Hong Kong Phooey

This is the little area where our AC unit is housed. The people who had our house before had two large dogs so they built this little area to keep the AC unit safe.

Sparky is always such a romantic! He makes me giggle! He made me smile after having a less than perfect experience at the diagnostic clinic. I love you sparky!

(Andrew took these pixs, he thinks he is the Prince of Belaire :)

.....rearranging SOMETHING in the house for the umpteenth time! We decided that since I am no longer working at home, we needed to change the home office into a spare bedroom (AGAIN). I think the finished product turned out great! It looks like a real guest bedroom. We bought a cheapy computer armoire to house all of the computer junk. I am at about 80% complete.

So last Friday at about 10AM I got one of my famous migraine headaches. It came on like a ton of bricks and by noon I was ready to die. Literally. I decided that I would go out to my car during lunch and take a little nap. Believe it or not it was not that hot in the parking garage. I get into my car and I move it to a better location, so as to not be bothered by other people. I turn the car off and I lean my seat back. SCRATCH SCRATCH. I lean my seat back up. What the hell was that noise? I listen again. SCRATCH SCRATCH. I pin point the noise and it is coming from my dashboard. I listen again. OMG, there is a living animal stuck in my dashboard. I start to FREAK OUT. My head is racing, what do I do? How did it get in there? Is it going to come flying out of there while I am driving? The scratching stops. OKAY, my head hurts, I am feeling sick, MAYBE, I am just “thinking” I heard a noise. I talk myself out of the noise. I recline my seat back. Calm thoughts, calm thoughts. The car next to me starts up; my car kinda shakes from the vibrations. SCRATCH SCRATCH. There it is again! Okay, I am not imagining things, I know what I hear and I heard a live animal in there. I call Andrew and he offers no support. He tells me that it is possible for something to get in there and that he will look at it when I get home. NOT GOOD ENOUGH. I want it out now! What to do, what to do. So I did what I always do, I went to go grab some lunch (with the animal in my dashboard). I run over a pot hole, the animal lands when I land. I can hear it in there! I turn a corner really fast, SCCCCRRRAATTTCCCHHHHHH. Hold on little buddy! I get my food, drive back to the garage, and the animal and I eat together. I go back into my office, both traumatized and confused about what just happened. By 4PM I was really ready to die from my headache. I get into my car and I turn it on (hoping that I would not hear the sound again). I get out of the parking garage and I hear SCRATCH SCRATCH. OMG. I pull over to the first car mechanic place I see. I go in, tell them that there is a live animal in my dashboard. They all laugh at me. I leave my car there. I call Andrew and tell that it is not safe for me to drive the car with a live animal in the dashboard b/c if it came out of there I would be dead from a car crash. I tell him to come pick me up.

Guess how this story ends? Yup, they never found anything. I am now waiting for the smell to come along OR, JUST MAYBE, the animal got out the way it came in. We can hope!

While I was in the tub last night, I called Andrew to come into the bathroom for something. I can’t remember what I asked him, but I guess he thought it was silly and he said, “Don’t TOY with me WOMAN!” and walked out! I found this hilarious!

Okay, for those of you that read dooce.com, have you noticed the links on the left side of the page? If not, I happened to take notice of a particular link yesterday.

It read,
The Shape of a Mother (http://shapeofamother.blogspot.com)
Images of real bodies before and after pregnancy. Absolutely stunning and beautiful. Some NSFW. Makes me now feel more proud of the stretch marks I got on my thighs while carrying Leta. (thanks, Valerie)
So I went to this site and I have to be honest here, I was not prepared for what I was about to view. It was interesting to say the least, so of course I sent the link to Andrew. He found the site interesting and intriguing, as he is not scared of pregnant woman.

Then from that link we went to some link about breasts. The link is 007 something or another. YOU HAVE TO CHECK these sites out. They are not sexual in nature, but there are pictures that are not appropriate for the workplace. THEREFORE, view them at home people!

