I have ordinary addictions.

2008-05-12T18:50:00.003-06:00

Consumer alert! Consumer alert!
Dear friends and readers, let this be a warning: do not stop at the A&W/KFC restaurant in Atoka, Oklahoma. If you do, you will regret it.

Allow me to paint the scene: I was driving home from Arkansas yesterday. My trusty dog Murphy was in the front seat, sacked out in his doggie bed. I am tooling through Atoka, a small town of about 3,000 kinda famous (to those of us who have to drive through this part of Oklahoma on a regular basis) for its speed traps. I'd been in the car for four or five hours and had recently finished a 20 oz. Diet Dr Pepper.

Now, when I was on my way home last Friday, I had spotted the A&W/KFC restaurant and had wanted to stop. But it was on the left side of the road, so I gave it a miss. On the way back, however, it was on the right side. I needed to pee, I figured Murphy needed to pee, and I wanted a root beer float. So I pulled in. I let Murphy pee in a grassy area and put him back in the car (windows cracked, of course). I took out some of the trash from my previous stop (Diet Dr Pepper bottle, beef jerky wrapper) and walked toward the restaurant.

I should have known something was wrong when both of the trash cans flanking the doors were full... overflowing. I chose the one on the left. On top of all the trash was... a poopy diaper. I mean, this diaper was wide open and you could see all of the little poops inside of it. GROSS. I deposited my trash on top and went inside.

The ladies room had two stalls. The handicapped stall had a toilet that had recently seen a large explosion of some kind. The toilet had been pretty hosed down by someone who had eaten food that didn't agree with their tummy. I went into the second stall to see that the toilet hadn't been flushed after someone had peed. I decided to take my chances with the pee toilet. I flushed - it went down. Hooray.

Women's bathroom stalls usually have two extra features: a metal trash can where you can put your used feminine hygiene products and a metal toilet seat cover dispenser. This stall had both. Unfortunately, someone got confused, and they had put a used maxi pad in the toilet seat cover dispenser. Just wedged it right up in there. As I pondered why someone would do this, my eyes traveled to the toilet paper dispenser. Oh yes, no paper. I hobbled to the poopy stall, grabbed some, and hobbled back. Anyway, I figured it couldn't get worse than this.

I was wrong.

After I finished in the bathroom, I walked into the main room. There was a haze in the air, and I could tell someone had burned something in the kitchen. Oh well, that shouldn't affect my root beer float. I stood at the counter a couple of minutes, as people going through the drive-thru were helped and employees bantered to each other. Finally, some young kid (I will call him Bob) came up and asked if I had been helped.

Me: No.
Bob: How are you today?
Me: Um, I'd like a small root beer float.

Bob starts putting my order in the computer. Then he takes out two sizes of cups - I'm thinking they were the small and medium size.

Bob: (holding up the cups) What size do you want?
Me: Small.

So Bob goes to make the float. He is having some trouble. He calls back to another employee (I'll call him Joe). "Hey Joe?" He starts fiddling with the root beer tap again. "Uh, never mind."

So he puts in the root beer and ice cream, grabs a spoon and straw, and hands me the float. I go out to the car. It's hard to get situated, since I've got a dog who is very interested in the float, I've got to get buckled in, and I've got to open the straw. I finally try the float... YUCK! No root beer, just carbonation.

I extract myself from the car, tell Murph to stay, and go back inside. There's a woman waiting at the counter. A couple minutes go by. Finally Joe comes up to help us.

Joe: Have you been helped?
Lady: No.
Joe: What can I get you?
Lady: An Oreo fudge blast. (or whatever they call their version of the Blizzard)
Joe: (to me) Have you been helped?
Me: Yes, but there's something wrong with this. (holding up the float)
Joe: OK.

After a little while, my old buddy Bob shows back up. He takes my cup from me and tells me there's something wrong with the syrup, so they'll have to make me a new one. I say that this is okay. He then proceeds to dump out my old float and rinse out the cup. You know, to reuse it. He then tries the pump again... yep, only carbonation. Joe tries jiggling the syrup line or something. It doesn't work. "Try the one in the lobby," Joe says to Bob.

Bob goes out to the root beer pump in the lobby (where you and I would normally get refills). Same thing - just carbonation. He tries the diet root beer - that's working fine. I tell him diet would be just fine. Bob goes back behind the counter.

Bob: Do you want diet or regular?
Me: Diet, regular, I don't care! I just need to get back on the road!
Bob: I can make you one with regular!
Me: Fine, whatever!

So, Bob gets two cups. One, I think, is for syrup. The other is for carbonation. He's trying to hand-mix the root beer! It somehow doesn't work, and I can tell he's getting frustrated. He throws both cups in the trash, sighs, and gets another cup (remember, this is the guy who was recycling my original cup... he's now used four or five other cups). He finally goes to the side of the kitchen, where I can't see him, comes back up front and adds in some ice cream, and then goes back into the kitchen. Then he gives me the completed ice cream float, and says "Sorry about that."

I open the straw and plunge it in. Warm, sticky sweetness. YUCK! Apparently, this is the new way to make an A&W root beer float:

1. Add in a bunch of warm syrup.
2. Add ice cream.
3. Put some more warm syrup on top to make sure the ice cream is melting from all sides.

It was so disgusting. But I had already wasted about twenty minutes of my time (or more), so I just left. I ate what ice cream I could and tossed the rest. Funnily enough, A&W's website doesn't have a "Contact Us" section for complaints. Maybe this is because their employees can't make a damn root beer float!

2008-04-23T21:16:00.002-06:00

Well, hell.
See if I ever try to pick an American Idol winner again. Syesha and Carly had the best performances (plus maybe David Cook), and they both ended up in the bottom two. I even voted three times for Carly. First time I've ever actually voted.

And she's been kicked off.

Guess I have to root for David Cook now. *sigh*

2008-04-22T17:49:00.007-06:00

Live-blogging American Idol's Andrew Lloyd Webber night
This is the second Andrew Lloyd Webber fiasco I've live-blogged. So turn your eyes to this post for some background information. Suffice to say that the 15-year-old theater geek in me still loves some ALW. I've not really followed his career post-Aspects of Love, though I did see Sunset Boulevard on Broadway. Anyway, I'm not familiar with his newer stuff. So I'm wondering what they're going to sing tonight.

My coworkers and I have been talking about it. We figure someone will sing "Memory" from Cats, someone will do "I Don't Know HOw to Love Him" from Jesus Christ Superstar, and the girls might fight over who gets to belt out "Don't Cry for Me, Argentina" from Evita (they may at least know the Madonna version).

7:00pm: here we go!

Earth Day, Schmearth Day. Get to the cheesiness. I'm glad that they're doing a fuller band, complete with strings. Nice. I would hate for the usual band to attempt these songs.

Just for the record, I was totally a Michael Johns girl. Right now I'm kind of rooting for Carly.

