We signed a contract on the house!!

Pictures to follow.

As well as much paper signage and a tremendously lengthy lists of tasks prior to ownership. If all goes smoothly, D-day is Nov 23.

My computer friendly time has signifcantly decreased

Which doesn't speak well for my e-future not to mention my availability for dancing to the rhythm.

Here's a house update: we've FINALLY started the offer/negotiation process. As it turns out, my alien-resident of a husband is going to make this a touch more difficult than we would have liked, but we'll get through it, little green antennas or not.

Other good news: the wedding photographer has been overly-swamped and behind but will be posting our photos by next week - yay! So all the requests I've gotten for photos will soon be appeased. Plus, we get a few free prints for the wait - excellent! It pays to be patient. (stop snickering mother)

When you gotta go ...

Working diligently, I didn't quite realize how loud nature was calling me until I had to burst down the hallway and was forced to unbutton and unzip my pants as I was opening the door to the ladies' restroom as to not waste any valuable time standing around once I was safely in the stall. Note: pants came open NOT upon entering the stall ... upon entering from the main hallway.

To celebrate how childlike I felt, I high-fived all the posters, corridor corners and hangy-down-thingys on the way back to my office.

Lost, my sci-fi lust

Gotta admit, I love that show Lost. And I just wasted my lunch break plus some scanning message boards and snickering at people's theories and overactive imaginations. However, as much as I wish that show was just mysterious and fun to watch (ahem, Matthew Fox), I can't deny the fact that there is SO much mystery in the plotlines, that there must inevitably be something complex, if not science fiction, about the way it has to play out. So I'm in the midst of trying to console myself to the fact that I really love a sci-fi drama, which I've always despised to the point of nausea.

3-0

You know how we all have those friends that so fervently loathe aging like the wild beast from hell that it is that they act as though birthdays actually inflict physical pain on their bodies? And although we may have many friends who would rather not talk about it, there's the one that is so adamant about the not talking about it that just to keep him or her honest it is imperative that you bring it up on every possible occasion?

Mine is turning thirty on Monday. Go three - oh. Sweet Lord this is gonna be fun.

Prayers for South Texas

Local weatherman Bruce came to our 6th graders classrooms yesterday to talk about pressure or air currents or something ... I'm not really sure. I could have paid better attention if Columbia, SC didn't have the hottest meterologist ever! Sorry, Dr. J. I came home, didn't I?

Anyway, so I did learn much about the pending hurricane that's causing all the Houston traffic to rear its ugly head. Friends and family there, keep me posted, I'm worried for you all!

Also, breathe easy folks. The Ags got the game in early. Thank God we didn't also have to sacrifice a weekend of Texas Football. At least they didn't keep it scheduled for Saturday. I suppose the NCF will see it's limitations from time to time.

Refer Me to Dance to the Rhythm

A very occasional pasttime of mine is to look at what pages have referred my blog. It's interesting to see what combos of words lead you my way, and even more interesting to see the combos of words people are looking for in the first place. I should have been posting these before now, they almost always make me laugh, but this week I hit pay dirt by being referred from yahoo search when someone search for "soaked panties" (I was about 50-something on the referral list, but hey, you didn't make that list, did you?). I thinking I have officially recieved recognition for my talents.

Other notable entries for this week on yahoo were:
"oprah granola pie million dollar" the number THREE result! WOW!
"cheetoe" - number FIVE result ... are Daisy (2002-2005) and I the only ones who appreciate the contribution of the cheetoe???
"the mascara story pictures" - number TWO
"football thought of the week" - number TWO AND FOUR

Our First Achievement as a Married Couple

I am pleased to announce that as of 11:00 pm, Wednesday, September 21st, we have completed Season One of 24.

I suppose all of our shock and dismay at the ending was about 4 years behind the rest of the television-loving-world, but nevertheless, shocked and dismayed we were. I am a firm believer in not spoiling endings for other people ever since the time that Dietra told me that Macaulay Culkin dies in My Girl as we were on our way to the theater. I still cried when that little cutie got all the bee stings and bit it in the end, but it just wasn't the same. All this to say, you'll have to watch 24 for yourself.

There is no way a normal person can read this and not be completely mortified on her behalf

Probably most of you have already read that she said this, but I just came across it and I just want to SHAKE HER INTO REALITY, but I can't so I'll do a little blog-shaking in her direction.

"I have a feeling I'm going to have an operation. I don't know why but I hope so.

