Dancing like you're 21 and in Mazatlan anyone??

So, today was pretty awesome. After a week of pretty much doing nothing (which I kind of needed after the last few weeks), it was nice to have some fun plans. Mel came in town for work, but she came in for the weekend before, and so we got to hang out! She came over in the afternoon, and of course we hit the pool. That is Melissa's favorite thing to do in the summer, and, oh, poor poor girl, there isn't enough sun in MN (yeah, feel REAL sorry for her....it was 80 when she left home) to get a tan.

Kara came and joined us, and we are ones that are always up for a new place to dine, so we found Sagra....and oh, what a find. It was delish!!! A little Italian bistro off San Antonio and 17th street. We had a yummy pizza, veggie lasagna, and shrimp fettuccine.


When Kara and I are around....there is always a camera going. These pics made me laugh. Kara snapped this first one, and I got lost in the mass of curly hair!! It cracked me up. The retake is adorable. Yes, we are totally cute. :)



Next, we headed over towards downtown....managed to get ROCKSTAR parking, and went into Cubra Libre. While it was just the 3 of us, we had a hysterical time playing a little game of "I Never". Seriously, what is better than good ole fashioned girl time? Dana and some of her friends showed up a bit later....and shortly afterwards, the manager of the bar came up to us and said that we were the best looking table at the bar for the night (um, yeah, we were....not gonna lie!), and gifted us with a bottle of champagne. This was a bonus for Mel and Kara....they love the bubbly!



Then, it was time for some dancing. We hadn't been to Pangea before....so we ventured to the upstairs, and had a fantastic time. I can't think of anything better than just letting go and dancing all night long. My knees, legs, ankles, feet, etc, all wish I wouldn't.....but I love it.


What a great night with great girls. :)

[It was TOTALLY like we were in Mexico.....Hi Toph!! :) We took great care of your lady tonight. Missed you on the dance floor!!]

WORD, I mean, Wordle, UP!!

I got the link to this super neat site from Kara....and spent a little bit of time having fun making this. Go get one for yourself. :)

http://wordle.net/

Heat-seeking missiles, bloodhounds, foxes, barracudas....

I've been at my house for 6 nights straight (including Sunday night), and so I decided that I needed to get out tonight....even if it was by myself, and just for a little bit. I treated myself to a date night, and went to see Pineapple Express. I even splurged and got myself the large Coke AND a box of Sour Patch Kids....yes, I ate them all and now I have total rot gut.

My Houston girls went to see the same movie tonight....and so it was like in American Tail.....under the same movie screen....it's like we were seeing it together. But not really at all. I was in the theater, sitting by myself. :)

I got there so early (habit) that the theater was empty when I arrived, and I got to pick the best seat in the house - middle and center. Luckily I had my phone, which now has Scrabble on it, so I kept myself busy until the show started.

Ok, now the premise of this movie is really dumb, it's about two total losers that get themselves in a ton of trouble, and then have to get themselves out of it.....BUT, it accomplished what I was hoping that it would - it made me laugh out loud - a LOT.

I was sad, however, that the song in the preview.....wasn't in the movie anywhere. Oh well.

Now I'm back home....right in front of the computer....again....so I might be posting AGAIN later tonight. :)

You say goodbye and I say hello....hello, hello.....

Sometimes I make the big decisions rather quickly....it's the little ones that take forever. I got a call from my leasing company a week or so ago, and after playing phone tag for a bit with Janice, I made an appointment to test drive a new ride on Wednesday.....and well, I went and picked it up today.

I LOVED my Honda Pilot....it drove so well, was roomy, fun, zippy....everything that I liked in a vehicle....BUT....UGH, 17 miles to the gallon - killing me!! So, I traded it in today for a brand new shiny Nissan Altima.

So, goodbye Pilot.


HEL-LOOOOOO Altima!! :)



It's been almost 7 years since I've driven a sedan. I loved my last one, my precious "Rose". My first car ever, a pink Geo Prism. After driving an SUV for the last 5 and a half years....it'll take a bit getting used to again....but with as neat as my new Altima is already.....the mourning period might be faster than I think.

