We went to a friend's wedding in Estes Park, Colorado. We left last Thursday and returned a few hours ago. It was beautiful, but exhausting. I am so glad to be home. The wedding went off perfectly and everyone seemed happy, so I guess we can say...mission accomplished. I had hoped that it would be a bit more relaxing and vacation-like, but that's okay. We still enjoyed being out of town together and experiencing some place new. Brian got to take some really beautiful shots. I hope some of them come out well enough for him to post. The hotel we stayed in is where the movie "The Shining" was filmed. It was very picturesque but old, so things were a bit noisy and temperatures were erratic and the beds just sucked *ss, plain and simple. One of the couples think they saw a ghost the first night. We had no such luck. It was "off season" so much of the town was closed until March and service at the hotel didn't exist. Luckily the company was fantastic and I really enjoyed meeting a bunch of new folks. I also enjoyed hanging out with all the Houston folks who were able to make it out there. We were all totally out of our element in subzero weather and I'm sure looked like complete dorks in our attempts at winter wear. Also, the altitude affected some of us more than others. I could tell that I got drunk quicker than usual. Brian was out of breath a lot quicker. Watching all the folks out hiking with their doggies made me miss mine, but that was pretty much the only time I thought about them, which is good. I was scared I was going to be a bit obsessive with worrying. I'm tired so this will be a short post. Brian's sister and the nephews are in town until Friday, so I'm sure we'll spend the rest of the week over at his family's house visiting. It will be nice and relaxing. Yay! Classes don't start back until the 20th, but I will start going back on Thursday for a few hours a day to get ready and help with some training, etc. Life goes on after the holiday. Happy new year to everyone. So far it is shaping up to be a pretty darn good one.

It took some serious hunting in the garage and shed, but I found them. The handweights have now been placed next to my bed along with the yoga mat for situps. I'm serious about getting back into shape. It is not fair that just because Brian is willing to commit to me that I'm allowed to slack off and start looking like a giant pear. Okay, so I don't currently look like a giant pear, but at Thanksgiving I definitely noticed my mom is heading in that direction and...well...we have the same genes, so.....I might as well get a jump on this. I am basically just not as tone as I used to be and have gained some extra hips somewhere along the way. I have a sneaky suspicion that this is not going to be quite as easy as it used to be 10 years ago. I hear that the body doesn't just whip back into shape like it used to, especially once you pass the big 40! Wish me luck. I think I'm going to need it.

I survived spending time with both of our families the past two days. Brian's family got together on Wednesday night and mine gathered Thursday afternoon. I usually only have to medicate myself for my family, but his family's gathering was a little larger than my comfort zone allows this year and his brother's girlfriend freaked me out with her prayer before dinner. We'll see how it goes next year. Last night we worked on stuff in the shed together. I enjoy working next to Brian. He was sawing wood and screwing stuff together for the birdhouse (very manly-like), while I pulled out Christmas lights and checked that they still work. The dogs like it when we work outside too 'cause then they get to hang out with us. It feels very homey, and comfortable and right. Later we drank and watched some t.v. and were just generally lazy. Since we both had today off, we slept in and snuggled. It felt so nice. I love not being rushed and having to leave him sleeping in bed while I get up to go to work. It's a really horrible way to start my day during the week. In any case, we finally crawled out of bed and while Brian chose a photo for our Christmas card, I ran and got breakfast tacos from a little place down the street. Then while Brian packed up his camping gear for Freaktacular, I started hanging the Christmas lights. I'll have to wait until he returns to get the highest ones up, but the rest are finished. I hope he arrived before dark 'cause setting up a tent in the dark is generally not fun. I took Kitty to the vet today to have some tests run due to recent seizure-like events he's experienced over the past few months. Hopefully, we'll have some answers next week. He's about 16 years old now, so I'm not expecting great news, but I'm trying to stay upbeat. Later in the afternoon, I took the doggies to the park to run around. I'm amazed how parents just let their children run up to complete strangers and their animals. Luckily, both dogs are really friendly and I don't think would ever bite anyone unless provoked, but still! I literally was surrounded by at least 12 kids within a matter of seconds. One of them had a chihuahua puppy, so that was a little exciting 'cause my dogs had no idea what it was, but they calmed down quickly enough. This evening I've just been relaxing by using the scanner to go through old high school and college photos. It's been fun to take a quick trip down memory lane. I'm going to try and get some grading done tonight, so that next week won't be quite so hectic at work. Just TWO MORE WEEKS!!!! Then I'll be off for almost a month before classes begin back on January 20. I'm so looking forward to a break. Brian is going to take some time off and we don't plan on doing a darn thing. Well, anyone who knows me knows that's going to be really difficult, 'cuase I generally find things to do, but I'm gonna try really really hard.