"My mom said giving birth was the most excruciating thing she's ever gone through in her life. So if a caesarian doesn't happen, I'll be like, 'Epidural, please.' "

"The only thing I haven't done so far is experience the closest thing to God and that's having a baby. I can't wait."

-Brit brit


She's not a kid anymore (matter of fact, she's raising one!), but it's as though she still exists in the mental and emotional state of a five year old.

I'm officially a student

I have my first exam tonight. It's a non-engineering class so I spent half the day yesterday memorizing lists and definitions. I felt twelve. The good thing is that it only takes a couple hours to study for it, freeing up plenty o' time to make a batch of chicken n' dumplings and to read half of Eldred's 106 Common Mistakes Homebuyers Make ... I'll keep you posted if it results in us not making any. I assure you, it has already prevented a few.

All this free time pre-exam does make me dread taking engineering classes again. All I can say is a big, fat ugh.

House Hunting Update

I know I haven't been putting any detailish things up about the house hunting. We have found a house we really like that's under construction in an old neighborhood, close to work, church and Target which pretty much covers the basic necessities of life. So I'm supposed to meet with the builder to see if we can change a few things about the house today or Monday. If things go well, we hope to put an offer down soon and then we hope that an angel will be sent down from heaven to fill out the paper work and double our down payment (and possibly throw in some guest bedroom furniture and maybe some artwork for the living room). Once things are more set in stone, there will be photo posting and wild announcements. Celebrations of unimaginable enormity will be in order.

Pet Peeve

Please do not send me photos that are greater than 2 MB a piece in an email. I can see the same photo when it's only 100 Kb. If you don't understand what I mean, you are probably the one that's sending them to me.

And don't come over and squish my toothpaste in all the wrong directions or flip the toilet paper upside down.

There. Now we can be friends again.

ok this is just weird

Is it possible that my logging in to Flickr made the photos work again? Does anyone out there know the answer to this?!?

Why aren't my pictures coming up?

If anyone knows the answer to the title of this posting, please feel free to help me out. I haven't had time to figure out this little puzzle, nor do I think I have the capability even if I had a weeks time to give my undivided attention to the problem.

Dr. J and I are in the middle of watching the first season of 24. I wish I had listened to our friends Maureen and Diego back in the day when they told us we would love that show because now we are completely addicted and it's costing us money to feed the addiction. It's just as well during the summer because there's nothing much on TV (save Dancing with the Stars) but the new season of Lost is right around the corner and we are going to have to start scheduling our evenings to get all this hard work in.

Also, since J and I are right around the corner with this house thing (we hope) let's start looking towards the Other Perks of getting out of our apartment .... namely, Dr. J will let me get another kitty. (Yes, we had wanted a dog, but it's looking like the house and yard will be a touch too small to support the canine of our choosing) .... Thus, shall we start thinking of names? Any ideas, little friends?

To guide your thoughts, with the exception of Daisy, I have always named the little ones after some favorite characters from books, movies, musicals, etc. Any favorites among you?

Dreamy Stupor

I am way too young to have chronic back pain but I do. It's in this one crampey spot and I can't get rid of it. Believe it or not I am pretty sure it's an ergonomic issue that I got from my last job which got so bad, I think I'm never going to rid myself of it. Anyway, so last night I took a muscle relaxer that the doc had given me (with much warning as to the drowsiness effects of it) and I fell into a drug induced coma which took me about 15 hours to sleep off. Needless to say I was a little late to work, but my back does feel a little better.

We had our quiktrip to the Big D this weekend to watch my little bro marry his new bride. In spite of absolutely everything going wrong for them, they still got married, so the end result was the same. At least the rain held off until 10 pm, as requested. Thanks, God, for a very timely, answered prayer.

Of panties and stockings ...

A friend of mine, and I mean "friend" in the true sense of the word, not code for "something-embarrassing-that-happened-to-me" (I really have no problem posting all my stupid stunts on the internet and claiming them as my own) went for her annual visit to the GYN recently. No, she didn't get stuck midway through a mammogram for 2.5 hours while the power went out and didn't accidentally use her daughter's glitter soaked washcloth to clean up that morning, she simply doesn't live in the United States at present and observed a few subtle differences between the procedure here and there. I didn't ask, but I'll venture a guess that it was still cold and unpleasant. Essentially, she had to undress, walk across the room, and lay on the "observation table" completely naked in front of her doctor. No one gave her a gown or an option.