Yay, Andrew Lloyd Webber montage! Did Ryan Seachrest just say "the-ah-tuh" in a British accent?

Hey! The Venetian! I saw Phantom there in January!

Randy says it's the toughest night of the season. Hmm. I might agree, as much as the judges have made fun of musical theater voices. His songs are not easy to sing. I'd like to see one of these contestants tackle the operatic stuff at the end of "Think of Me."

First Contestant: Syesha Mercado. Crap. I don't really care for her. Holy crap, she's singing a song from Starlight Express. Where are her roller skates??? She's not doing that bad, actually. Her hair is cute. Girl has some boobies! Randy liked it. Paula liked it. Simon? Thought it was sexy and liked it. My verdict? Yeah, not bad at all, and she really sold the song.

OK, it's a commercial break. Jason Castro is going to sing "Memory." Jesus. I'm going to publish this every commercial break and then go in and edit it.

So, back again. The publishing took a little long, so I hope that doesn't continue all night. So, "Memory," a song sung by an old lady cat... now will be sung by some hippie dreadlocked guy from Rockwall, TX. I believe that one of us called that one.

Second Contestant: Jason Castro. Wow, what's up with that outfit, dude??? Andrew Lloyd Webber is funny right now, and Jason is a dumbass. What's up with that pussy mustache, dude? Anyway, here we go. DAMN! They cut the first verse, my favorite. Someone kill me now. The way they chopped this song is breaking my heart. NO! The final verse should be powerhouse! ARRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! Randy didn't care for it and thought it was a bad song choice. Paula liked the choice. Boo. Simon? Hilarious. Didn't like it. HAHA! I am laughing out loud. My verdict? I want to kick Jason's ass and shave his head. I hope he goes home after this. He should. What should he have sung? Something from Joseph - would have been more his speed.

Third Contestant: Brooke White. Not cool to sing a song written for the Evita movie. That’s silly. I love that ALW said she didn’t know what she was singing about. I’m kind of tired of Brooke. Here she goes. HOLY CRAP! She started over! Can you even do that on Idol???? That’s not going to be good for her. You can tell she’s nervous. There are better songs from Evita than this. Wow, her voice is sounding really, really bad. Randy didn’t like it. Paula is mad that she stopped. Simon didn't like it either. Maybe she would have been better if she hadn't freaked out. My verdict? Boo... crappy choice and she forgot the words.

Next contestant will be David Archuleta. I wonder what his song choice will be... I'm sure it will be a feel-good ballad.

Fourth Contestant: David Archuleta. Oh my god, he looks 12. Victor just said "Are you sure he's not 12?" HE'S SINGING "THINK OF ME" - ARE YOU KIDDING ME???????? Is he going to do the opera stuff at the end? No, of course not. ALW called him "Little David." Hilarious. Here he goes. Oh no, it's the "caring and sharing" acoustic guitar version. I want to drive nails into head. NO! BONGOS! NO NO NO NO NO NO! My ears! My ears are bleeding! The little girls are going to be all over this. He's going to be our next American Idol. I hated the way he ended it. My life is over. Randy liked it - "it was the bomb." Paula thought it was "absolutely perfect." Simon? Didn't really like it. My verdict? I agree with Simon... except I also wanted to throw things at the TV.

Why is Paul Stanley there? Inquiring husbands want to know.

Fifth Contestant: Carly Smithson. “All I Ask of You?” I’m glad ALW nipped that in the bud... it would have been terrible So, she’s singing the theme to Jesus Christ Superstar… we figured she’d sing the Mary Magdalene ballad from that show instead. But I can get behind this. Here she goes… Messing up the words a bit, unless it was intentional… Uh oh, is there going to be a fatwa on her for asking “Could Muhammad move a mountain, or was that just PR?” Not a bad performance… much better than another awful ballad. The crowd liked it for sure. Randy liked it. Paula liked it. Simon? Really liked it! My verdict? Yay for Carly!

So, one left… what is David Cook going to sing? He’s going to have to go balls out to top Carly’s energy.

Sixth Contestant: David Cook. He’s going to sing “Music of the Night.” I’m glad that he’s an ALW fan and has done musical theater before. Let’s see what happens… My husband wonders why no one did anything from Les Mis or Miss Saigon. I had to school him. He says he wasn’t a gay man growing up in Arkansas, like I was. Ha ha ha. Anyway, back to David Cook… he’s not doing that bad! I think he could do a more theatrical version, but maybe the judges wouldn’t like that. You know what? I’m digging it, to use Randy’s phrasing. Oh no, the end was terrible. Terrible, but very David Cook. Randy loved it. Paula loved it. Simon? Didn’t care for it, but thought it he made the most of the song. My verdict? It was pretty good, except for the end.

Somewhere along the way, we have broken my blog. I’m logging on to my provider to see what’s wrong… Oh wait, it’s back.

Either Brooke or Jason will go home. I think the night belongs to Syesha or Carly. David Cook did the best of the guys. They’re recapping right now, and the David Archuleta song made me gag a little again.

It was interesting to see how they used ALW’s songs this week. I can’t wait to discuss at work tomorrow with other musical theater nerds. MUSICAL THEATER NERDS UNITE!

2008-04-20T18:33:00.002-06:00

Weekend Endorsements
We had a fairly busy weekend. We saw two movies at the theater, Forgetting Sarah Marshall and My Blueberry Nights. I enjoyed both, although I wanted to gag Natalie Portman in MBN. I just don't care for her as an actress, and the fake accent she put on was so annoying. I thought FSM was hilarious, particularly the Paul Rudd character. I told Victor that every movie needs a Paul Rudd cameo... it would just make everything better.

We also took Murphy to Dirty Dawgs on Oak Lawn for a bath. It's a do-it-yourself dog wash, complete with blow dryers, scented sprays, and grooming tools. I usually just wash him in the tub, which is exhausting and nerve-wracking for both of us. He hated getting the bath at Dirty Dawgs (especially the blow drying), but it was so much easier than doing it at home.

I'll not mention about how he tried to run away from us by escaping from the dog park.

This morning, we went to sunday brunch at the Tipperary Inn for full Irish breakfasts. Even though they forgot to give us the grilled tomato, it was very yummy. We had never been there for brunch before, and I really enjoyed it. It looks like their summer hours aren't going to include brunch, so I guess that it will be a while before we have brunch there again.

Tonight, we're having a Mexican cookout with fajitas, chicken, sausage, avocados, yummy tortilla chips, and palomas. That, coupled with the epsom salt bath that I just took, will make for a great ending of a good weekend.

2008-04-17T18:34:00.002-06:00

Not nice!

I got dive-bombed by a bird this morning, right outside my front door.

I usually put my hair in a bun for the drive to work (helps control the frizz), and this morning, a mockingbird dove down and hit me in the bun. I'm pretty sure the bird has a nest in our ornamental tree next to the front door. I see and hear it in there all the time, and I think that I can hear little peeps coming out of there too. In fact, I can hear the mockingbird in there right now. It's loud enough that I can hear it through the window, and I'm across the living room from it.

