Wacky Wednesday

Still trying to kick this cold that started on Monday. I feel much better than yesterday. I woulld definitely be a spokesperson for Advil Cold & Sinus. That is one good drug!
This weekend I finished the last of my christmas shopping. Robbie's doing some today and when I get home I'm wrapping and we're going to FedEx to ship them out! I hope they get there on time. I know shipping is going to be expensive, but that's what we get for waiting until the last minute.
Last night we went to the Zilker Park Trail of Lights with J and Jen. I'll upload some pictures from my camera tonight. It was pretty cool but I think would have been much better as a kid. :)
A week from today is Christmas Eve, I can't believe how fast it's coming! I know I say that every week and I probably will until the day after!
I'll also post up pictures from this past weekend when I went to the Botanical Gardens with Skye & Nate and took pictures of them for their Christmas Cards. That was fun and they're so cute together!

Windy Cold Wednesday

Well it happened about 2 years ago so I suppose it's fair to say Texas does get snow. Today the high is 50 degrees and last night we had freezing rain and snow! I'm glad it only happens once in a while because that's just too much like Maine! I took some pics of the snow on my Jeep this morning, you should be able to see them in the pictures on the page.
It's so cold here in the office, I've got my little space heater going and the heat in the office must be set on 75! The exterior of the office is mostly windows and they don't keep the heat in. The top of my desk is glass and that keeps it pretty chilly on my arms when I'm on the computer too.
Last night Rob went in to work to get some over time. We had some time before he left to run to WalMart and get him some Long Johns since he knew he was on patrol outside. He said he was glad we did because it was pretty miserable for the first couple of hours! Tonight it's supposed to still be cold but it isn't supposed to rain or anything so hopefully it'll be better and he'll be able to stay inside.
Monday night we went for a run around the lake. It was so nice and pretty with all the city lights reflecting on the water, a light breeze and hardly anyone to share the trail with. :) It was a good time.
This Friday is our 4 year anniversary. I reminded him this morning when he got home and he was listing all the things it takes 4 years to do: High School, Military enlistment... 4 years goes by so fast! I think we'll just get dinner at our favorite restaurant and relax at home.
This past weekend I went around town practicing with my photography now that Rob showed me how to load the film correctly (hahaha) I had a lot of fun and I think they came out well. Hopefully I can do it again this weekend.

December 1

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I seriously cant believe December is officially here! Only a few weeks until 2009!
Thanksgiving was nice. I made a bunch of food and I think we finished the last of it yesterday. I tried something different this year since it was just the two of us. I found some frozen turkey breast near the whole frozen turkeys and since it was about 3lbs I figured it was more than enough. I roasted the turkey, make stuffing, dinner rolls, and gravy. Rob made the mashed potatoes because he's better at it than I am and we don't talk about that any more. :) Anyway, we had dinner around 6p and it was so good! That turkey breast was amazing! I hope they sell it year round because I will definitely buy that again! The past few days I made Rob turkey sandwiches with the leftover meat for his lunch at work. He kept coming home and raving about how good it was! I couldnt tell you the brand or even what it was called. I know it was a white plastic bag with blue banners and yellow writing and it was a boneless turkey breast.

Friday I set out to check out the Black Friday deals. I was disappointed at Walmart, I didnt see that much was deeply discounted. I got some great stuff at Michael's but I dont think there was a sale there. Old Navy was the only place I could see that was having some great deals. I went in to Linens N Things because they're closing and I was curious what they had for sale. I got a couple of great towels and some candles but the store was mostly cleaned out. I found that they sell almost everything that Bed Bath & Beyond sells and the discount was only 30% so I didnt get much. I was eying a few rugs and kitchen appliances but the discount wasn't enough for a deal on Black Friday.

Tonight after work I think we'll go get a christmas tree. A good size one is about $25 for a faux one at Walmart. Its already got the lights on it too, so that will be helpful. Who knows though, we might wait a bit.

Well, let the Christmas countdown begin! 24 days!