My brother use to eat these all the time when we were kids! He ate them so much, that I cannot even LOOK at them today without wanting to puke! Happy Birthday Bubba!
http://www.bad-candy.com/candies/circuspeanuts/

Andrew and I have been running around like crazy people the last few months. It seemed like we had something to do every weekend until this weekend!

This weekend we didn't have one commitment (not to say that we actually got to lay around and relax like lazy bums, as if!).

Honestly, we worked out tails off cleaning house, organizing, rearranging, and paying bills. During our crazy busy time we let the house go and everything else in it and out of it (being the yard and garage).

Andrew did manage to surprised me by taking me out to dinner on Saturday night for date night. He took me to Rudi Lechners (http://www.rudilechners.com/). The food was awesome, the band was cool, and the company was out of sight!

I am glad we got to spend some time together and I felt special because he had to "make reservations" just for us to get in and eat. He is such a sweetie and always thinking of ways to make me happy :)

Everyone in my department at work has to read Now, Discover Your Strengths by Marcus Buckingham and Donald O. Clifton, Ph.D. by the end of the month. We just got the book yesterday, but before we can start reading it, we have to take this 180 question test to find our strengths. So I took the test and according to these people, my top five strengths are,

1. Discipline (Your world needs to be predictable.)
2. Consistency (Balance is important to you.)
3. Significance (You want to be very significant in the eyes of other people.)
4. Harmony (You look for areas of agreement.)
5. Belief (If you possess a strong *Belief theme, you have certain core values that are enduring.)

I have been reading the autobiography of Mary Kay. Don't even ask how or why I am reading it, I just am! Any who, I found this really great quote I want to share,

"Happiness is different things to different people. I suppose everyone has his or her own definition of happiness, but I'd like to share my formula with you. To me, happiness is, first, having work that you love to do--something you like so much you'd do it even if you weren't paid. Second, happiness is someone to love. And third, it is having something to look forward to."

BTW....I thought the book would be very cheesy, but I am actually enjoying it!

I happened to be in the kitchenette area when the cleaning lady came through.

She noticed some wadded up paper towels by the sink and some coffee splatter on the counter.

She grabbed the paper towels, let out a HUGE sigh and threw them into the trash.

Then she grabbed her spray bottle, let out another HUGE sigh and started to clean up the coffee splatter.

Then she started to shake her head back and forth with a look of disgust on her face.

I know exactly what she was thinking, “If these stupid ass people would clean up after themselves it would make my job a whole HELL of a lot easier.”

Well, guess what cleaning lady….if we cleaned up after ourselves you would be out of a JOB!

Then I asked to borrow her spray bottle because my lunch had exploded in the microwave and I didn’t want her to see the mess I made because I felt really guilty about it.

I bet she is somebody’s mother.

I could feel the rays of guilt radiating off of her body and into mine.

Definitely a mother.

Sorry Mom.

Andrew and I wore our matching Dynamo shirts over the Ramelow's on Saturday.

Sunday I got to go see the Lion King with my Mom and some of her friends. Another 10 out of 10 show. I cannot even begin to describe how awesome the show was! Just go and see it! Take the kids! I saw kids in the audience from as young as one to 90 and they all had HUGE smiles on their faces.

Melody and I went to the Wynonna concert Saturday night! We had a great time! We meet at 6:00 for dinner and drinks. The drinks part was Melo’s idea so I got a drink b/c I didn’t want to seem like an oldtimer (with cheese!). I ordered this drink called the Big Easy Blue. Let me tell you something, if you want a drink that gives you a lot of bang for your buck invest in the Big Easy Blue! I should have know it was a strong drink when our waitress asked us who was driving after dinner!

So we ate dinner, drank our drinks, and then RUSHED to Jones Hall. We left Logan’s Roadhouse at 7:30 and the concert started at 8:00! We actually got to Jones Hall in time and rushed in to our seats. Actually, we went to the restroom and I almost DIED from going up and down some very LONG stairways, but I DIGRESS!