I'm all for nature, but come on! It's not nice to hit people on the head first thing in the morning.

2008-04-15T19:48:00.002-06:00

House envy
I've been kind of obsessed with Apartment Therapy lately. I used to visit it occasionally a few years ago, but there wasn't really much for me there. These days, I have been getting so much inspiration there! Even though we're no longer in an actual apartment, we still have a small dwelling and a small budget. I've been feeling restless lately with our decor; I think it's time to shake things up a bit. So I've been looking at AT's home tours to get ideas. They're currently in a Small Cool contest, where people send in picture tours of their small apartments and people vote on whether they like the decorating and whatnot. So there are a lot of great apartments to look at right now. They also do home tours of houses, too... I wonder if I could ever get on there. It makes a nice break from getting inspiration from various TLC and HGTV shows, which eventually kind of all blend together.

Also, our house has so much IKEA stuff... I'd like to add in a few other pieces so that it doesn't look like walking into an IKEA showroom. If I'm in Dallas this weekend, I want to hit up some garage sales and a couple of architectural salvage places I've been hearing about. I'm also in the market for some new stuff for our walls. We've been living with the same framed vintage poster prints for too long now, and I'm ready for something new.

It's also time for us to get our crap together for our own garage sale. We have so much stuff stored in the garage that needs to go, and I want to weed out some old paperbacks. Victor and I both also have a ton of clothes and shoes to rehome. Once we can get the garage cleaned out, we can work on finishing it out a bit more to make it more usable. I'd eventually like to have a little fridge out there as well as a workbench or two for any silly projects I'd like to try. Plus, some improvements to the garage (like the light that my dad and I installed) can only help our resale value, right?

Indulge me...

2008-04-13T13:18:00.001-06:00

Murphy April photoshoot
Originally uploaded by Mandy Aguilar

...in more cute pictures of Murphy. Why? Because he is so cute, especially when sitting still. Not so much when he's running all over the house...

It's a beautiful spring day here in Texas. I wish that spring lasted forever here. I know that all too soon we will head into the interminable Long Hot Summer, which is really no fun. Maybe if I had all summer off to go swimming, I would enjoy it more. Should we tear up the fish pond and put in a pool? Nah... pools aren't for lazy people... they require too much work. So it's mosquitos and terrified goldfish for me.

We haven't really been traveling much lately, as Victor is working on something Very Important at work and doesn't have much free time. We did go down to Austin a few weeks ago, which was lots of fun. I had kind of forgotten why I love that city so much, so it was a nice reminder.

We have been sticking to home a lot during the weekends, working on the yard. I've got a decent flower garden going, with irises (left by the previous owners - thanks!), petunias, bluebonnets, shamrocks, and some other kind of pink flower. I think I might add a few more things in this weekend. We're also trying our hand at container tomatoes, strawberries, and herbs. Wish us luck, because our thumbs aren't very green yet.

2008-02-18T17:50:00.000-06:00

Murphy
We have a new family member! Now, if that doesn't warrant a new post, I don't know what does.

When Victor and I moved in together, I gave up my cat, Liam. Victor is allergic to cats, and Liam was quite the handful anyway, so we found a better home for him (the fact that he was regifted again to an even better home doesn't really matter to this particular story). Since then, I've been lonely for a pet. I figured we could someday get a dog, since neither of us are allergic. I grew up with dogs, and had maybe the best dog ever while I was young, Sam. Sam and I were fast friends, and I taught him all sorts of tricks. But he passed away when I was in college.

Anyway, when we decided to buy a house, I got very excited about the prospect of a dog. Yard = dog, right? I did a lot of research and decided that keeping a dog outside would be pretty cruel to an only dog, and we weren't ready for two dogs. Plus, we travel a lot... so we decided to hold off getting one.

That didn't keep me from scouring Petfinder on a near daily basis for the better part of a year, looking for the perfect pet. I researched types of dogs, finding ones that didn't shed much, were kind of lazy inside, easy to train, all that jazz. And I started chipping away at Victor's "no dogs inside the house" edict. I guess I was really annoying, because he finally gave in. We decided I could get one for my birthday (January 24).

I had picked out a whippet mix named Murphy that was being kept at a vet office's pet orphanage. He had a real sob story: his previous owner's large dog had bit him, and instead of taking him to a vet, they dumped him. Neighbors fed him while he was on the streets. Police found him when they saw him wandering around a crime scene. By the time he made it to the vet, his bite wound was infected, and he was skinny and scared. The Petfinder entry said he was gaining confidence and needed a home. His story tugged at my heartstrings.

I called East Lake Pet Orphanage to ask how he was doing. They said he was doing very well, was working on socialization, and was crate trained and housebroken. I went to see him on my birthday. He was wearing a ridiculous lime green sweater, but he was very friendly and sweet. I liked that he sort of pranced when he walked; in fact, his walk was kind of a bouncy trot, like a racehorse. He was smaller than I expected, less than 14 pounds, but his long whippet legs made him tall.

Victor wanted to meet him before making a decision, but I went ahead and turned in an adoption application. It was approved, and on Saturday, January 26, we went to pick him up (pending Victor's approval, of course). They got along, and we adopted him.

It has been rather a wild ride since then. He's still adjusting to his new house, so we've dealt with some accidents inside the house and the crate. I am still getting used to the idea that crating him during the day isn't cruel, but he likes to chew on things, so I'd rather crate him than have no possessions. I wanted a whippet because they are light shedders, but the other breed in Murphy (whatever it is) must be a big shedder. We've bought a new vaccuum cleaner to help deal with the mess, along with lots of brushing tools. I've learned how to give a dog a bath in the tub. We've dealt with some protective barking and an under-the-fence escape artist. I'm getting used to the wettest nose possible poking me all the time.

But all of that doesn't stop the fact that he's the cutest dog ever. He's really fast, mega-athletic, and springs in the air with glee when he's out in the yard. He prances around like a little deer. He curls up in a tiny ball when he's sleeping, after he turns around in his dog bed several times. He follows us around everywhere. He loves to play with his toys and will throw them around and jump after them. So despite all of the craziness, we're enjoying this.

2007-12-19T22:06:00.000-06:00

Top Ten Albums of 2007
I have finally finished this year's list, just a couple of weeks late. Not being able to blog at work is tough, especially since so much of my post-work time is spent playing Rock Band.

This year, I broke two "rules" by including two albums... let's see if you can guess which rules they were! Without further ado...

10. Fourteen Autumns and Fifteen Winters – The Twilight Sad

This album seemingly came out of nowhere. I'm so glad Victor brought it home, or ordered it, or stole it from some poor Scottish orphan... at any rate, this is the sleeper hit of the year!

