We May Be A Little Claustrophobic

Earlier this week, ThatManILove and I had a movie date.  We split salad and lasagna at at Pizzeria Venti, then headed to the movies.

We went to see "Date Night", the comedy with Steve Carell and Tina Fey.  The movie had probably been at our theatre 2 days, so we knew that most likely, the theatre would be crowded.

We were the first couple in the theatre, so for once, we sat in the middle of the second row from the top.  (We’re usually side seat aficionados.)  Our theatres are of decent size, for a mid-size Texas town, so there are plenty of seats.

We were early, and I was talking long distance to an old friend from North Carolina, and having a good time. ThatManILove was playing poker on his crackberry.  In about five minutes, a couple came and sat down on our row, about three seats down from me on my right.  And five minutes later, another couple came and sat the exact same distance from ThatManILove, on his left.

ThatManILove starts muttering.

Then, six people, who obviously go to the movies together all the time (I’ve seen them) came and sat...directly in front of us.

I’m still on the phone with my friend, and whispering the play by play to her.  She’s laughing hysterically, and I’m trying not to do the same.  ThatManILove is starting to steam.

People.  The entire theatre was empty.  No one was on the side seats, no one was seated in the lower section.  

The “Dancing Boxes” (what I call the previews) start, and I get off the phone.  But not before 4 people come and sit directly behind us.  I kid you not.

ThatManILove was grumbling.  I turned to him and asked him, “Did you order those special attractant pheremones from one of those funky 1-800 numbers or something?  Because these people are sticking to you like glue, baby.  Glue!”

So...to recap, we were instantly surrounded by 2+2+6+4 people.  The theatre didn’t fill up.  So, Including ThatManILove and myself, there were now 16 people in the theatre.  All smacking on their popcorn, kicking our seats, and talking amongst themselves.  Surrounding us.  In a theatre that probably seats at least 200 people.

And we were dead smack in the center of the top section of 12 seat rows, totally and irrevocably surrounded.  You just can’t get much closer than that.

I think we’ll repair to the side seats next time.

My Back Yard Looks Like a Demilitarized Zone....

Wow.  It’s gone from clean to scene in about 2 days here por la casa.  You see, ThatManILove had a dream.  And one of our friends, Doug, is a whiz at drawing out plans...and they're both good at executing said directive.  ThatManILove sees a plan, it's Katy Bar That Door...you can consider that puppy faded, put to bed, complete. No ifs, ands, or buts.

The next thing I knew, there are strange men over here digging up our entire backyard.  Bringing over slabs of rock for me to pick out colors.  Limestone?  Flagstone?  or Rosa?  Or Arizona?  Arrrrrrgggghhhh!  Digging major holes which are, by the way, driving Zanna the Wonder Girl crazy,  since they have filled them with water in order to ready them for cementing.  She swears there are birds in those holes, and tries to swipe them out with her paw.  We think she sees their reflection in the water.  Her high dollar trainers would be so proud of this girly dog.

this morning....

I digress.  Please forgive me.
I came home this afternoon, and there are these huge pillars of wood sticking up in the air.  Trenches dug all over our back yard.  Zanna’s pissed about that, too.  She looks at us like, “Hey.  I get time out when I dig, what the hey?  You’re not even scolding those guys.” 

Did I mention the phone line was inadvertently cut?  Oh, yeah.  Not that we use it, except for dsl.  And at the last minute, when our friend had already come by and replaced our ancient gas line, ThatManILove decided he needed yet another tap for the fire pit?  Can you say “Cha-ching!” three times in a row, really fast?  YIKES.  We passed up the DIY budget days ago.  And ThatManILove’s talking about a “water feature”.  Maybe even a koi pond.  I guess Zack and Zanna would be German Shorthair Fishing Dogs.  

That’s right, fire pit - water feature - koi pond.  ThatManILove is creating his own little Margaritaville oasis in the back yard.  And when he’s on a mission, he’s on one.  And Zanna is more than stressed out and acting all weird.  There are PEOPLE, Mom, invading HER territory!! And Zack?  He’s loving all this activity - because that means ThatManILove is a wee bit distracted. Distracted dad =  free Zack. Today, ThatManILove got a phone call from the city.  