On my drive home.....I realized that there are a million Altimas on the road. At one point, I was at a stop sign, and I was waiting for my turn behind TWO of them. Isn't is funny how you don't notice these kinds of things until you drive one of your own?

Oh, and I already know that my horn works. As I was taking the back way to my house, this HUGE truck didn't even look and pulled out right in front of me! I laid on the horn....and he did what anyone does that makes that kind of mistake.....sped up and got away from me as fast as he possibly could. :)

Another Reason to go into the Office?

I had a mid morning doctor appointment, so I worked from home before I left for it today. It lasted longer than I anticipated, and so I ended up coming back home to work out the rest of the day. This got me to thinking, and I wrote a few lists.

Reasons why I love working from home:

• It's quiet.
• I can open up all the blinds in my place and enjoy the natural light. I don't even have to turn on a light and the whole place is lit up - it's awesome!!!
  
• If I want to put on some light music in the background, I can do so and know that I'm not bothering anyone else.
• I love to be able to walk around when I'm on conference calls. I can roam all over my 1089 square feet and am not limited by the length of a headset cord.
• There are lots of mirrors in my house, so I can constantly check myself out while I walk around...HA! That was a little bit to see if you were paying attention....but, ok, who doesn't do that?!?!?!
• I never have to wait in a line in the bathroom, and I have two choices.

Reasons why I like to go into the office:

• I enjoy being around the people in my office. They are a pretty awesome group of folks, and I like them.
  
• Easy access to the printer.

Reasons why it's challenging to work from home:

• When I'm on conference calls, I fear that everyone can hear Molly meowing in the background, desperate for attention. How embarrassing!?!
  
• THIS!

Besides her interjecting her two cents into every call that I have....she sometimes makes it impossible to even GET to my computer. She's either sitting on my lap, or walking around right in front of my keyboard.

Now, granted, she does deserve a little extra attention since I've been gone so long...but COME ON! Really, it's not that big of a pain, I really enjoy having her near me when I work...but I snapped a picture and thought I'd share.

Ok...back to a little bit more work before this day is over. Toodles! :)

[Edited to ADD: So, I had blood drawn at the dr this morning, and I didn't realize it was in this picture...until TWO people pointed it out!]

Paying it Forward......

After I posted my blog about Brett helping me with images on my blog.....Kara left me a comment asking for MY help for getting a bigger header for her blog.

I jumped on this for several reasons. I hadn't seen Kara in a long time, so this would be a great opportunity for us to hang out and see each other; I love to do these kinds of things and for me to use something that I just learned, is fun; and who wouldn't want to see Kara's pretty face all BIG when they log onto her blog?

Tonight, she came over....we worked on the header, got the blog wider, and now she's all set. We were finished with all of that in less than 30 minutes, so we continued to hang out and chit chat....which was so much more fun anyways.

So, check out her new and improved blog, and header. She's one of the funniest people I know, so if you need a laugh....read on!

One Good Reason to go to the Office

Since I've been traveling so much lately, I haven't been IN the actual Austin office for over two weeks. Well, when I walked in this morning...I got the biggest goofiest grin on my face.

This is what I saw, that actually made me smile about being at work.

A while back, Mary had asked if I had any pictures that I'd taken around Austin, and so I gave her a few files. She worked some magic, and part of her decorating our office, printed, and framed a few of my photos. The folks in my office didn't really understand why I was so happy about it, and why I was taking photos of the photos.....but maybe some of you get it? :)



It's already made the whole being in my office cubicle a little more bearable. :)

Got BIG???

Ask for help, and you shall receive....well, you'll get the help, and a patient teacher, if you ask right person. I casually mentioned to my AMAZING friend, Brett, tonight, on gchat, that I wished I knew how to make the images on my blog bigger.

Now before I get a lashing from a few folks on my comments....I've mentioned this before....AND actually had two offers to help me (thank you Dave and Sarah), but I wasn't in the right frame of mind at that time, nor was I really that dedicated to doing it.....