Favorite Songs: "Cold Days from the Birdhouse" "I'm Taking the Train Home"

9. Boxer – The National

Boxer was more accessible to me than their previous album, and I found myself coming back to this again and again. I never disliked the National, but this year I found that I really like them.

Favorite Songs: "Apartment Story" "Squalor Victoria"

8. Candylion - Gruff Rhys

Gee, this is a surprise. Gruff Rhys's latest album on my top ten? Next I'll be telling you that Texas is warm all year long. Anyway, what a fun, playful, and gosh darn it, adorable album this is. And sad. And wonderful.

Favorite songs: "Lonesome Words" "Con Carino"

7. Wincing the Night Away – The Shins

Ah, the Shins. Your music will always be so enjoyable, even if I feel like a cliche while listening to you.

Favorite Songs: "Australia" "Turn On Me" "Split Needles"

6. Neon Bible – The Arcade Fire

When exactly did Bruce Springsteen join the Arcade Fire? If Funeral was a glorious mess of beauty, then Neon Bible has channeled that mess into downright fervor. It took me a long time to get into this album, and I have fond memories of falling in love with it while painting my house.

Favorite Songs: "Keep the Car Running" "Intervention" "(Antichrist Television Blues)"

5. Cease to Begin – Band of Horses

It's hard to follow up on an album that topped my year-end list last year, and this album is so understated compared to Everything All the Time. But it's a fun, beautiful little album all the same.

Favorite Songs: "Is There a Ghost" "Islands on the Coast" "The General Specific"

4. Challengers – The New Pornographers

Nothing but hits, son, nothing but hits.

Favorite Songs: "Myriad Harbour" "All the Old Showstoppers" "Unguided" "Mutiny, I Promise You"

3. Once - Music from the Motion Picture – Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová

So, this is the first time a soundtrack album has appeared on my top ten list. And you know what? I don't care. I loved this movie. I love these songs. I listened to this album until I literally never wanted to hear the songs again... and yet, I still wanted to hear them. Over and over and over.

Favorite Songs: "When Your Mind's Made Up" "Lies" "Trying to Pull Myself Away" "Falling Slowly"

2. Yours to Keep - Albert Hammond, Jr.

I kind of laughed when I heard that Albert Hammond, Jr. was putting out a solo album. Well, who's laughing know? I mean, seriously... this album didn't leave my car CD player for weeks on end. I nominate AHJ to write the next Strokes album. Who's with me?

Favorite Songs: "In Transit" "Bright Young Thing" "101" "Call an Ambulance"

1. Writer's Block - Peter Bjorn and John

It's not cheating if I didn't buy this album as an import, right? This totally came out domestically in 2007. Anyway, this is one hell of a beautiful album.

Favorite Songs: "Up Against the Wall" "Young Folks" "Writer's Block" "Chills" "Paris 2004"

On the cusp...
We All Belong - Dr. Dog
23 - Blonde Redhead
Graduation - Kanye West

Biggest disappointment...
Under the Blacklight - Rilo Kiley

2007-11-01T20:29:00.000-06:00

Is your house famous?
So, when we bought the house, we were told that it was used to film a movie a few years ago. The movie is called Hate Crime, and the previous owners even left us a promotional poster for the film when they moved out. I immediately put it on my Netflix queue. It arrived a couple of weeks ago.

I didn't feel good today, so I stayed home from work. I watched a couple of things on the DVR, and then Victor convinced me (by phone) to watch Hate Crime. He wasn't that interested in watching it with me, so I decided to watch it by myself.

The movie was filmed in 2004, before our house was renovated, so it was very interesting to see what the place used to look like. The library was a functioning porch, with a glass door and everything. I'm not sure what was up with the sunroom, but it either wasn't there or was vastly different. My guess is that it wasn't there, and there was a huge window or something where the interior french doors are. Apparently, there used to be a way into the kitchen from the hallway. It was distracting, actually, because I kept pausing and rewinding to figure out the differences in the house. But it was totally our house. Same mantle over the fireplace. Same windows. Same oak tree in the front. Most of the landscaping was different, and the fence was chain link instead of wooden. It also had weird colorful trim on the outside, instead of white.

The film itself wasn't that great... it started out pretty laughable, but it turned out to be engaging enough. I got into the story. For the first 20 or 30 minutes, I kept thinking that the main character was familiar. So I looked it up on IMDb. And then I figured it out! It was Robbie from "Providence" (aka Seth Peterson)! Robbie Hansen, totally in my house! Come on, I know some of you must have watched that show. It was lame, yes, but addictive. And it had B.J. Hunnicut in it!

A large part of the action took part on our street. I recognized neighbors' houses and wondered what it must have been like to have a fairly big budget movie filming in the neighborhood. The behind-the-scenes features showed cranes and dollies and everything. It must have been exciting for the 'hood, especially with marginally famous actors roaming around.. I'm glad I watched the movie, and I'm glad that my house is immortalized in film, even if it looks different now.

Oh, and guess what? Of course our house was where the bad guy lived. Of course it was.

2007-10-31T20:12:00.000-06:00

Some thoughts on the World Series

So, the Red Sox won the World Series again. Wow, I sure like typing those words. I guess there are a lot of people who thought they might never see those words in their lifetime.

I'm not one of those - I was never a long-suffering fan. I started watching Red Sox baseball in 2003 (maybe 2002?), because Victor didn't give me much choice to do otherwise. I was never a baseball fan... I grew up in a football household. But the more I learned about the game, the more I liked it. I liked that it was as much about the individual as it was about the team. I liked how much Victor and Mark could nerd out about it. I started paying attention, and found that a lot of people I knew were baseball nerds. I learned a lot, I became indoctrinated into Red Sox fandom, I began to be able to hold my own in baseball conversations. I lived through the heartache of Aaron Boone.

And then 2004 came along. I watched a lot of baseball that year. We went through an incredibly stressful postseason. The unthinkable happened... the Sox made a comeback, and Oh my God, we're in the World Series! And after four butt-clenching games, they won.

This year's World Series was different. In many ways, it was more enjoyable, although nothing will ever take away the amazing feeling of the 2004 win. Anyway, here are a few thoughts on the series.

It wasn't tense. At least, it wasn't tense compared to 2004. I admit, I was a little tense during the ALCS when the Sox were trying to make their comeback. But, for the most part, I was able to relax a bit during the World Series. There was no bloody sock, no "oh my God, Foulke's arm is going to fall off with that next throw" no "holy crap, how did they do that??" - it was pretty much smooth sailing. I had a lot of confidence in this team. They weren't the loveable idiots of 2004, they were just a strong, confident team. And while we did try to wear the same unwashed outfits during the games, it wasn't a crisis if I changed out of jeans to sweatpants or whatever. It just wasn't that kind of year. It felt nice.