“Do you have a large brown dog?”

“Yes sir.”

“Do you know he’s running free?”

“No sir.”

The city employee gave ThatManILove the address, which happened to be 4 houses down from ours, and when TMIL went out to get him, the city employee was holding Zack by the collar.  Thank God he didn’t call animal control, we would have had to attend Defensive Doggie and pay a hefty fine.  I tell you all that to inform you that Zack is quietly standing by any door that might crack open enough to allow him the slightest chance of sneaking out.

this afternoon

Within a week or so, though, it should all be shaping up.  And that will be exciting. Today, ThatManILove said, “I might have rushed this all a bit - our timing may be a little off, but babe, I think it will all be worth it.”   Me:  “I just want to finish the kitchen and paint.”  Him:  “Babe, we’ll get lots of use out of this outdoor area - I’m even putting the outlets in so we can pull the musical instruments out if we want.”  Me:  “I know, but people have to walk through our house to get to this outdoor area.”  Him:  “We are so going to enjoy this, I promise.”  I know, I know, but how long is it gonna take this WonderWorld to develop?  Did I tell y'all that it rained today, so none of the workers showed up?  And when I say rain, I mean SPRINKLED.  Weenies.  All of them.  Weenies.

What can I say to that "We are so going to enjoy this, I promise?" ?  I mean, holy crap, we certainly can’t stop now...but if he starts pricing lions and tigers and bears, oh, MY!  Our yard may be paid for, but it's not that freakin' big!

Just finish the backyard already...and then, the backsplash in my kitchen and paint, cowboy, and I’ll be  one happy camperette.  Yes, I will. And honey, you will, too!


It's never boring around here!

Powered Down and Holding...

This is the ol’ I’m having trouble getting back to my blog whine.  Wah.  Okay, I’m done with that post, now on to bigger and better things.  (Quickest ever, huh?)

This is our first weekend por las casa with absolutely no plans.  A friend came in to see us, but basically, we’ve done not one thing but visit, and eat.  And visit, and eat.  And the guys have played guitars, and I’ve taken some pictures.  We’ve gone to the dog park.  ThatManILove’s about to put a burn on some salmon a la grill, our boys should make an appearance sometime this afternoon, and play some of their songs for our friend,  and then....we’re gonna eat. 

It’s been a restful, fun weekend.  Powered down, fun, quiet times. 

So good.

How about you?

March 2010 in Pictures

Spring's upon us, and I've taken lots of pictures this month.  I thought it might be fun to recapture the month in photography.  So, enjoy!

My good friend Connie's dad passed this week, and these kiddos were there to honor their great-grandfather.  They brought a lot of laughter to the situation.  To me, children always represent hope...and heritage.
Meet Camry and Addison - cousins - who were doing EVERYTHING my friend Tamra told them to do - "Girls, hold your hair up - act like a movie star!"

Aren't these girlies too cute?   They loved the camera.

And sometimes, the photographer inspires them to act out a little...y'all know I can't resist a sign - or a challenge!!  This is Coby, Camry's brother, posing with his sister and cousin.  If the cops ask, I had everything nothing to do with it. 

A friend of mine asked me to take Easter pix of her boys.  Their dad is a fireman, so we dropped by the station, just as he was coming in from a call.  Here, the boys and their mom are watching the truck back into the station.  It was so cool to watch the boys run to their dad for hugs once he got out of the truck.

In this shot, Ayden's teaching little brother Maddux the perfect rock throwing technique.

I was so glad I snagged this shot of Ayden giving his mommy some love...it was a crazy windy day, and the boys were tired.  We got some great shots, though!

Below, Geoffrey, our Little Brother in the Big Brothers Big Sisters program.  Here, we were at a restaurant, and I loved the light pouring in through the window on this overcast day.  Geoffrey's always up for a photo moment - I love that about him!

I've watched Anna grow up...we had so much fun on this shoot day.  She's a card!

Happy End of March!!

The Allergy Season Is Upon Me....

My allergies are killing me!

I woke up this morning, took a Claritin (preventative, I might add!), put allergy eye drops in,  hopped in the shower, and started to get ready.  Somethings blooming around here (and yeah, it was 32 degrees Saturday) and it’s kicking my butt.

