Rizzle

Hi!  I’m back from my summer hiatus.   I’d like to take a “moo”ment to share something with you on this hot and humid Friday.

These cows are all over downtown.  They are so cute!  After researching a bit, they are part of CowParade which is a public art show exhibiting 100 cow statues placed around the city.  Some of the cows will be auctioned off to benefit the Dell Children’s Medical Center in Austin.

It just occured to me last night that the Smooth Operator in Sade’s song is indeed not a telephone operator.  Sorry, I was very young when I first her this song.  The only operator I new was from pressing zero on the phone.

We’ve been talking about having a game night with our friends for months now.  Saturday I decided we’d take advantage of the holiday weekend and plan a game night for Sunday since nobody had to get up for work the next day.

The night included snacks, laughs, cupcakes, more laughs, and some Taboo fun. 

I prepared way too much food.

A seafood dip from Paula Dean.  It did not disappoint. 

Crudités and ranch dip.  Note to self: People prefer carrots over other veggies.

Chicken Quesadillas made from a recipe in my beloved Better Homes and Gardens cookbook. 

Seven layer dip also made from my BH&G cookbook. 

Strawberries with YUMMY, good dip.  Everyone’s had this or made it.  Take one stick of softened cream cheese and mix it with a jar of marshmallow crème.  Mix and serve. 

I made an attempt at carrot cake cupcakes.  The cake was OK.  The frosting was HELLO, so GOOD.   I also used a recipe from my BH&G cookbook.  The frosting was Brown Butter Cream Cheese Frosting.  (Mom, you have to use this frosting on your cinnamon rolls.)

The end.

Here’s one of the many trains that passes by our place each and every day.

One really convienient feature in our apartment are the two electrical outlets in the floor.  They’re really cool and useful until you walk into it while not paying attention and slice your toe nail in half.  Then they’re not so cool.

Doesn’t my toe nail look like a cracked,  M&M?  Yum!

We did it!  We’ve lived in Austin, Texas for an entire year.  This has by far been one of the best years of my life. 

We’ve met some really incredible people – individuals that I’m confident are now life-long friends. 

Easter brunch with some of our Austin besties.

As you’ve seen here, this town doesn’t disappoint when it comes to food.  One of my most favorite restaurants is Sandra Bullock’s sandwich shop called, Walton’s.  I also love how Austin’s love of tacos has worn off on me.  I eat at least a couple tacos a week.  I might turn into a giant taco.  YUM!

When Dana came to visit we enjoyed lunch on the sidewalk in front of Walton’s.

I ordered a hot dog.  It was amazing!

 We love where we live and its close proximity to many fun things, like the lake, FOOD, the grocery store, shopping, and of course Starbucks. 

Thank you for a fantastic year, Austin, Texas!  We’re looking forward to many more!

The car next to me on the freeway in traffic probably thought I was psycho.  Who screams at the top of their lungs with their feet up on the seat, hugging their knees while driving? 

I’m sure people were thinking “Why’s this lady carrying a flashlight and nothing else while in the grocery store?”

Residents in our building were probably wondering why I was standing 15 feet away from my car while it’s  hood was up and all the doors were open.

I’m guessing you’re wondering why I’ve lost my mind?

It all started on my drive home from work.  Another day in slow-moving traffic.  85 degrees outside, only 5 degrees hotter than when I left the house at 8am this morning.  I decided to hit the circulation vent on my air conditioning.  That’s when I heard a noise to my right.  So naturally I looked to my right.  Down on my passenger mat was what I was hoping it was not.  A BLOODY SKULL!

Heeeehee.  That was a lie.  It was rat poop.  Equally as disturbing in my opinion.  Next I called Kat Daddy and he mentioned to me that his co-worker had a rat problem in her car.  Next came a shrill out of my mouth and sweat out of my armpits.  My hair was dishelved, face full of sweat beads.  I was a wreck.  My mind was filled with thoughts of what was happening.  Abandoning my car on the freeway sounded like a good idea.  Should I ram the car in front of me to hurry this slow moving traffic along?

Finally I got home and ran out of my car as fast I could.  I googled “rat in car” and found that its quite common for rats to make nests in car engines.  When Kat Daddy got home he looked under the hood and got the poop out of my car.  I then convinced myself there was no rat…then another poop fell from the AC vent under the glove compartment.  AHHHHHHHH!  Kat Daddy set up mouse traps in and around my car.  I was going to take his car today, but there was the biggest storm going on and his car is kinda hard to handle in the sunshine let alone in the rain.  So I drove my car and made Kat Daddt cover up the “rat area” with a towel.  Kat Daddy called the dealership and apparently its best to kill the rat with poison first.  Then when it dies and smells they can pinpoint where it is and easily remove it.  I think I’ll put my car of for sale on Craiglist.  “Car for sale.  Comes with free pet rat”.

In the past 12 months I’ve….

flown to California 8 times

boarded a plane 26 times

been through security 20 times

been through a body scanner 1 time

saw 2 celebrities

ate 32 packages of peanuts

used an airplane bathroom 46 times

packed and unpacked 18 suitcases

purchased 12 magazines from the airport

been tempted to purchase 4 items from the SkyMall catalog

parked in long-term parking 8 times

…but who’s counting?

Today a fire alarm interrupted my job.  The alarm is so funny.  It talks and tells everyone to exit the building using the nearest stairwell and to not take the elevator.  So I egressed downstairs only to find that the property management of the building pulled the alarm as a practice drill.  They  awarded those who complied with cold water and ice cream.  I wasn’t amused.  I walked to the store instead and bought pretzels, chocolate covered raisins and a birthday card for my sister.  Her birthday isn’t for another 3 and half weeks.  Why not take care of business when I couldn’t at work?  When I walked back to the office, the janitor was picking up discarded ice cream cups from the parking lot.  People are such pigs.  Then I ate my chocolate covered raisins for lunch.  I’m such a pig.  Oink, oink!