Weekend Fun

I didn't have much planned for the weekend, and the possibilities for fun got even worse when I found out Jeff had to work the entire weekend in Houston, no less. So I was flying stag, with only one thing on the agenda.

Yesterday, after enjoying a quiet morning, I headed to Steele HS to watch Carilee coach the Lady Pirettes (Poth ISD) in game 2 of the regional finals for division 2A softball. Jeff and I had gone to game 1 on Friday and Poth was behind 1-0 in the 3 game series. I thought I was ready for the game. I had my camera, my folding chair, some water. But then I got there and as I observed the rest of the spectators under the 95 degree, burning sun, I realized shade was visible nowhere. Except for under the bleachers. Lots of people brought umbrellas. Doh! Luckily, Carilee's mom let me borrow some shade from her large (and in charge) umbrella and we settled down to a rowdy game 2. Poth pulled out that game and won over Halletsville! We had a 20 minute break, and then on to game 3. While they fought a mighty hard game (and also some idiotic calls from the 1st base umpire), unfortunately halletsville took game 3 to advance on to the state semi-finals.

Carilee did an awesome job coaching, and what a fantastic team of girls to coach. It was great!

Later that evening I picked up Mom & Dad from the airport. Late flight at 10:15pm. They were exhausted and had that 'travel-funk' smell to them (don't worry, I told them as much). :D Boy were they glad to be home. They had a fantastic time in Alaska, but 12 days is a long time for anyone, let alone anyone traveling with my father (haha, inside joke). So I dropped them off in Pipe Creek around 11:30 pm, in which they loaded me down with a ton of souveniers for both Jeff and I (thanks m&d) and I finally got home around midnight.

This morning I didn't want to sit around the house, and after mowing the front and back yard, I realized that our house looked like white-trash-ville since our flower beds, etc were all over grown. I headed out to lowes to find some flowers for the front bed and to stock up on some mulch. 3 hours later and the yard looks fab!! I'm itching to bbq, too bad Jeff's not here to enjoy.

Then I did something I hadn't done in about 2 years (sad). I took a towel, a book, and some water and went and laid out in my yard to catch some sun!! I used to layout all the time (might regret that one day) and I haven't really enjoyed it since we have this house (a thing with privacy and all that). But the day was too nice, and my legs were to pale to ignore! Needless to say, I'm a bit lobster-fied right now, but hopefully at least 2 shades darker once the redness goes away! ha!

Carilee's planning on coming over later to hang, watch a movie.

All around a great weekend. Nice and relaxed, but plenty to do as well. Hope you had a great one!

Real geeks Ride

I'm not sure how I came across these guys. Could of been Twitter, could of been Flickr. Regardless, this a pretty cool adventure these guys have mapped out for themselves.

They are biking across the U.S. to raise awareness for geeks to ride to work (cycle). They started five days ago and are documenting their journey on their site realgeeksride.com. This is a serious undertaking with plenty of sponsors and friends helping them along the way. There journey is slated to end on August 2nd, so we're still early on in their adventure.

I've done some initial browsing, but I like what they are doing. Photos, videos and blog posts are documenting their journey (and of course, they are also twittering @realgeeksride). I'm sure they'll have a ton of experiences and exciting memories after this is all said and done. Check 'em out.

Library of Congress on Flickr

Woman Suffrage Party

I came across their site awhile back, but thought I'd share for those who love browsing old photography. I could look at this stuff for hours. Early 1900 photography. The technology was still so very new and the quality of these images are awesome. Enjoy.

Library of Congress on Flickr

Remembering Those on Memorial Day

Happy Memorial Day everyone. Before you hop on that boat to take a ride around the lake or swing in your hammock reading your favorite book, don't forget to absorb the actual meaning of the day - those brave men and women who have lost their lives defending this GREAT country. They are easily forgotten behind our cushioned lifestyles, especially for those of us who do not serve. I am grateful for their service and will continue supporting our troops wherever they are in the world. Thank You!

We have spent the early morning doing some much needed chores around the house. Jeff is cleaning the garage (Shhhh, one word on the subject and he might stop. Let's just let him continue. It's looking good!). I went to Lowe's this morning in search of a few hanging plants to replace the dead shrubbery that, for some reason, I still had on display. *cringe*. I bought a desert plant that was, get this, drought resistant! I hope that means it is also, Colleen-not-so-green-thumbed resistant as well. It looks pretty in it's pot. Let's hope it stays that way. I also bought two new hanging plants that were on sale and some shears to clean up our red-tipped photinia shrubs that have gone wild in our backyard. Our back porch is clean and very inviting. Maybe we'll have to bbq something this afternoon so we can enjoy it.

Hope everyone has a wonderful day!

John and Pat tackle the Alaskan Wilderness

My father turned 60 ("I'm SIXTY!" + high kick) back in March and we threw an incredible surprise birthday party for him. It was great. But this isn't the point. The point is that this week he's cashing in on his present. A trip to Alaska.