Stolen from a friend's blog.

Your result for Are You a Jackie or a Marilyn? Or Someone Else? Mad Men-era Female Icon Quiz...

You Are a Grace!

Take Are You a Jackie or a Marilyn? Or Someone Else? Mad Men-era Female Icon Quiz at HelloQuizzy

That is totally believable. I ended up taking an overload class this semester because my department chair was having a difficult time staffing all our classes. I want to be a team player, but I'm not going to ever do that again. Even though I get paid extra for it, it is simply not worth it. I will actively recruit others to teach for her, but I simply cannot do this to myself. I don't have time for anything of a personal or social nature and it is running me ragged. The kids are missing out because I'm having to cut back on assignments in order to make sure I have time to grade everything. I hate it. I actually called in sick last Wednesday because I was so incredibly stressed that I made myself sick! Brian and I haven't had any down time in weeks and I haven't been over to his parents house in equally as long a time. We did manage to go to a friend's wedding last night. It was very sweet and she's been planning and dreaming about this since she was 12. I can usually make it through a wedding with no tears, but her fiance is the one who broke me. He started choking up on his vows and I wasn't sure I was going to make it through dry eyed....but I did. They played the imperial march of something like that from Star Trek as her wedding march. Yes, they are a bit nerdy, but I do love them both. LOL. I also babysat for another really good friend of mine last Saturday and took her kids to Renfest. That was an interesting experience. I had a good time for the most part, but I think it confirmed, once again, why I do not have (need?) children. At the end of September my Granny turned 94. We had a family luncheon for her at a local restaurant. She is fiesty as ever and proceeded to tell us all what's what. I hope to goodness I have her genes and turn out as healthy as she is at her age. It is time to go to bed, so I'll be refreshed and ready to go tomorrow.

So we didn't go to Orfunner....thought about it, but decided to spend some quality time at home in the airconditioning, with food & drink, a comfy bed & couch, a bigscreen t.v. and without any crazy raver kids that we didn't know. It truly was what I needed. I'm not good at relaxing. It isn't easy for me. Anyone who knows me well, knows this is my downfall. I tend to go go go until I can't go anymore and then I'm broken with stress and guilt. My father instilled a strong fear in me of being "lazy." So I'm happy to say that I did not get dressed or put myself in an upright position at any point this weekend except to walk the doggies and perhaps answer the door for takeout food. It was heavenly. Brian is a complete and utter snuggle whore, which is good 'cause he balances out my overdrive. I never seem to realize how much I need to slow down and just be held or touched or pet until I'm already at a breaking point. We avoided that this time and I feel rejuvinated and ready for work, which is good 'cause there really isn't a break again until Thanksgiving. Brian and I did talk about how we miss having access to the burner community though and need to figure out a way to either jumpstart some of the Houston crowd into getting together more or make the effort to head to Austin more often. This will take some planning, but I think it is workable. Note to self: remember to pack the flame retardant jacket if we decide to stay with Jen (sniffygoodness) for the weekend. LOL

I love my doggies. Yes, I realize I didn't want either of them and that I still often times resent all the extra work and cost they present in my life, but at this point, you'll probably have to pry their leashes out of my cold dead hands. :-) I took them for an extra long walk this morning and it just made me so happy. They are both walking much much better on the leashes, so I can now take them at the same time. They got really tired and hot, so we had to take multiple breaks by laying down in random yards. I got some strange looks, but it was okay. They are just so danged happy to see me when I open the back door each day. I truly love it. I still love the cats too, but doggies are definitely different. Brian is still "top dog" in the dogs' book, but I think perhaps I'm moving up a notch or two. We have our second training class tomorrow nite. We haven't done as much practice as we probably should have, but I'm sure it will be fine. Rascal is very smart, just stubborn, and Duchess seems to be pretty sneaky smart.