BUT...timing is everything....and tonight was the night that I listened to what I was told to do, and Brett was willing to bear with me while I followed his steps. It DOES entail a LOT of steps....but I definitely think it's worth it! Big images are so pretty! :)

So...for those of you who already saw the post below....go back and check it out again. All the images are big now, and so is the ShowIt slideshow! Woohoo!!

They say it's the small things in life....well, for me, this time...the small thing was getting BIG!

Thanks BB! :)

The Hart Family

Let me start off by saying that this morning was so much fun with the Hart family. When Hal called me a few weeks back to ask me if I'd take pictures of his family, I quickly found a day when I'd be in town. I was pumped....but as it got closer.....I was getting a little nervous!!!

Hal and I became quick friends when I backfilled his position at work about 2 and a half years ago. When I met Sheila and the kids, Hayden and Hudson, a few months later, I knew that they'd all be part of my life from there on out. I even was lucky enough to spend a little bit of Christmas this year hanging with the Harts and some extended family....ending the night playing Guitar Hero....does this family know how to have fun, or what? So, therein lies my nerves. Since they are friends of mine, I didn't want to disappoint!

Sheila has a connection at Kindred Oaks, a wedding venue in Cedar Park, and we all headed out there to see what fun we could have. Since I really don't know the proper way to start off these kind of photo sessions, with kiddos that is (well, any kind of session that is....I'm totally winging it and learning on the fly), I just told them to show me around. When you have two (absolutely adorable, by the way) bundle of energy little boys, that is definitely the way to go. They found a frog in the pond, another one that the whole family chased, which Dad eventually caught, and we explored the whole place together....all the while, me snapping, and occasionally saying "Hey, everyone stop here and look over at me!". At one point I said to the boys, "Act like you're models." Hudson said "What does that mean?"....well, as you can tell from a few of the photos below...he might not have known what that meant, but he definitely looked like one in front of my camera.




See what I mean....if that doesn't look like the smile of a little model!! Cutie pie, Hudson!


Big bro, Hayden, must have been paying attention.....look at those blue eyes too!!






I LOVE this series. I asked the boys if Daddy was ticklish....instead Hal turned it around on them!



We sent the boys to the swing set and I got a few of just Dad and Mom. I didn't really have to think hard to figure out where the boys got their skills from.....Sheila knew just what to do....work it lady!!! :)




Then we all joined the kids for a little fun at the playground.






Once I got started, I knew that I was being silly for being nervous.......today was such a blast, and I enjoyed every minute of it. Thanks to the Hart family for bearing the heat and being my supermodels for the morning. :)




To see ALL the pics, click to view the slideshow below. :)

The small joys of traveling....

So....I got to the airport extra early for my 830 flight. I wanted to be sure I didn't get lost, since I tend to do that on DC. :)

I was to the gate by 630. Had a lovely phone conversation that got me to around 745, and then walked over to my gate, expecting to see that it would be boarding soon.

Instead I saw what you dread at the airport. DELAYED. Ugh. So, I popped in my headphones, opened the laptop, and killed some time.

Earlier today when I remembered to check in for my flight on swa.com, I was shocked to get A16. I didn't check in early like I normally do, it had slipped my mind (hey! I'm not always perfect...), but still got a great number.

Well, I have no clue how it happened, but I was the first person to board. They didn't give out A 1-15. So weird, but I'll take it!

So, I'm in a great window seat in row 3. I'll land after 1am and hopefully I don't fall asleep on the drive home. ;)

The lady in line behind me looked at me funny when I snapped this pic. ;)

Gates closed. Bye.

I love my friends....

When Kara left me a comment earlier this week, saying that she was working on something for me, I had no idea what it could possibly be, but was certainly intrigued! Well, imagine my surprise when I checked my Google Reader this morning, and found this.


I have been on the road, a LOT, lately, and while I always love traveling, meeting new people, seeing old friends, it seems that the ones that I don't ever get to see are the ones that live in the same town where my bills are sent. I can't wait to see them when I get back, and hear what they've all been up to lately. I'm so happy to be getting home tonight, and being able to unpack my suitcases, and settle back into living at home for a while.

To Kara - you rock! I miss and love you and can't wait to see you soon! :) Thank you for my Travelin' Bandit poem!! You're the best!!