Pitching - my new favorite sport. This year, I really started getting into pitching. Not personally - I'm still as inept at sports as ever - but more as an informed spectator. I used to love watching at-bats and while I understood the importance of good pitching, it never really moved me. But I'm way more into it now. I think I enjoy it more now than watching someone slugging away. Maybe it was Josh Beckett's hard-ass, precision pitching. It definitely has something to do with Jonathan Papelbon's crazy-intense closing. I guess I just understand it more now, and it gives me such a thrill to watch a 1-2-3 inning or an amazing strike out.

Yay, rookies! I loved seeing the young guys steal the show, and I loved how the veterans gave them props for doing so. Dustin Pedroia and Jacoby Ellsbury were just fantastic, and my love of Jonathan Papelbon is well-documented (now that the World Series is over, I can finally wash my Papelbon shirt!). I bet those guys are just on top of the world right now.

Slow and steady wins the race. Well, maybe not exactly slow and steady, but watching someone like Mike Lowell win the MVP award was fantastic. He's not one of the big names (like Papi or Manny), he's not flashy, he's just consistently good. He wasn't even supposed to be good when the Sox acquired him - he was just part of the trade for Josh Beckett. Oh well, little did they know. He seemed really thankful and humble when he accepted the trophy. And I think he totally deserved it... even if the mustache in his goatee makes me cringe a little.

And now for a few things I won't miss now that the postseason is over...

Dane Cook If I had to hear him say, "There's only one Ack-tober!" one more time, I would have ripped the TV off of the wall with my bare hands.

Fox baseball coverage I don't think I have to explain this one.

"This is oooouuurrr countryyyyy" Oh wait, that commercial will never go away. It's like a biblical plague or something.

2007-10-30T19:13:00.000-06:00

I'm a reader, because I read.
We're starting a book club at work. Anyone that knows me fairly well knows how much I love to read, so I'm excited to be in my first book club. I'm also very interested to see what everyone picks for us to read (each month - or however often we meet - the book will be chosen by a different book club member). I have no idea when I'll choose a book, but I'm already fretting about it. Do I choose something I've read or something I want to read? Do I choose a classic? Pop-culture non-fiction? Something nerdy? A play? Chick-lit? Young adult fiction? Will people still like me if I make them read Thomas Hardy? What about Marian Keyes or Shopaholic?

I've been thinking about the phases I've gone through as a reader. As a kid, I read books about horses or teen detectives. In my early teens, I lived on V.C. Andrews, romance novels (shut up!), and Anne Rice. Once I became a "serious reader," I wanted to read only classics (or old) books. More recently, I've started reading modern literature, the It Books of the moment, and books I've read or heard about in the press. Now, I'm pretty indiscriminate in my reading, while still focusing on favorite authors or themes. I love a good book set in medieval Europe, or a Newbery Award winner, or those kinds of books you see on college reading lists. But I'll devour crime novels my mom gives me and chick lit that I pick up to read on vacation. I'll buy an old book because I like the cover, because the title sounds interesting or funny, or because I think the cover typeface is pretty. I'll even read books about baseball (and understand them!).

Yes, these days, I'm an equal opportunity reader, and I guess that will work well with the book club.

P.S. Ryan has a recent, interesting post about books, too. It's a little surreal.

2007-10-28T22:11:00.000-06:00

YAY!!!!!!!!!!

YES!

YES!

YES!

I'm so tired. I'll have to blog about the World Series tomorrow. But YES! YES! YES!

2007-10-26T06:15:00.000-06:00

Love, thy name is...
... blueberry mojito! Some friends and I went to Trece for their Ladies Night. $2 frozen blueberry mojitos and frozen margaritas, plus free quesadillas. We sampled some of their appetizers. So, so yummy. I want to try this place for dinner sometime. Or lunch.

And yes, in case you were wondering, I'm not writing about the World Series on purpose. No need to jinx things.

2007-10-24T17:36:00.001-06:00

Danger, danger!
Yesterday afternoon at work, I got a call on my cell phone. The caller ID said it was a 1-800 number, so I figured it was a telemarketer. Prepared to give them a piece of my mind, I answered the phone. Turns out it was ADT, as in our home alarm company. The motion detector in our living room had gone off. Did I want to meet the police there? Hell yes!!!

So, I flew out of the office, yelling that my house was being broken into, and jumped in the car. Couldn't get Victor on the phone. I was almost out of gas. I ended up stopping for gas, and of course the pump wouldn't accept cards, so I had to go inside to prepay. All the while, I'm imagining some dudes making off with all of our stuff. Wondering if my good jewelry would be gone. Worrying about the TV and computer. Becoming outraged that said dudes were tramping through our house. And where on earth could we find replacements for the windows they must have broken? Pumping the gas took forever.

Of course traffic was bad. Of course they were doing construction on the road.

Eventually, I made it home. There were two police officers there. They said the house looked secure from the outside, and we went in together. Nothing. Everything was fine. No broken windows, doors still locked, house still semi-messy from the morning. I have no idea what could have set off the motion detector. The mail comes through our mail slot every day without setting it off (it seems to be facing the opposite direction from the mail slot). So what could it be? Maybe it was just a malfunction. Maybe a giant raccoon got in (and out) of the house. Could a ghost set it off? Anyway, the good news was that everything was still safe.

I hope I never get a call from ADT again. Then again, I'm so glad that we have an alarm system and that they call the instant the alarm goes off. I'm so glad that we made the decision to pay a little bit each month for peace of mind.

Hell of a way to get out of work early, though.

2007-10-22T18:09:00.000-06:00

Do do do... feelin' groovy
Lots of things to feel good about today! Let's list them, shall we?

1. It's cold! It's rainy! It's 54 degrees in Dallas! Autumn is my favorite time of year, and October is my favorite month, but I was afraid I was going to miss any semblance of beautiful fall weather this year. Heck, I was suntanning in the hammock in my backyard yesterday. But today's weather was definitely snuggle-under-the-covers, and I'm totally drinking hot chocolate right now.

2. The Red Sox are in the World Series!!! I do feel bad for Kris's Cubs and Mark's Astros... and even for Grandma's Cardinals. But we totally pulled it out the last three games, and I can't wait for Wednesday!

3. It's my anniversary! Well, to be fair, it's also Victor's anniversary. Two years ago today, we got married in a little church in Arkansas. We already gave each other our presents a few weeks ago (an iPhone for him and an iPod Nano and super cool sunglasses for me), but we're still celebrating tonight by having dinner at Stephen Pyles. And he sent me flowers at work! Awwwwwwwwww.

4. Did I mention that it's cold outside?

5. I'm blogging again!

To wrap things up, I'll leave you with a meme from Mark and Ryan.

List 5 things that certain people (who are not deserving of being your friend anyway) may consider to be "totally lame," but you are, despite the possible stigma, totally proud of. Own it:

1. No matter how evil a corporation they may be, I still enjoy going to Wal-Mart. It's probably because I grew up in small-town Arkansas directly in Wal-Mart's corporate backyard (in fact, the store in my hometown where I shopped as a kid is Store #1... as in the first Wal-Mart). I sreally enjoy going to the upscale Plano Wal-Mart, where they have a good wine selection, sushi, and there's no threat of getting shot in the parking lot. Wal-Mart has been really, really great for the economy of Northwest Arkansas, so I don't feel bad supporting them.

