Breaking and Entering

I just watched Lee break into our guest bathroom. When I used it last night, I left the fan on and closed the door. We heard the fan upon arriving home after work today and tried to open the door, apparently it was locked. It took Lee about 30 minutes to demolish that door handle using such random tools as a hammer, saw, screwdriver, etc. I'm so proud that he fought his way in! My hero!

Oh Deer...

A deer went on a suicide mission across a busy pike. Unfortunately, our car got in his way. I don't actually know if his mission was fulfilled, but it was definitely accepted and my car has a deer-butt imprint on it to prove it. He (I have problems thinking about it being a "her"..."her" means there could be orphans now...) ran into the side of my car, hitting in front of my passenger door and, um, damaging the side so bad I couldn't open my door when we got out to assess. I cried when I saw the damage. No glass was broken, the car runs fine, and no one was hurt (jury's still out on Bambi...). I have ask, though, what God is working on us for. I know that He is, and that's how I'm getting through all of this, but the deer incident was just the latest in a run of stressors, some good, some bad, but all taking patience. We are spending most non-working, waking hours in our new house, getting it ready for move-in and of course, not everything is going as planned. I am having surgery next month, and while it's minor, it's still scary to me. I am slowly recovering from a sinus infection, and lee got one this week. My parents are coming a week or so after we move in. This would be a terrible stressor for many people. It's not at all for us, except I want to be planning things to do with them and I can't, because my mind is too occupied with other things, so that's stressing me. Not that my 'rents will care; they're just excited to be up here with me for a bit. But I want their experience to be great, ya know? I know there's other stuff, but I'm done complaining. I just wanted to put all this out there, because some people think my life is perfect and nothing gets me down. Here's proof that I am human and God's still working on me...

3-06-09

We are closing on our house today! So begins our renovation journey. Definitely the biggest undertaking we've done yet, but I'm optimistic. We are repainting the interior and doing the floors upstairs. It's gonna look so great!! I'll try to post before/after pics.

Yesterday Lee and I passed a cemetery which spurred a conversation about where we wanted to be buried. I decided that a Viking burial would be kind of cool (It's where you are set on a floating platform, pushed out to sea, and set on fire.). Lee decided that he wanted to be wrapped in bacon and cremated. That way, everyone who smelled the fire would be like, "Lee smells good, even in death!"

I'm just jazzed...

I've been working out 5 days a week and eating much healthier since early January, and lately I've been a little discouraged because the scale shows no change. I know I'm building muscle and that's heavier, but I haven't been able to see a physical difference, and that's been getting me down. This week, though, is better. I am wearing a skirt that I could barely squeeze myself into a couple of months ago. Yesterday, i was wearing pants that wouldn't fit over my thighs in December. I'm so excited that the early morning workouts are finally paying off. It gives me that extra kick I needed to continue on this lifestyle change. It gets annoying, having to pack all my "get ready for work" stuff the night before so that I can leave the house at 6:20 every morn. But, I'm starting to see that it's worth it. I don't have near the stomach problems I used to, I have energy throughout the day, and now I can wear more of what's been taunting me in my closet.

Here's some more strange ways I've answered the phone at work lately (usually, I say "Good Morning/Afternoon Princeton, How can I help you?):

1. Good Morning Princess (this, fortunately, was a co-worker's wife and she thought it was hilarious).

2. Good Morning, Princeton, How can I help It? ( This really embarrassed me because I'd been reading a romance novel and can't help but think that it influenced me to say "it" instead of "you").

At least I give myself something to laugh at at work...

Lee's so hot

I googled Lee's name this afternoon (after doing mine and finding muy poquito to be excited about) and found the following. It's a form online for FSA, but it makes Lee sound so important (which he IS).

Farm Service Agency
Washington, DC 20250
5-FLP
For: State and County Offices
Administrative, Chattel, Real Estate, and Property Management Costs for
the Debt and Loan Restructuring System (DALR$)
Approved by: Deputy Administrator, Farm Loan Programs
1 Overview
A Background
To determine eligibility for write-down, FSA must:
• determine the net recovery value of the security and other property by accounting for
involuntary liquidation costs
• compare the net recovery value of the security and other property with the net present
value of the restructured loan.
B Purpose
This notice provides:
• administrative liquidation costs for each loan type
• guidance for determining chattel and real estate costs
• a worksheet for determining property management costs (Exhibit 1).
C Contact
If there are any questions about this notice, State Offices shall contact Lee Nault by either of
the following:
• e-mail at lee.nault@wdc.usda.gov
• telephone at 202-720-6834.

