Charlie & Jaime

Neti Pots and Snoring Dogs

2012-01-04T22:23:00.001-06:00

Today I stayed home from work after getting sick for the first time in a really long time. Crummy.

I think it's the weather. Well of course it's the weather, isn't that always what it is? Changes in climate, from 30 degrees to 70 degrees and back to 40 degrees again. Icky germs floating around everywhere at the holidays on the door handles, the mailers, shoelaces and the like. All of this is further amplified by the crappy weather swings.

You see, normally my immune system is tops. Like "King of the World!!" tops. The ol' system usually scoffs at those nasty nasties that float in the air like its wearing an ascot and a smoking jacket. "Away with you Nasty Nasties!" my immune system would say in disgust, "I'm trying to sit by this fire and smoke from my pipe..." ...and then it would wave its hand with disinterest. Then the germs go away. No harm no foul.

Somehow I must have let my immune system go on holiday...and it's refused to come back. So here I am, home sick. Sniffles, weak cough, sore throat, congested. In short: grumpy and miserable. No aches, so that's good, right? I'm loathe to take any medicine, as many of you in my fan base know. I'd rather keep my body as clear of chemicals as possible, when possible. I'm not a fanatic about it, but I do think it's important to make a conscious decision about what chemicals, hormones, genetically modified, unnatural stuff is going in. So I try to pay attention...but I digress, sort of.

Before the holidays, I cracked and took an ibuprofen from a coworker for a raging, lack-of-caffeine induced headache. Then, a couple days ago I cracked and took acetaminophen. Yes this is a big deal. So today, when I awoke and decided to stay home from work, I succumbed to the lure of a full dose of Dayquil and went back to bed. I hoped it would put a dent in my miserable state, and it did help. Note: I find Dayquil-then-bedtime to be a solid combo. Nyquil knocks the heck outta me and I'm not feeling that drowsy aftershock with the Dayquil.

<wow this is a long post>

So I was feeling guilty about taking the dreaded "chemical meds" and proceeded to search out other alternatives. Enter the Neti pot and cups upon cups of homemade ginger/lemon/honey tea. I even sprung for the fancy Kleenex with the "cooling agent" and soft and silky feel. Big time! The tea made my throat feel better being hot and refreshing and all that. PLUS, ginger is supposed to be a natural decongestant and antihistamine, so per several online recommendations I made a brew of my own: 1" peeled, sliced ginger simmered for 20 minutes in 2 cups of water. Remove ginger, squeeze 1/2 a small lemon's worth of juice into a cup and add a tablespoon of honey (or to your liking). It was delicious! I don't know if it actually helped my congestion, but I think it may have. Jury's still out, but it's a reasonable method to try if you don't want to go full-chem lab on your body.

The Neti pot is something I had heard of, but never tried. It creeped me out. You see, a Neti pot is meant to cleanse your naval cavities of the dirty gunk that hides away in the deep dark crevices of that space. It's a place you never see, but can feel when you're stuffed up and of course seepage always comes out of it - sometimes clear, sometimes colorful. Either way, it's not a place one ventures on a daily basis; at least most of us don't.

"But what is this pot of Neti?" you ask. Basically you put some water in the pot, mix in this solution that makes it saline, then pour it into your nose and let it drain out the other side. It was kinda scary to try it, but I did and I think I like it. I mean not as if I want to do it every day "like" it, but when I'm feeling the congestion or the sickness coming on it can clean out the hiding dirties, the Nasty Nasties, if you will. The sensation isn't all that odd, but the concept is. Follow the directions, be careful of the type of water you use to avoid bacterial infections, and keep your Neti clean.

Lastly, the best part about being sick (other than not having to go to work) is getting to stay home with my dogs. They say dogs can sense things about you, emotionally, physically. I don't take offense when my dog sticks her nose directly in front of my mouth, sniffing inquisitively, intently. I wonder what she's sensing other than last night's sausage pasta. What about me can she sense, can she stink with her cute little wet nose and flappy nose flaps going in and out? I think they know. Mommy's not feeling well. So they cuddle me; turn in circles and circles and circles to find that exact right spot upon which to flop down in a tiny bundle, snout upon curled under paws, just close enough to make contact with me and let me know they're there for me. Then they snore and dream and I love every second of it. Especially the part of the dream where her little paws frantically run to somewhere and her tongue sticks out and starts drinking water or eating something. I could watch it for hours. That alone makes me feel better.

Neti pots and snoring dogs. Here's to hoping tomorrow brings better health!

2011 and 2012

2012-01-01T13:31:00.000-06:00

We won't take the time to itemize the year 2011, but do remember it as being a decent year. Nothing too spectacular happened, except for our brand new nephew and Godson (fancy!), Henry Molton Meehan :) That's pretty spectacular!

The four of us Texas Marshiks are kicking it in full effect and living a good life. We are gainfully employed, healthy, and still love and appreciate one another fully. For this life and the special people who share it with us, we are very thankful. We are especially grateful to the family and friends who supported us this year as we reflected on our lifestyle, relationships, priorities, and values. Thank you for your patient ear, kind heart and thoughtful encouragement.

We look forward to the upcoming year and to sharing it with you!

Much Love & A Big "What's Up!" to Aught Twelve!
-Jaime and Charlie

Driving in Style

2011-12-27T16:29:00.001-06:00

This is how it should be. Wish I had a snuggle pillow :)

I'm A Genius

2011-12-17T17:08:00.001-06:00

...and I also fixed my own washing machine. Woo woo!

The other day my washing machine started beeping at me and flashing error messages on the little screen. I didn't even know my machine could flash anything but the infernal "16" minutes remaining there always seems to be when I'm trying to wash clothes in a hurry.

The water wasn't draining (read: HUGE sloppy puddle in my machine), so at first I had to hand-wring my heaviest clothes to get the water out which of course were towels, jeans and sweaters... I was out of a washing machine. I was sad.

Then, Google to the rescue! Others had seen this failure message and most had an easy fix: clean out the filter! Apparently your washing machine has a filter that lies somewhere between the the drain hose for the drum (where the water and clothes are) and the pump that sucks the water through the hose and out the back of your machine through another hose. Now that I think about it, it makes sense to have a filter, but I had no idea there was one.

I popped off the front panel of the washer with the fancy screwdriver that looks like an asterisk. Behold, the innards of the washing machine:

I jammed a towel underneath the frame of the machine as people had suggested on "the google". Turned the filter cap and nasty smelling water streamed out, soaking my beach towel. Soaked. *Good tip Google people!*

You can see the gross inside, but it wasn't anything so spectacular as I was expecting. Some slime, a few sewing pins (oops), and oh yeah, a GIANT rigid metal piece the size of my hand! I have no idea where that piece came from and I only hope it wasn't from the machine itself...

So I cleaned out the gunk, took the pump off and made sure the impeller still turned properly (which it did) to ensure it wasn't an obvious pump problem, returned the pump to its rightful place, and then did a test wash. No leaks, full drain capability, I'm awesome!

Shenanigans

2011-12-17T16:49:00.001-06:00

When I left with Kirby on a walk to get the mail, Sammie was barking in the backyard. When I came home, Sammie was inside the house wagging her tail and staring at me through the front screen door. No wonder she was so proud... Click here to see.

Feeling Guilty

2011-12-14T22:55:00.001-06:00

The "Village Ten" pizza...all for me!!!

New Girl

2011-12-06T19:58:00.001-06:00

If you aren't into this show, you should be. New Girl is my new favorite show and oh-em-jee it rules. I almost pee my pants every time I watch it. You can catch up online at fox.com/new-girl. DO IT! You just might pee yourself too... :D

Little Gardeners

2011-11-30T20:42:00.001-06:00

Someone decided to be helpful with the melon harvest. Girls were outside all day, found this guy in the middle of the yard. Kirby danced around it several times, then tried to pick it up. Hmmmm... Someone must have gotten it there. See the teeth scrapes all over?

Brrr

2011-11-28T23:30:00.001-06:00

You know it's cold in your house when your furriest and fattest dog is shivering in her bed, teeth chattering and all! Time to pile on the blankets!

Chandy

2011-11-27T19:13:00.001-06:00

One of my sweet deals from the shopping excursion in San Marcos was a fabulous capiz chandelier from West Elm (here). After bargaining with the manager to get a more pristine shade piece, the chandelier which came in two pieces (shade with capiz shells and canopy) left in my hands for 64% off retail. Booyah. I had been eyeing this chandelier for some time online, but never wanted to pay retail for it. This find was HUGE!

So home I went and decided to hang this thing all by myself. No problem. Sure, I am not the electrician in the family and of course I hadn't hung a chandelier by myself before, but why not. As you can see, here is the before picture of my dining room. The builder-grade chandelier you see was the centerpiece of room and very uninspiring. Snooze and not my style.

I had many struggles with the new chandy, which included:

1. The ceiling hole from the old chandelier was wider than the baseplate of the new chandelier. Patch/tape/mud/sand needed.

2. Shade and canopy did not match. Nope. Luckily the outlet had the matching canopy, and they sent a courier to pick up the old canopy and deliver the matching canopy. Amazing!

3. It took over an hour to unfurl the carefully packaged, triple bagged and taped, extremely fragile capiz shell danglies. None broken, I'm awesome.

4. But the ultimate "struggle": I may have put a stepstool on the table (with the table runner still on it) since I was too short to reach the ceiling. I may have had the chandelier canopy hanging from my shoulder while I was sweating in the dark with a spotlight illuminating the ceiling, trying my hand at wiring the chandy. I may have had my pockets stuffed full of wire nuts, screwdrivers, and screws. I may have shimmied the stool too close to the edge of the table, the stool may have fallen off, I may have thrown the canopy to the floor and I may have, just maybe, done some parkour from the falling stool, to the table, to a chair to the foyer to save my stupid hide. ...this may have happened.

Good stuff.

At the end of several days, the new chandelier was hung and I love how it turned out. What do you think?

Speaking of Weed...

2011-11-20T13:25:00.001-06:00

I had Hemp-anadas and Hemp Brownies with my Grilled Salmon Pasta at Ruggles Green yesterday, mmmmmmm. They were delicious!!

Lauren and I chowed down, then saw the movie J Edgar at Studio Cinema Grill. The movie was good, I thought. Interesting man, interesting time, so many secrets!

I am going to see the latest Twilight movie at some point, but I'll be danged if I was going to see it on opening weekend. There were so many teenagers and well..."unsavory" movie-goers there, it was craziness! Also, since when did going to the movies involve dressing your hoochiest? There was booty and one-piece unitards and prostitute shoes and more booty!! It.was...fashionable? Egads. I'm old.

The Half Acre Weed

2011-11-17T12:09:00.001-06:00

...okay, maybe that's too big a stretch from the "Hundred Acre Wood", but that's what I dealt with during yesterday's lawn-mowing adventure. 3 weeks+ of growth was a bit of a challenge. Good news: it's now done!

...and it appears some folks are already enjoying not having to high-step through the backyard jungle ;) can you see the wee ones?

Deals, Swollen Feet and Some VIP Action

2011-11-13T08:09:00.003-06:00

On Saturday, us Strandmark Ladies hit up the San Marcos Premium Outlets. Let me tell you how excited we were to hit up the home goods outlets: Williams Sonoma, Pottery Barn, Crate and Barrel and ...the piece de resistance: Restoration Hardware Outlet!! OUT-LET people!! For anyone who knows, I'm in a total RH phase right now - I love the industrial, yet classic elegance of their style but whooo-weee! Are they expensive! So, you can imagine the pitter-pat of my heart when I saw they had an outlet...le sigh :)

Anyhoo, we hit the WS/PB outlet first and hit it strong! We all came out with fabulous deals and while I can't show my two best finds just yet (soon, my pretties!), I can tell you the best part:

West.

Elm.

Outlet.

Section.

What whaaaaaaaaat? You heard me. Zee outlet of zee Elm. A-booyah!

So we had a wonderfully successful venture at those first stores, then hit the luscious RH outlet where I will definitely go back if I ever want to get anything from RH. I drooled over this Kensington Upholstered Linen Couch...gaaaaaaaaaaah. Maybe next time :)

The next 7 hours were spent shopping, eating lunch at Johnny Rockets (Turkey Route 66 on a wheat bun - delicious!), commenting on passers-by, and enjoying each others' company. We took our weary and swollen feet back to the hotel with our bags and bags of spoils, rested for about an hour then headed back out to downtown Austin for some evening fun.

We first stopped at Parkside and shared a smattering of small dishes including their divine mac and cheese - a must try! Our delightful server Marissa (seriously attentive and so helpful) gave us some good suggestions for where to go that evening, including the Elephant Room and Cedar Street Courtyard. As we departed the restaurant for our venue of choice (the Elephant Room), we hit some topless, trashy folks just waltzing in a clump down 6th street....gross. Yes, ladies with boobs and no top. A few of them. Gross boobs - not the good kind. ...let's move on.

There was a line at the Elephant Room to get in, so we kept on keeping on. And thank goodness, because Cedar Street Courtyard was such a fun time! We got in to the venue free and were able to score some VIP seats on the balcony area with a private bar and a great view over the stage. Mom, Faith and I enjoyed the cover band Encore, I drank too many G&Ts and then we hit the hay around 1am. Woot woot! Late nite for Jaimers!

All in all it was a banner Saturday with gorgeous weather, gorgeous ladies and swollen feeties from shopping and dancing. Amazing!

Night With the Ladies!

2011-11-11T21:48:00.003-06:00

Mom and Faith came to visit me this weekend for a little girl's weekend in Austin! So far so good! We picked Faith up at the airport (mom came in yesterday) and headed straight to Austin. We walked to the Capitol which is really pretty, if you haven't been, then went to try to see the Congress Bridge bats. Needless to say they had already migrated to Mexico this year, so instead we headed to Hank's Garage for happy hour drinks and duck fat frites...mmmmm. this place was goooooo-ood! Curry ketchup and dill creme fraiche dipping sauce, delightful! I did, however spill my drink, but the bartender made me a new one for free so yay! From there we went to BD Riley's Pub, had some drinks and grub, saw a bagpiper dude play fo reals, then the lady next to us went ass over tea kettle in her chair! Poor thing :) once filled we trounced up the street to a bar called Latitude, where I had a G&T (gin and tonic, obvy) and we listened to a good blues band. Loud, but good! I'm getting oldie moldy in my ears, so... Stuff is often too loud or too quiet these days for me, *sigh*.

I had a great time with mom and Faithie, tomorrow shopping!!

Who's Your Buddy?

2011-11-08T18:50:00.002-06:00

DST

2011-11-07T19:42:00.002-06:00

Anyone who knows me understands I target 9:30 pm for bedtime and anything later is often a miracle. I'm old, I likes me sleep - so sue me! Anyhoo, this evening as I was watching TV, I decided to congratulate myself for staying up so late. I was truly proud.

...then I realized it was only 6:30 pm.

Daylight Savings Time, you and your concept stink. "Fall Back" THIS!

I hope you're all coping better than this ol' bird :)

Sunday Part Two

2011-11-06T19:19:00.004-06:00

So...I decided to tack on a few more tasks to today's agenda including a self-pedicure, baking cinnamon-chocolate chip cookies, and burgers for dinner. As usual, I did all of them simultaneously trying to maximize my use of time.

Good news: Cookies and burgers turned out well. Cookies are tasty! Pedi even survived the cookie fiasco.

Bad news: There was a cookie fiasco.

Oh! You don't know what I mean? Well, I may have accidentally bumped the Kitchenaid switch while dumping flour in the mixer. Let me show you.

Good stuff :)

Sidebar: Feet with the toe-separators in make feet look more gnarly than usual. The flour footprint, however, is bad ass.

Ruff Sunday

2011-11-06T14:43:00.001-06:00

Reaping the rewards of a few miles biking and a couple running. I hope you are as at peace with the world as these jokers! Happy Sunday everyone!

Fall Baking!

2011-11-05T15:18:00.002-05:00

To commemorate the beautiful Fall day today, I ran 2 miles with Sammie and biked a mile with Kirby. I am so thankful Kirby does well running alongside my bike...not perfect, but good enough that I don't fall off and she gets her exercise :) we make a good team I think!

Tuckered out, it was time for dog napping and Mommy baking! A couple weeks ago I bought a bucket o' pears at the Farmer's Market and it's time to finally use them. I googled pear galette and found a fab recipe on epicurious.com for an Almond-Pear Galette: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Almond-Pear-Galette-236924

It was pretty easy to make, but took a little time between steps; perfect for a Fall day! Give it a try, it turned out yummy!!

All Hallows

2011-10-31T18:02:00.001-05:00

As a late addition to this Halloween, my neighbors smelled gas in their house so... LCFD to the rescue!! Fire trucks and sirens and flashing lights! Wooohooo! Everything turned out okay, so that's good news for all.

Also, the kids who came to the door said both: "it's not as scary as last year" and "it's the scariest house ever!!" Some of the parents were also joking they had to bribe the kids to come up to our door cuz it was so scary... Yay, I guess? :D

Happy Halloween everyone!