Seriously, I'm not sure why this is so difficult for me. I went in to meet with my boss today to discuss the possibility of doing some part-time work she needs, helping to get the new Early College up and running for the fall. My first clue that this was not happening is that the principal of the new Early College did not show up for the meeting. Then she told me that instead she needs me to initially help with a service learning grant proposal that is due on August 1. Huh? How long has she known about this?! It's very small (only 4 pages), but still...it's more work than I wanted to take on at this point. I really really really wanted a true vacation this year. Anyway, I finished up the partnership contact list for her tonight and I guess I'll start reviewing the actual application form tomorrow. With any luck, I'll have it done by Friday.

I have always had my bouts with lonliness and feeling isolated, but even at my lowest I've always been able to identify the fact that I'm wallowing a bit and if prodded, admit that I have a great big group of friends who would do anything for me if I seriously needed it (and let them know). This is the first time in my life I can honestly say I don't believe that anymore and it feels lonley. Not horrible....just different. Don't get me wrong, I know Brian is totally there for me and would do anything for me, but so many friends have moved on or away or into different areas of responsibility in their lives or just flaked....it makes me a bit sad. I've been noticing the difference for a little over a year now. Small things here and there where folks haven't come through for me. And on my end, I haven't felt as strong of an urge to always be there for them either. It is a reciprocal thing, eh? Mine has been reactive though. I usually love to feel like there are friends who I would do anything for, but right now it is just a small number. Perhaps that should be enough. That should be okay. Life changes and I simply need to learn to roll with the puches I suppose, but there is a wistfulness and perhaps grieving for the loss now that I've recognized it as that. I've been contemplating whether or not to make the effort to build up my stable of friends again, but that seems like it may just be for the comfort of the known instead of what is right. Quanitity vs quality. It also always makes me feel better to have a plan and act on it. Maybe I'll just wait this one out and see what happens. Feel what happens instead of thinking about it. Hard stuff for me. Maybe I just need to eat something.

visited 19 states (38%)
Create your own visited map of The United States or determine the next president

