your old neighbor) and I substitute teaching at a very run-down school. We were supposed to teach 5th graders, and we realized the school's quality was awful because their lesson plans were coloring. We also noticed their only computer monitor was old-fashioned, didn't work, and scribbled all over it. We finally left the school and went to a nearby mall.

At the mall, we were required to put on security devices when we entered the front door. And what were these? Big, chunky necklaces. We shopped for a while, realized the mall had bad stores (ala Crossroads or Heritage Park) and left. On our way out, when we returned to the old lady who gave us our security necklaces, she told us we were nice girls so we could keep them.

When we left the mall, we were ready to go home but realized we were lost. We were in some town in NW Oklahoma because we kept looking at a map and seeing Okarche and Northwest Expressway. But we were arguing if we were going north or south.

Another dream. This one's short. Two kiddos I know (Anna & Jeremy) were dressed in costumes for Christmas. I'm not sure what Christmas event would have them wearing costumes, but anyway, it did. And here's the best part. Jeremy was dressed as a Girl Scout Thin Mint cookie. Anna was dressed as a red cocktail napkin. Her costume was made from a baby mattress (worn vertically) covered with red fabric.

Ironies of the ice

2007-12-14T16:17:00.000-06:00

Well, the winter ice storm of 2007 indeed arrived (as predicted in my Oct. 24 post). Oklahoma is doing what we do best....helping each other cope through weather craziness, and comparing stories of "who has the worst damage."

I was driving around last night, shopping for new nephew Justus' Christmas presents (yes, that's plural) and I noticed some ironies of the ice.

At the intersection of Penn and 63rd in OKC, the traffic light was out and cars had to stop and go. However, the creepy Waterford people-sculptures overlooking the intersection were glowing with lit-up Santa hats and white lights.

Tacky houses decorated like Christmas Vacation now look downright gluttonous while down the block, the entire street is dark from the lack of power. Too bad just one string of those lights can't be loaned to a suffering neighbor.

Of course, the local TV stations are always a source of amusement:
"So far, the deadly ice storm has claimed 21 lives in Oklahoma."
"And be sure to email us your pictures of the ice at tv.com! Oh! Look at that beautiful shot from Sherri in Yukon!"

Much of the power is getting restored. Thank goodness. Some people suffering without power were rather cranky to their employees. But seriously, I hope they make a lot of progress today restoring the power.

Because tomorrow, much progress won't happen. Why? Oh, 2-4 inches of snow. Maybe around 9 inches in Enid.

Let's hope our meteorologists are way off.

Awake now - we'll see at 7 a.m.

2007-12-11T13:31:00.001-06:00

Odd.....ever since my post about me being sleepy, I've had a surge of energy. At work, I'm not wanting to doze at my desk.

And at home, I've unpacked boxes! Finally I have an organized kitchen. It is glorious. And an extra surprise....how excited I am about the space. After cooking in an apartment kitchen for the past eight (!) years, it is so freakin' wonderful to cook in a normal-sized kitchen! Sure, as an apartment-dweller, I coveted garages.....back yards.....and not carrying groceries up stairs.........but I never thought about the giant kitchen with glorious counter space. Look, I can use a normal-sized cutting board now. Ahhhhh!

Anyway, back to my sleep issues....my normal sleep patterns have made my sleep diary rather non-eventful. Instead, I've realized how much caffeine I'm drinking. I don't like pop much, so I believed I didn't use much caffeine. How I am wrong. I'm supposed to mark each hour with a "C" when I have caffeine, and too many Cs are all over the diary. I guess that's better than too many A's, which I'm supposed to mark if I have alcohol.

During my sleep research, I discovered many suggestions for how to wake up in the morning. I HATE getting out of bed - well, the problem isn't only hatred; it's also whether or not it's possible. I can turn off my alarm clock in my sleep and never know.

What if I move my alarm clock to the other side of the room? Tried that. But here's an even more physical solution: the moving alarm clock. Choose from one that runs around (right) or one that flies. I don't own these, but I'm intrigued.

How did I wake up when I was younger? Mom would always turn on my overhead light. And sunlight wakes me. Hmm...light....and guess what? They make alarm clocks with lights. But instead of shelling out $50 for this Skymall-esque gizmo, I've plugged my bedside lamp into a timer. I have to say, it works pretty well (although I use it in 2-part system). The light turns on about 10 minutes before the buzzer alarm clock. Sometimes I wake up before the buzzer. Those are the good days, when I'm only 10 minutes late to work. =)

The lamp timer is also handy because it's programmed for M-F only - and it has auto shut-off at 8:15, to tell me it's time to leave the house. So that's pretty cool.