Bikes & 'Cakes

2011-10-30T16:55:00.005-05:00

Today was gorgeous outside, yay!! Sunny, breezy, perfect temperature. Lauren and I biked from my house to a local cupcake shop, Rise Cupcakes (www.risecupcakes.com). They just opened in September and I will definitely go back. Moist cake, strong flavors and cute decor. All in all we biked almost 12 miles round trip!! Woohoo! I expect a sore butt-crotch tomorrow from the journey, but it will have been well worth it :)

I hope you all had a bright and sweet weekend!

Mmmmm

2011-10-29T20:04:00.001-05:00

It's a New Age and Jersey Girl kind of night.
...someone here might be jealous.

Bounty!

2011-10-28T21:30:00.001-05:00

A cool front came through last night, so I was able to finally get a reprieve from the mosquitoes and tend to the garden. This is probably close to the season's last fruits...

Hot

2011-10-26T18:17:00.001-05:00

A little "post-run with Mommy" fat tongue. So hot!!

Note: Mommy is also sweating profusely from the brief run x2 in capri pants and a long sleeve tshirt, but you will not see any pix of that! Separate runs with each dog, since both are too much to handle for me at one time = double sweat!! Why the full-body cover in 80+ degree weather? Yep, still skeeto infested here!

I hope you're living skeetie-free!

Ahhhhhhh...

2011-10-25T09:18:00.001-05:00

This is the way to spend a morning with your husband! Cup of tea, breezy air and foot cuddles :)

Mozzies

2011-10-24T19:58:00.002-05:00

I remember when we went to Africa and I was all worried about contracting Yellow Fever and Malaria from mosquitos. It turned out there weren't very many mosquitos there (at the time at least) and I was so un-worried I began to adore their name for mosquitos, "mozzies". "Mozzie-spray" this and "mozzie coil" that... "Oh how cute!" I thought. Tee hee hee...

Ahhhhhhhhh mozzies. I remember why I dislike you, MANY!

The area I live in got a few inches of rain a few weeks ago and since it has "cooled off" to a balmy high of 85 only (yay!), the rain has stayed and the mozzies, they are-a-breedin'. It's a literal swarm of mozzies all over the dogs as they go outside for potty and it's a Marshik-family slap-fest when they get in.

The dogs are faring okay still, though their little legs (less hair) and faces (least hair) get bitten pretty frequently. The fat-juicy mozzies get smashed by Mama Marshik and it's bye-bye suckers! Mama Marshik is the entree du jour every time, probably because I'm so sweet. My feet and ankles and neck and arms have SO many bites, it's crazy.

I do think Texas mozzies are worse than MN ones. It's true folks, it's true. MN is a close second, but Texas takes the cake for big ol' skeeties.

I'm usually against sprays and chemicals and what have you, but in this case...SPRAY CITY SPRAYYYYYYY! They are supposed to be spraying the area I live in tonight, so let's hope it helps.

Our cooler temps are a welcome reprieve from the sweltering drought this summer season, and I am thrilled to be able to enjoy those temperatures :) I hope you are all enjoying this lovely autumn!

Hi There

2011-10-01T13:02:00.005-05:00

Hello there world! It's time again for another session of Bloggo!

Life has been pretty crazy lately, so let's get caught up:

I'm still navigating my way through the mystical world of my new job. So far I am managing okay, and looking forward to getting the most out of this new position that I can.
In August Charlie and I had our 6-year anniversary -woo!!! It's been a fabulous 6 years of marriage and I am thankful every day to be married to such a rock-star of a husband. Mwah!
Carey and Chris brought our new nephew Henry Molton Meehan into the world and he is super cute! Charlie got the opportunity to see him in person upon arrival in MN for his sister's big 40th birthday bash. Great times abound on the Marshik side of the family!
My sister's kids are doing really well and Noah started school this year. Preschool, that is. He's simply adorable and little B is always stylin' with his cheeks and glasses, so you can't beat that!
Charlie and I took an Indian Cooking class during Houston Restaurant Weeks at Rice Epicurian Market and had a wonderful time - our table ruled! Good food and good times.
Thanks to Groupon we got to take an Intro to Scuba open water class and that was super fun. I was a bit freaked out at first, which surprised me, but in the end I think I got the idea and paddled myself around the practice lake. I might try for my Scuba cert even! Stay tuned for that one.
Mom just came to visit and it was really nice to have some girl time :) Faith and Mom will be coming to visit in November for a "real" girls weekend and I can't wait!

That's all for now - I hope life is treating you all well!

Sniff!

2011-07-12T12:01:00.002-05:00

...I can't help it. I'm a lost cause.

I deplore Billy Ray Cyrus and his re-emerging mullet.

And yet, this DOES. NOT. STOP. ME.

At the very first snippet of a 'reveal' from the commercial for that new show "Surprise Homecoming" on TLC (a show about deployed servicemen coming home as a surprise to their families)...you guessed it. I start boo-hooing like an idiot.

What's worse is this eye-watering happens every time I see the commercial. EVERY TIME. If you watch HGTV as often as I do, you obviously know that TLC commercials are like the plague on that network. I'm doomed.

Final Mission

2011-07-11T18:40:00.002-05:00

In a couple short days I will have the privilege to be working the last week of the FINAL space shuttle mission of all time: STS-135/ULF7.

Many of you have asked about the climate at NASA as the end of the shuttle program arrives in full force. The general feeling at NASA is one best characterized as bittersweet. The end of an era in human spaceflight and an ever-fluctuating direction for the future and the agency as a whole is hard on the dedicated NASA workforce - including those not involved in the shuttle program directly. There are a lot of layoffs that have occurred and the last round of them is soon to come. By the end of the shuttle "retirement phase" we will have lost much legacy manned spaceflight knowledge and more importantly, really good folks.

In my thirty-some years of life, the space shuttle has been a staple - in fact, I can't remember a time in life without the space shuttle. I remember specifically the tragedy of Challenger in 1986 as a young student and again the tragedy of Columbia in 2003 as a just-graduating new hire at NASA.

I cannot forget what it felt like watching the launch of this magnificent, engineering marvel in person. The roaring sound, the tactile feeling of the sheer power coming from her engines as she rocketed into space on her dynamic 8 minute ride. To this day I cry at the sight of it.

I will never forget how honored I have felt working in Mission Control Center for each shuttle mission over the past ten years.

Having been blessed to have been a part of this amazing program, and in general as a proud American citizen (even with her downfalls), I will miss the space shuttle dearly after the wheels have stopped upon landing. Until then, however, I will relish every second of the mission!

Work Funny

2011-06-24T12:01:00.002-05:00

Charlie and I are both civil servants and we each got a notice from the Office of Personnel Management that said we had an updated personnel action document.

Part of the document stated, and I quote:

"Work performance is an at acceptable level of competence."

We rule.

Gak!

2011-06-23T20:23:00.002-05:00

It's been a month since the last entry, which by our record isn't all that bad :)

What's happened since then? I worked the second-to-last shuttle mission (STS-134/ULF6) for two weeks on the overnight shift and since my friend and coworker Lauren got sick, I got to take a turn as FAO for a few days including the Orbiter's final Entry of her lifetime! It was fun to be back in the Flight Control Room for a final time :)

I also did my civic duty and sat as a juror for the first time in my life. I spent the entire week with 11 other jurors trying to determine the fate of an alleged felon, indicted with first degree aggravated assault. The defendant elected to have the jury decide the sentencing as well, so we basically sat through two trials with witnesses and testimonies and evidence; One for the charge and one for the sentencing. It was an emotionally charged week, where I cried every day after duty and even a few times during deliberations - mostly because of the disappointing, aggressive, childish state/behavior/attitude of the other jurors and not even so much because of the case content. In the end we could not come to an agreement on the sentencing, so the judge declared a mistrial. Despite the end result, I am proud of having performed my civic duty in the most respectable and fair manner I knew how - a duty that fellow citizens have fought and died for so that we may enjoy the benefits of our legal system and way of life, as a citizens of this country.

It was the toughest week I have ever been through.

I got some Vibram shoes for running and have worn them once. Only a couple small blisters, so I consider that a win. I think I'll try again tomorrow!

Lastly, my summer show "So You Think You Can Dance" is on and it makes me happy. So far I'm not really feeling it with this season's contestants, but I'm sure someone will grow on me. I do like a few of dances though so far, but "the one" hasn't yet revealed itself. I can't wait for it!

2011-05-23T03:28:00.006-05:00

So there I was, sitting on console, minding my own business, when what should I see? A text from my husband about wrangling some "harmless" monster-snake with his bare hands like Bear Grylls. ...or rather, in my opinion, like some kind of delusional, usually-shirtless, barefoot-running, dog-loving, Gardening Wonder also known as Fat Mar. Who does that guy think he is? Traipsing around the LC snake-trapping with a snake stick does not a wise-man make....

Mama wants to keep you around honey. Watch yo'sef wit' dem snakes.

Wife, out.

2011-05-22T21:07:00.005-05:00

So there I was, sitting on the couch, minding my own business, when all of a sudden a snake-like shadow appears in the opaque-tinted window next to our front door, about six feet up. I thought fa-sho that it was just a branch shadow moving in the wind, cuz wth would a snake be doing creeping down our doorway?

So I went and looked anyway and was able to snap a couple crappy pictures with my phone. He was about four feet long and coming down off of our door header. I have no idea how he got up there or where he was coming from. So then I went and got my flip-flops to go try to chase him the opposite way (into the woods) so that none of our snakepocolypse-fearing neighbors would find him. I found him creeping along the dining room window sill and grabbed at him, but he shook loose; he had himself pretty intertwined in the azaleas and I didn't have a great grip on him. Then I went and got a flashlight and snake stick, but I couldn't find him again.

Oh yeah, it was not a cottonmouth, which I do see more often than any other snake. I'm guessing a blotched water snake? http://www.houstonherp.com/BlotchedWS.html

2nd to Last

2011-05-21T03:17:00.004-05:00

I have the pleasure of working the 2nd to last shuttle mission, currently ongoing. It is bittersweet being a part of this whole operation - "bitter" for the impending end to the program and "sweet" cuz I get to be a contributor to the mission success - but I am thrilled to be on loan from my new job so that I may once again partake in Shuttle Mission Operations.

I am, however, on the overnight shift for two weeks which isn't quite as thrilling. Wheeeeeeeee! Regardless of the shift work, I will enjoy as much of this mission as I can :)

Quickie Vacation!

2011-05-20T01:17:00.004-05:00

Charlie and I went to Orlando last weekend to help Faithie and Shawn celebrate their 5-year anniversary - Happy early Anniversary sweeties!

The whole family was there including Mom, Dad, Faith, Shawn and the kiddies, Fatty and Me.
We stayed at the Treehouse Villas on Disney property at the Saratoga Springs Resort. The Treehouse we were in was in a really nice wooded aread, backed up against a waterway upon which you could travel by boat to Downtown Disney and other resorts. We had a fabulous time enjoying time with the family, including a spectacular dinner/dessert/fireworks evening hosted by the lovely couple at Epcot. We went to Typhoon Lagoon as well, and whooped it up at the wave pool, including getting schooled by some mid-waves...lol! Mom & Dad went to dinner with us at Seasons 52 (www.Seasons52.com), our favorite local restaurant, one night and then the four of us "kids" went to dinner at Kuzzina and played some mini-golf at Fantasia...Putt (?)...another night. It was so much fun!! Of course, the kids are great and I even got Brandon to fall asleep on me - yesssssssss! Sure, I had absolutely nothing to do with him sleeping (I could have been a rock or lumpy pillow for all he knew), but either way -I call this a win :)

Lastly, we got to finally meet Faithie & Shawn's good friends Shira & Chris and Gemma & Rich(ie) - what a hoot! Yes, I said "hoot"... All were great people and they're so good to my sister. I can see why they're such good friends! I especially liked Rich since he's such a fanatic about NASA. It's not often I get to meet people who genuinely are interested in the space program, so YAY RICH! I hope they come down to visit sometime soon (before JSC is stripped on its last remaining reminders of the Shuttle program...*sigh*).

Thanks for inviting us to share in your special celebration Faith and Shawn, we love you!

Today's Harvest

2011-05-09T20:01:00.003-05:00

Super Cuke and Super Zucc (reference the quarter at the bottom of the frame)...with a smattering of ripe, delicious strawberries to boot!!

I love our garden!

Bat House

2011-05-07T12:01:00.005-05:00

It's been a few weeks since the last post. The gardens are going strong in the green bean, zucchini and herb categories.

Most exciting of all, however, is that Charlie finally finished his bat house. Yes, a bat house. He's been talking about making and researching how to make bat houses for a long time. Mostly I think he just thinks bats are cool, BUT they have the added bonus of eating the heck outta some mosquitos, which on our end of the development by the path and rice creek...we have an over-abundance. So, go get 'em batties!

He constructed it out of custom wood pieces, plopped it on a 20 foot high swingarm and even gave it some custom bat decals so the bats would know where to go hang out. Ha! Hang out! Get it? Yessss! I knew you would! ahhhhh...

It's located by our 4 large gardens near the back of the yard and blends in quite well. So far though, no bats...at least we haven't seen any bat guano, so...that's all we can tell.

We're waiting for the STS-134 mission to launch and hope that happens in the coming week(s).

*******************

Late breaking news!!! Bat House pictures (and gratuitous garden and Kirby shots) discovered! Five pics in the slideshow:

While the Cat's Away, The Mice Will...Do House Projects

2011-04-15T12:46:00.005-05:00

So, after not seeing Charlie for 3 weeks (1 week I was in NL, 2 weeks he was in Russia), he finally returned home last night, yay! I feel complete; seriously, I do!

Since I had the house to myself and the furballs, I decided it would be a good time to:

1. Spring clean (read no further if you're overly judgmental about the cleanliness of one's home)

2. Re-seal the slate in the kitchen (it had only been 5 years since the last time...3 years "late" according to the slate floor gurus)

3. Update the master bath cabinets (bye bye oak color)

4. Miscellaneous

#1 took me a whole week to do, but felt really good when it was completed. You know, vacuuming the dog hair out of the cracks in the stairs and under/behind the bed. Hand scrubbing floors and baseboards and dare I say it? Dusting every surface in the house (even the windows above the fireplace and front door and fridge that no one ever sees). I was proud.

#2 was a result of being sad looking at my dull floors and wanting to re-seal for quite some time. I bought a low VOC matte-finish 'enhancer' and sealant. It took an entire afternoon to clean, seal, wait, seal, wait, seal, cure - but I'm pleased as punch! Achieving sparkling floors with 2 hairy dogs and 2 dirty owners who go in-and-out of the back door every 7 seconds is a feat!

#3 took about 4-5 days in total between prep, painting and curing. I was tired of our oak cabinetry's look since it's not my style preference, and short of an entire bath redo (which I would like to do if it were free and didn't over-reno our house for the market) I decided a cabinet refinishing was a perfect fit.

I have been seeing adverts for the Rustoleum Transformations cabinet and counter refinishing kits and thought this would be a perfect project to tackle and perfect product to try! In short, the process was easy and intuitive and I recommend the product. I chose the color "Espresso", and used the glaze to darken it up and give it dimension. I didn't think it would matter that much for the dark hues, but it absolutely did. Consider using the glaze even for dark shades.

Some tips:

a. The drying time is extensive, especially when doing drawers and doors since they are two-sided, so take that into consideration when doing the project.

b. Humidity makes the drying time more important, so if you live in an Htown-like swamp environment, be prepared to wait longer between steps.

c. Watch for drips on your base coat step. Seriously. Luckily my drips were concentrated in the under-cabinet areas, so you can't really tell.

d. When they tell you not to overbrush the protective coat, DON'T OVERBRUSH! Watch for obvious drips (again), but a thick coat dries as clear as a thin one. It dries fast and will clump if you try to be anal and get the surface looking exact before moving on. Oh yeah, and move FAST!

e. Have a clean, prepared surface for your doors and drawers to lay on and PROP THEM UP from underneath if you can. Also, see item "c" from above because I was a little too heavy-handed on a couple coats and it dripped, then stuck to the drying surface - end result, sloppy.

Before & Afters:

#4 includes miscellaneous items like organizing underneath the bathroom cabinets (SO excited for it!), planting hanging baskets in the front yard, weeding the gardens, cleaning the kiddie pool for Stinkdog, bathing Stinkdog (so she was less stinkly), and learning to use the thermostat (don't ask).

All in all a productive couple of weeks. Idle hands and all that. Yay!

Sweet

2011-04-11T17:11:00.002-05:00

Springtime in Houston is a wonderful time. The weather is warming, sunny and breezy. The birds are chirping and spring baby animals are running around all over the place. It is also the time where you can smell the sweet honeysuckle and jessamine blooming wildly on the trail by my house. The sweet scent wafts toward the house in the early morning and late evening. Inhale. Bliss!

PLUS, the gardens come alive :) Spring strawberries from our garden!

Ew

2011-04-08T16:17:00.004-05:00

Jen H....don't look. This isn't for you. Seriously!

Um...so.....this "little" guy crawled into my house today from the garage.

His size in relation to a cereal spoon.
His glowing eyes! Grody.