2. I'm really proud of growing up a 4-H kid. Through my 4-H clubs, I learned how to properly set a table, give a demonstration, serve a pancake breakfast, and judge livestock. I won trophies showing cattle and my dog at the county fair. 4-H was just a natural extension of growing up on a farm, but while most people in my school knew I was a farm kid, most never found out about my dark 4-H secret. But now, I don't care - I'm proud!

3. I still enjoy musicals. Even the really cheesy ones, like Andrew Lloyd Webber's. Sue me, I don't care.

4. I will watch bad romantic comedies on purpose, because I love to revel in the cheesiness. Don't get me wrong, I like smart rom-coms too, but I really, really enjoy watching two or three terrible rom-coms in a row while on a flight or while home sick. So if you see me rating License to Wed or From Justin to Kelly on Netflix, know that I'm watching them completely on purpose.

5. Like Ryan, I still have rock star fantasies. I often think about songs I like and whether or not my band will cover them in concert. And then I practice singing them and think about whether or not we will have to change the key. This often happens in the car, and I know other drivers can see me singing my guts out. Maybe Ryan and I should start a band together.

2007-09-10T21:23:00.000-06:00

Something I can get excited about!

I love tea. Specifically, I love hot tea with milk and sugar (well, Splenda these days). Ultra specifically, I love Barry's Gold Blend, which I started drinking about 10 years ago while studying abroad in Ireland. Since then, I've had to stock up on Barry's when visiting Ireland or while shopping at an import store, like the dearly departed UK Food and Provisions in Dallas. While local grocery stores here are pretty good with stocking imported foods, none of them carry Barry's.

But now World Market does! I don't know how long they've been carrying Barry's, but Victor and I went in yesterday and found it. I bought a lovely big box, and now I couldn't be happier!

I know this sounds lame. But seriously, you should have heard me squeal in the store. These days, I get excited about the stupidest crap.

2007-08-08T21:28:00.000-06:00

Critter Update
We have purchased a live trap. Victor set it up and has been in charge of baiting and setting it every night.

So far, we have caught a possum and a cat.

We let the cat go, but we had the city come get the possum. Last night, Victor saw the raccoon in the pond (which now only holds two fish), so he ran out and set the trap. The raccoon watched him do it. And didn't ever get in it.

We're keeping the faith, though. We will catch this bastard if it's the last thing we do.

2007-08-07T08:00:00.000-06:00

Murder was the case that they gave me
I had jury duty yesterday. It was the first time for me, so I wasn’t sure what to expect. It turned out to be one of the most boring/interesting days I’ve had in a long time.

The boring part was first. I arrived at 8:30 to the giant courts complex just south of downtown. I was ushered into a room with hundreds of other jurors. I sat down and took out the Quick newspaper I’d picked up. It was pretty awful as usual, so I got out Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (side note: after finishing the final book, I have gone back and am now reading each of them in succession). The girl next to me was reading Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone for the first time, so we talked for a little bit about good ol’ HP. Then the lights dimmed and we started to watch the terrible orientation film. I really regretted not having had some coffee.

After the film, a guy came to the podium to talk to us. I think he was a bailiff or something. He rehashed the same information from the orientation film, tried to tell some bad jokes, and told us to sit tight for a few minutes while they finished processing everything.

I read more Harry Potter.

After twenty minutes or so, a woman came to the podium to rehash the information from the orientation film. She then talked about the importance of writing down your court assignment. Apparently lots of jurors get lost in the building. I got out pen and paper. She then read out the first lot of juror numbers, and I was in the first group of sixty. They would choose twelve of us for the case. She said the name of the courtroom and judge, and she told us what floor to go to. As I went to get my juror badge, she also wrote the information on the board. However, some jurors just didn’t pay attention and tried to get off on the wrong floor. Seriously.

Anyway, we got to the courtroom and sat on the benches outside. I read more Harry Potter.

Eventually, they called our names and gave us a clipboard with a paper to fill out. The paper included questions about our perceptions of law enforcement, lawyers, and whether we had family or friends who had been convicted of crimes. I filled mine out. I waited.

I finished Harry Potter. I did the crossword in the Quick paper. Eventually I fished out the cheesy crime novel my mom had given me when I was home this weekend (I did not want to lug two huge HP books with me). I started reading it. They collected our clipboards and told us to wait some more. I read more of the book.

By now it was after 11am. We finally filed into the courtroom. Then, things got interesting. There were lawyers already in there, and a guy who I figured was the defendant. The judge entered (“All rise!”) and seated us. He gave a few opening remarks and advised that this was a murder case that would take about a week.

The Assistant DA spoke for a long time about the legalities surrounding the crime. They couldn’t give us any information specific to the trial, other than the defendant’s name (which I have already forgotten) and that this was a first-degree murder case with a sentencing range of five years to life. Both of the lawyers and the judge used a lot of examples from "CSI" and "Law and Order" and wanted to make sure that people understood that real court cases weren’t like “Hollywood TV shows.” He asked us a lot of questions about our feelings toward sitting on a jury, reasonable doubt, the Fifth Amendment, and that sort of thing. A lot of people either seriously objected to what he said or else were trying to get out of sitting on the jury. I was intrigued, so I didn’t do anything to be excused from the case. Some of the things other jurors said were pretty stupid/uninformed. Occasionally the defense lawyer would object to things he said.

I kept watching the accused’s face during the proceedings. It was weird, thinking that I was sitting only a few feet away from someone accused of murder. He didn’t really look like a murderer – he had an intelligent look and an almost kind face. He laughed at the funny things that the judge and lawyers said (they liked to keep things light). Surely, he wouldn’t be laughing if he was guilty? Or would he?

Anyway, we eventually took an hour lunch, which I spent in the cafeteria eating moderately decent food and talking to another potential juror.

When we came back, the prosecution had a few more questions for us, and then it was the defense lawyer’s turn. He had a pretty dry sense of humor, and he was pretty frank when people gave answers that were kind of stupid. He also singled out several people and told them point blank that he wouldn’t pick them for the jury. He asked me a question about reasonable doubt, and I luckily gave the correct answer. It was kind of strange – the Assistant DA had kind of turned our minds to thinking about prosecuting the guy, and now the defense lawyer was forcing to think about him being innocent until proven guilty. I became more intrigued and really wanted to hear the facts of the case. I wanted to serve on this jury. I was excited about using my reasoning to decide whether he was proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

The defense finished up, and the judge told us a little about serving on the jury. They sent us out of the room for about 25 minutes to decide who to pick. I got some M&Ms and read more of my book. Eventually they called us back in. It was now after 4pm.