But waking up is a mental issue as much as a physical one, and in another post, I'll talk about some interesting suggestions I've encountered to help program my brain.

Caffeine, wake me today!

2007-12-04T13:57:00.000-06:00

As a child, I liked to reenact TV commercials and this title plays off one of my favorites (Calgon). Another favorite was "Madge, I soaked in it," complete with dipping my fingers in a bowl, but I digress....

The real reason for this post is to express my growing concern for being so freakin' sleepy all the time.

At home, I have turned into my mother. I come home, I eat dinner, I go to bed. We're talking bedtime at 8:30 or 9. Not at all the lifestyle you'd imagine for a 30-year-old newlywed. I'm terrible company to Mustang and can't get any projects done (unpacking, putting up Christmas tree, finishing wedding Thank-You notes...).

At work, I struggle to stay alert. We're not talking narcolepsy, where I doze off involuntarily, but just a general fog that sets in about 2 p.m. Like I'm a zombie to the computer screen. Like hypnosis. Like if I could get horizontal, I could be asleep in 2 minutes.

So, as when any problem plagues us these days, I Google "sleepiness" and learn several things:

A cause of daytime sleepiness is being overweight. Um, yeah. I need to deal with that...
Maybe I have a sleep disorder. Perhaps one called PLMD where I kick around a lot. Mustang says my kicking is horrible, and sometimes the sheets are off my side of the bed when I wake up.
I should keep a sleep diary (this one uses sleepy faces) for two weeks, and share it with my doctor. Interesting.

I've also learned several other sleepy things and will post them tomorrow.

Until then, it's time to get some more iced tea.

Welcome to the world, Justus

2007-11-23T10:44:00.001-06:00

That pregnant woman did need an eye on her!! My nephew came into this world yesterday!! Yep, he's our little turkey. So here's the stats. Brace yourself, people....

Justus Russell
Born 1:22 p.m., Thursday, Nov. 22
9 lb. 6 oz.
22.5 in.

Yeah! He's HUGE!! It's a riot to see him next to all the little ones in the nursery. They're all tiny, curled up in the fetal position, and he's just this big guy, all stretched out, apparently enjoying his newfound room. I think he was awfully crowded in SIL's tummy. And remember, he was 5 days early!! I think it was quite a shock that he was so big - even to her doctor!

My favorite part: he has TONS of curly, dark brown hair!! It is sooo cute!

Baby & mama are doing great and will stay in the hospital until Saturday (Justus is staying for antibiotics; mama is staying because she has the food).

Now I definitely have to remember how to post pictures again so I can show him off. I may be biased, but he really is one cute baby.

Forget the turkey - keep an eye on the pregnant woman

2007-11-21T10:54:00.002-06:00

That's how to summarize tomorrow's Thanksgiving. My SIL is uber-pregnant (due in 6 days) so she's in that stage where she looks soooo miserable. And she's a little freaked out too, I think (it's her first). To be honest, it kinda freaks me out. I get a bit uneasy around pregnant women who could go into labor at any moment...I worry they're a ticking baby bomb. I mean this no offense to the preggers, just that if something happened, I hope I would help (instead of freak out) and be equal to the task. Huh, as I type this, it becomes clear that if I'm worried by other women who are pregnant, I definitely need to wait a while for my own. Good mental ammo against the occasional baby fever.

Anyway, tomorrow is Thanksgiving and I'm excited. I have more cooking responsibility than ever before. Bringing the turkey (I'll get into that in a minute), deviled eggs, seven-layer salad and green bean casserole. This will be green bean's first T-day appearance in our family. We're adopting it for Mustang; dropping broccoli rice casserole to make room. I can't imagine green beans tasting better than cheesy rice goodness, but hey, it does involve those salty fried onions.

As for the turkey, we're picking up a Cajun fried turkey from Pearl's! Mustang's brilliant idea! All will benefit: my parents don't need to cook the turkey; the rest of us can enjoy turkey meat that doesn't taste like pencil eraser.

Here are my top 5 most thankful items for this year. Wow, as I type this, what a difference a year makes!!!