I'm so thankful he wasn't a "jumping" spider! I carefully captured him in the plastic bin and subsequently tossed him into the bushes out front. Note: He was so massive, he made a substantial "thunk" as I tipped the container over. THUNK.

The Book of Love

2011-04-07T15:00:00.012-05:00

Whenever Charlie is away, even for a short time, I get really sappy and my emotional state is amplified - not a good thing for anyone who is near me, as an EXPLOSION of emotion is bound to appear at any given time. This includes, but is not limited to:

-Crying my face off on the airplane home while "The Book of Love" by Peter Gabriel plays, as I simultaneously lip-synch the words. *Tear* (that's "teeeer", not "tare")

-Wearing his tshirt to bed so I can smell his stinky stink as I drift to sleep. *Dirty tear*

-Having his dog sleep in the bed with me to keep me warm, as I imagine it is he who is cuddling that nook behind my knees and snoring with his mouth open, not the small furball. *Hairy tear*

-Running 3 miles. Not really because it is good for me, but rather because I know he'd be proud of me for doing so. *Fat tear*

Miss you honey!

(c'mon furlough)

Going Dutch

2011-04-03T17:40:00.005-05:00

--PICTURES NOW BELOW--

***Start Transmission***

Welcom!...and get ready for another edition of "long post"...

I have just returned from a 11 day trip to visit my dear friend Sarmad in The Netherlands. I had a lovely time catching up and seeing quaint towns in the region. It is beautiful here and the people are wonderful.

Each morning I had yogurt and peanut-butter toast (sometimes with cereal, most of the time without) and a big heaping mug of tea. Sometimes we passed the time reading on the patio of his flat, sometimes it was reading in a cafe in the town square...ahhhhhh. I had a most relaxing and enjoyable time; the kind of vacation where when you're 32 and trying to pass gracefully through another one of life's crossroads you learn to try harder to appreciate the small things like: a good friend, a good book and a crisp morning breeze.

I love that everyone bikes here, that everyone has a great, open love for their animals (especially dogs, they are EVERYWHERE with their owners!), and I love that these people love being outside. Not a bad gig if you can get it!

Here's the recap:

Day 1 (Thu) - Leave IAH, travel overnight on a bumpy airplane next to a med student who likes to talk. BOOOOOO-RIIIIING.

Day 2 (Fri) - Arrive Amsterdam, take train to Leiden Centraal, then Voorschoten, then Wassenaar to see the new bachelor pad. Walked around town, took nap, hung out.

Day 3 (Sat) - Cycled from Wassenaar to Leiden & walked around the open air markets, Sarmad saw a rottweiler allegedly bite a lady, then we ate at some Einstein Cafe and had hamburgers (with what seemed to be actual "ham" burgers). Cycled back to Wassenaar and continued our bike journey through the forest and around the awesome mansions in the area and boy...did my butt-crotch hurt! It felt like we cycled about 20 miles, but it was more like

20km. I'm such a wuss! Wuss or no, it was a great feeling to be biking around. That evening we biked to a nearby Pannekoeken Huis and ate scrumptious pancakes (mine had ham, cheese, parsley, tomatoes) and I even enjoyed a Weisbier.

Day 4 (Sun) - This day we went to nearby Delft on a gorgeous afternoon. It was sunny, beautiful and perfect for wandering around the city with no particular destination in mind. We went to the square and sat out on the patio (where I got sunburned) drinking hot chocolate and eating sandwiches, enjoying the post-lunch hustle and bustle of the town. Of course, I had to pee in the midst of all this loveliness and of course the only WC we could find was out of order...but I survived thanks to the train station automatic WC for 50 cents.

Day 5 (Mon) - We spent most of this day taking care of some mandatory car registration items for Sarmad's car (still has Texas license plates, ick). Afterward we headed to Gouda by train. Yes, THAT Gouda. The cheese Gouda! We walked around the (again) adorable town center and admired the old building facades and charm the town exuded. We actually went inside the De Sint Janskirk church (dedicated to St. John the Baptist, patron saint of Gouda) to admire all of the famous "Gouda Glass". This is the longest church in The Netherlands and some of these magnificent windows date back as far as the 15th Century! Amazing. Afterward we headed to a small kitschy cafe on the square and had a heaping bowl of Gouda cheese soup and a delish sandwich. Mmmmm. That evening, we went to the Wassenaar beach and caught the sunset in the cold breeze. It was great!

Day 6 (Tue) - This was the day we went to the AMAZINGLY BEAUTIFUL Kuekenhof Tulip Garden. There were manicured vignettes of flowers and just gorgeous outdoor settings, that in a couple weeks will probably be full of the native tulips and even more fantastic (it was still a little too cool outside to get a full bloom of the flowers). The pictures speak for themselves. That evening we went to my very first european soccer game! We went to the Netherlands vs. Hungary game at the stadium downtown. The game was absolutely full of happy, engaged, ORANGE fans and was a blast! The final score was 5-3 Dutch, GO Oranje! I sported my brand new beanie cap (orange, of course) with an embroidered "12" on the back so I would fit in a bit better. I say the "12" means I'm the "12th man", Sarmad says

I'm just crazy...but I don't believe him :)

Day 7 (Wed) - This day we went to Den Haag to try to catch a movie called "Wasteland" at the annual "Movies that Matter Festival" by Amnesty International. It was the last day of the festival and needless to say the movie was sold out. So instead, we grabbed a bite to eat in the cafe (I had a delish curry/potato bowl) and then went to see another film: Silent Snow about the effect of toxins on our environment (air, water, glaciers, our health...). I quite enjoyed the film.

Day 8 (Thu) - Slow start to the day ending in a trip to the nearby Ikea, followed by dinner in Oegstegeest at De Beukenhof, a boutique hotel and restaurant that housed Sarmad for the first bit he was here. We both had delectable meals, and mine included: Scallop tartare, halibut in ginger butter sauce with dutch asparagus, crispy duck with potato gratin, peas and mushrooms, and chocolate cake with calvados ice cream atop a macerated strawberry delight. At some point in the evening, in this MOST charming of restaurants (cozy, warm, eclectic, gorgeous) the fire in the fireplace got out of control and must have set off an alarm. 10 minutes later the fire brigade showed up and ended up clanking around in their full gear, testing the flue and mucking about for the rest of the evening. The owners were very apologetic, but for us, it was at least entertaining :) Anyone in the area, EVER, should definitely go to this place for a meal and if you can, stay overnight in their boutique hotel - it looks divine!

Day 9 (Fri) - Lazy day in Wassenaar where I slept in, ate breakfast, took a nap, finally showered, and then we went on a walk to the Bagel Alley cafe in town. I sat outside on the patio reading a book, eating a hot bagel sandwich and drinking hot chocomel with whipped cream. Sounds nice, doesn't it? We capped it off with a long walk around town, followed by a cozy pizza and wine dinner at home. Oh yeah, we got to see Wasteland too, on iTunes! DEFINITELY check it out if you get a chance - great film!

Day 10 (Sat) - We got up bright and early to catch the train(s) to Ghent and Brugges, Belgium. The trip was about 4 hrs travel each way...and sorry Belgium, your trains are not as great and were always significantly late. Yay Dutch train system!! Both towns were great, we wandered mostly and took in the architecture and people. In Ghent we ate lunch along the river and I got to have my Kriek bier IN Belgium! Woohoo me! It was a worthwhile trip to Belgium on my final day of vacation - booyah. It was a fun, albeit exhausting long day.

Ghent:

Brugges:

Day 11 (Sun) - I said goodbye to my friend and flew home on an 11 hr flight. I picked up Sammie from our friend's house, saw Kirby once home and of course, lamented Charlie being in Russia for the next two weeks. Boooo.

There was plenty more I experienced and detail I left out (for instance I finished two books: "Bread Alone" and "The Other Hand"), but hopefully you get the gist.

Thank you Sarmad for being such a wonderful host and most importantly, a great friend whenever I need one.

***End Transmission****

Warrior Dash!

2011-03-20T18:56:00.004-05:00

Today Charlie and I were officially crowned Warriors! We did our very first 'adventure race': The Warrior Dash! The race was located about 70 miles away in Conroe, TX on the site of what looked to be a dirt bike race track. The race is a 3.18 mile race with several obstacles to conquer along the way.

I made us t-shirts that read "Threat Level Mudnight. Clean up on Mile 5!". Charlie was "Cherokee Chuck" and I was "Mud-in-Face". If you haven't seen The Office tv show lately, you may not get the reference (see here for more info), but we got a kick out of it! We met a few friends of ours up there about an hour and a half prior to our 2:30pm heat. HEAT being the key word. Yowsa! We had great weather, but it was at least 80 degrees and full o' sun for our wave. Hot hot heat for a 5k race!

Our wave of the race started promptly at 2:30 and we were off with the other Loonies in our wave!! Charlie graced me with his presence the entire time, bless his sweet heart. After the first mile there was a "Texas Tornado" where a guy in an air boat blew dirt and debris at us as we passed by. Next came running up a muddy, steep hill (with rope assist at the side, thankfully), getting DOUSED by a fire hose at the top, then sliding down the other side. We slid feet first into the pile at the bottom of the hill, wet & muddy, then continued on. I can't remember the next sequence of obstacles, but they included: more little hills along the dirt track, a low, dark, HOT HOT HOT HOT HOT HOT HOT tented obstacle we had to bear crawl through (total spine knocker!), a tangled web of bungees to maneuver through, over walls/under barbed wire, a horizontal cargo net (my knees are killing me from that one!), a vertical cargo net (which we ruled!!!), jump through a tire run (or step slowly, in my case...charlie high-stepped it), run through a small pond and over floating logs (thank you for the cool off!!), climb up and over a tall hay-bale hill (where I fell at the bottom of it on my arse), jump over two fire obstacles (hot foot!), then finally jump into a swimmy mud pit and army crawl underneath barbed wire to the finish line. My time was ~43 mins...and I did walk or break for ~5 total minutes of it.

Whew. Warriors!!

We all survived without any notable injury, though once Charlie face-dove into the mud pit at the end, he popped up after the first set of barbed wire and misjudged the distance to the next set...slashing his arms on the wire. Whoopsie. A little medical tent cleanse hopefully keeps him free of infection ...ewy dirt water! After the cleanse in the lake, we changed out in the open, in front of god and country into new clothes and went to party with our posse in our new hats and free beer for racing :)

I highly encourage any and everyone to participate in this race if you ever want to try out a minor version of an 'adventure race'. The distance was a manageable one and the obstacles were super fun. There are people of ALL kinds there, ready to have fun and party.

Recommendations:

1. Choose an early-ish race. Helps beat the heat and gives you more time to party to the live music and festivities afterward. Saturday would be best (so you can rest on Sunday), but we had a really great time even though we have to work tomorrow :)

2. WATER. Bring it. Bring it to drink and maybe even to clean off with. They didn't provide free water for our race (except at the midpoint and the finish line), it cost $1 for a bottle.

3. Bring: A change of clothes & shoes, wet clothes bag, old shoes (our race had a shoe donation pile (rather, mountain!) for those who didn't want their shoes), Qtips for your nasty ears and nose holes, sunscreen, towels, snacks for after (if you don't want to spend the $$ on the turkey legs and other awesomeness). The bag check was easy-peasy and well worth it to be in good clothes again.

4. Dressing up can be super fun (even with just a silly t-shirt), and everyone is doing something wacky from body paint, costuming of ALL kinds or regular running clothes. Be creative and enjoy yourself!

More pix to be added to the album once I get them from the other participants, but for now: Enjoy the show!

New Favorite Thing

2011-03-18T17:52:00.003-05:00

Strange, but true! I have an unhealthy love (read: LOVE LOVE!) for this thing!! Thank you Pier One :)

2011

2011-03-16T19:13:00.001-05:00

Well, so much for posting more frequently! Let's see, where did I leave off?

Oh yes, it was pre-holiday 2010. I had just had a horrendous yet delicious experience baking Pioneer Woman's cinnamon rolls and we were about to embark on our quest for another Minnesota family christmas, 1200-mile driving with a dog in the new Subaru, staying in a small town in Missouri, kind of holiday.

MN was great! We stayed with my sister for the majority of the time, enjoying the fresh loads of FEET of snow and my little nephews. Sammie learned all about the joys of trouncing through 2 feet of snow like a wolverine and we learned all about the joys of Baby Jaguar and the Rescue Pack...and Thomas the Train...and stinky butt diapers. It was so fun!! Charlie's family was doing wonderfully as well, and we got to see our newest nieces in action too. They grow up so fast!!

I know there was more that we saw and did and loved and enjoyed, but after 3 months...the old synapses aren't firing as efficiently as they used to. What I CAN say is that we had a marvelous time and Christmas 2010 was a good one!!

New Years came and went without much ado, minus the VERY MUCH ADO about our dear friend's baby girl Grace being born on 1/1/2011. I've only seen pictures, but she's as cuddly as they come and of course, her amazing parents are blessed with her awesomeness every day. I'm so happy for their new addition to the family!

In January I got to give a $1000 donation to Second Chance Pets (the rescue org we got our first dog from), thanks to HEB and their Travel with Run E Nose photo competition. A photo from our trip to Africa with their "flat stanley" of Run E Nose (mascot) won us the privilege of choosing a charity to donate the $1000 prize to. It was a good feeling to give back to the organization who rescued our pup and blessed us with her over 5 years ago.

Charlie got a wild hair and decided that this year was the year for planting citrus fruit trees in our backyard, so we went to a wild/wacky fruit tree sale at the University of Houston campus (accompanied by obliging friend Aaron) and picked up 2 pomegranates, 1 grapefruit and 1 tri-peach tree to plant. We also took a fruit tree class for free in town nearby, given by the local gardeners club. Fun stuff!

Also, January is the time of year I get the privilege of watching all of the SAG award nominated films for free thanks to my ongoing membership with SAG. I watched a ton of amazing films and by far this award season my favorites were: The Kings Speech, Black Swan, The Fighter, 127 Hours...in no particular order. Oh yeah, Conviction was good too!! So many films to watch, so little time to remember those I loved and those I could have done without (I mean YOU, "Rabbit Hole"). Almost forgot (but didn't!), Charlie's really good friend from as far back as forever Barrett was in H-town for work for the month and we got to spend time with him as well. It was really great to see him and catch up! ...if you get the chance, make sure to ask him about the speed of time ;)

February was a blur! We went to Atlantic City for a surprise get-together for a friend and the trip was a really great time with good friends! AC I can probably do without in the forseeable future - mostly because gambling isn't one of my favorite pasttimes - but if I had to go again, I would. Also, there is a FAB crepe shop near our hotel that if you ever go to AC, you MUST go there. I am sure you'd like the name of this little shop, but as you must already suspect...I cannot remember the name of it. It's just across the street from the Sheraton Convention Center/Hotel, by the H&M store. THAT I can remember. Good luck and happy crepe-ing!! Mmmmmm.

February also brought with it another birthday for me (yay me), a much-needed visit from Mom for mucho shopping, pedicures and margaritas (yay Lunas!), and the final mission of Space Shuttle Discovery on STS-133/ULF-5. I worked the entire mission in a supporting role and enjoyed almost every second of it. As these amazing vehicles bid us farewell and head to their final place in history I am proud to say I have worked for and been a contributing part of such a workhorse of a program. I know the Space Shuttle program inspired me when I was young, so I can only imagine that she has continued to inspire countless others as well throughout her tenure for NASA. Two more flights left, let's make them count!

This weekend I got a surprise visit from my sister here in H-town and it was also much needed. I've been missing the family a lot these days and as we've been dealing with some personal tragedies at home, it's driven home the need for family connection even further. We went to the rodeo with a friend to see some country music people (Rascal Flatts?) and ate some cheese-laden country fries...oh lordy. Mmmmm rodeo food! Also, I love Mutton Bustin'. If you've never seen it, google it and enjoy. SERIOUSLY my favorite part of the rodeo.

Lastly, for catch up:

1. Fatness re-joined the Army National Guard (this time in TX) after his stint in the Naval Reserves. It was really fun to see him get sworn-in in Austin not too long ago. I love him and am proud of him, as always!!

2. Dogs are doing well - Sammie got her teeth cleaned and a cyst removed from her underarm and is healing nicely.

3. Hung new outdoor lights that I love (pix if I can get to them).

4. Charlie went into full-on garden mode and we have 4 new hardscaped gardens with beans, hot and bell peppers, herbs, broccoli, kale (the new spinach, we hear), tomatoes, pak choi...and probably some other stuff too.

5. Splurged on two gel-mats for the kitchen and already I love them.

I can't writes no mo'!

Later!

Also and Plus...

2010-12-17T11:19:00.004-06:00

What ever happened to people leaving comments on this blog? WE encourage it from everyone except that one creepy guy who kept posting links to his creepy hacker blog. No thank you, sir.
If you read this thing ever in life...drop US a line sometime to let US know you care.

*Note: Updated to include Charlie in this situation. I'm told it's his blog too. We'll see about that.