At least it was a vacation, which is more than a lot of folks get. Unfortunately, much of what Brian had worked so hard to plan, fell through. It became a joke towards the end. Luckily, we were both able to still laugh about it instead of crying. I just enjoyed spending time with my boy. I missed my very first flight heading out to California for Brian's brother's wedding. I blame it on the dogs. I just wanted to go out and pet them one last time before leaving for a week (feeling guilty) and they jumped up on me with muddy paws. Ugh! Then between lots of cops on the roads, difficulties with the shuttle driver and an incredibly unhelpful counter staff, I managed to check in at 25 minutes 'til and apparently you have to get there at 30 minutes ahead of time. It wasn't pretty and I had to fly standby. In any case, I arrived in time for the wedding and it was beautiful, although a bit hot to begin with. It was on a boat that went out into the harbor with the 4th of July fireworks going off overhead. Plenty of folks dressed in the 20s-50s theme and most of the guests who I spoke with were friendly and fun. The bride and groom were a bit scattered and disorganized, but isn't that always true? We hung out with the siblings the next day and just relaxed. Sunday had us heading up the coast on the supposedly scenic Route I, which no one explained to us is primarily stop and go traffic, which never gets above 40 mph! In any case, the trip that we thought would take about 4 hours ended up taking almost 7.5 hours, so we didn't get to see Hearst Castle because their last tour was at 5pm. Bummer. We did have a convertible, so that made it bearable as we sang at the top of our lungs with the radio, while the wind whipped through our hair. We arrived at Morro Bay (sp?), walked around, saw sealions and ate a delicious dinner. The next day we weren't allowed back on Route 1 because of the forest fires, so we missed the Big Sur area that Brian was so looking forward to shooting with his camera. He was frustrated. We did make it up to Monterey Bay aquarium though and he got to shoot lots of pictures of the fishies. Unfortunately, his camera decided to start acting up, so he had to shut it off and remove the batteries in between almost every shot. It became a bit tiresome and continued to do this throughout the remainder of the trip. The next morning we took "The 17 Mile Drive" near Pebble Beach, which was gorgeous. We grabbed some for sale flyers from houses in the neighborhood and laughed out loud at the prices. Ahhh to dream. We arrived in San Fransisco around 6ish and the hotel was really pretty. They had a wine happy hour when we arrived, so I got to unwind a bit. Unfortunately when we called, Slinky had other plans for the evening, so we just got a map from the concierge and headed toward the water instead. We probably should have taken the bus, train or a cab, but we didn't know any better, so we walked. It was exhausting. I finally got us to Pier 39 and was hoping to show Brian where all the sealions hang out, but alas.....they were all gone. There was a big placard explaining that they leave right after the birthing season and return late August. Just our luck! We had a few drinks and waited for his friend to text us with the name of a steak house he had recommended. Unfortunately, by the time we got the name and had walked halfway there, we realized it was already closed. Everything in the financial district closes fairly early (for us). We couldn't find anything open. We went to the 7-11 with the idea of just getting a 6 pack of beer and calling room service, but they didn't sell beer and the liquor store next door was already closed. When we arrived back at the room, we discovered that room service ended at 9pm. What?! So we pretty much went to bed hungry. It was pretty pathetic. The next day we rode out to the Golden Gate Park and saw a Chihuly exhibit at the museum and walked through the Japanese Tea Garden. It was all very pretty. My aunt and uncle had us over to their house for dinner. It was pleasant. They apparently live two blocks from what is considered the very gayest corner in SF. It was funny. Their house is gorgeous and they seem very happy there. The next morning we got the car packed and headed out to the Golden Gate Bridge for a few last snapshots. It was quite chilly, so I stayed in the car. Brian was taking a bit longer than I expected, but when I went back to the dock, I couldn't find him. I couldn't call him, because my cellphone had run out of juice. Long story short, we missed our flight back to Houston too and had to take another flight 4 hours later. I was a very drunk bird after 4 hours in the airport bar, so the flight seemed short as I passed out in my seat. We got to bed around 2AM and probably slept for 12 hours straight! Friday night we had a lovely dinner with close friends and Saturday we dressed up for drag queen bingo with another group of friends. It was a hoot. I'm glad to be home. Even though everything did not work out perfectly, we are not letting it slow us down and we've already discussed plans for future trips.

So I finished my first week of teaching summer school yesterday. I'm 1/5 of the way through. I thought about heading into the office for just a few hours today, but promptly nixed that idea. Those 10-11 hour days just about killed me, plus the fact that we moved into a new building, which is not ready yet, so there were lots of problems. First they stuck me in a room that had two glass walls, one to the outside parking lot, and the second looking out to a student lounge. Yay-rah! Talk about distracting. There are no blinds in said room, so I couldn't use any of my powerpoints. They didn't have copiers or printers available for the first 2 days, so no handouts either. Luckily, summer students tend to be a much more motivated group, so I'm having fun with them anyway. I'm sure all the kinks will get worked out before the fall, and that they are simply exaggerated by the fast pace and compressed semester. Last weekend was really fun. We joined some friends for an Old 97s concert on Friday night. They sounded good, but as Rob remarked, the crowd was looking quite a bit older...I guess it happens. The next day we took the doggies out for a long run at the dogpark and they had a blast. Then we joined Abby and Jerry for a scenic ride on the motorcycles back to their house up in Kingwood. I enjoyed the riding much more than I was expecting and look forward to doing it again when we can go somewhere really pretty. Brian bought a trailer, so we can take the bike up to the hill country. It will be fun in the fall. Abby's house is gorgeous and I would die to have a garden that looked 1/4th as good as hers. What a green thumb! Brian took lots of pics, so hopefully they'll be posted at some point. The pool was a hit after getting off the bikes and that hot weather. They were both gracious hosts and we enjoyed the food, drink, and entertaining conversations. Sunday we had to get up and head back to town to assist Brian's brother's girlfriend by volunteering at a Crohns & Colitis Foundation walk. I worked the registration booth and Brian took pictures. We were glad to help, but I was fairly exhausted by the end of the day and slept soundly! Brian took Duchess to the vet for spaying on Tuesday. So far she hasn't busted any stiches, but keeping those two doggies separated is hard work. They really have bonded and don't like being apart. Plus, Rascal is probably freaking out a bit, since every dog that has gotten stuck out in the shed has mysteriously "gone away," and Mirah went back home a week or two ago, so....he probably just doesn't want anything to happen to his girl. LOL I'm sure there is probably more to tell, but nothing is coming to mind at the moment, so it must not be that important. Yay for weekends.