The judge said he would call 13 names, and one of those people would serve as an alternate juror. I got ready to hear my name. He called the first name. Not me. He called the second name. Not me. He kept calling names, and it kept being not me. Finally, he said, “Last but not least…” and it was not me. He dismissed the rest of us.

As I filed out of the courtroom, I was disappointed. I was almost sure I would be picked, but they didn’t pick me for some reason or another. I paid my parking fee and left the complex. When I got home, I tried to remember the defendant’s name so I could Google information about the crime, but all I could remember was his first name. Maybe I’ll pick up the paper on Friday or Monday to see if the trial has ended. Since it wasn’t a capital murder case, I don’t know if the paper will even publish anything about the trial. I may never know what happened. But I’m rooting for those jurors and the hard decision that they will have to make.

2007-07-24T19:49:00.000-06:00

Renegade raccoon and a meme
So, we have a little pest problem. A raccoon visited our fish pond last night. I was calmly lying in bed, trying to sleep with no electricity in the bedroom (or, indeed, in most of our house... thanks, electricians!). I usually have a fan on for white noise, so I was having trouble falling asleep. Victor was talking to his mom on the phone, and then I heard him walking around a lot and opening the door. I came out to see what was going on, and there was a raccoon in the fish pond.

We spent about thirty minutes trying to chase it our of our yard. I'm not sure if it's too used to humans or rabid or what, but it wasn't all that scared of us. In fact, it would run hide by the garage, wait a few seconds, and then make its way back to the pond. It even walked up to me, within five or so feet of me. I think it was curious and/or out to give me rabies.

Eventually, a police helicopter started chasing a fugitive around our neighborhood (or something... at least a helicopter was circling for five or ten minutes with its spotlight pointed in one place), and that scared the raccoon away. But tonight, as I was putting more water in the fish pond, I noticed three fish carcasses scattered around the edge of the pond. And there seem to be considerably fewer fish in the pond itself. Stupid raccoon bastard!!!

According to Frontburner, the waiting time for a live trap from the city of Dallas is 3-4 weeks. Lovely!

I've also been tagged by Kat for a meme, so here goes!

Rules:
1. We have to post these rules before we give you the facts.
2. Players start with eight random facts/habits about themselves.
3. People who are tagged write their own blog post about their eight things and include these rules.
4. At the end of your blog, you need to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged and that they should read your blog.

My 8 facts:

1. When I was little, I used to make believe that my room was a forest treehouse, where I lived with my pet deer and my pet black panther. I would use the deer as transportation when I went on forest ramblings. It never occurred to me that the panther could eat the deer.

2. I once got so mad that I decided to run away from home. I put one pair of underwear in a three ring binder, fastening it in like you would paper, and took off up the road. I made it about a quarter of a mile (those of you who know my parents’ farm will understand when I say I made it just past the graveyard), and then I chickened out and came home.

3. In high school, I became obsessed with Bono. I fantasized about going to Ireland one day, meeting him, and marrying him. I was reading one of my sister’s YM magazines when I happened across an article written by MTV VJ Allison Stewart, talking about how she interviewed him. She said he kept mentioning that she had the same name as his wife Ali. I didn’t know he was married. I cried.

4. I used to have a pair of silver boots that I would wear to raves, punk shows, and sometimes even to school. One day in band class, the band director noticed them, grabbed my leg and held it high, and told the entire band that they were our new marching boots. Hmm… this is not as good a story as I thought it might be. I apologize for this boring fact!

5. One day in sixth grade, I had to wear a jacket all day because I forgot to put on a bra. Most sixth graders wouldn’t even have to wear one, which made my shame all the worse.

6. I used to subscribe to Fate Magazine. This was when I was younger, like late eighties/early nineties. The magazine was all about the paranormal – ghosts, UFOs, ESP, witchcraft, all that stuff. While I was an intelligent kid, I nevertheless believed a lot of the articles. I used to read it at night and then be too scared to sleep. I remember when Men in Black came out thinking that I already knew all about the "men in black." I had read an article about them in Fate.

7. I used to spend a lot of time traipsing around my parents’ farm on my own. My family watched a lot of nature shows, so I would pretend to be hosting a nature show as I walked along the river or in the woods. I would point out animals, talk about the way rivers formed, that kind of thing. I don’t do that anymore, but I still talk to myself a lot when I’m alone.

8. I have an irrational fear of seeing dead babies. For example, if I see a bag or box lying in the road, I always think there’s a baby inside (probably dead, from being thrown from a truck and then run over countless times). I always swerve to avoid the baby. I worry that when I enter a public restroom stall, I’ll see an aborted fetus or dead baby in the toilet. Seriously. Where did this come from? Why do I think people will stuff a baby in a bag and toss it out the car window? Why do I think they would leave a baby in a public restroom? What is wrong with me???

Dude, just about everyone has been tagged for this. Plus, I only post once a millennium, so most of my 10 or so readers are probably not reading. But I suppose I'll tag Jeremy and seven other people who may pick themselves. How's that for a cop out?

2007-06-03T20:59:00.000-06:00

Fun times with home ownership!
Yesterday, the guys mowing our lawn thought that they hit a gas line. So, in order to make sure everything was safe, they shut off the gas. Turns out everything was ok, so they turned it on again.

The only problem? The pilot light for our hot water heater went out. So, no hot water when I tried to shower this morning. Victor decided to take a look at the heater to see if he could fix it. Our hot water heater is in the attic, which is just kind of a crawl space, filled with old pipes, scary old electrical stuff (we are having an electrician come to fix all of that already), and other junk. It's also extremely hot up there. Anyway, Victor headed up there with a flashlight. I sat down with a magazine in the library to wait for him to relight the pilot.

I was merrily reading about the new shoes for summer or some other crap when I heard a horrible noise coming from the attic. Like tons of stuff crashing down everywhere. I yelled to find out if Victor was OK, and he said he was. So I went into the bedroom, thinking I'd go out in the hallway and look up into the attic. But I stopped, because there was a huge, gaping hole in our ceiling, and sheetrock, dirt, and other debris all over the floor. Victor had accidentally stepped on the sheetrock part of the ceiling and his entire leg had come right through. Oops.

Victor came down from the attic, insisting he wasn't hurt, and we called a handyman. He came over right away and said he could fix the hole in the ceiling tomorrow. We mentioned the pilot light, hoping he would offer to go look at it, but he didn't. So, after he left, we patched up the hole using some plastic left over from our dry cleaning.

We called my parents, and they told us how to check and light the pilot light. We decided to go get a headlamp (you know, like miners wear!) for Victor to use, since trying to navigate the attic with a flashlight was tough. Plus we wanted to get one of those super long lighters to use on the pilot light.

Before we left, he mentioned his leg was hurting, so I took a look.

There was a horrible spot right beneath his butt where he had really scraped himself up. I guess that's where he caught himself when he fell through. The skin wasn't really broken much, but there was already a ton of bruising under the skin. Yuck! We got some spray-on pain reliever for him while we were out getting his headlamp.