Talents

2010-12-17T09:35:00.003-06:00

This holiday season I agreed to make Pioneer Woman's infamous cinnamon rolls for our family's Christmas morning brunch. My friend Erin made them for us last year (right?) and Mom just loved 'em. With limited time in Minnesota prior to said event, I decided to make the rolls before leaving here, freeze them, then pack them on ice and carry them with me to the Land of 10,000 Awesomenesses-es.

Two nights ago after work, I got down to business. I made my very first ever dough which was, as Charlie suggested it would be, super fun to *PUNCH!* once it had risen. BAM! BIFF! DOUGH SMASH! I was feeling pretty confident about the whole process and my skill at making baked deliciousness. Unfortunately, my spirit was to be crushed when I got to the step where I had to roll out the dough. I guess it wasn't so much the rolling out of the dough, as it was trying to re-roll the dough into a cinnamon roll log of delight after it was filled with butter, sugar and cinnamon...and butter.

You see, in an effort to keep our energy bills to a minimum (and because C-Murda has an uncanny knack for keeping the house both too warm AND too cold: read as 81 degrees F in the summer at its coolest) my house is kept at a balmy 852,001 degrees Kelvin in the summer and 4 degrees Celsius in the winter. Sadly, in SE Texas it is (though technically the middle of December) still 75 degrees Fahrenheit outside, which a cold-countertop does not make. This complicated the process of making the nummy log treat. The dough stuck to the countertop and as I was rolling it (PW says to keep the roll tight ....i did not succeed) I got sad, frustrated and almost started crying. I swore out loud in my kitchen about how it was always so Gosh Darn (GD) hot in this house and I Stink at making things and WHY can't this dough just cooperate, I didn't have time to deal with crummy, no good, rats-a-frackin' dough.... it was a sight.

I can't really explain to you why I thought crying too might make this situation any better, but on the verge of tears, C-Murda stepped in and suggested I do something different. He's the smarter of the two of us. He gently 'splained to me how I probably didn't use enough flour on the countertop (as I whined about how I didn't know how much to use and didn't want to use too much and...and...AND...*sniff* with extra pout face), picked up a flipper-flapper thing (spatula?), doused it in flour and helped scrape the dough off the counter so I could roll it. My HERO!

With the first roll complete, I was equally as sad to the see the finished product in the pan. My rolls are the stuff jokes are made of: floppy, thin, lame. Still with a severe case of pout lip, Mo-Murda asked if I wanted him to try the next roll. Um...yes please?

Like a professional, he began tossing flour on the countertop like a Pizza Maestro! Fling! Sprinkle! Poof! It all landed nicely in his target zone (unlike my attempt, which literally had flour ending up on the teapot on the oven, in the crack between the counter and the stove, on the floor and in my hair), then he plopped the dough on the counter, rolled in into a perfect 10"x30" rectangle like the directions say with right angles and knife edge precision...shake some flour here, sprinkle some flour there...finshed the roll all neat and tight, sliced it perfectly and VOILA! Second roll done and not a tear to be shed anywhere!! How does he do it? I don't have a clue, but I am thankful he's got a talent for hot-counter dough rolling and wife consoling.

Next dough project?...it's all his!

Craftiness Part 3 - Le Bistro, Madame!

2010-12-12T15:50:00.006-06:00

The last crafty project (finished just today) was to refinish the rusted and weathered metal and wooden bistro set. It was functional, but not in good shape.

"How hard can this be?" I thought to myself over a glass of pinot noir. "Not hard at all! I have seen them do this kind of thing on HGTV a billion times AND I'm a genius, so......get to gettin'!" And get to gettin' I did.

I donned protective ear, eye and breafs gear so I could live to see another day (although I wore the same flip flops as foot covering over the course of a few weeks during this project...don't ask me about this logic). I looked bad ASS, if I do say so myself. So after a short strut around the garage, parading my awesomeness to Charlie and the dogs, most especially, I went about my project full-force!

First I began to sand the heck out of the wooden slats. They were stable on the chairs and table, so I sanded what I could before taking them off the metal frame. I wanted that weathered grey color GHANDI! Charlie likes the weathered look, I do not. Since it was my project, what I sez goes :) I sanded like a mad woman and saw the makings of some nice wood underneath all that grey. Wood type TBD, but I none-the-less assumed teak for some reason. So, teak it was.

Since that small bit of success reinforced my image of awesomeness, I decided to detach the wood from the metal frame so I could finish sanding the other faces of the slats. No problem! 75 screws later, that was done. Man, my hamstrings were burning after that part...huh. Note to self: good form imperative to painless crafting. Once detached, I had to sand Sand SAND every piece. BLECH! I was dusty, sweaty and grumpy from an aching back (see previous note about form...), but forged ahead determined to make more progress.

Feeling confident from the hard work that I had already done with the wood, I continued working on the metal portion of the table. I used steel wool to hand-sand the funk and rust off every surface. This, my dear readers, was a terrible, god-awful task. I at least remembered all of my protective gear (including flip flops) again, so in case there was lead in the paint I wouldn't get some malady from it. Yay fun mask! Enter stage left: Mr. Marshik. Always helpful, he pulled out his Dewalt screwgun and affixed a metal-scraping super scraper to the end of it. MMMMMMMMMMMMUUUUUUUUUUUUUURRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR....i was in business! I power-tooled the chairs and table to the best of my ability...and THEN called it a night.

When I got back around to this project (a couple? days later), I primed the pieces with gray Rustoleum primer and then coated them with yellow Rustoleum paint. Yellow? Of COURSE yellow! I love yellow and the 3 shades of blue and 1 shade of green I also bought couldn't hold a candle to the fun yellow. Yellow = Happy Jaime! Each time I painted a coat of yellow on the pieces, I noticed how crummily I did the last coat - there were patches missing everywhere and I wasn't very diligent about reaching all the nooks and crannies. FINALLY, after maybe 5 coats (?) I raised the white flag of painting-ness and sprayed a coat or two of clear to seal the deal. I sprinkled in this painting project over a few days, for good measure.

Yesterday came and I only had two steps remaining before I could call this project complete and reclaim the garage stalls for our cars. I have been missing my garage parking capability. I rolled up my preverbial sleeves (still in flip flops) and oiled each and every piece of wood per the directions on the oil can (geez, I hope this is TEAK!). I lubed 'em up real good, let them dry and bid them adieu for the evening. Man, they looked so much better than the first day!

Finally today I pulled out the ol' screwgun and put all the pieces of the puzzle back together. Unfortunately for me I did not label which slats came from which chair, or the order in which I should put the slats back on...*sigh*...so that took quite a bit of time. Note to self: label slats next time, will save LOTS of time and aching hammies (see previous note SHOULD have applied, but I forgot about it...again). I put Humpty Dumpty back together again and at long last placed her, all finished, on my patio. Mwah!! Bellisima!

Before and After contained in slideshow. What do you think?

Craftiness Part 2 - Glidey and Otto

2010-12-12T15:33:00.009-06:00

Last post I mentioned the fun stuff I got from my friend, two items of which needed a little luvin' to make our house their home. Each project had its own challenges, so in true Jaime form I tackled the easier of the two projects first: recovering the glider set in a fabric to suit my taste.

The ottoman (named Otto) was easy enough to re-cover in swanky new duds. I just unscrewed Otto's top (the cushion) from the base, covered it with new fabric, stapled it on there like a maniac, and screwed Otto's top back on to the base. Simple! I didn't see the need to unstaple the old fabric, so I just covered right over it. Actually, to be straight with you, I tried pulling the 57,000 staples out and hurt my hands and fingers all along the way. So, after only 5 successful staple pullings in what seemed like an hour, I theraputically smashed them back into their staple holes and decided to perform a "cover-over-cover" method. Worked out fine, yay me!

With Otto sitting happily in his newfound swankiness, I was feeling quite proud of my craftiness and felt the motivation to continue on and re-cover the back padding of Glidey the Glider. Yes, everything gets a name in my house. This way I don't have to remember the real names of the things in my house, I can call them almost anything!

The original backing for Glidey was a bit trickier, two-fold. 1. I was running low on fabric, since I didn't fully prepare for this project and just bought "enh....a few yards should do the trick, right?" of fabric. I didn't realize how big the backing was. 2. The shape of the backing isn't a simple shape like a rectangle that even I could handle, it was more of a seashell shape with a flare toward the top AND it looked like it had been covered with the original fabric, sewn straight on top to make pretty seams and slice it into 3 pieces.

Hmmmm, I thought, how was I going to do this? I wanted to keep the fun seam action, but there was no way I was going to sew right through that thick foam with my measley machine. My plan of attack was to cut 6 sections of fabric to represent each "slice" on each side. Sew those guys together, then sew the sides together, slipcover that backing and stitch the bottom. Good plan, Me. Good plan... EXCEPT, as everyone knows about Me and crafts I get impatient and then sloppy. SOOOOOO, the first side had wonky seams and was too big, but the second side had even WONKIER seams but fit just right. Too frustrated to care anymore, I sewed those babies to each other, jammed the cushion inside the cover and hand sewed the bottom of the cover closed. Professional? Oh lordy no! Cuter than it was and functional? Yes sir!

After a little happy dance, I sat in Glidey and rested my feet on Otto's head with a smile on my face. Goooooooooo Me!

Glidey and Otto Before and After contained in slideshow. What do you think?

Craftiness Part 1 - Behemoth Couch

2010-12-12T15:19:00.005-06:00

Since Thanksgiving, I have taken it upon myself to become crafty. My dear friend Sarmad left the country for a new job and upon his departure he bequeathed certain items to me: a sleeper sofa, a glider and gliding ottoman set, and a bistro-sized patio set.

The sleeper sofa is in great shape, despite being 10+ years old, so up in the gameroom she went - displacing the 9 foot college couch (and slipcover!) I have had since forever. Sammie would miss her afternoon sleeping spot, but I am confident that in due time...say 17 minutes...she would take to the new sofa quite naturally. Charlie managed to get that beastly couch downstairs by himself - I'll never know with what magic he pulled that stunt - and with the enlisted help of Cory and his truck, the ol' couch was off to Goodwill for someone else who could really use it.

I took the other two items with the knowledge that with some love and caring they could be given life anew at the Marshik household.

You'll see details of those crafty adventures in the coming posts.

DC, MN and Ninjas!

2010-10-31T17:09:00.007-05:00

A couple weeks ago I went to DC for the week for work - commercial space stuff. I left on a Friday after work and spent the weekend with Jenny T (again!) and family. I like this "getting to see Jenny often" stuff. It makes me happy! We hit the outlet mall, had a bunch of laughs and even had dinner with me, Jenny and Kim (she's on my work trip with me) girl's night out style in Reston Town Center at...the Something Tavern. Dangit, I should remember the name...oh well. It was a lot of fun reminiscing about the last time we 3 got together at Mamacita's here in TX. For those who know this story, it was a brutal night for us all (most especially Jim!) capped off with a super dose of pain cave the next day. Ahhh, memories. We had a great time in DC and I can't wait to return to see JT and her awesome new digs again! Yay!

Charlie went to Minnesota for a birthday getaway to spend time with his friends and family. From what I hear he had a great time and really enjoyed seeing everyone from his Army days, playing football and hanging out with his family. There was something in there mentioned about hot tubs and pull tabs, a shed and drinking beer...that I couldn't quite follow, but it all ends with a happy Mar. That's what I like to see!!

Halloween is upon us and while we didn't go crazy this year with the decorations, we did put some up and at the moment Charlie is carving pumpkins for the front porch. The weather here is gorgeous (cooler, but not cool just yet) and perfect for Halloween-ing. We went to party thrown by a coworker of Charlie's last night - the theme was Seven Deadly Sins. What a FAB idea! She went all out on the decorations: bloody tarps, a fog machine, strobe lights, outdoor projection screen with the movie "Seven" playing, and then seven stations around the house, one for each of the deadly sins. In case you don't remember your 7 Deadly Sins, like I didn't, they are: Sloth, Gluttony, Lust, Greed, Wrath, Envy and Pride. Each station had a special shot, game or activity of some kind and decorations to match (a bedroom dec'd out for Lust, mirrors for Pride, casino area for Greed, a red velevet pig cake for Gluttony and so on...).

It was a good time and a great party idea! Charlie and I dressed up as Ninjas to represent the sin of Wrath. We had homemade nunchucks, chinese throwing stars, a wooden staff for smashing people and awesome homemade outfits. Note: Our ninja skills did not go unnoticed (or undisplayed - we OWNED those fools!!). It is entirely possible that I ran around the party declaring important things like "Chinese star to your face!", "Ninja knee to your ribs!", and "Hi-YA! You got Ninja'd!". I'm just saying...

Tonight is Halloween, happy tricking and treating to you all!

ps: Below are a couple pix from camping at Shaffer Bend (see last post), and Roktoberfest (Todd and Kathie are the beer can and fancy bar lady). Enjoy!

CAMPING AT SHAFFER BEND:

ROKTOBERFEST AB MARSHIKHAUS

Catching Up On Stuffs

2010-10-12T19:25:00.005-05:00

So...more details on the safari are...perhaps forthcoming? Perhaps.

Time just flies by so fast I forget about this blog thingie. If anyone is even still reading this, I appreciate your patience...and continued interest.

We got back from safari in Zambia and Charlie went straight the next day on travel for work to DC (right babe?) for a few days. I went to an amazing dinner at VOICE Houston in Hotel Icon and a symphony with my dear friend Sarmad.

Charlie's 32nd birthday was shortly thereafter, where we went to an amazing restaurant, t'afia, which is focused on sustainable/local fare. The food was SO delicious!! I highly recommend being a patron there with its delectable food, great atmosphere and attentive customer service. Charlie's birthday present is a trip back to MN in a coming weekend, to spend some quality guy time with his friends :) We also went to Armand Bayou Nature Center nearby and went on an evening Owl Prowl, which was super fun. We walked through the park with the full moon shining on us and went on the lookout for the 4 different types of owls in the area. As much as we called them (via our fancy owl-calling recording), we didn't see any. We did hear some Barred owls calling, but alas never saw them. There was a HUGE spinning spider of some kind (no, not a garden spider, this puppy was light grey and FAT. With the body the size of a fat peanut), and even a small alligator in the water, but no owls. The evening was muggy but super fun. Yay nature!!

The next week I got the opportunity to go to D.C. for a work benchmarking trip-the kind of trip where my job is to talk with people/businesses who perform similar functions and see if I can learn anything that will be helpful to the way we do business in my group. It was not only super fun: I got to visit the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) on the gorgeous Johns Hopkins campus - they are the people who schedule users and observations on the Hubble Space Telescope -but I also got the chance to go into the heart of the Federal Aviation Administration's Air Traffic Control System Command Center. The FAA Command Center reminds me a lot of the Mission Control Center and it was AWESOME to hear about how complex management of the National Air Space is. SO COOL! As a super bonus, I got to see my best friend Jenny T and see the Tobin family's brand new house and I got to interfere (as I always do) in Jenny's process of making her new house a home. I had missed her so. PLUS, Andi is so big! Oh my gosh, what a pumpkin pie and a ham all rolled into one. 18 months is a challenging, but pretty neat time, so it was good to see her smiling, tooth-making face too :)

The next weekend we went on our very first camping trip as a family (me, Charlie and Kirby - sorry Samdog!) and with the new car. We went to Shaffer Bend just outside of Austin (about 4.5 hours from home). Few things: 1. The Subaru was packed to the brim for our first camping trip and worked really well. Whew! Good car choice Marshiks! 2. Jaime likey camping! 3. Kirby is the best camp dog, for sure! Despite the fact that she didn't stop panting or standing for the whole drive up there (poor anxious thing), AND she jumped out the window at our campsite landing squarely on her neck-head (scratching the car door in the process, oops!), she was amazing. Kirby stood by our sides unleashed at the campsite, as we walked around and was an excellent campfire companion throughout the weekend. PLUS (drum roll please...) she actually swam in the river! It was her first time swimming and was the most fun thing to experience! The PUFF! PUFF! PUFF! from her snout and paddle paddle paddle of her web feet was so fun to watch. Charlie and I simply adored it. Yay for camping, yay for new adventures with the family!

On Friday we had the first ever Roktoberfest at Marshikhaus, our first attempt at a possible yearly Oktoberfest party. Charlie and I dressed up in makeshift lederhosen and beermaid garb, while our friends Todd and Kathie dressed as a giant beer can and beermaid as well. A bunch of friends came and we had a good time. Next year? We'll see!! Saturday we had the 1st birthday party for our friends Tomas and Heather's baby (also Tomas), which was also a lot of fun. I would just like to point out that baby Tomas snacked on the tissue paper from OUR present first, so I guess that means we WIN! Team Marshik prevails! Sunday I went to the Bayou City Art Festival in downtown Houston with Sarmad and bought a kick-ass watch from Mistura (Ferro Red & Bianco, to be precise). I love it! A big splurge on myself, but every so often I gotta do it. At least that's what I say :) It was a lovely day in Houston to be admiring art outdoors. A little brunch with mimosas at the Sundance Grill II afterward capped off a great weekend. But WAIT, there's more! Thanks to Columbus Day, Charlie and I had the day off, so we rode bikes around the area - oh I don't know, 10 miles including some off-roading? - which was so great! I sweat in the great outdoorsies and even though my nether-regions are a tad bit tender, it was fun.