Thursday night was the ballet, which was really beautiful. Lots of hot men dancing around in black kilts. Woo-hoo! Friday night was a horrible NFISD awards dinner. My boss totally owes me a favor for that one. Brian and I slept in late on Saturday, which was really nice and relaxing. I ended up talking with my crazy neighbor for about an hour that morning and learned through a bunch of backhanded compliments what she really dislikes about my place. Of course Brian and I started joking and coming up with lots of ideas to piss her off more. LOL. Later we did a bunch of work around the house and played with the doggies. It was quite productive. Sunday we went over to Lapp & Amanda's for an 8 hour drinking spree. Well there was some grilling and eating in there somewhere too, along with fun conversation, but a lot of drinking nonetheless. Today I got the shutters repainted and put back up on the house. I had a mini breakdown because it wasn't perfect, but Brian helped me through it. Hopefully, I can post before/after pics soon that will show improvement. Afterwards it was a completely lazy day of watching "Two and a Half Men." We'll probably take the doggies to the park after it cools down a bit. It's weird. I really didn't miss Flipside this year. Actually, I'm okay with giving up this weekend so that we can spend a week driving around in California after Chris & Danielle's wedding. I'm totally looking forward to it. Tomorrow are a bunch of doctor's appointments and I've got to have my tire repaired. Bleh!

It was a good weekend after a stressful week. Last week I finished up finals and failed an awful lot of students. It is always so frustrating. I had a few heart to hearts with some of them, trying to encourage them to "shape up," because they have such potential. But you just never know if you made an impression or not. Ho-hum. Then I had a horrible budget meeting on Friday. Technically, I don't think I'm even being paid for those type of duties anymore, but I went anyway. I don't start teaching summer school until June 2, so I'm really thrilled to have some down time. Unfortunately it started with me locking myself out of the house this morning. Bleh. I had to walk over to the neighbor's house (looking like crap!) and borrow their phone to call Brian to come back home from work and let me inside. How embarrassing. Stupid cats were no help at all!

Friday afternoon, I took my Granny and Mom to Papadeaux for an early mother's day lunch. It was a little stressful to begin with, but the place was so loud that I figured out they couldn't hear me anyway. Yay! Friday night we took the doggies to the park and they all acted SO well. I was super duper proud of them. Rascal didn't get into any fights. Mirah was thrilled with having several smaller dogs and puppies to play with. Duchess actually got quite a bit of running done. They also started acting more like a pack and playing together. Most importantly, they followed our commands and came when called. Prost came into town later that night for Art Car and Mother's Day. It was good to see him.

We got up Saturday and headed over to Biba's to meet up with others for the parade. The weird Lurch type owner guy was there and the company was fun. It was a bit overcast, which made the heat much more managable, although Brian got sunburned. The parade had good cars and very very bad cars. I really wish they would start editing for quality, but I guess the almighty dollar rules. Afterward, we went back to Biba's for a few drinks and then I headed home for a 2 hour nap. Hey...I'm forty! What do you want?! Prost and I headed over to Miller Outdoor Theater that night to watch his brother's fiancee, who is a principal ballerina with the Houston Ballet, perform in Madame Butterly. It was stunningly beautiful. Afterward, we ended up at a new restaurant called BB's and were surprised when Scott, Diana and Rob show up a few minutes after us. Good food, funny conversation and alcohol made for a great (and late) evening. When we got home, I got a bit nervous because Brian had not returned from a friend's house and he didn't have his phone, so I couldn't check make sure he was just partying still and not dead on the road somewhere. It didn't help matters much that he took the motorcycle, so I head a very clear visual of him being splattered across the freeway. Luckily, I was able to catch up with him through his hosts, which allowed me to go to bed and rest peacefully. Whew! I needed the sleep.