Finally Friday

Well I havent written in a couple weeks because not much has been going on.
I cant believe Thanksgiving is next week. I still havent completely figured out what I'll make, but it wont be much since it's just Rob and I. Work is even slower than normal so I find myself on the internet researching things a lot. Last Friday was Lisa's last day here, we went out for drinks after work and had a good time. She starts her new job the week after next, I hope she likes it. I must say, I'm pretty jealous.
Christmas is coming fast. I've decided to try planning gifts out ahead of time instead of waiting until the last minute. Rob is participating more in the gift selection this year which is nice. I think for the local people I'll be making goodies, it's just easier and I like doing it.
Its been getting chillier here, I kind of like it though, and can understand why southerners welcome winter and fantasize about living up north. This summer was pretty hot! These cooler temps at night and swift breezes really wake you up!
For the past couple months I've been recording SNL on the dvr. I started because of the political spoofs and thought they were funny. Lately it's been less political but I still find it pretty funny. Last Saturday Justin Timberlake was on, I was pretty happy to see that (he's my celebrity crush :p). I definitely didnt expect to see him dancing with Beyonce in a little leotard and heels though! It was funny nonetheless, but now I'm seeing on the news that other guys are getting silly with uTube and making their own videos! I guess Justin is pretty influencial! Year before last he was on SNL and it was pretty popular!

The End of an Error

Two days after election day and it still feels surreal that Obama is the elected President! I can't wait until inauguration day, it will be a very proud time for this country!
Last night we went to see the movie 'W.' It wasn't that great, but pretty insightful. It sure did make me feel better about the election!
I just realized today that there is only a couple more weeks until Thanksgiving. I'm pretty excited for it. Rob's new schedule allows him to be home during the day with me. Though he'll be sleeping most of the day, at least I dont have to worry about him missing the day with me. I'm excited to make the dinner!
Nothing really exciting happened since my last post. Though gas prices are going down and that makes me very happy! I filled up for 2.01 yesterday though I hear some places have it for 1.99! I never thought I'd see the day when gas would be below $2 again! I think My first tank of gas I paid $2.04 and I thought that was bad! I'll be happy if it stays around $2 or less! I don't have much room to talk because I live so close to where I work, but when gas was $4.50 it made me want to turn in my Jeep for a scooter!
I can tell its winter here again, the Grackels (?) are back and noisy as ever! The whole top of my Jeep is covered in bird poop! I plan to get it washed after work tonight.
I'm still not used to the time change. It's nearly dark at 5:30 when I leave work so I find myself going to bed earlier because its dark outside! I've been trying to stay out of the apartment so Rob can sleep a little later. When he's still asleep when I get home I get restless and wake him. Finding stuff to do by yourself isn't as easy as I thought! I'm going to the carwash tonight and then I might walk around some stores to get some ideas for Christmas shopping. Yes, I said it, Christmas shopping the week after Halloween! Haha, the mall already has most of their Christmas decorations and they started before Halloween!

Passing the time

Not much has happened in the past week. Friday we took Molly to the park and play fetch with her for a couple minutes but she got tired fast so it didnt last but 20 minutes. Hopefully we can take her more often and she'll get her energy back up. Now that she's lost a lot of weight it must be easier for her to move.

Sunday I started knitting again, I stopped during the summer because it seemed sort of silly to be doing a winter activity. I've been practicing knitting and purling alternate rows. I think I'm going to try making some patterns to see how that goes. At first I thought it would be hard to remember what I was doing, and I've made a couple mistakes, but it doesnt look horrible so far. I've been trying to think of how to make a throw for the couch or something. I thought that by putting more stitches on I might be able to make it longer, but it seems the length of the needle limits me. I dont know, I'm still thinking about it.

All this cool weather does make me miss Maine though. Almost every night I've been trying to open the back door and windows in the apartment to let the cool air in. Of course they didnt stay open long last night because it got below 40!

It seems like the supplement Rob has been taking hasn't helped a whole lot. It helped a lot at first, but after a week he wants to give it another week. Apparently he thinks it's helping, and its certainly better than not doing anything. Maybe he'll make an appointment at the VA for some testing.