On Friday I return to DC for a different facet of work (commercial space endeavors at Orbital Sciences this time) and again I get to see Jenny T! TWICE in 3 weeks time, yippee!!! It will be a fun-filled and busy week(end), and I come home just as Charlie is heading back to MN for some R&R. ...and I'm spent.

Well, that post was longer (and possibly less interesting) than I expected. Sheesh!
Until next time!

Post-Safari Blues

2010-09-13T17:34:00.003-05:00

....oh yes, being back at home has its bonuses (seeing the pups, taking non-chlorinated showers, humidity for my crackly skin), but as with all vacations home, by-and-large, is less 'awesome' than non-home.

Zambia was the bomb people! We spent 95% of our time there (15 days?) in Kafue National Park, with the first two days at Livingstone, where Victoria Falls just happen to be. There is so much to tell, but this is not the post for such tellings. I shall recap on another date, but the pictures at the link below (straight out of my camera, to you) tell the briefest story of Charlie and me, some furry, scaly, and feathery animals, "The Falls" (at the end of the season's flow), a schedule of eating, sleeping and game watching, and the lovely country of Zambia.

Perhaps tonight I will celebrate being back with a Gin & Tonic and "second dinner"...
Ahhh, the memories.

More to come later detailing the stats of the vacation of a lifetime!
ps: So far no Malaria (score!) to speak of! Yessss! We win!

Safari Pics

2010-09-10T04:52:00.002-05:00

Many of the pics have been posted to Picasa. Enjoy!

http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=107083029733534927988&target=ALBUM&id=5514997225926409105&authkey=Gv1sRgCKOt0-7SwvTrGw&feat=email

So long old friend...

2010-08-18T08:20:00.002-05:00

2.5 weeks ago I finally said goodbye to The Coop after 7 faithful years of service. She was a beauty still and ran like a champ, but I had to let her go. It was time. Time to get a car with more than 4 inches of clearance in a major floodplain, time to get a car with more than 2 doors so my guests don't need to heave themselves out of the back seat like clowns, time to get a car without bucket seats in the back!

So I bid her a teary (yes, I said teary) adieu and sold her to a freshman in college (or rather her parents). They claim to want to put eyelashes on the headlights to make her more girly (le sigh)...I couldn't really bear to think about it, so I kept my mouth shut, let them pay me and waved farewell.

Happily, that very same day, our new car was available for pick up. The whole car pickup experience was drah-muh filled, but in the end we got the car we ordered from the factory at the price we ordered it for (jerks). Whew! What did we get you ask? A brand-spanking new 2011 Subaru Outback in dark blue: 2.5i Limited with puddle lights, all-weather package (for those Christmas jaunts to chilly MN), trailer hitch, moonroof, and Partial Zero Emissions Vehicle (PZEV) accountrements. PLUS I can pair my phone with my car and talk via my steering wheel. Never thought I'd use it, but it's one of my favorite things!

I.
Love.
It.

I love the company values (as far as I can tell, let's not get too political or nit-picky) and the fact that the Outback is built in the Indiana plant (U.S. jobs, yay) which is also an eco-friendly plant. The car is basically 50% Japanese parts, 50% US parts, which for me is a bonus. Yay team!

Anyway, I will post pictures eventually. Probably post-Africa adventure coming up here soon. That's the latest!

ps: Now we have 3 dark blue (almost matching) vehicles in our home: the VW Golf, the Buell and the Outback "Il Duce". Variety is the spice of life!

2010-07-20T17:21:00.000-05:00

...still clapping...

I Ain't Lion!

2010-07-20T16:58:00.007-05:00

It's already been over a month since our last post (and by "our" I mean MY). What's been going on in the lives of the Marshiks? Well let's see...

We had a super fun night out with our friends after renting a limo for an adult Saturday evening - woohoo! Needless to say some of us (ahem) got a little queasy before nights end and had to spend the 4th of July recovering. Erin has the pictures, check her blog for more details.

Charlie and I have spent most of this time working on building the media console I designed; Charlie is great at the handiwork! Eventually I'll post pictures of the build process and then the final product, so stay tuned. We hope to have it completed prior to heading out on our ...vacation!!

We are treating ourselves to a 5-year anniversary vacation of a lifetime! Destination: Zambia! Safaris left and right, hopefully a good view of Victoria Falls (even though it's late in the season)!! We'll be gone for about 2 weeks and I am hoping to bring enough camera batteries and flash cards to sustain my photographic needs. Right now we're working on getting all vaccinated up, though nothing is officially required for travel to Zambia at this moment, just some recommendations. In a later blog entry (yes, prior to us leaving at least) I'll give you all the details of our trip plan. WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

Until then, tonight is a massage pour moi, which will hopefully quell a raging headache I have from being dehydrated from workout (and missing my daily chai break with my Besties)!

I've also spent some time as of late taking photos of gracious friends who will let me practice my (lack of) skills in this area, in an effort to improve. Some outside family shots, some inside baby and kid shots. Hmmmm, gotta learn how to better use my camera before the safari! I appreciate them allowing me to practice my hobby :)

Let's see, what else may I bore you with in the details of my life...
Tomorrow is the weekly installment of So You Think You Can Dance and I am madly in love with the dance shown here from a few weeks ago - SHABOOYAH!! I'm STILL pumping my fists and clapping and smiling as I watch this for the zillionth time! My friend Kathie (recent hot Mom again and overall super sweet gal) and I (and of course Todd and Chewie) watch SYTYCD every week, drooling over hot bods (girls only for Todd) we love and wish we had and awesome dance moves. Listen people, Get Outta Ur Miiiind! I wish Nappy Tabs would choreograph a dance just for me, where I look less like a shoulderless monkey and more like a freaking dance machine when I bust a move. Ahhh yes. P'rhaps someday...up in this piece.

What else what else? Enh, that's good enough for now.

....ps: watched Alex & Twitch again, still clapping....and smiling!

Family Visit!

2010-06-15T20:09:00.003-05:00

Mom and Faith visited the first weekend in June for some girl's weekend action and boy, did we have fun! We ate, drank (hehehe), shopped and spent some much needed quality time together. One day we went to the Annual AIA Sandcastle competition on Galveston's East Beach, laid in the hot HOT sun, had juice box wine, and got burnt to a crisp! Faith and I rocked out to some serious throw back jams on her iPod (flashing stank face all up in that piece!) and sweat it out under our makeshift shade of personal umbrellas. Ahhhhhh the beach. That evening we attended a fabulous Sex & The City 2 party at my dear friend Beth's house, ate some amazing dip by Alicia (mmmmmmmmmm, diiiiiiiip) and looked stunning doing it! The Strandmark Ladies were in full effect! The movie was good, but the whole evening was great!

The long weekend consisted of concerts in the park (where we got rained on), live music, the winery, beach and the required Canyon Cafe stop for their amazing soup! PLUS, Faith got some fabu wedges at DSW that I hope she wears all summer!

All in all, it was great to spend time with my family and made me very happy :) I hope to make this a yearly thing!

Mission Complete!

2010-05-27T09:41:00.003-05:00

The crew of STS-132 landed safely yesterday to close out Atlantis' final voyage from space. With that, I have served my final mission as Lead FAO and my final day on console as a Shuttle Flight Control Room operator. Two more missions to go, but none of them will be served by me in the "front room". I will be supporting them from a behind-the-scenes place. It is a bittersweet ending to my small piece of the space shuttle program.

Thank you Atlantis, you've served us well.

Mission Commence!

2010-05-15T09:32:00.003-05:00

STS-132/ISS-ULF4 launched successfully on her first try yesterday from Florida. 13 days in space, 3 spacewalks, a slew of robotic activity and undoubtedly some antics from the crew will happen before they all return safely to earth around May 26th.

This is my final Lead Flight Activities Officer (FAO) assignment before the end of the shuttle program and it is also the last time I will get to sit in the Shuttle Flight Control Room ("front room", people you see on NASA TV...) in my career.

It is certainly bittersweet. The road to getting this mission off the ground has been a long one, so on one hand it is exciting to get the ball rolling and have an end in sight. On the other hand, since it is the final mission of this vehicle, Atlantis, my final mission as FAO, and nearing the end of the space shuttle program, I can't help but feel a small sense of loss. I will be focusing on enjoying the last moments of my time as a shuttle flight controller and reflecting on how much this program has meant to me and should mean to the American public.

Go get 'em Atlantis!

WorldFest Houston 2010

2010-04-18T16:49:00.019-05:00

On Saturday I wrapped up my two-week long WorldFest Houston - Independent International Film Festival - marathon! This is the 43rd year of the festival in Houston, but only my second year giving it a go. Last year I saw one movie (the second was thwarted by a flood of obscene proportions) that was...fine. "Work Hard Play Hard" (France)...though it wasn't very memorable.

This year I upped the anty and saw six - count 'em 6! - movies!

WorldFest Houston is a great concept and has the potential to be an asset to the city of Houston in terms of event traffic, the arts, business and the film industry. Their execution (even after 43 years) of the event, however, leaves much to be desired. Everything about how the people who are in charge of executing this event (from a movie-goer perspective) screams amateur and discredits the long-standing histroy and 'importance' of an event as this. The Festival's main website is a god-awful 1995 version of the world-wide-web (shameful, really), schedules can change without notice to the customer, the theater is a bit trashy and in an less-than-savory (though ethnicly diverse) part of town, plus there is a general lack of formality given to the marketing (what marketing? ...i don't think there even is any, seriously) and regalia surrounding the entire event. It's a shame that something as wonderful as an independent film festival can be nearly overshadowed by simple marketing schemes.

DESPITE MY COMMENTS ABOVE: I do highly encourage people to attend this event!! WorldFest Houston happens every year, and if you can get past any expectations of glamour for the event itself, you have the opportunity to see some pretty incredible films. For nearly all of the films we saw, a Producer, Director, Writer, Main Actor or combination thereof showed up to the film, had a Q&A session, and even met with the audience on a personal level. To hear how/where/why a film was shot, the trials and tribulations of independent film making, and side-stories from the shoots themselves is interesting, informative and fun. On opening night we even (my friend Sarmad and I) got to see a lifetime achievement award given to two Italian filmmakers (the Amati brothers)....cutest guys ever!The festival allows the average person (WIDE variety of people seeing these films) to see amazing Indie films and up-and-coming artists, without feeling intimidated.

So, without further ado...Below is my review of the movies I saw this year ranked from what I liked worst to best (in my opinion):

6. Ek Tho Chance [Last Chance Mumbai] (India)
- www.ekthochance.com/default_subtitle.html
-This was the first Indian film I had ever seen. For me, the story was unoriginal and I don't really get why there is singing and dancing (ala a musical) in a 'normal' movie. This movie lacked that "indie" feel I was looking for and overall did not impress me with its sub-par acting and unimpressive plotline. On the plus side, I am glad I got to experience a pseudo-Bollywoood style film. I do not expect to see another one, however, it's not the format for me.

5. The Frost (Spain/Norway)

- http://www.thefrostfilm.com/

-The director of the film flew all the way from Norway to accept an award for this film from the Festival committee. There were 7 of us in the theater...that count might be a bit high. I felt awful. I did like his glasses though.

-The storyline in this one was bizarre. From death, to kooky/creepy neighbors and flashes of incestual desire, I was left feeling dissatisfied with the story as a whole. I couldn't quite make the connections through all of it and did not appreciate some of the artistry of the production...like the random graphics at various spots. Overall, I enjoyed the quirkiness of the movie, but couldn't piece it all together in the end. That's why it's toward the end of the list. I did, however, get to see the most beautiful landscapes Norway has to offer via this film. It's not often I think of Norway as a hot-spot for vacationing, but after seeing the town on the water and the gorgeous mountains and fjords (what an awesome word, FJORD)...I'm sold!

4. The Joneses (USA)
-http://www.thejonesesmovie.com/
-The Producer of the film gave a speech in the beginning of the movie. I don't remember what he said, but I'm sure it was nice.
-Great concept for a movie. They definitely are doing this in the 'real world', I just know it!! David Duchovny has a special place in my heart since The X Files, but in this movie he's simply adorable. Convincing in character and relateable. Demi Moore is smoking hot and I'm jealous. I want to look like her....like when I was 20! But late 40s? C'mon! It's amazing. Anyhoo, the movie was good in production, concept and acting...though not everyone liked the ending. I did.

3. Love Life of a Gentle Coward (Croatia)
- www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_y8BOe4rug
-I really enjoyed the storyline in this movie. It had the feeling of a rom-com without the cheesiness. The story was relateable and the acting well done. The main character guy was believable; I could sense his sadness and desperation. The production of this film was good and the music light and tinkly, which made it all the more interesting to watch. I was very happy I got to enjoy this movie.

2. The Square (Australia)
- http://www.squarethemovie.com/
-This was a Premiere, to be released next week in theaters (in Australia, I assume). The film was dark and kept me constantly wondering "What can happen next?!" I thoroughly enjoyed this film from start to finish - good production value without any gimmicks. There were moments when my heart stopped, and moments when I almost cried (read: a dog gets eaten by a shark in this movie - so obviously I was nearly in tears). Highly recommended!
-BONUS: Blue-Tongue Films showed a movie short before the film and I loved it!! "Spider". Here is a link to their YouTube stuff, I hope you like it too!

1. Bodhisattva (India)
- http://www.bodhifilm.com/
- The principal actor/director/writer of the film introduced the film and then answered questions afterward. It wasn't until the movie was over and he did Q&A with the audience that I figured out who he was - I'm an idiot. It was fun listening to him talk about his movie: shot in 7 days (because they only had the camera for that long) and each scene only shot once. 30 days to edit the film.
- I very much enjoyed the story in this film. There was an edginess about the plot and when it was all said and done I had no idea what just happened. It was all done in a matter-of-fact manner, leaving some questions - but not in an annoying way. Production value was pretty good (given the filming circumstances especially!), but not the best I'd seen this round of movies. It was dark, shot at close range from a single point-of-view, and for the most part edited well. I liked the way it was shot. I liked the angles and the color. The drama in the dirtiness of the area and the grit of the people. I highly recommend this movie to anyone looking to think a bit about a movie.

That's it folks! Until next year (mark your calendars for April 8-17, 2011) - can't wait!

ps: I would also like to send a special shout-out to Sarmad for being my patient movie cohort for the entire festival. Without him, I would have only smuggled in water and snacks for one...that's no fun! Thanks again, it was worth almost getting shot for :)

Catch Up Photos

2010-04-03T14:29:00.006-05:00

**UPDATE: MOM & DAD VISIT PIX POSTED**
Well Helloooooo! Yep. We're back in the heezie for some more mad stylin's and ribbidy-rhymes.
I've attached some slideshow dealies to help you catch up on some of the happenings since the ol' Christmas-y timeframe.

1. November 2009: Cory's 22nd Birthday Sports-themed party. Thank goodness for spandex. Of course that all depends on your viewpoint...

2. January 2010: Charlie's 2nd Marathon

3. March 2010: Oscar Party

4. March 2010: Mom & Dad's visit

5. March 2010: Carey & Chris' visit

Not shown here yet: Our trip to San Fran in January, because I can't find those pictures. Gasp! Enjoy...stay tuned!

The Pink Eye

2010-03-23T21:05:00.005-05:00

This morning I woke up with what appeared to be a 'sore' and slightly bloodshot eye. Did Kirby punch me in the face again during bedtime cuddle-time? Nope, she took care of that fun move last Friday morning.

It went something like:
Me: Good morning Kooner! You're such a good girl! ((cuddle cuddle tummy rub))
Kirby: Oh Mommy! Oh Mommy! I'm so excited to see you! If I could just...get...a little...closer...ennnnnnnnnnh! ((Karateeeeeeeeeeee PUNCH! to the face with a furry claw!))

If that wasn't it, what could it be? Hmmm...

The eye funk was annoying, but nothing spectacular or day-breaking, so off to work I went. La de da! Work work work. Touch touch touch (my eye). Red red red.

I didn't want to go to the clinic, I just didn't want to. However, at the end of the day I decided I must go for the sake of my 'bulb and those around me. Since I don't have a general practitioner here, it was either go to the work clinic or have my OB/GYN perform an eye exam on me. The choice was clear.

Diagnosis: The Pink Eye
Impact: Banned from work until it clears up. Literally. They don't want me infecting any spacemen or spaceladies.
Remedy: Antibiotics just in case it's bacterial. "Time" if it's not.

So how 'bout that folks? My first case of pink eye. Whee!
Good news is I have a long weekend now. That, my friends, is alright with me.

Back!

2010-03-21T17:28:00.001-05:00

It's been since Christmas. 3 months...way too long. I mean, if my best friend Jenny Tobin can finally post something after many moons, then that's the kick in the buns I needed to start posting again.

We have much to post about and will...soon.

Koon-dogg and the Sollosi Christmas Miracle

2009-12-16T16:12:00.002-06:00

This just in:
In an unexpected turn of events, our little nut-job, Kirby, gets to stay with her best friends ever in life Derek, Erika and little V Sollosi for the holidays! They graciously offered to spare her from the kennel for two weeks and we're dropping her off to a happy home tonight! It's a Christmas Miracle for K-dogg! Wheeeeeeeee!