Brian didn't get home until almost 4, so Sunday was slow and lazy. We went to Monica Pope's new restaurant, Beaver's, and I was not impressed. I liked the atmosphere and all the clever names of stuff, but the food and service were greatly lacking. Prost's family was enjoyable as always. Later, we ran over to Greg & Emily's to see about borrowing a phone for Brian while he hunts for a new one. I am actually gleeful that the only one they had which would work for Brian is a sparkly hot pink Razr. Ha-ha! It actually made me giggle when he put it on this morning. We didn't get to spend much time with them, because we had to head over to Brian's parent's house for a quick mother's day dinner of KFC. That cracked me up, but at least it was lowkey and I think that is what all of us needed. It was nice to play catch up with them on all the family things going on. They had been in Virginia visiting recently, so we'd been out of touch.

I slept like a log last night. I'm trying to make lists of all the stuff I need to get done these next few weeks and figure out how to get my stuff out of my office before our move on Friday. Lots of planning and organizing will take place before any type of action.

We had stuff going on almost every night last week and still got stuff done this weekend. It felt pretty good. Rob and Brian worked on wedding rings and finally produced something that looked much more ringlike, so Diana and I felt better. I was already planning on talking to Brian about having a talk with Rob about going and buying one if this didn't work out. I wasn't gonna let Diana get married with a big ol' chunk of unfinished metal on her hand. LOL. It is good Brian has a strong ego 'cause I am sure not here to build up his confidence levels. Seriously though, we hadn't seen anything completed and it made us nervous. All good now. Brian and I also went through a few growing pains and lessons in compromise with him moving in full time recently. I am an exceedingly organized person...some might say to a fault. Brian is not. I'm having to learn to be more accepting of this in him and he is having to try and work with me a bit more. It will take a bit of effort on both parts. On his behalf, I will say that he spent almost all day Saturday working on projects and chores with me and it felt really good. I hope he didn't feel too henpecked. Peck peck peck! We went to a bunch of garden stores and planted some flowers. We painted the bathroom shelving and various furniture. We painted some tables for the flipside theme camp. We walked the dogs multiple times and spent lots of time with them in the workshed. He fixed an older ring of his and worked a bit on the birdhouse. I was a bit sore by the end of it all. I was laughing when I read Krystie's LJ post about worrying about turning 40. I've loved it so far. In fact, Brian and I ended up at Appleby's on Sunday and asked them to split a dish and give us two side salads. This is something I vowed I would never do and always made fun of my parents and grandparents for doing, but.....well there ya go. Don't tell anyone. ;-) Old is fun. You do what you want and don't apologize for it.

I stole this from my friend, James. If something ever happens to Brian, I'm hunting these two guys down. LOL

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mHXBL6bzAR4

1. Where is your mobile phone? purse
2. Your significant other? prepared
3. Your hair? blah
4. Your mother? frustrating
5. Your father? judgmental
6. Your favorite thing? laughing
7. Your dream last night? forgotten
8. Your favorite drink? gin
9. Your dream/goal? meaningful
10. The room you're in? office
11. Your ex? forgetable
12. Your fear? failure
13. Where do you want to be in 6 years? creating
14. Where were you last night? home
15. What you're not? confrontational
16. Muffins? cranberry
17. One of your wish list items? fulfillment
18. Where you grew up? military
19. The last thing you did? taught
20. What are you wearing? dress
21. Your TV? large
22. Your pets? many
23. Your computer? old
24. Your life? content
25. Your mood? happy
26. Missing someone? nope
27. Your car? dependable
28. Something you're not wearing? hat
29. Favorite Store? thrift
30. Your summer? productive
31. Like someone? lots
32. Your favorite color? brown
33. When is the last time you laughed? Tuesday
34. Last time you cried? forgotten