It's no secret that nakedness is much more ... errr ... available outside of the States than it is within. And for someone like me who is painstakingly modest, I think I would have absolutely blushed from head-to-toe. My friend probably dealt with the situation with much better poise (in the psychological sense) than I would have. She simply accepted that there were no gowns in the available undressing area and just understood the situation. I probably would have asked for a gown and upon rejection, successively named each article of clothing I was wearing, begging to keep one of them on. Even if I ended up laying on an aluminum observation table wearing nothing but stockings.

It probably doesn't help any that when I was 12 I had to start going to the doctor every three months to get my back x-rayed (scoliosis). Mom and I didn't really know what to expect from the initial visit, certainly if we knew I was going to have to wear a hospital gown that didn't close in the back while I waddled back and forth across the room like a duck and then bent over and touched my toes in front of this Doogie Howser of an M.D. that we had given a "10" to when we walked in, I would have worn panties with fewer holes in them. Incidentally, the doctor had to ask my mother to leave the room until after the examination was over because she couldn't stop laughing. Dad was never prouder.

When Tragedy Strikes ...

I'm unspeakably saddened by what has happened to New Orleans and all along the Gulf Coast, and more than a little ashamed at the timeliness of our goverment's response.

However, I'm so proud of how the citizens in all the nearby states have turned out in droves to help out in any way they can, and the financial support from everyone else in the United States. Being from Texas, I'm hearing tons of stories of the outpouring of generosity from all the people there - giving their time, talents, clothing, food ... my mom is even doing laundry. Just to support the hundreds of thousands of people that are staying in shelters in Texas requires tens of thousands of citizens to help support them there. In the small county that I'm from alone, there are 1,000 refugees. And everyone is working to support them ... willingly, happily, and thankful to help.

I've never been prouder to call myself a Texan.

In total, I spent 10 hours on the phone with various airlines yesterday

And now we are on our way to Dallas for my brother's wedding this weekend instead of Houson/Galveston. Very much a last minute change. Their honeymoon cruise has also been cancelled since Carnival has donated the use of some of their cruise ships as shelters. I'm sure my brother and his wife don't mind a bit helping out the hurricane victims, however, you would think that Carnival would NOTIFY them of their cancelled cruise. They just luckily came across the cancellation while websurfing late Sunday night and had to call to verify.

Sigh. If only Dr. J and I could run the world. People would find out their cruise has been cancelled before they drive 6 hours to the dock.

That and air travel would be free. I don't know how I would work that out, but I would.

And cars would endlessly run off of their own emissions and there would be no pollution or $4 gas.

And world peace. And chocolate chip cookies would make you lose weight.

Let me warn you away from Delta

Delta is the most unorganized airline ever. We were given some flyer miles to use on the airline and it is nearly impossible to do, and it takes AT LEAST 2 - 4 hours to figure out what you can't do because their website and phone system BLOWS. Their phone system has left me on hold for 20+ minutes and then hung up on me before I get to speak with anyone THREE TIMES IN SUCCESSION. And I'm having to call them because to find ONE flight that's available for milage purchase takes half an hour. Not to mention how long it takes to compare flights.

DELTA. MAKE A CALENDAR OF YOUR BLACKOUT DATES AND/OR DATES WHICH REQUIRE HIGHER MILAGE. IT'S JUST NOT THAT HARD.

We never fly with them and this experience of attempting to fly with them has been so horrendous that I can't wait for it to be over and then to never mention their name again.

Maybe I will turn this blog into a place where you can publicly let others know how various companies - large and small - try to take advantage of the american consumer. I've got a few stories.

I love that I'm spending my entire holiday on this. Thanks.

Back to Happy Friday

I'm not sure what's to become of this thing, the blog thing, since it's original purpose has now been fulfilled. You've all seen my through my voyage to ColOmbia and have returned with, and beared with me through the initial marital chaos. So now what? Do I keep it up?

My current schedule isn't providing me with the mountainous supply of computer time I had grown accustomed to at my previous employment. Not that I'm complaining. I do, however, have a nugget of a story to share with you later, but for now, Good Morning to All and (in the spirit of yesteryear) ...

"The crime bill passed by the Senate would reinstate the Federal death penalty for certain violent crimes: assassinating the President; hijacking an airliner; and murdering a government poultry inspector."
Knight Ridder News Service dispatch

That should keep the gamecocks happy.

Oh, and GIG'EM AGS!!