They flew out early Tuesday morning and arrived yesterday in Denali, AK. Mom said it was a beautiful lodge and the mountains are amazing. They'll be in AK for another 9 days. And on Sunday, they hop on a cruise line to enjoy the rest of their trip.

Mom is blogging about their misadventures (?) on her new, family-friendly-no-political-talk-what-so-ever-blog that can be found here.

Not So Much

I was reading one of my blogs, dooce.com, earlier this evening and saw one of her banner ads with an unflattering picture of a prego woman wearing a full body suit (if you will). The words next to her read "Yo Mama! Soft and Stylish looks that are perfect for pregnancy." My interest was piqued as, after seeing their 'advertised' outfit, I was dying to see the rest.

Check out the site here: http://store.americanapparel.net/expecting-looks.html and I urge you to take a good long look. Make sure you watch the entire Flash reel at the top.

Would you be caught in any of these outfits as a pregnant woman? Nay! Not even pregnant. Would you be caught in any of these these outfits, PERIOD!?

Now. Scroll down. I particularly like the suggestion of wearing the Tri-Blend Halter Romper. Rather than hiding all the extra 'luggage' pregnancy tends to bring a long, this piece only insinuates why you are in the, ahem, condition you are currently in.

And it only gets worse! After visiting the home page: http://store.americanapparel.net/ their banner reads "Night Moves: Look Your Best After Dark" - Now am I just reading waaaay to into it or is that woman in the pink number suggesting a profession? I'll leave it at that as this is a family friendly blog.

Good laugh for the evening. Hope you enjoy. And as always, would love to hear from you.

Are you lost on LOST?

Season finale was tonight. And with great anticipation Jeff and I bunkered down and watched the 2-hour event (see what I'm saying about tv?). Anyway....this finale hardly answered any of my questions and as usual, bumped what I thought was my 200 question list to well over 300.

One more season to go and destiny will be found.

I won't say more as I know some of my readers *wink* are going to save their viewing for a few more days, but I would LOVE your thoughts if you are LOST watcher.

In For Treatment

Well, our beloved Sonny bun is undergoing treatment this morning for heartworms. I feel like the worst dog parent in the world. We had him on heartworm medication on and off over the years and then when we lapsed again, bam, he gets them.

But the vet is very optimistic as the tests showed a light tracing. The hard part is going to be recovery. The doctor said no 'strenuous activity' for 60 days. Hello? Has he ever seen a lab!?! They are nothing but hyper. I asked Jeff to ask the doctor for a light sedative we may be able to use on him just to keep him mildly calm.

So we had to put his rope away. And his ball. So he doesn't get overexcited. They said that if they do too much, the could have an aneurysm during recovery.

Anyway, he's staying overnight at the vets office today for observation after his treatment and we can pick him up in the morning.

Next on our to-do is take the cats in to get them checked as well. argh.

Happy Mother's Day!

To my Mother and all the other mothers out there!

I'm Taking it as a Sign

About two weeks ago, in the midst of my self-pity party, Jeff and I had a 'Come-to-Jesus' talk on many aspects of our lives. Without delving in to every detail, I'll touch on one. The existence of t.v. in our lives. I am the first to admit I watch a ton of it. I've got a 'show' for almost every (but not quite) night of the week. You would think that thought would of made me cringe earlier on, but alas, the thought has only recently begun to gnaw on my conscience.

There are things I keep saying I want to do. I remember at the beginning of 2008 I was going to have my personal finance blog up and running, and yet, mid-May of 2009 I've yet to do it. I also want to start my freelance travel writing, but have I sat down to write one article? Negative.

Although my days are scattered with random bits of work these days, I can attest that my daytime television is minimal. An upside, if you will. However, any kudos I can give myself from that is quickly destroyed with the amount of hours I watch in the evening. And really, who's trying to tally that up.

The second sign (the first being my discussion with Jeff) came last week, I was scrolling through some tweets when I came across this article. Aptly named, "How Dumping TV Allowed Me to Quit My Job, Create an Online Business and Fund My Retirement Account" http://tinyurl.com/3crwuz

Finally the last straw came this afternoon. I had read a blog entry that a guy I went to high school posted on his Facebook page. He gave t.v. up (and urged the rest of us to try it) and instead read, and not just magazines. Heavy stuff. Deep stuff. And, though I don't know much about his life since h.s. it looks like he's also been spending that time getting fit, another plus.

I'm taking it as a sign that enough is enough. I thought the world would end when there was no more Friends. But you know what? The earth is still rotating, and I can hardly remember all that time I devoted to the show. As a matter of fact, if I wouldn't of watched it in the first place, the world would still keep turning.

Cutting cable could also help the pocketbook, which could lead to one of my FIRST blog entries in that personal finance blog I've been meaning to start... Hey. I think this is all leading somewhere.

Cinco De Mayo

Happy Cinco de Mayo. Don't forget to drink a cerveza in celebracion!