So Brian surprised me for my 40th birthday by taking me to Las Vegas for the weekend. We headed out Thursday night and got into our room around midnight. I had been up for work early that day, so sleep wasn't far behind for me, but Brian had taken a midrin and a Monster (caffeine drink) right when we landed, so he was up and out people watching in the casinos until around 4:30AM. Ugh! He came into the room and quickly reported that he met a hooker. His story totally made me laugh, since she was apparently very direct and told him he was kinda stupid for leaving me in the hotel room. Ha-ha!
Friday we got up pretty leisurely and then went driving around to see Brian's old house and haunts from when he lived there as a child. Afterward, we did a little hiking around a park his mom recommended and then we took a scenic route around the mountains. It was very pretty and relaxing. That night we got to see the Crazy Horse Paris Review, which was awesome. I loved the costumes and got some great ideas for future Flipside stuff. Unfortunately, I didn't know that you could park at each of the hotels/casinos, so I somehow talked Brian into walking to the show that night. It was from one end of the strip to the other, so my feet were killing me by the end of the night. We cabbed it back to the room, went and grabbed some awesome sushi at RA and then did just a tiny bit of casino hopping before heading back to the hotel. I was beginning to realize why there were so many signs for foot massage around this town. LOL
Saturday was much more laid back. My muscles were screaming and needed to relax a bit. We ate at In And Out Burger, which is supposedly a popular LA burger joint. It was tasty and cheap. We then leisurely walked through a lot of the nicer casinos and took tons of pictures and people watched. I loved the people watching almost as much as the shows. It was like a roller coaster of emotion as you saw all these young beautiful bodies, which made me feel old, to all the weird, crazily dressed people walking around, who made me feel on top of the world in comparison. It was funny. We also went over to the Stratosphere and rode a ride called Insanity. It basically took you up a couple of hundred floors above ground and then stuck you out swirling above the city. I'm glad we waited to eat until afterward. Neither Brian and I are gamblers, but we managed to spend about $50 between us on slot machines. Brian managed to win about $120 on penny slots, so that was fun except that I started feeling competitve about it. I basically just had to walk away from the machines, so as not to lose my last penny! That night we went to see Zumanity. There was a midget and a contortionist in the show, who kind of freaked me out, but otherwise, the entire show was quite sexy. It was much funnier than I was expecting and I enjoyed the couple we sat next to. She was funny and kept making comments that made me laugh.
Sunday we flew back to Houston. I slept quite a bit on the flight, but we still managed to complete two of the online magazine crossword puzzles. Shannen picked us up at the airport, since she was borrowing a vehicle while she was in town and we were out of town. It was a win/win situation, since we didn't have to pay for parking and she didn't have to rent a car. We came home to find the doggies doing just fine. I was a bit nervous about leaving them, but now I think I'll be okay for future trips.
Our bed felt SO good last night and I think we both slept really deeply as is usually the case when you've been at a hotel for a few nights.
So yes, I'm now 40 and so far so good. Here's to a continued good year.

So can I say how weird it is to come home in the afternoon or get up in the morning and have the dogs act like your appearance at the door is the most fantastic thing EVER?! I really didn't think it would mean that much to me, but it really affects your mood. They are funny. We've finally gotten them all to sit at the corners during walks. Well....Mirah kind of sits and then lifts her paw to shake. I don't think she really gets it yet, but she's trying to please. And Duchess will do anything for a treat. Rascal is still maintaining some of his dominance issues by laying claim to every bed and crate we have outside. There are now 4 different options. They will each climb into every one, but when we look out the window at night, he's on the pillows in one crate, the others are empty and Duchess and Mirah are sleeping in holes in the yard. When I looked out at 5AM this morning though, Mirah had moved onto a cushion. I guess it just takes time. Feeding time is interesting. Brian makes them sit and then wait for their bowls of food. Generally Rascal is first. He is motivated to eat his so that he can stare down the other two while they eat. It is a toss-up as to which of the other two comes second. Mirah apparently has always had food out (not an option here), so she's not quite used to the set feeding times and eats really slowly. This drives Rascal and Duchess crazy 'cause they want to take her food. They kind of circle like vultures while she finishes. She is getting faster, but sometimes I think she slows down just to piss them off more. She's quite headstrong even though she's small. And she's awful sneaky. She nips at them and takes toys when she thinks we're not looking. It is pretty funny. Overall, they are beginning to understand that they're stuck with each other and seem okay with it. All of the stuffed animal toys except the porcupine have been disemboweled and I pick up white filler stuff out of the yard each morning. It's like a toy graveyard out there. If it is not raining this weekend, I'm hoping we can get some more photos.