We get to our seats and wouldn’t you know out of the whole dang place the COUNTRY BUMPKINS from CUT AND SHOOT, Texas sat right behind us. YES THEY DID! Two nasty girls with tight jeans and mullets sat behind us and proceeded to eat some sort of candy that created a lot of noise (and they talked during part of the show). It sounded like they wrere eating Reese’s pieces or something to me, but I DIGRESS!

Some people complained about the country bumpkins and they got their act together for the rest of the show. At one point the attendant asked Melo and I if those girls were bothering us and I said, “Yes, they are ruining my experience here at Jones Hall!”

Then the old man sitting next to Melo feel asleep within like 5 minutes of the show and she accidentally bumped his arm that was hogging her armrest and knocked his arm off of the armrest. I don’t think he ever woke up! That gave us some laughs and mad us forget about the Cut and Shoot girls.

Overall, we had a blast. The show was a 10 out of 10. Wynonna never sounded so good and let me tell you she has true talent. I have seen a lot of people in concert, and I have to say she sounds better in person. Just awesome. I couldn’t have though of a better evening with Melo and Wynonna!

I could have gotten a better picture, but cameras were not allowed and I didn't want my camera to be taken away! So I was only able to take two pictures!

This weekend I got to go see Wynonna in concert.

I don’t know how many of you guys are familiar with her song “Is It Over Yet,” but to hear it in concert with a symphony behind her made it so much more real and emotional for me.

I thought I was going to burst out in tears at Jones Hall!

Any who, that song made me think about where I have been in my life (like kicking some a**hole out of my apartment because he was a good for nothing loser one month before our wedding, I DIGRESS) and where I am now (living my life with a wonderful husband and our three animal children).

That song made me think about how lucky I am to have Andrew.

That song made me think about how much I don’t say IT enough.

IT = how much I love him
IT = how much I appreciate him (especially for putting up with me when I turn into CupCrank)
IT = how much I see him trying to be the man I want him to be (which he already is to me)
IT = how much my heart melts when I sneak a peak of him and he is not looking
IT = how much he means to me and how grateful I am that God brought him into my life
IT = everything!

I love you Sparky!

From the box of my Espresso Beans covered in Dark Chocolate, “There is an enchanted place where tender cacao plants thrive in the shadows of hearty coffee trees. Their slender pods are gathered and transformed to create Starbucks chocolate-captivating with coffee, delightful on its own.”

I love the way they worded the description of these highly-addictive beans,

Enchanted place
When I read this, I thought who wouldn’t want to go to an enchanted place?! I imagined I was on the Blue Lagoon beach frolicking along the water in the nude with my long hair covering my ample breasts.

Tender cacao plants thrive
When I read this, I thought oh so very tender and delicate those cacoa plants! I just wanted to scoop them up and love on them like a little newborn puppies!

Shadows of hearty coffee trees
When I read this, I thought to myself, “And then out of the shadows I spotted the tall, strong coffee trees that had survived the terrible storm.”

Slender pods
When I read this, I thought who wouldn't want to be slender? I also started to think about pea pods and how I would love to look that thin!

Gathered and transformed to create
When I read this, I thought about the umphalumphas and one of those candy making machines from the Willy Wonka movie.

Captivating with coffee
When I read this, images of Cinderella dancing with the Price right before the clock struck midnight ran through my mind. The Prince was captivating!

Delightful on its own
When I read this, it made me think about how delightful it was for me to take this trip down Starbuck's very seductive advertising road :) I guess I fell for it, I want more of their stuff!

Andrew and I just got back from our night in Galveston! We had a good time, we need to do this more often :) Here are some pixs, enjoy!

I have been meaning to post this pixs for awhile, but I just downloaded them from my camera! At James' first b-day party the kids put on these b-days hats with the rubber strings. I put one on Carsten and he could not figure out where the weird sensation under his chin was coming from. I laughed and laughed until Karol made me take it off of him! Sorry Bubby, Aunt Meme had a good laugh at your expense!

I got suckered into co-hosting a Mary Kay party for my friend Alison. I was a little leary at first, but we had a great time! I am glad I co-hosted it!