She's been bathed and sprayed with doggie parfum, ready for her Holiday Camp filled with love, pets and baby smells. MMMMMM, baby smells. I know she's in for a real treat!

My Work Bestie, Lauren (yes, I used the word "bestie", thank you Lauren for that one) has offered to check in on Kirby after the Sollosi's drop her back at my place so they can enjoy their Christmas in Philly. Another blessing!

Are we a fortunate family or what?! Yes, yes we are! I am moved by our friend's generosity and kindness - it never ceases to amaze me how blessed we really are.

Have fun little K-biscuit and BE NICE, Santa's watching!

ps: Samdogg gets jipped and has to spend the holidays with us in cold-A-Minnesota. Someone should buy her a warm sweater or vest...

Packing and Swine

2009-12-15T15:50:00.004-06:00

In a couple days we'll be headed on the road to Ye Olde Minnesota for the holidays, which include oodles of family visits and hopefully getting to see some friend-type people along the way. It's butt-A-cold there, so this type of weather allows me the full use of my winter clothing, including (but not limited to): sweaters, mittens, hats and penguin jammie pants from what I think must have been high school (thanks Aunt Lisa).

One of the hardest parts about making the trek to another climate is packing, I think. Especially in winter. Bigger clothes and more shoes (shoes for style, shoes with grip) = bigger suitcases. We are making the 1200 mile trek the old fashioned way, driving, so no worries here about airport lines and 3 oz bottles or wrapped presents...or large amounts of baggage and extrey fees. Bonus! The Sam-in-ator will be coming with us this time, while Kirby gets the kennel treatment this go 'round. Almost 2 weeks we will be gone - crazy!

In addition to the fun festivities of packing and hauling our buns to MN, I think I just might be coming down with some sort of sickness. Could be The Swine, could be The Regular, could be the Saag Paneer I ate for lunch. All I am saying is that a bunch of people at work (or their kids) are sick and well, Mama's voice is getting raspy, eyes are a little bloodshot and my nostrils are leaking. Sexy! I'm like a leathery old smoker lady with allergies. Hopefully not too leathery :)

So tonight's task will be making the packing list (including 4" heels - c'mon people!), getting out the luggage and then sitting on the couch watching the taped version of "Sing Off" from last night. Oh yeah, and probably some sort of hot tea and a dog to snuggle me on the couch. And Christmas music. And cheese.

We're a total joke....

2009-12-12T11:29:00.005-06:00

So, this blog was supposed to be a great way to keep in touch, but we stink at it. We are a joke to the world of blogging.

I'm going to try to recite what's been missed in the past three months...or so:
1. We went to DC for Charlie's surprise birthday, it was awesome. DC was great and so was seeing our dear friends the Tobins (and their baby girl Andrea Ann). Will try to post pix soon.
2. Saw Kings of Leon in concert at the Toyota Center - awesome! Love love loved it!
3. My parents came to visit us here in Texas for a week. We went to Fredericksburg and visited the Hill Country wine country. We hit 3 of the twenty-some wineries and really had a good time. Will try to post pix soon (see a theme here?).
4. We went to MN the following week/end to visit. Had a great time with our friends and family. Saw Ryan McVizzle for dinner and Solera (hadn't been there since our wedding 4 years ago), mmmm. Went to the apple orchard with my sister and family/friends to pick apples and then had a great bonfire at her place! Saw Charlie's family too and that was really great! Will try to post pix soon (catching on yet?).
5. Charlie went to San Diego for drill in mid-November (no pix).
6. I worked a Space Shuttle flight.
7. Charlie went to NASA JPL for a work class for a week in early December.
8. I took my very last final exam ever in life on Thursday and am now done with school!

...and now for the holiday travels. We'll be in MN for just over a week with the Samdog seeing family and friends.

Back to your regularly scheduled blog-reading...

Back in the Swing

2009-09-19T12:52:00.003-05:00

Back home, yippee!! Last weekend I spent with Mar and mostly chillaxed. This week at work was really hard as far as motivation was concerned, but I made it through somehow. Last night we went to Joudy & John's nice, big new pad for happy hour and dinner, a few people drank too much and thank goodness I was DD!

I played football for the first time in over a year with the guys this morning, even Fatty. My friend Tito even showed up, as a newcomer. I think he had a good time :) I got some sun, enjoyed the BEAUTIFUL weather here in Houston right now and sweat. Mmmm, sweat.

At the moment I am watching class at 1.5x speed and drinking one of my favorite drinks, "Fizzed" by Apple & Eve. It's a 8 oz can of pure fruit juice and sparkling water. They come in packs of 4 and the flavor I am drinking is orange mango. All natural and NO SUGAR ADDED! Delicious. You should try them out for a soda substitute.

Next week Charlie and I are going on a surprise vacation for his birthday. I made it! ...well, it's not a surprise any more because I really wanted his input, BUT...we're going to Washington DC - it'll be Charlie's first time and my second - Thursday thru Monday. I get to see my BFF Jenny T, Jim and Baby Andi and their new digs as well! Our plan is to take in the Nation's Capitol as much as we can in 4 days and just soak in the history and magnificence of it all. We need a vacation badly! I am excited to get away for an impromptu weekend.

Next we will be heading back to MN to see the fam and new babies. Date TBD, but I am hoping October!

Missed the Episode

2009-09-09T21:13:00.002-05:00

While in pa roosky, I missed the first episode of Season 6 of So You Think You Can Dance. When I get home it will be one of the first things I watch - yay! Thanks to facebook, however, I found this video that I literally sat in my hotel bed and watched, while grinning and clapping like a dodo.

I can't help but love it and hopefully you'll agree:

I'll be home soon :)

Scammed by the Shashlik Man

2009-09-09T08:43:00.004-05:00

Today was my last day in Moscow, so Chris and I took a leisurely tour on foot. We once again went to the Cosmonautics Museum (metro: VDNKh), but this time they weren't closed, so we got in! It was a pretty neat place with lots of spacey stuff to see, including oodles of Yuri Gagarin paraphenalia. I very much enjoyed my time there! Afterwards, we were hungry so we stopped at the VVC (used to be called the VDNKh) next door for some shashlik. Before we could eat though, we wandered a bit and I noticed the giant ferris wheel from Moscow's 850th Birthday (12 yrs ago) just asking to be ridden. 10 bucks later, I was mounting an open-air ride to the top of this monstrosity. Holy crumbs it was high up! I wondered aloud a few times why I had chosen to ride the open-air trolley, but in the end the view and the fresh air was absolutely worth it! The pictures don't do it justice I don't think, but it was pretty cool.

Now it was time to eat. We stopped at a shashlik vendor on the side of one of the walkways. I couldn't read the menu, so chris and I pointed to the one shashlik skewer and said that was it. Then the guy asked if we wanted salad: No. Potato? Sure. 15 minutes later, Fantas in hand, the guy dropped tons of food off at our table. it was like a whole skewer of potatoes and the whole skewer of meat - which was like 1-1.5 lbs between the two of us. After we ate the meal, which was fine - nothing to write home about (how ironic) - we went up front to pay the bill. 2600 rubles. Umm....surely there was a mistake. That's 90 dollars! We said, no way this is right and the guy came back and said yes it is. He pointed to the thing on the menu that said you paid for the meat by the gram. Nice. In addition, the potatoes cost 20-some dollars out of that 90...what a joke. So, Chris pulled out his 1000 ruble bill and we told the guy we didn't have that kind of money. We just didn't. He kept pointing to the bill amount and demanding that. We kept saying NO WAY and we don't have that amount...We were so mad!

In the end, and mostly because we didn't want a run-in with any police-type guys, i fished out a magic 1500 rubles from my pants (tricky) - and that was literally all we had. We ended up giving the guy 2550 of his 2600+ ruble bill. I hate to think what might have happened if we didn't have that much. UGH. I guess we should have asked "how much", but from the prices I saw on the sheet, I never would have thought 90 dollars of food was headed our way. AND, the guy knew better - he totally scammed us.

Anyway, I'm safe and sound and ready to come home tomorrow. I don't feel so well at the current moment (headache, sore throat), but by tomorrow I should be as good as new :)

Next update from Houston! Mwah!

Spasskaya Bashnaya

2009-09-08T16:36:00.004-05:00

Tonight after my last day (half day) at work, us four fun kids went to see the International Military Music Festival (http://www.kremlin-military-tattoo.ru/en/) on the Red Square here in Moscow. There were like 1000 participants from various countries of the world, with the majority of course being Russian bands. There were horses (and horse poo), shaolin stunt dudes, traditional Russian folk dancer kids (amazing!) and of course lots of marching bands from the various country military wings.

Finland was a bust, the folk-dancing kids and shaolin guys were my favorite and the best part was: after 2.5 hrs of the show on Red Square, all the bands came in to play together for the finale. 1000 band people, doing their thang. They played Hey Jude, Yellow Submarine (don't know what it is with The Beatles) and another familiar song. In the background sang a choir and at one point (previously, now that i think of it) the Russian National Ballet danced to a song. They ended the night with the William Tell Overture and fireworks exploding over St. Basils Cathedral and the Kremlin wall. It was a pretty amazing sight to see!!

At the end of the evening, we left and had dinner (a very fast one!) at an Italian restaurant about 4 blocks away from the square. Had a White Russian drink and some pasta, now I'm eating some ice cream at home. It was/is also Pooja's birthday (09/09/09), so we wished her well. Happy Birthday Pooja!! I had a great night, glad I went to this thing and am now home, ready for nite nite.

Uno mas dia para mi...

2009-09-07T14:32:00.002-05:00

That is jaime-ese (or "Jaimese" if you want to get fancy) for "One more day for me..." at work in Moscow! ...and there was much rejoicing!

Tomorrow I work a 1/2 day for my final day at work, then 4 of us (me, Chris, Pooja, Todd - all coworkers) are going to the International Military Music Festival on Red Square (http://www.kremlin-military-tattoo.ru/en/). This past weekend, the entire city celebrated "Moscow City Day", to ring in the city's 862nd birthday. Yikes! That means a lot is going on in the town, including this music festival. I think they end each performance with fireworks, but we'll see. Something has been exploding in the night sky over here the past few nights, so I hope it is that.

In any case, it's a new and interesting (i hope!) way to end my 3 week stay here in Moscow - I mean, how many times will I be able to say that I was in Red Square watching a military festival?! Not many - so carpe diem!

More updates to come after tomorrow's adventure, then Weds is a full day of freedom in Russia (doing TBD) and then Thursday I come home. Can't wait!

My Diet in Moscow

2009-09-05T02:38:00.003-05:00

Every day for the past two weeks my diet has consisted of the following items in some combination:
Orange/Apple juice, fruit flavored yogurt (pear, cherry, mango, berry, kiwi, peach), hard boiled eggs, cherry tomatoes, small cheese wedges, noodles and tomato sauce, grapes, bananas, pizza, chocolates and ice cream.

Ah ha! You thought I was being all healthy until I mentioned those last three! Well, I am doing quite well in my diet, it just takes some thought and the Sedmoi Continent (7th Continent) grocery store. I also brought with me some Oodwalla bars, fiber bars and dried fruit bars for snacks, which have been supplementing my snackiness immensely. I have not eaten out as much as I thought, since I am working some funky hours for dining, but have managed to have some sushi (good), italian food and georgian food once as well. Mostly though, I'm brown-bagging it.

I am ashamed at what I'm about to say: I will admit that I miss my chai tea lattes from Starbucks. How very "Americansky" of me.

Moscow Nights

2009-09-03T19:16:00.002-05:00

This morning I slept in and putz'd around the apartment until work. Nothing much to report there.

After work Steve, Pooja and I (all coworkers) went to Ogni to eat some sushi (num!), and then took a cab to a night club called Parisian Nights (i think), nearby. We had a few rum and cokes, plus the obligatory shot of wodka and danced to some serious 90s techno and Ace of Base (when all we wanted was a little shot of "Boom Boom Pow!"). It was a a good time filled with a bare-chested, fake boob lady on the stage, a scary drunken russian man cornering Pooja and I at our dance floor-side booth (we escaped unscathed, before we _think_ he might have almost hurled on our table), a russian gross man dancing with first me, then Pooja - he liked to twirl us on the dance floor - and a nice russian lady saying a whole paragraph of words to me in pa roosky then kissing me on the cheek with a grin on her face...i don't know what it meant, but she was a very nice lady.

'Twas a good night. Made it home safe and sound - none the worse for wear.
G'nite!

Short & Sweet

2009-09-02T15:14:00.004-05:00

This morning we (Pooja and I) went to a bridge that crosses the Moscow River and overlooks the Kremlin and the Cathedral of Christ. It is tradition in Russia (Moscow?) when you get married to go to a bridge, place a lock with your wedding vows/date/names inscribed on it on the bridge and then throw the key in the river. Pooja read in a Time.com article that instead of locking the locks on the bridge itself, that the city had constructed a tree on this particular bridge for just such a purpose. Well, we saw the bridge, the landscape views, but no tree! It was a bummer, but a neat little escapade anyway. We ended up on this peninsula on the river, found a neat club "Rai" with some cool mirrors on the entrance and then walked along the back side of the famous old Red October Chocolate Factory. Nothing spectacular, since they're turning it into upscale loft apartments, but a nice place for pictures.

We then headed to Stary Arbat to see the street vendors, of which there were surprisingly few, and ended up having a small breakfast (a baked pudding and thick hot chocolate drink) and chatting instead. A quick run thru the street and then back to the hotel for work.

The end!

Kremlin Part II & A Dead Guy

2009-09-01T14:20:00.002-05:00

Today I went with a new coworker here (Pooja) to visit the inner-sanctum of the Kremlin walls - the cathedrals. These buildings are enormous, old and beautiful! In one of the cathedrals were so many tombs/stone caskets, it was outrageous! All were set up on the floor with protective metal and glass shrouds on them, inscribed with the names and dates of each Tsar or important person contained within - some I saw were dated in the 14th century. Inside the Kremlin compound were also the largest cannon and bell ever made. Neither were ever used in practice, but there they were, glorious and proud for all the tourists and Kremlin-ites to see.

After that tour, we decided to get into the line to see Lenin's tomb - the inside! The tomb is only open on select days from 10a-1p, so we were fortunate to be there at the right day and time. The do not allow you to bring in any cameras, cell phones or bags - you go through a metal detector, they search your purse (if you havven't checked it in the baggage room) and then you can go in. What is interesting about Lenin's Tomb is that 1. it's a really quick sight-see if you have the chance (like 30 mins total from line to tomb to out) and 2. they don't actually let you stop and look at his person (see #1). Pooja and I walked into the tomb from the bright sunshine and headed down into the black marble or granite walled bowels of the tomb. As our eyes adjusted to the very VERY dark staircase, we were met by a Militsia (police) guy about every 15 feet pointing you in the right direction or not moving at all. The place was crawling with military protection men. The walls of the tomb are completely unadorned with inscriptions, plaque, images or any other decoration. Black walls and a few lights. Very somber. The whole room is dedicated to one thing only: Lenin's body encased in a large glass box. Lenin rests in the center of a decent-sized room, on a platform surrounded by a 15 foot "buffer zone". We climbed the stairs to the right of the platform and I stopped to get a good look. At that moment, one of the military men snapped his fingers 3 times and gestured for me to keep moving. "Oh!" I exclaimed...and continued to walk really slowly around the tomb. Lenin looks...dead. But intact. I don't believe the conspiracy theory that it's just a wax figure of Lenin laying there - his dead ears looked too creepy and wrinkly to be fake in my opinion...but you never know.

We left there after 3 minutes of actually being in the mausoleum and headed across Red Square to the GUM ("goom") - a high-end mall. We did some quick window-shopping and ended up buying a pastry and mystery fresh-squeezed juice from the fancy grocery store inside. Pooja got a flaky chocolate pastry and i got one with apples and almonds on top. Mmmmm. Her juice was yellow (grapefruit, we found out) and mine was bright purple (beet, i discovered). My beet juice (last picture) wasn't too bad actually, but needless to say it didn't sit very well in my tummy. I felt nauseus for the next couple of hours. Oops!

I feel much better now, all recouped. Headed to bed now, tomorrow we're going to wander around Stary Arbat, a new bridge and maybe something else...

Stay tuned!

More Moscow

2009-08-29T08:54:00.006-05:00

***UPDATE: All Moscow posts now have picture slideshows, so scroll back down!***

The other day we went to the VDNKh ("vay day en khah"), the Memorial Cosmonautics Museum (which was closed, but neat sculptures outside) and then the Agricultural wonderment place right next door. I'll try to find out the name of this joint and fill it in here later. ***UPDATE: Name is the VDNKh and PIX!***

Today was my last day off in Moscow since the STS-128/17A mission launched this morning (Moscow morning), yay! Chris and I went to Tsarytsino and saw the amazing grounds of the Imperial summer home of Catherine the Great - though she never lived at the place (see link for details)! Beautifully architected buildings and grounds, quite the sight to see! We also went to Novodivechy Convent and Cemetery which we walked around the outside and inside. Really neat buildings and again, hte architecture here is phenomenal!