Can you believe it? Eek! Where is this year going? I went back to work after spring break last week and just couldn't seem to get into the swing of things. Today was a tiny bit better, but not too much. The kids have lost their momentum and I'm dragging them kicking and screaming to the finish line. It is never any fun. Brian finally put Big Red to sleep last Wednesday. The boy tried really really really hard to help that doggie, but in the end, it was just more than we could do. Someone with unlimited financial resources and time may have been successful with his recovery, but it was beyond our means. It was a very difficult decision and one that was made and then broken multiple times, but eventually it happened. Our friend Slinky (from SF) came to visit on Wednesday. We had dinner with Kelli and then just lounged around that evening and caught up on old times. Thursday was sewing class and we had a new participant, who is a workmate of Diana's. She was really funny and has a machine that will embroider. We're already planning on all sorts of nasty words and phrases to embroider onto pillows, bikini tops, t-shirts, etc. I also bought a pattern for a childs flying monkey suit. Yep, Brian's father has a weird fear of those things, so I figure his grandkids would love to have a costume for halloween. :-) Speaking of Brian's nephews, we went to the Rodeo on Friday and bought just a ton of cute stuff for them. I think if we'd had a shopping cart and not been limited by what we could physicall carry, he would have filled a shipping container. LOL. As it is, I'm glad his parents are driving up to visit in a few weeks and can carry it, so we don't have to mail it. The rodeo was a blast. We watched the pig races, which had tons of puns -- Brian's favorite! The announcer sounded like he worked nights at a topless bar. Then we saw this wonderful thing called Mutton Bustin' which is basically legalized child abuse. I never laughed so hard in my life. You basically take a child who is less than 6 years old and less than 60lbs. ('cause you wouldn't want to hurt the sheep!) and place them on the back of a big ol' ewe and shoot them out of the gate. Brian took tons of pics, which he promises he will post on his LJ soon. We figure once our friend's with children see these photos, they will NEVER ask us to babysit. The youngest child who rode was 2.5 years old. Yes, you heard me right....the mother nodded her head and off he went. The little girl who won the competition was the final rider, which meant the 20+ sheep ahead of her were all huddled at the end of the pen. Her sheep ran her right into that group and then bounced her off the gate while the other sheep trampled her when she fell off. She was crying, but we all cheered 'cause she's a winner! That's messed up! Brian had tix from work, so we got to watch the actual rodeo competitions from a really nice suite and they had an open bar and buffet. It was very nice. Saturday I drove Slinky and Annaconda to Austin for the Grilled Cheese Invitational. I think I may have to enter the competition next year. It got my competitive spirit pumping. We hung out at Robby & Kyle's for a bit. I had dinner with Prost, Rob & Diana. I ran into lots of old school burners at the GCI, who I haven't seen in ages. It was nice to catch up. I was feeling my age by midnight and retired a bit early compared to my travel buddies, but it was fine. Jen's kitties and I snuggled up real close under a sleeping bag. I do miss kitty snuggling. Brian is a pretty darn good snuggler, but he's not very furry. I guess I should knock on wood and just be thankful he's not furry after that last statement, eh?! I returned fairly early Sunday afternoon and dropped Slinky off with some other friends. Brian and I headed over to his family's house for Easter. He and a friend hid eggs for the children. He showed remarkable self control and allowed the kids to actually find the eggs instead of throwing them down and grabbing them himself. I guess if I was a nice girlfriend, I would have re-hid them a second time for him, but I was tired. Ho-hum. Linda made a delicious honey ham and Danielle threw in some fresh asparagus. Mixed with Becky's deviled eggs, I was in heaven. We returned home, walked all the doggies, watched a tiny bit of t.v. and then went to be for some quality time together. It has been such a busy month that we haven't been able to focus on each other for quite awhile. Every now and then you gotta remember to do that.