Rob will be done his 6th week at the county jail next week so the first leg of his training will be over and he'll be counted as a whole guard. He's confident about it and has been getting a lot of praise from his superiors so I think he'll be fine. Some of the stories he comes home with crack me up. I can't imagine being in jail, though it doesn't sound as bad as I thought it would be. Soon he'll start the second part of his training and when that's done his first priority is to get back in school. I think he said he's going to take the courses to complete his peace officer certification and finish his degree. I'm excited for him because this is a great opportunity to be able to have a good job and get his degree. I'm also glad that this opportunity has given him some direction and confidence in life. He seems just that much happier every day. :)

A Sunny Tuesday in October

Lately I've been trying to listen to new and old music to sort of broaden my music library. I was watching tv this weekend and heard a song on a commercial for British Airways that I really liked, I looked it up and found that the clip was from a song by Julie London. I downloaded a bunch of her songs on itunes and then I started looking for artists similar to her style of music. I thought I'd like Billie Holiday since a website suggested they were similar and because she was pretty popular but I don't really like her voice as much as Julie's. I also listened to a couple Marilyn Monroe songs, which surprised me because I didn't really know that she sang more than just the "Happy Birthday Mr. President" song. She really has a pretty voice, but a little high for my taste. I also listened to a couple Frank Sinatra songs, but they all seemed to sound the same. I guess what Im getting at is that I would like to hear more different music. I like Johnny Cash and some new stuff like Will Dailey.
I've also been trying to research photography and probiotics. I want to get in to photography, especially because I feel like I've always liked it and also because I've got my great grandfather's Nikon SLR from '79 that my mom had. I think it still works, I just have to keep practicing and actually finish and develop the film thats in it now. Maybe I'll go after work some day and bring Molly to the park or something. I got a book at Half Price Books about photography but because it's so thick it hasn't been totally helpful. I've done most of my research online and I feel like I've learned a lot about it. I had no idea that the numbers like 200, 400, 800 on film actually mean something, I didnt know about shutter speeds or depth of field. I think I have a good idea about these things, but I think practice will be my main benefit.
As far as probiotics goes, I started looking to see if there was any other possible diagnosis for Rob's stomach problems. I found some vitamin like stuff at Walgreens called Acidophilus, it's a probiotic with some of the same stuff they put in that Activia yogurt, called Bifidus bacteria. Apparently antibiotics, stress, and diarrhea can encourage bad bacteria to grow and disrupt the digestive system. Probiotics encourage good bacteria to grow and can allieviate symptoms of IBS and other digestive disorders like lactose intolerance. I got some and he started taking them yesterday. I asked him this morning if he noticed a difference yet. He said he hadn't, but I figure it might be worth it to try for a few weeks to see if it makes a difference. If not Im sure there are other things to try. It just makes me sad how miserable he is about it sometimes, and I would be miseable if I felt like that all the time too.
I voted yesterday at the grocery store. It was the first day of early voting here in Texas. I was a little nervous because it was only my second time voting, and the first time was 4 years ago in Maine. I wasn't sure how different it would be here. It was pretty different though! There was just a short line and about 5 people working the booths. The first woman took my registration card and handed it to the woman next to her who printed a sticker with my name on it to give to the woman next to her to verify my information and have me sign that I am me and then gave the sitcker to a man with a computer who wrote down my passcode. I went to booth #8 and it was all electronic. I dont see how anyone could be confused about the ballot, unless they couldn't read the screen. I voted and left. I was pretty excited to get it over with, it seems like it's taken forver to get to the point where we can vote!

Random Tuesday Post

< Rob and Butch chatting in the Jeep around Austin

Here it is Tuesday but it still feels like Monday to me. I was out sick yesterday and I dont think even that made the weekend feel any longer. Friday afternoon Rob picked up his friend Butch at the airport and they pretty much played guitar all weekend. It was nice to see Rob play so much because he hasn't hardly in the time I've known him! Hopefully now that the guitars and amps and cords are strewn about the living room he'll be more apt to pick it up instead of letting them collect dust. His friend Butch (George) was really nice. Probably one of Rob's most normal friends. We took him around town because he's contemplating moving here. Right now he lives in Monterrey, CA and doesnt like it very much. I think Rob would be glad if he moved here. I know it made him sad when Kevin moved so far last year.