Mustang is my hubby
Mom's skin cancer from a year ago is all healed
Having a different job than this time last year
Living in OK again, will be here for nephew's arrival
Not sharing walls with apartment neighbors anymore

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

Kanye's in OKC, for sad reasons

2007-11-20T15:18:00.001-06:00

One of my quirks is that I like an odd variety of music. Most people who know me casually (i.e. coworkers) would never guess this reserved goodie-goodie listens to Lenny Kravitz or Kanye West. I love Kanye for his clever lyrics and social consciousness.

I've been thinking a lot about Kanye today because he's in OKC for his mom's funeral. What a sad day for him. I don't even want to *think* about what that must feel like to lose your mom.

So, pretending that Kanye reads this, I just want to send out some hugs & prayers for him. Obviously his mom impacted his life greatly - she was a single mom since he was 3, she got her PhD and eventually became the chair of the English department at Chicago State (which helps explain Kanye's good lyrics).

Moms are SOOOO unappreciated. That's one of the truths I've learned as I've matured....moms love more and do more than we, as their children, can ever truly know.

On the positive side, Kanye should feel comforted that he told his mom how much he appreciated her. Too often we don't express our gratitude until it's too late. So this weekend, it's my mom's birthday, and I hope I can properly express my love for her. In the meantime, here are some lyrics from Kanye's lovely song about his mom, from his second album....hugs, Kanye.

Hey Mama, I wanna scream so loud for you, cuz I’m so proud of you
Let me tell you what I’m about to do,
Hey Mama, I know I act a fool, but I promise you I’m goin back to school
I appreciate what you allowed for me
I just want you to be proud of me
......
And you never put no man over me
And I love you for that, mommy can't you see?
Seven years old, caught you with tears in your eyes
Cuz a ***** cheatin, telling you lies
Then I started to cry as we knelt on the kitchen floor
I said "Mommy I'm gonna love you till you don’t hurt no more
And when I’m older, you ain't gotta work no more
And I'm gonna get you that mansion that we couldn’t afford"

See, you’re unbreakable, unmistakable
Highly capable, lady that’s makin loot
A livin legend too, just look at what heaven do
Send us an angel, and I thank you

Forrest Gump's mama said, life is like a box of chocolates
My mama told me go to school, "Get your doctorate
Somethin to fall back on, you could profit with"
But still supported me when I did the opposite

Can’t you see, you’re like a book of poetry
Maya Angelou, Nikki Giovanni, turn one page and there’s my mommy

Hey Mama, you know I love you so, I'd never let you go
I wrote this song just so you know,
No matter where you go, my love is true.

Light my fire

2007-10-24T15:16:00.000-05:00

It's finally fall in Oklahoma. "Fall" is about a month-long event here, when temperatures finally move from 90 to 50. Next month, there will be an ice storm, officially ending fall.

Seriously, one fall 2 years ago, my mom told some story on the phone that started with, "I was on the back porch, moving the plants inside for the frost, when I heard the tornado sirens go off."

Anyway, back to this year...on October 2, it was 92. Monday night, it got down to 40. So Mustang decides to turn on the heater Monday. The heater uses a pilot light, which must be lit.

I've never lived in a house with gas, and my family has some serious issues about fire (a result of an aunt dying in a housefire before I was born), so I'm scared out of my mind. Our conversation:
Mustang: "I think we need to turn on the heater."
Me: "Are you sure? It will get up into the 70s later this week."
Mustang: "It's too cold. It will be easy to light the pilot light."
Me: "Have you lit it before?"
Mustang: "Yes. Well, once. I tried. But then I couldn't, so I had to call ONG. But I watched the ONG guy do it."
Me: "Okayyyy."

So we go into the garage, where Mustang proceeds to find the spot in the heater to light.

I still express my uneasiness, so Mustang finally opens the garage door so at least the "gas" that I'm afraid could be leaking will air out some.

I hold the flashlight while he lights.

Thankfully, it worked.

Moving = monster

2007-10-19T09:32:00.000-05:00

Just in time for Halloween comes the evil, evil monster......moving. Seriously this thing is a nightmare. For me, it's just moving - it's a pain in the rear, but you suck it up & do it. But for Mustang, it's this huge big deal that is really freaking him out. It's really wearing him down, which in turn is wearing me down.

I guess I'm more used to moving - college, DC, back to OK - heck, in the sorority house, we were required to move 3x a year. So I guess I got accustomed to paring things down, boxing & moving......and the bare-bones lifestyle while everything is in boxes.

Meanwhile, Mustang has lived in his house for 7 years, so he's accumulated a lot of stuff and hasn't moved in a long time. So this is a big, big deal to him.