I must say that there was an ABUNDANCE of weddings going on today - probably every Saturday in the summer. It was interesting to see their dresses - a lot of creams - and to note that the bride, groom and "wedding party" traveled with them to take all their pictures. The biggest difference was that this wedding party was comprised of people dressed like they were going to their friend's weddings and also included family, from what I could tell. No matchy-matchy, just a band of friends and family tagging along to share in their experience with them. Seriously, I think we probably saw at least 20 brides today. Beautiful day for a wedding (or at least wedding pictures).

Lastly we trekked back to Red Square and went inside of St. Basil's Cathedral. It is a collection of 9 teensy-weensy churches all in one building. Cool stuff, though construction was going on in many of the areas. One quirky thing to note: The first, ground-floor church we went into had a lady in a smock (looking like one of the maid people) standing on a little wooden stool PAINTING (touch-up style) the mural on the wall! What the heck people? That kinda defeats the purpose of the "old style" and history of the cathedral if you ask me...so bizarre! I wonder if they do that in a lot of places? Something to think about :D

All in all it was a great day (beautiful weather again!) and I am glad the shuttle slipped enough that I could be here to have another day off. I will upload pix soon - I hope :) ***UPDATE: PIX!***

Quickly Now...

2009-08-26T14:44:00.004-05:00

Quick update:
-Launch scrubbed (bummer!) so I took today (Weds) off. It was my first day off since arriving in Moscow.
-Woke up at 0630, back to sleep until 0741. Lolly-gagged until 930 when I was finally out the door to sightsee solo.
-Navigated the streets and subways of MOCKBA by myself, successfully, with no wrong turns. Yay!
-First stop: Victory Park (Metro: Park Pobodi). Walked around the grounds for a long while amazed by the humongous monuments. Didn't do the museum for time's sake. Amazing place!
-Second stop: Pushkin Museum of Private Collections (Metro: Kropotkinskaya). The most impressionist artist's work I have ever seen! An amazing collection of Manet, Monet, Degas, Picasso, Renoir, Dali, Matisse, and more! So many artists, so many works from each. Phenomenal! My favorite was an Odilon Redon, titled "Rebirth (Spring)" - check it out sometime!
-Third stop: Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts (Metro: Kropotkinskaya). I must admit I enjoyed the private collections better, but there were some outstanding pieces in this museum! I saw at least three mummies (and even a jaw and toe!) and other artifacts (so MANY) dating from up to the 30th century B.C. (i think)!! The sheer volume of their collection of truly OLD artifacts is dumbfounding!
-Fourth stop: Kremlin State Armory (Metro: Borovitskaya). Actually I got off a metro stop too early I think and couldn't quite figure out how to cross the vast ocean of road that lay before me. So I backtracked and used a perehod (under-street crosswalk thingie) and popped up right next to the Kremlin. At some point I'll take a tour of the rest of the inner-Kremlin grounds, but today was for the State Armory only (no time!). A-mazing! Jewels upon gold upon jewels upon magnificence. There were crowns and thrones and armor and weaponry and carriages and outfits and...well, you can google it too :) It was a very interesting place! Plus, it came with a free self-guided audio tour which was awesome. *Note: I also stopped outside the Kremlin and read a book in the warm sun today for about 30 minutes while I was waiting for my Armory tour to begin. What a lovely thought...sigh.
-Fifth stop: Red Square (Metro: Kitai Gorod). I have been here before a couple times (a few years ago and the other day), but today I thought I'd stop by on my own without pressure to leave on someone else's time - PLUS the weather was super gorgeous today, so it was worth it to hang out for a while. I took some pix of St. Basil's Cathedral (going to try to get in there before I leave if possible), Lenin's Tomb, the Kremlin walls and the State Historical Museum. They are preparing for a huge parade/celebration in September on the square, so there was construction/scaffolding and work going on all around.

After Red Square it was time to head home. Got back to the hotel (after only slightly getting lost in the next street over from my hotel) at 1800, ate some leftover spaghetti carbonara, cherry tomatoes, cheese wedges and ice cream. Mmmmm. Now I'm watching "The Life Aquatic (with Steve Zissou)" and am going to bed. Pix to come, so hold on to your hats!

Back to work tomorrow and hopefully for the shuttle launch on Friday. Today was a good day.
-Jaime out.

Tomatillo!

2009-08-23T18:48:00.003-05:00

After a grueling two weeks in New Hampshire, I came home to this plant growing in the middle of our backyard. Turns out that something (bird, rabbit, or armadillo?) was nice enough to install a tomatillo plant for us and it's already fruiting. For size comparison, Sammie (who was 55lb at her last vet visit) is, as always, on her best behavior posing next to it. Now to find some tomatillo-utilizing recipes.

Pa Roosky

2009-08-23T02:13:00.003-05:00

Zdrastvwechay (booyah phoenetics)! Today is day two for me in Russia, arriving yesterday afternoon. Technically, I guess I've only been in country for 24 hrs. After arriving yesterday at 11a local, a few people met up at 5p to go have Indian food for dinner. At a place called Maharaja, the Chicken Andraki is what I had and it was good. Really expensive, but good. After that, the group of us walked to Red Square for some photo ops (none from me, actually), saw St. Basil's Cathedral (I will try to go inside someday soon), the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and some old ladies dancing in the street to their boombox with 80's style hairpieces. It was pretty funny :)

I crashed out last night, woke up every hour to check the time and wonder exactly what "2:07 am" meant, then finally awoke at 6:00am to get ready for the day. Chris ("Buckles" as I call him) is over here for work on a 3 month tour, so we went a-travelin' this morning before work. First we went to Sparrow Hill which is southwest of the city center, right across from the University of Moscow - a huge, beautiful building. We hiked up this hill which is also home to a ski jump across from an olympic stadium (i think). She ain't too steep, but MAN am i winded from the climb up the hill! There was a fog over the city this morning and it's still overcast and sometimes sprinkle-y outside, but the weather is cool and lovely. Ahhhhhhhhhh. None-the-less I was pitting out all over the place in my rain jacket. Now my feet and my person stinks. Pleasant!

After Sparrow Hill we took the metro back toward the city center and stopped at Sculpture Park which is across from Gorky Park. I didn't know Gorky Park was an amusement park - I had associated it with the Sculpture Park right across from it...huh. I liked Sculpture Park a lot - walking amongst old sculptures from around Moscow and seeing some interesting spectacles. PLUS, there is the Peter the Great statue in the Moscow River (I think that's what it is) adjacent to the park and it's HUGE! Neat as well, so we got to see that also.

Next up for me today is work from 12-5, then dinner. Hope to get some of the "famous" pizza from near the TsUP ("soup", not " 'sup?") which is the mission control center in Moscow, today for a late lunch. Mmmmmm. I think I'm going to be lacking protein this trip, so I'm going to try everything I can to eat it in some form when I can - even if that means pizza! I have some basics from the grocery store near the hotel, so I'm sure I'll be eating just fine this trip :)

For now, I'm going to get ready for my first day at work and will write more later!

ps: I only brought my point-and-shoot camera, so I'll try to post some pix when I have some free time later. So far, not too many pix - we'll see how I do this trip!

**UPDATE: PIX!***

Whales in New Hampshire

2009-08-08T15:21:00.003-05:00

We had a beautiful day today with blue skies, a slight breeze and gorgeous sunshine (including the super red faces with sunglasses lines to match)! The temperature was a perfect mid-seventy or so...ahhhhhhhhh, so nice! We boarded the Granite State Whale Watching vessel, a two-story boat, from Rye Harbor Marina and set off on our 4 hour whale watching adventure!

We ended up seeing over 30 different whales, which generally were traveling in pods of 2 or 3. At one point our boat was surrounded by whales on every side - of course, they stayed relatively distant from us. There were some really close encounters with the whales, including: 1. A Humpback doing a pirouette-turny-thing out of the water, showing off its tummy and waving a fin at us right off the bow, like 10 feet away, and 2. one of the Fin Backs swimming right toward our starboard side and then about 20 feet away from our hull, turned toward our stern and swimming away. The whales we saw were Humpback and Fin Back whales. Note: The Fin Back whale is the second largest animal on the planet, next to the Blue Whale. PHENOMENAL! I took entirely too many pictures of seemingly the same thing. I'll post them all in an album shortly, but for now just a couple of my faves :)

This has been such a great vacation (more on that after the trip is over)!

Sweet Potato Soup Recipe

2009-08-05T23:48:00.003-05:00

A bunch of people have asked me to post the Sweet Potato Soup recipe. Follow the link to the ever-wonderful Bon Appetit parent website, http://www.epicurious.com/. I found the recipe from one of my magazines, apparently from aught-six.

Few Items to Note
1. Measurements: I am not a fan of precise measurement. I like to experiment a bit, and while I don't usually stray too far from the recipe, I recommend using your best judgement and making the food in a way that makes you happy. More rosemary? Yes please! Less butter? Sure, why not.

2. Sweet potatoes: For the mashed sweet potatoes, in case you don't have any "leftover" for use in this recipe, you can take 3 good sized sweet potatoes, peel the skins off (tried it w/ the skins once, no good), then slice the potato into rounds about 1/2-3/4 inch thick. Lightly sprinkle some oil on a baking sheet and spread the rounds out in a single layer. Bake for 20-25 mins at 400 F or until tender. Once tender, take out of the oven and mash them up. No seasoning required.

3. Chicken broth: I use free-range, low-salt organic chicken stock from the store and use at least 4 cups. I think in my last batch I used 6 cups total. Basically, I would recommend starting with 4 cups and adding more based on the consistency you like. It probably also depends on how much potato you stick in the recipe. Again, eyeball it to a place that makes you happiest.

4. Pancetta or Bacon?: I have used pancetta twice in this recipe and bacon once. I ate most of it before it actually got into the soup, every time. Pancetta is less greasy and more salty than bacon. I generally didn't use very much, if any, butter with the pancetta drippings. If you use bacon, you'll have to discard more of the pan drippings and won't need any butter at all. Plus, I recommend a thick-cut bacon if possible.

5. Croutons: I start out by pan-frying the sourdough cubes in the leftover grease/buttery goodness, with lots of rosemary (love that stuff and frankly, it's coming out of my ears here at the house). Then I either bake them to get them all-over crispy or I broil them. Just make sure to keep an eye on them so they don't burn in the oven.

6. Consistency: I highly recommend puree-ing this recipe in your blender after it is all completed, then back to the pot for more heat or from the food processor to the bowl.

Enjoy!

Latest and Greatest

2009-08-04T19:24:00.004-05:00

Well well well. Yes indeedy, it's been a month and a half since I've written. Charlie is really slacking, I know.

The haps with the craps is:
1. Faithie's baby Brandon is doing well, yay! (see last post)
2. My first lead shuttle mission, STS-127/2JA just finished a 17-day long journey from Earth, to the International Space Station, and back on Friday. Booyah! It was a blast, the whole thing. I'd do it again in a heartbeat for sure.
3. My brother and sister in law (Andy & Melissa) just had a bouncing baby girl yesterday - Welcome little Mia! We can't wait to meet you...hopfully this Fall (?)
4. Lieutenant Junior Grade Charlie is in New Hampster for the Navy until next Tuesday & he'll have been gone a whole 2 weeks. I go to visit him this weekend for a rousing good time of watching woodchucks eat crabapples, seagulls making noises, WHALE WATCHING (oh yeah baby! jealous?? boom!) and in-season Maine Lobster. Mmmmmmm.
5. I finished my summer grad school class today by turning in my Final paper. Technically I have two classroom sessions to watch, but without any homework due ...and my paper being finished...not likely to happen. One more class left ending in December and then I'm donesky. D-O-N-E, gradutated.
6. I got a membership to Massage Envy for a year and I am pumped iz-up. One guaranteed massage a month is what I'm gifting myself with my work bonus this year. Woohoo!
7. I'm making sweet potato soup (with pancetta and fresh rosemary and homemade croutons) all the time up in this piece. It's delicious, easy to make and quick. Num!
8. Speaking of fresh herbs, our gardens are doing pretty well. I can't tell what's happening with the tomato plants (we got some fruit, but not too much...hmmm), but the herbs are growing really well! I have more basil than i know what to do with and the thyme, sage and mint (3 kinds) are growing quite nicely. Our peppers are doing decently as well. I love to eat what we grow!!

That is the last month or so summed up as snug as a bug in a rug. Shouldn't be too incredibly long before the next post arrives either. I mean, don't hold your breath or anything, but ...it should be less than a month coming :)

Aunt Again!

2009-06-12T16:20:00.004-05:00

Faithie just called me from the hospital 5 minutes ago:
Brandon Evan Turner
6 lbs TBD oz, 21 inches long.

No time for medicine (again), 1-2-3 pushes and he was out!
C'mon people! Who's amazed?? I am!

Faith, you are an amazing sister. A wonder-mother, birthing machine!
Congratulations Faith, Shawn & Noah on your new family addition and to Faithie for not having to be pregnant any longer! Can't wait to see you all :)

We love you!!

Skeeties

2009-06-07T22:30:00.003-05:00

For some reason, this season has more mosquitos than I can remember since moving to TX in aught-one. There is an abundance of them everywhere I go, which includes (but is not limited to) my backyard, the inside of my car, the trail by my house, and my living room.

Yes, Minnesota really probably wins the trophy for most mosquitos (and biggest ones), but I do not remember them being as irritating and blood-thirsty as the bad boys we have right now. I have bites on the tops of my toes, backs of my knees (the worst!) and today, one little guy even took a chomp out of my lady nether-regions. Seriously.

Why this year is so bad, I do not know. What I do hope is that by some twist of fate their numbers will dissipate and I do not have to keep slathering myself in DEET or some other outrageous chemical that is likely to seep into my system and wreak havoc.

I hope you are all keeping 'skito free.

(scratch, scratch, scratch)

SYTYCD

2009-06-04T20:57:00.002-05:00

So You Think You Can Dance? Oh yes baby, it's on! I love this show!
First to go for the ladies? I think it will be Asuka.
For the dudes? I don't know yet.

...more on this exciting topic next week after the dance/vote premiere on Weds 6/10!!

Sweating Again

2009-05-22T16:23:00.006-05:00

I ran today people, 3 miles! After almost 4 months of no running, my fat A finally did it! The miles tracker is back on!!

Total of 46/142 miles expected (for my 1 mile/day average).

With 223 days and 319 miles left to run in 2009, in order to make my year starting goal I will need to run 1.5 miles per day to meet my goal. Or, 3 miles every other day. OR...well, let's face it...I won't be running more than 3 miles at any given time. Especially in the summer hizeat of the dirty Souf.

Kirby ran with me too today.
She sweat her tongue off. That's my dogg!
One.

Gardens and Honeybees

2009-05-04T20:10:00.011-05:00

So it's been a long time coming, but we finally got started on our food-growing endeavor. We built some raised planters in the yard (we have crap for drainage), complete with pop-up irrigation for each box. There are four 4'x4' boxes and one 2.5' sided hex. We've planted a bunch of tomatoes, bell peppers, hot peppers, strawberries (with more on the way), squash, mint, sage, basil, cilantro, and thyme. Hopefully we get at least some food out of it before the bugs, birds, and K-dog eat it all. Jaime also put in some coo Kangaroo Paw plants. I don't have a good pic of them at the moment, so hopefully we will soon.

In other news, upon returning home this afternoon, I was greeted in my living room by about 20 or 30 honeybees, which was great! They were getting into our house through our light fixture in the living room (pictured, post bee-fix 2009; note the impressive duct tape work). Never had any bees in our house besides the ones & twos that fly in through open doors, but now we can hear them in our ceiling. It's especially creepy when they get agitated every now an then and you can really hear the hive humming away. Really weird. So we called a beekeeper guy who's going to come out tomorrow and see what it would take to remove them. But I'm pretty sure we'll be hacking into our ceiling and following up with some reconstruction. Awesome.

Bulbs Day Three (or is it Four?)

2009-04-27T15:58:00.002-05:00

Today my eyes are doing markedly better than yesterday. Perhaps Sunday was my day to TANK, instead of Monday. This would be excellent news! Progressing faster than predicted :)

They are both still light sensitive, but since today has been relatively gloomy and overcast, I am winning out. Lefty doesn't ache as much as she did yesterday and certainly, both seem to have better constant vision over yesterday. I'm taking my drops per schedule (2 sets of drops every 4 hrs) and in fact, 4pm signals the next round of droppage.

I didn't go to work today, tried to hem some pants, hemmed them too short, need to re-sew at a later time, had Annie's Shells & Cheese for lunch and took a nice long bath.

Tomorrow I think I might try to go to work! Charlie will drive me, never fear people!
Let's hope tomorrow is even better than today in the bulb department!

Bulbs Day Two

2009-04-26T08:43:00.003-05:00

Today I woke up and my eyebulbs are still a little stingy, especially the left one. Ol' Lefty had a harder time of the PRK than Righty, it seems. They do actually suggest that if you're getting both eyes done with PRK that you do one at a time, to ease the recovery stage. I decided that wasn't a course of action I wanted to consider. It's already going to be a few days off of work, so as far as doing this multiple times...unh-uhhh!