< Boomerz < Willie Nelson's booth at Hill's Cafe :)

Yesterday we brought Butch back to the airport and Rob went to work last night. It was the second or third time they counted Rob as a whole person even though he's still in training. 3 weeks on the job and they've already got him as a regular. It's good in some ways but a little scary for me in others. I know he'll be fine because they're really good about taking care of their guys. He's asleep right now and goodness knows he needs it. I could tell Friday was hard on him, and now going back to the night schedule will be hard too for at least a day or two more.
I still havent figured out what to do about Halloween this year. Rob is supposed to be off so we might do something that night but who knows. This year has really gone by fast, even this month! Halloween is just a couple weeks away! I really am excited for Thanksgiving though, I like that it at least feels like Fall in Maine here during that time. I saw some apple cider at the grocery store this weekend. I dont really like it but I know Rob does. I'll wait a little longer for it to really feel like fall before I buy some.

Last week we decorated the office with fake spider webs and spiders. It looks really good. Decorating for the holidays makes me wish we had a place of our own that we could really decorate and have fun with. We never did much decorating at home when I was growing up. A christmas tree was about the extent of it. I just think it looks so fun to have lights and ghosts and skeletons and other stuff around the house. Maybe some day...
Well here go the phones, better get going!

October

This being my first October post I figured I'd start with the weather. It's been slightly cooler here in Austin the past week or so. It's still no where as cold as it is in Maine though! The nights get down around 60 and the afternoons have been 85-90. I really like this weather. I'dhad the top off my Jeep until last night and the only reason I put it back was because it was supposed to rain and it did!
Last week was mostly uneventful. Thursday Rob and I went out to eat with some friends. Friday after work we hung out with my friend Jen and her boyfriend J. I really like hanging out with them, we're a lot alike. Saturday Jen and I went to Skye's yoga class and then we got our hair cut. Poor Jen wasn't happy with her cut but I really like mine. I wanted to try something a little different and I'm glad I did. Sunday I mostly watched movies while Rob slept. I got an ironing board that hooks on to a door and folds up and down. I wasn't sure if I'd like it at first but it's really handy for Rob when he irons his uniform.
Well, I guess thats it for now.

Saturday Night

Tonight I can finally sit down and write my entry. It's been a pretty long and crazy week around here. Getting used to Rob's new schedule hasn't been easy for either of us or any of the dogs.
Monday he went to orientation at 8am and did a bunch of paper work and then they told him he'll be working in Del Valle from 10:45P to 7A. He didn't even want to tell me over then phone and when he did tell me the news I kept mentioning reasons why it wasn't so bad: the higher pay, the career opportunities, the benefits, time for him to go to school... I think I was just trying to reason with it out loud because it almost seemed impossible that this was a shift they'd give to 'the new guy'. Tuesday he tried to sleep as much as he could and when it became dark out I got really anxious about being alone all night. He had his uniform on and look pretty sharp. I helped pack his meal and kissed him goodbye. I was as on edge as the dogs were for the next few hours. In fact I wasn't able to sleep until 2:30A and then I woke up at 5A because I thought I had over slept and he wasn't home. Around 7:30A he came home and went to bed. I tried to get him to tell me how it went but he was pretty tired so I didn't get many details. At least he said he likes the job though. This is our schedule for 5 more weeks. Last night I fell asleep around 11P and finally slept through until 9A this morning. It really felt good.

Not much else has happened this week. I made Rob's birthday cake on Sunday and it was pretty good. In fact, it is a lot of cake for just the two of us to eat! It came out well.


Well, I better get going. Laundry isn't going to do itself!

Post Hurricane

Well, I thought I'd give an update on the goings-on here this week. Hurricane Ike missed Austin by about 40 miles so Friday-Sunday we had warm sunny weather. There was a little wind on Friday and Saturday but it felt good especially since the temps were still in the 90's both days. I think we had a short shower late Saturday night, but it didnt last long. Sunday it was pretty nice so I took the top off the Jeep and went to a couple bridal shops with my friend Jen (she's the one getting married and has asked me to be her Matron of Honor! ) It was a nice day. Monday and Today have had cooler temps, 75-80 which is just perfect in my opinion! Everyone coming in to work keeps commenting on how beautiful the weather is and will be the rest of the week! I still have the top off my Jeep and I'm glad because I love it!

Watching the news at night it seems so surreal that much devistation is just a couple hours drive away. I've had a few calls from evacuees not sure what to do now that it's been a few days since the storm passed. There are big signs on 71 warning people not to travel to Houston or Beaumont because there is no gas on the way and no electricity there. I'm glad we live where we do because we haven't seen any bad weather, well except for the first winter we were here and it snowed! I miss the ocean, but not bad enough to move there!