First....makeup, then hair.

I was just finishing with my hair when it started.  My left eye went  crazy, watering.

Makeup, and all, melted down to my chin.

Did I say it hurt?

It hurt.

So, I wash my eye.  Now, I’m really looking good.  Like one of those before and after commercials.  One side, completely made up, the other, looking like crap.

My eye quits watering.

I start over on that eye....eye shadow, little bit of liner, little bit of mascara.  I don’t wear that much makeup, people.

I get up to get dressed, and here it all goes again.  PLUS my eye starts swelling.  I run to the sink, take it all off, and ThatManILove grabs an ice pack.  

I lay down on the bed, with the ice pack over my eye.

Finally, about an hour later, I’m able to get out of the house with some semblance of being “put together.”

My eye’s still watering.  I’ve taken my second dose of allergy medicine, which, by the way, gives me a headache.

There might be something to be said for the frozen tundra and the lack of allergies thereof.

I Lost A Week - Can Someone Tell Me Why?

How did this week fly by?

Let me count the ways. Work takes up a lot of time.  And then...constant entertainment. I think it started last week, when friends came over for supper two nights in a row (they were moving, and had no kitchen.) Here are some pix of their little girlies.  Beautiful?  You betcha.  Sweet babies, all of them.






























Last Saturday found us tooling around Midland, checking out real estate.  Yup.  Not to move, though, just to see what was hanging out on the foreclosure market.  Because I’m always looking for the next best deal. We saw some funny stuff, some cool stuff, and some very very scary stuff.  Interesting.  Verrrrrry interesting, people.
Saturday evening, I took some pix of a beautiful young lady. We had to book it to beat sunset (look hard, you can see the fading light in the background.  Cool, huh?  Who knew?)

Sunday morning, at dawn, more pix of the beautiful young lady, plus her beautiful sisters. We shot four locations in one hour and took over 300 shots.  And had fun! 

Then, we cooked out for Younger Son and friends.  Or wait, was that Saturday?  Arrrrrgh. All week, ThatManILove worked on taxes, and readied for his next frac job.  He was a busy man, sometimes home, sometimes on location.  And I worked.

We had dinner with clients or coworkers every. single. night.  And this morning, we’ll do brunch with co-workers considering moving to Midland.

Plus, the Little Brother and a friend spent the night.  They woke up at 6:30 am, I heard them drop something.

And I wonder why I look up, and it’s yet another holiday?  Yikes.  Okay.  Off to brunch.


(PS - having font trouble when I post pix to Blogger.  Sorry for the disarray!)

 

Janie's Fun House

Tonight, our house was full of little munchkins.  Friends with kids came over for supper, as their house is being packed to move to another town.  I love children, but y’all probably knew that already, right?

These little girls are beautiful.  The two oldest wanted to eat their supper in the TV room, so we set them up on our coffee table.  I soon went to check on them, and got there just in time to rescue their food from Zack the Wonderdog.  It seems that the girls had gone exploring in the room, and weren’t watching their food.

While they were exploring, they found this bowl that’s sole purpose is  to house the remote.  Instead, the girls found all sorts of treasures in this bowl.

They found:

An H2S monitor

A lens cap for my camera

A small part of the vacuum cleaner

A sock that someone had rescued from Zanna the Wonderdog

Some highlighters

One of those stretchy headbands with a light on it - for nighttime reading while camping.

A lipstick, and nail polish (thank God I was around for that find!)

It seems our maids have been stashing whatever they find laying around in that bowl.

Of course, girls being girls, we had to try the lipstick on everyone.

And then, we had to get the little mirror in the bathroom out, so the girls could admire themselves.

And while one young lady took me into her mom to show her our lipstick, the little sister found a sheet of postage stamps...

And proceeded to decorate the little mirror with the entire sheet, one stamp at a time.

ThatManILove has a desk in this room, and the oldest girl found a hole punch.  That and the highlighters, augmented by some post-it notes, kept her entertained for the better part of an hour.

Who says you need toys to entertain kiddos?

They're coming back tonight for a rerun.  Wonder what we'll find?

Tonight was too much fun.