I can sense that my eyes are healing because my overall vision has its moments of improvement, but overall it is getting a little worse as the circle of corneal happiness rebuilds itself. C'mon CORNEAS, hurry up! ;) I can imagine each little corneal cell growing and marching toward the center of my eye like little soldiers, going to defend the integrity of the whole. March, march, march!

It's bright as all get out today, both from the sunlight and the sensitivity of my eyes to the light. Right now I'm in my room with the shades and curtains drawn , pissed that I didn't close the bedroom door before I sat down to write this entry - there is light in the living room as well. Lame. My eyes are sensitive to the light, so they sting a little and water, which makes my nose run and this endless cycle is starting to get old. In fact, I've enhanced my computer settings for those who are visually impared and am using the "high contrast" version to make it easier for me to see. Sweetness! I'll try to stop being such a Nancy about it all and be happy my bulbs are on their way to recovery.

Hopefully tomorrow will be the worst of it. Keep your fingers crossed!

Bulbs

2009-04-25T14:32:00.008-05:00

It's been a while since I have posted. I'm sort-of posting in "the blind" at the moment :)

As most of you know, I have been wanting to get my eyebulbs fixed for quite some time and as of a month ago, I decided to go ahead and schedule my LASIK procedure for 4/24. I was extremely nervous about someone poking around in my eyeballs, but ready to go for it anyway.

On Monday 4/20 I had my pre-op with my eye doctor (Dr. Izzard), got my eyes dilated, checked and rechecked. He said I should be good to go, pending my surgeon (Dr. Koch at Baylor College of Medicine, awesome guy) approval of my corneal maps. On Thursday 4/23 my eye doc and surgeon both called me multiple times in the afternoon to discuss my pending bulb-slicing and zapping (while I was at work, mind you). It turns out that my corneas were something like 1/100th of a millimeter too thin to perform LASIK on, per my surgeon. If I did LASIK, risks to my cornea are increased and my vision could likely be unstable post-procedure, rendering the procedure useless and maybe causing more damage to my eye. My eye doc explained to me that in addition to my surgeon being exceptional at what he does, he is also generally pretty conservative - which is why he recommends him to all his patients. He also mentioned that since I am "borderline" for LASIK, I could find someone to perform the procedure on me if I wanted, but he and my surgeon were recommending instead, PRK (Photorefractive Keratectomy). Of course, I decided to take the advice of my eye doctor and surgeon and go ahead with the PRK. Conservatism with my eyes?? Yes please. Dr. Koch also mentioned that after some more corneal mapping tests upon my arrival at the medical center, it could be that I was ineligible for PRK based on the shape of my cornea. Not likely, but possible. He wanted to make sure I was prepared. Oh yeah, my eyes are apparently dry normally too (I didn't really know that or notice), so I had to lube my bulbs every hour the night before the procedure too. SUPER!

So, a little off-kilter and nervous from the late-breaking change in procedures, I prepared myself for a 2:30pm arrival at Baylor for the procedure. Upon arrival to the center, I did my few corneal mapping tests, got cleared for surgery by Dr. Koch and proceeded to get outfitted for the procedure. They cleaned my face, put a hair net on my head, put gauze over my ears to catch any eyedrops that fell from my eyes while on the table, and stuck a sticker over each eye to remind them which one was which (Left PRK, Right PRK).

Here's the difference between LASIK and PRK, at least in "Jaime" terms:
LASIK: A flap is cut in the cornea, flapped open, lasers zap the inside, then the flap is replaced. Recovery time is very fast, vision results near immediate. Eyes generally more dry than before procedure.
PRK: The epithelial layer of the eye is scraped away from the top of the cornea, then lasers zap the cornea to reshape it so the light is better focused and vision improves. A protective contact lens is placed over the eye for 5 days, the end. Recovery time is slower and vision results not immediate. Eyes less dry than with LASIK, post-procedure.

Anyhoo, after the hairnet was securely in place, they took me to the laser room, laid me on my back on a dentist-chair looking surface (only totally flat), administered a topical anesthetic to my right eye, covered my left eye, strapped my head to the table, squished a pillow around my head to secure it in place, taped my eyelashes (top and bottom both) down, put a speculum (I call it the "Clockwork Orange") on my eye and I was ready to go. They walked me through each step of the procedure, which was extremely comforting...especially given the fact that my eyes were open and I had to watch them poke and prod and swab at them and shine giant BRIGHT FRIGGIN' LIGHTS in them the entire time. Good stuff!

First, they stated by removing the epithelial cells from my cornea. They put a metal ring around my cornea and dropped some kind of liquid on my eye. Then, they took a rotating brush type thing (think your Oral-B rotating toothbrush with the little round head, except it didn't articulate but rather just spun in a circular motion) and scrubbed the epithelial from my cornea. I was smiling this whole time because all I could think of was to laugh at them toothbrushing my eyeball :D. They commented on how relaxed and "even smiling!" I was. Of course, only I would be smiling while people scraped layers of eyeball from my eye. Nice, Jaime. After I was good and scrubbed, they wiped my eye to get the cells and moisture from it. Next was the actual laser part, where I had to stare at this point of red light while it pulsed purple light all over my eye and burned my cornea away. It does smell a little like burning tissue, but nothing gross really - as long as you're prepared for the slight odor. This whole process took at most 5 minutes per eye. To be honest, the worst part was them ripping the tape off of my eyelids/eyelashes on each eye. C'mon people! I just paid you to burn my corneas, the least you could do is be gentle when removing the tape :)

My vision was significantly better immediately after the procedure, but hazy and definitely not crystal-clear. According to Dr. Koch, my vision will get increasingly worse for the next few days and around Monday it should tank to its worst, as the cornea is regenerating healing cells from the outside of the circle, in and trying to recover. After that, I should see improvement steadily.

I have to put in antibiotics and steroids into my eyes for the first week until the contact lenses are removed (Weds, I think) and then I'll have to administer drops for 4 months on a regular basis (4x/day 1st month, 3x/day 2nd month, 2x/day 3rd month, 1x/day 4th month). They also gave me a whole boatload of pain killers to take if I needed them and frankly, I was worried that I would need them based on the blogs I had read about people post-procedure.

Ninnies. I slept fine last night with an "advil-equivalent" they make me take for the first 3 days. Today I am more light-sensitive, I think it feels like a small piece of something is in my left eye (right eye is the pimp) and they are super dry so I'm lubing them all over the place. Either way, I'm doing quite well and actually really happy I did PRK vs. LASIK. The more I think about them cutting into my eyeball, I get super creeped out.

I know this is the longest post ever in life, but I thought I would let you all know how it went, how it felt, how I'm doing. Went: Great. Felt: Weird. Doing: Super! Vision recovering: Okay (near and far sight is "off" at the moment). Work: Returning Monday or Tuesday if I can, gonna play it by ear.

Love you lots!
-Me and my enhanced bulbs.

Friends and Photography

2009-04-12T10:15:00.006-05:00

So, my good friend Beth asked if I would help her take some pictures for her 8-yr old daughter Sydney's first communion. Excited to take pictures, but nervous about doing a "photo shoot" that would actually matter to someone, I went for it.

Bad news: It was windy, mosquito-y, super cloudy, all the parks were caught up in pre-Easter/Car Show/"reserved" festivities, Syd had a super-white/no-spill/no-dirt dress on...

Good news: Beth's friend graciously offered her aunt's (?) house for the shoot and Sydney is exceptionally photogenic, so really, my job was easy.

With some sage advice and calming words from my family and friend Sarmad (thanks again for help in editing these pix, you're the best!), we did the shoot. Despite the fact that I was sweating bullets (more from nerves than the weather) for super pit-out times and I thought I had a camera malfunction with a spec of dirt, all went well. Mostly, it was really fun!

Here are some of my favorites.

I'm so glad I have a support system (and guinea pigs) that allows me to pursue a passion of mine and learn to be a better "photographer". Next time will be even better (thank you "lessons learned!"). Later!

Music Obsession

2009-04-11T00:15:00.004-05:00

My favorite band of the moment is Kings of Leon.
I've let it be known (ahem, Charles Raymond) that if I could see them live in concert at some venue in Seattle, I would be the happiest girl in the entire world.

C'mon people, this is serious! "Use Somebody"? Hot.
KINGS OF LEON. Sexy and awesome. Purrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

Baby JT!

2009-04-11T00:09:00.004-05:00

My bestest friend Jenny T went into labor this morning and had a bouncing baby girl at 5 lb 8 oz, 19" long. She was about 4 weeks early, but everything worked out just fine. Jim returns from the Netherlands tomorrow to see his lovely wife and new (unnamed) baby girl. I bet he's excited! I'm so proud of her and how much of a trooper she is - that's my girl JT!

I can't wait to go see their new bundle of joy, waiting to find out when it would be okay for me to visit...Fairfax, here I (am soon to) come!

Love you guys! Mwah! Mwah! Mwah!

Good Things

2009-03-15T19:44:00.003-05:00

Charlie has safely returned from his 2 week trip to Russia, SUPER YAY! He brought chocolate, so really it was a magical reunion. Hopefully I will eat some...um...now. Yes, chocolate now. Like "Equal Rights NOW", only for chocolate. Delicious, melty (but not TOO melty), delectable chocolate.

I had the best Sunday ever. I slept in, with my husband and the baby dog, it rained all day, I ate eggs and sun-dried tomato chicken sausage (mouthful) for breakfast, took a 2 hour nap with my husband, had a large mug o' Marshik Chai, watched the shuttle Discovery launch safely into orbit, ate tomato-basil soup and more sausages for dinner, and am now watching the Sunday usual shows.

Not bad, not bad at all. In fact, GOOD. Great even!

I do feel a bit ooky - under the weather, ALMOST, but really just sorta "not right".
Easy, people, I can hear what you think. We'll see how I am feeling tomorrie.

Anyhoo, glad to get this shuttle mission underway, and elated to have Fat Mar home with me. Fatness!

I Love Dancing With The Stars!

2009-03-09T20:33:00.004-05:00

This show is UNSTOPPABLE!
I wish I could personally be on Dancing With the Stars, but for now I will settle for watching all of the hapless dancing virgins put their best foot forward.

I am sitting on my couch at home, clapping my brains out with a huge grin on my face. I love the cowboy, Jewel's husband (what's-his-name, Ty?) and he's my favorite so far because he was so out of his element and he tried SO HARD! Good on ya Rodeo King!

Next, Shawn Johnson did really well. Yes, she's a gymnast but that's not why I like her. In fact, despite my past life as a trampolinist, I am generally not inclined to like gymnasts at all in things outside of gymnastics, but she was wonderful. Well done!

L'il Kim's face and body (holy booty!) look messed up, enough said. What ever happened to the "China Doll" days (anyone? hello?). Maybe it was because it was during the pre-prison years...but I digress. Her dance was fine. Enh.

Steve Wozniak had the greatest attitude about his dancing, which I commend him for. He did, however, bore his partner to tears with his nerdiness during their training. He wanted to "represent" the nerds, but I think they (the nerds) would appreciate it if he never did that again. Ever. Sorry Steve.

Maksim Chmerkovskiy is HOT, holy crap. Denise Richards is a crybaby. C'mon girl, grow some chops.

I also think it's funny that my other favorite dancing show, So You Think You Can Dance, is the farm team for the next generation of professionals on DWtS. Hey, when you've got it, you've got it!

That's all I can remember. More than you wanted to know, but there it is.

First to go in my opinion? The chick from the Go-Gos (We've Got the Beat, running around our bunk beds, Faith!), Belinda Carlisle - snoozefest and ZERO confidence!

If you're ever interested:
http://abc.go.com/primetime/dancingwiththestars/index?pn=index

Two Blog Entries, Two Days

2009-03-08T17:35:00.002-05:00

This must be some kind of record!
Today I even made a complete sentence here, so consider yourselves in awe of my mastery of the written word. I have had a good and productive weekend. PLUS, no homework for class (just studying for the midterm on Thursday) so I'm pumped. PUMPED I tell you!

Let's see...Saturday I watched 3 hrs of class, then finished two baby blankets that I have been working on for eons and truth be told I am pleased with the outcome (pix to come later). I went with Beth to "The LJ" (Lake Jackson, her hometown) yesterday afternoon to have lunch at Appleways and visit her mom at the local Quilt Show/Fair...which put my own blanket "handiwork" to shame. I'm a sham! Anyway, there were some awesome quilts there - those ladies go absolutely nuts with that stuff - and I also got to see Beth's mom Linda (she's ADORABLE!) show off some of her craftsmanship with stained glass. I am so impressed, that I am seriously thinking of commissioning a piece from her. Stay tuned for all that!

Once I got home from LJ, I played with the doggz and then watched The Red Violin, a movie gift from a friend. If you haven't seen it, you should really watch it (or "Netflix it" as my Mom says). It was a great movie!! Then it was nite nite time and I slept like a rock.

This morning I woke up at 7:30am and was raring to go for a busy day. Then I realized I lost an hour (when I hopped in my car) and was pissed. Oh well, by 9:00am (true time) I was on my way to grocery shopping. I took my sweet ol' time shopping and 1:30 hr later I was done. I saved $17 in coupons, which made me really happy since I don't usually buy items that they give coupons out for (read: organic, produce, "healthier" fare). Yay me! After shopping I went to the garden center, picked out some flowers & potting soil & then planted them. This is a big feat for me, so let's hope they don't die within the week - I. Must. Water. Them. ...ugh!

"I can do it. I can do it. I can do it."

I made a Panzanella salad (from Ina Garten's Parties book) with my fresh veggies and even made a chocolate cake (from the box, ew, but necessary). I am going to attempt to make cake balls this evening, I'll let you know how that goes. THEN, I let the dogs run thru the sprinklers, which they loved, pushed a baby snake (probably poisonous) off of my patio after Sammie barked at it for like minutes straight, composted all of my kitchen goods, vacuumed the first floor and picked up some crud around the house.

Next up, finishing cake balls (if I can), debating on whether I should shower or not (likely not) and watching Mama's shows tonight. I plan on throwing in some Midterm studying along the way here somehow and even eating dinner.

Wow, long entry. Aaaaaaaaaaaaaanyhoodle-doodle (thanks Mom for the fancy words), that's all I've got.

Maybe not: One last thing, I finished the Twilight Series of books this weekend (thanks Jen!) and am all vampired up! I need something else to read now, what could it be??

What. Is. Up.

2009-03-07T19:38:00.003-06:00

Quick update:
Charlie Russia.
Jaime Home, Jaime Lonely.
Dogs Alive.
Kirby Grouchy, Sammie Bitey.
Weather Warmy, Jaime Sweaty.
Work Busy, Shuttle Launchy.
Jaime Hungry, Jaime End-y.

Monday Monday

2009-02-23T08:49:00.013-06:00

Happy Birthday to me last Friday and a HUGE thank you to everyone who wished me well :)
I will blog more about it later, but in sum:
Surprise bday party for me at my house ("Mad Hatter Tea Party") after a scrumptious dinner at Signature Bistro (mmmmm, Chilean Sea Bass). See pictures on Erin's blog or here.

My dad even drove down, which was amazing to see him!! Saturday I watched class (lame) and chilled, then went to see Taken with Charlie and Dad, followed by Luna's.

Sunday was the Oscar party:

Valentines Day

2009-02-16T09:38:00.002-06:00

...was a wonderful day! After a rousing "Birthdays Party" at the Sholl's - a joint venture to celebrate all of the Feb/Mar birthdays we have amongst our friends, not to mention that Erin's birthday is actually on Friday the 13th of February - where the po-lice came to bust up the party due to noise infractions (awesome!), I slept in a little. Charlie went to play football with his friends, got home around 1:00pm or so, we had lunch of mac & cheese and sausages then napped until 5:30pm. The day was dreary and rainy, so it was perfect nap/cuddle weather. The dogs even joined in the fun...

We woke up and cooked a dinner Charlie had researched and planned, the menu consisted of the following - mind you, all of this was fresh and none pre-prepared!:
*Chimney Loin Tuna - Tuna Loin marinated in soy/wasabi/honey, then covered in sesame seeds and seared - delish!
*Carmelized Pancetta Salad w/ Red Wine Vinaigrette - all homemade over a bed of salad greens
*Mushroom Wheat Berry Pilaf - Brown rice, wheat berries, crimini mushrooms, fresh thyme & rosemary all in pilaf
*Fresh Green Bean Casserole - think the kind with those Durkee onions and cream of something soup...only all of the ingredients were fresh, from the homemade fried onions to the blanched green beans to the mushsroom-cream sauce.
*Chocolate Covered Strawberries - Dark & white chocolate mixture over delectably ripe strawberries!

I would eat it a hundred times again, it was so good!! Mmmmmmmmm. PLUS, we knew every single ingredient we were putting into our bodies, you can't beat that! Charlie did a great job planning an innovative, delicious meal. I am very lucky :)

Following dinner (which was at 9:30pm), we watched Boondock Saints on the BluRay then hit the hay. I hope you all had a Happy Valentines Day!