Last night, we tried to take apart his desk from IKEA. This thing is huge & he assembled it in the room, so we have to disassemble it to get it out. And we can't figure out HOW THE HECK to do it. Mustang kept the directions, but they're in Swedish or whatever, and there are 32 steps with really bad illustrations. So between working backword and deciphering the Swedish drawings, we are screwed. After an hour an a half, we decided we're ready to saw it in half (literally), but then realized we'd probably need a circular saw to do that, which he doesn't have, and certainly neither of us know how to use.

So I start laughing. Hysterically. I've developed this laughing tactic after living in high-stress situations such as 9/11. You have to have a sense of humor or you'll just go crazy. Mustang gets offended by the laughing and thinks it's directed toward him. It's really not - it's just the giant desk, the Swedish instructions, and wanting to use a saw.

We finally just gave up & went to bed.

***Update***I told my mom about my struggles, and I guess she's pleaded with my dad. He's coming over tonight to help with the desk. Yay!

Moderate risk

2007-10-17T11:36:00.000-05:00

The weather nerd in me is so excited today. We have a moderate risk for tornadoes.

Not wishing anyone to get hurt - let's hope for a tornado in some random field (or on a lake; that would be cool....then its name officially changes from tornado to waterspout). See, I am a big nerd.

I would add a photo on here, but it's been so long, I can't remember how. Gonna have to play around....

The blog is back

2007-10-12T10:38:00.000-05:00

Hello folks out there....if anyone reads this at all. It has actually been 1+ years since I've blogged. Terrible. I couldn't even remember my account name. Double terrible.

I return with an intention of blogging regularly again. I was once told in career counseling that I should write every day to exercise my creativity. I think they were right. I've really missed it.

I return with fabulous news - I got married 2 weeks ago. It's very strange to type that. Yes, I married Mustang.

I really regret not blogging during all the wedding planning. I'm sure it would be obnoxious to some people, but a few of the stories/events that occurred along the way were fascinating. I'll have to recap the best ones.

For now, hello & it's great to be back.

Does this work?

2006-09-12T15:02:00.000-05:00

So I haven't blogged in forever, and this is a totally random subject, but...

I was on CNN.com today and this stupid ad comes up on their site. I recognize the company - they seem to specialize in these random animated ads. It seemed to start with a map of 50 states, where the states sparkle one at a time. Not too bad. Then it changed to some snake or worm thing that was animated. It got worse when they had some girl with dreadlocks, jammin to her ipod.

But here's the newest ad, which to me, is the strangest yet. In the real ad, the shadows of the people "dance."

These baffle me. As a PR person, I just don't get it. They're advertising mortgage rates and yet it features dancing people. Do dancing people have anything to do with a mortgage? (And personally, I think the man dances kinda...well... gross. What's with all the hip thrusting?)

And, regardless if dancing relates to a mortgage, do they think the dancing people matches the CNN audience? Does somebody log onto CNN to read about news and world events, sees dancing people, and decides, "Hey, I need to refinance my house?"

I just don't get it.

Magic at Albertson's

2006-08-18T16:14:00.002-05:00

I must share a beautiful moment with you.

Lemme set up the scene: Tuesday night I went to Albertson's with Mustang. Why? Well, we carpooled to work and both needed groceries, so we stopped on the way home. Also, Mustang is doing Weight Watchers and lemme tell ya, he's beatin' the pants off me. He's lost 15 pounds in 3 weeks. Sheesh.

Anyway, as we're walking through the office supply aisle looking for tape, we pass the magazine rack. And Mustang stops me and says, "Hey, I wanna show you something."

HE PROCEEDS TO PULL A COPY OF THE KNOT MAGAZINE OFF THE RACK.

Not only that, girls, he begins to thumb through it, looking for a particular page number! Ah-ha! He's looked at this magazine before!

Surprised, I comment about this, and he cooly replies: "I know some things."

He flips to the pages about rings and starts discussing which he likes (I must say, this isn't the first time the topic of rings has come up, but not so directly!).

As Woot would say, I'm thinking "Be cool, be cool." I'm standing there, trying not to go into a hysteria of joy in Albertson's.

Calmly watching him flip through the pages.

Mustang: "I like this kind."
Me (as calmly as possible): "Mm hmm."
Mustang: "I think we should go for platinum."
Me: "Yeah, platinum would be good for my sensitive skin."

AND THEN:
Mustang: "Maybe we should just buy the magazine."
Me: "YEAH!"

So much for be cool.