We tried all afternoon, but we never got the pilot light lit. Apparently, we have some kind of super safe water heater, and you can't even get to the pilot light with a match or lighter. It has an igniter that you push, but even though it makes a spark, the light doesn't come on. We called the gas company, and they sent a dude to see if there was a problem with the gas. Nope. Plenty of gas is getting to the heater. We tried calling the manufacturer... they close early on Sunday. We even called the previous owner of the house, and he had no idea what to do either. They never had a problem with the pilot light, and, like us, he's kind of scared to do anything with gas and flames.

We're still not sure what to do. We took cold showers tonight, but that felt OK because we spent some time working in the yard first, and we were hot and itchy, not to mention stinky from working in the hot attic. I guess we'll get some plumber/handyman recommendations tomorrow, and maybe try to call the manufacturer again.

I really wish I had seen Victor's long leg crash through the ceiling. I keep thinking about it, and the way I picture it is hilarious. We're so glad that he didn't get hurt bad, and that he didn't fall all the way through the ceiling. Even he is able to laugh about it now, although he's in quite a bit of pain.

Obviously, we are not qualified to own a home!

2007-05-30T18:09:00.001-06:00

Our house, in the middle of our street!
Well, I guess it's been over a month since I posted. Wow. Sorry about that. We're now firmly ensconced in our new home. Here are highlights of the things we have done since we took possession of it in late April:

Packed up our old apartment, cleaned, and painted the bedroom walls with primer.

Hired movers for the first time, and man, was it worth it!

Got our deposit back even though we left our lease early. Booyah!

Painted the living room, dining room, and one bedroom of our house. This may sound easy, but it was a huge mess of second-guessing, frustration, more trips to the paint store, cursing, sighing, and so on. But I think it looks good now.

Five (maybe six?) trips to IKEA. Four of them were in one week. We dropped what seems to me to be an obscene amount of money there, buying a new dining table, bedroom suite, patio furniture, A/V furniture, desk, chair, ottoman, side tables, buffet, shelves, lamps... oh, the list goes on. Yet we spent about what we would have if we bought just one bedroom suite at a "real" furniture store. Yay for Sweden!

Bought a new TV and mounted that bastard on the wall ourselves.

Spent too much time at places like Lowe's and Home Depot. Yeah, I guess we're those people now.

Hired a guy named Jesus to ~~build our hotrod~~ mow our lawn.

Jinxed ourselves by saying "well, the dining room is finished!"... only to have a giant framed poster crash to the floor seconds later.

Learned the importance of using a stud finder to hang things on the wall (see above.

Purchased more tools, including a fantastic cordless drill/screwdriver, which is my new favorite toy, and the abovementioned stud finder.

Planted some grass in bare patches in our lawn... finally, we are getting little seedlings coming up. Guess how long it took us at Lowe's to determine what kind of grass and fertilizer to use? 30 minutes or so. We have got to get better at making quick decisions.

Developed a horrific ulcer in the stomach (just me - Victor is in perfect health). Welcome to how my body likes to deal with stress! Hooray for Vicodin and Nexium. And walk-in urgent care clinics that are open on the weekends.

So far, it's been a bit of a wild ride. We had our first houseguests, Mark and Ryan, a couple of weeks ago. The house was mostly finished, and they said they liked it a lot. Ryan, Victor, and I went to see Body Worlds, which we all found interesting. Mark watched a movie while we were there. We had a great time later that night, after Mark and Victor put together our new grill (thanks, guys!). We ate hamburgers and sang along with Mark's iTunes DJing until the wee hours of the morning.

Work has been extremely busy as well, but things should slow down soon. I'm looking forward to that.

Last Friday night we saw Morrissey play at the Palladium Ballroom. It was a good show, and the venue was nice. We didn't get in line early, because there was a torrential downpour going on, but we still managed to get pretty close to the stage even though we showed up after the opening band had already started. We went to my cousin's wedding on Saturday, only we missed the wedding because flights were full in the morning. We made it to the reception though. What is it about weddings in Illinois that always makes us miss the actual wedding??? It was great seeing family again, including my grandma, who I hadn't seen in four or five years.

So yeah, we've been a bit busy. But things have calmed down now at home, so maybe I'll post again before another month rolls by!

2007-04-29T10:49:00.000-06:00

Last post as a renter
Wow, buying a house is a lot of work! The scrambling to get mortgages, homeowner's insurance, money for closing costs... it's all very tiring, confusing, and stressful. Then, to celebrate, you get to move. We've been moving for a week now, and we're beat. So, so beat. We moved two U-Haul vanfulls (that's not a real word) last Sunday, and we've been taking stuff in our cars all through the week. We took five carloads over yesterday, and I took another this morning. I'm waiting for the movers to arrive who will take the last of our heavy stuff. You would think we had a six-bedroom house with the amount of stuff we have!

I tell you what... I'm in love with having a garage. Not sure where something will go? Chuck it in the garage! Bags of clothes waiting to go to resale/Salvation Army? The garage is a good place to put them! Extra furniture waiting for a yard sale? Garage! Garage! Garage!

OK. I'm signing off from lovely East Dallas. Catch you guys in the O.C. (that's Oak Cliff, yo).

2007-04-03T17:29:00.000-06:00

In which I show my intelligence
I just found a link on Frontburner that says a study shows that Dallas is the #2 worst city for spring allergies this year. The Frontburner post talks about how it's been especially bad in Dallas over the past week or so.

You may recall that I'm having ear trouble due to flying while allergies were flaring up. However, I was surprised when I read that post on Frontburner, because my allergies haven't bothered me at all the past week.

Suddenly it dawned on me: I'm currently taking two types of allergy medication to help clear up my ear. That's why I haven't been suffering over the last week.

Duh.

2007-04-02T22:50:00.000-06:00

Hardy har har
My pal Mark waxed lyrical over baseball's Opening Day today. He also thought it would be funny to say that his team, the Astros, are also my favorite team. He's wrong, of course, although my team's dismal showing today forces me to consider switching teams (just kidding, Sox fans!).

I actually saw some of the game this afternoon. Since I worked both days of the weekend, I got the afternoon off. I spent some of it trying to go to a doctor's appointment, but it turned out that I was early. Like a week early. Oh well, I guess I'll go back next week. So I came home and watched part of the game and put an ad for our apartment on craigslist (p.s. If you need a place to live in Dallas, drop me a line). I got some responses right away, so I spent an hour or two cleaning up in case someone came to see it. I kept the game on while I was cleaning, and I kept hearing the score getting worse and worse. I hope this isn't indicative of what the season will be like.

In other sports news, I totally won the March madness competition that Victor, Mark, and I had. Ha ha ha!!!

Tonight we went to see Explosions in the Sky. I'll write about that tomorrow, but it was a great show. Thanks, Chris!

Jam of the week: "My Old Ways" by Dr. Dog