Friday night I tried making Chinese sytle spare ribs with two different Chinese sauces we bought from China Harbor. The first kind came in a can like coffee and poured like coffee gounds with a little liquid but smelled pretty bad. The other kind was more of a liquid and didn't smell as bad. I sauteed the chunkier sauce in the pan with some pork ribs and put the liquid in a dutch oven with more ribs. They didnt come out all that great but the one in the dutch oven was much closer to the flavor I was trying to get than the one in the pan. Looks like I'll just continue my search for boneless spare ribs in restaurants in Texas!

Tomorrow night we'll be going to dinner with Skye and Nate to catch up and celebrate Rob's new job. I always look forward to spending time with them. It is so nice to have family near by!

Rob's birthday is this weekend so I'll be making him a cake. I'll update about that next week.
Toodles!

Its Been a While

So it's been a while since I've written. Not a whole lot has gone on. OK, maybe a few things.

Rob started the hiring process to work for Travis County in March and just found out he'll start orientation on Sept. 22nd. We're pretty excited as this means an increase in pay and a career! I thought it was sort of funny that he picked the 22nd because that's the day after his birthday, but I guess that's part of getting older; the birthdays aren't as big of a deal as they used to be. We have that weekend to celebrate so I plan to make him a cake and do something special. I know he likes kayaking, so maybe we'll go do that.

August 9th we went to Dallas (Frisco actually) to see Ozzfest, it was a long drive and since I had never been to Dallas it was an experience for me. We saw a band I hadn't heard of, Jonathan Davis from Korn, Serj from SOAD, Ozzy, and Metallica. I'm sure there were others, I just choose not to remember them. :)


I've finally gotten a Texas drivers license and changed my last name at the same time. That was fun... I still have yet to change my name at the social security office but that requires a few hours away from work and I just can't reason that at this point. I saw on the website where I could mail in my application to change my name, so I'll probably end up going that route.

Rob and I signed another 12 month lease where we're at so we'll be in Austin for at least that much longer!

Well, I guess that's it for now, almost time to go home!

Monday monday

This was quite an interesting weekend! Friday after work I spent some time with my friend Jen, we got our nails done and shopped for a bit at Target. I like hanging out with Jen, she's so easy to be around! After Rob got out of work I met him at the mall in our attempt to get a new iphone. We got to the part of the mall where the Apple store is and before we even saw the doors we saw a huge line of people who looked like they had been waiting there for quite a while. We turned right around and headed for the AT&T store near by. We pulled up, parked, and went inside since we didn't see a line. The woman there said they only got 100 phones and were sold out at 10am! Empty handed we went back to our apartment and devised a plan for the next day.
Saturday I woke up at 6:30am and drove by the at&t store and then over to the mall. When I got to the mall there was another line, a few people sleeping, a few reading the paper, and one guy on a cell phone. I sat down next to the people sleeping, at the end of the line, and tried to count how many were before me, about 20. Not bad, I should be in a good place to get an iphone if supplies was running short. At about 9am an Apple employee came out of the store and handed out brochures and went around if anyone had questions. Around 9:15a the line started moving. They let the first 10 people in the store. Slowly those people came out and while the line snaked in the corridor of the mall, almost to the foodcourt, a few people cheered for the first couple to come out holding the crisp 3G bag in one hand and their brand new phone in the other. Around 9:45a it was our turn, we were escorted in like celebrities in a VIP club to the store to wait in another shorter line. Finally, our turn came and Justin brought us over to the wall with all the iphone accessories. We picked out cases and told him about our at&t plan. He grabbed 2 shiny black boxes and started to scan them for sale. After 20 mins of being on the phone with at&t about our new phones and service for the iphones we were able to pay and open the boxes. Finally! I thought it would have been a lot harder, but I am very glad it wasn't. I love my new phone!!
Sunday we hung out around the apartment. For lunch I asked Rob to get some water boiling for pasta, he put the pot of water on and turned the burner on high. After a minute we both heard this BANG and then all the power in the apartment went out. We were freaked out, we didnt know what happened! I called our apartment's office and told them what happened. A maintenance guy came over and turned the power back on and looked at the stove. He said it was probably because the burner was old, but not to use it again.
We watched The Cable Guy last night. Weird movie!
Well, gotta get back to work, or something!