I like the fact that all STATE offices have to call my husband for answers to their questions. I am married to such a stud. :)

2/23/2009

February 12th my 2nd nephew was born. His name is Jake Fletcher Chandler and he was 8 lb. 2 oz. I don't know how long he was. I'm terrible with numbers, so I consider it good if I can remember the weight. :) Anyways, that's apparently a big size for a baby, and he's doing really well. I love watching my sister with him, because she is so sweet and tireless and just lovely. She was born to be a mommy. Big brother, Case, loves his little brother, but it took him a little while to adjust to sharing his parents' attention. Of course, it turns out that he was still a little sick from a bout with the flu the weekend before, so that definitely contributed to his emotional state. His little world is definitely being rocked, I'm sure. My mom says I acted the same way towards her when Shannon was brought home from the hospital. I wouldn't look at mommy or really respond to her. I got over that, though, lucky for mom. :) I was really blessed to be able to fly down and help out my family for a couple of days. It was great to see them. That's the hardest thing about being up here; you miss out on all the little events that are important enough to drive a couple of hours for, but not gigantic enough to fly halfway across the country for. Shannon didn't need me to come, but it did me good to be there.

I really enjoy flying. It's a great exercise in peoplewatching. I met some interesting people on the flights. I was waiting from 2:30 til about 8:00 Thursday to get on a flight flying standby with AA. I took my Venti Nonfat Chai Latte to a bench and was reading, when I noticed the guy sitting behind me was completely perplexed. His nice luggage shoulder strap had come apart at the D-ring. However, both pieces were made from solid pewter, and had no cracks. How it came apart was a mystery that we discussed heavily, but alas, with no resolution. I didn't get on the first flight out, sadly enough, but I was assured that the next flight would accommodate me, so I had to wait some more. I let this older gentleman watch my bag for a bit so that I could go blow my nose without lugging my um, luggage, around. I felt brazen for doing this, since every 5 minutes there were announcements about not leaving your stuff, either alone or in someone else's care, for any amount of time. I went against the rules, and didn't get caught....haha! No lectures, please...:) On the flight home, I met this lady who used to work in LA as a gun-handler for the movies. She would provide the guns for action flicks. So cool! She said that Tommy Lee Jones is just a jerk, and Antonio Banderas is very short. Plus, when A.B. came in, the Taco Bell dog was also there and the dog got more attention than he did. If I were there, this would not have been my reaction...

In other news, we are closing on our house next week, if all goes well, and we will have a month full of renovations in front of us! Saturday we went by the house and saw that someone had thrown a big brick through our basement window. I was kinda freaked by this, but no one was inside and my heart finally calmed down. The realtor said that the leasing agent would secure the area and replace the window, so we were glad that we didn't have to worry about it. The kitchen, after further inspection, needs some serious work. The insides of the cabinets are warped and stained. I can paint them for a short fix, but it won't fix the warpedness. The walls are a hideous wallpaper. But, all the walls in the house need paint, so we will be doing that, as well as replacing the carpet upstairs. It'll be a chore, but I'm excited about getting my hands dirty. :)

Clutzy Antics

A couple of weeks ago I borrowed a racquetball ball from the front desk at the gym. The court that I chose to play on happened to have a ceiling that was only 2/3 covered, and after playing for about 10 minutes, I hit the ball up through the opening and lost it. I sheepishly explained this to the lady at the front and she laughed and said it was okay. Today, I had to visit her again, because I immobilized one of the machines. I was running on the treadmill at a good pace and had covered the digitized part of the screen so that I wouldn't just stare at my time, wishing it would go faster. I do this a lot. But today I guess my running was harder than usual because my towel was jiggled right off, fell to the treads and immediately was pulled underneath the machine. I calmly stopped the machine and got off to assess the damage. My towel was definitely wedged, but I could still see it. So I went to a trainer and he told me not to worry about it. We put a sign on the machine, then tried to pull the towel out, and it actually came out. The treadmill worked fine after we got the towel, so I suppose nothing was harmed. Except I'm afraid I'll be seen as a gym hazard and there will be communal groans whenever I appear. Baaaaa. I'm very sheepish about my dorkiness. If you think of the weirdest thing that can possibly happen in any situation, it'll probably happen to me. Ever cramp your shoulder while putting on your bra? I have, many times. Ever find a sinkhole in your yard by falling into it? I have. Ever get multiple wrong numbers called on your cell phone by Mexican men and children? I have. Probably 2 a week. And the list goes on...

40 things...I needed to stay busy.

I'm jumping on the bandwagon...here's my list.

1. I live in a basement in a big house where 12 other people live upstairs.
2. I am afraid to put my head under water, so I don't swim much at all. I can doggie paddle if I have to, but my neck goes way back as I avoid the water from touching my face.
3. That being said, I absolutely love watching the ocean, and even chasing the waves...as long as they stay away from my head.
4. I have lived like, 4 miles from Arlington Cemetery for 8 months and have yet to go see it. I have driven by it, and even through a bit of it, and I saw Iwo Jima as I drove by, but haven't actually made a walking trip through it.
5. That being said, I really like walking through cemeteries, wondering about the people buried there. It doesn't creep me out, but brings peaceful feelings, instead.
6. I think the texture of yogurt and smoothies is disgusting. Flavor's great, but I have to hold my finger under my nose to keep the gag reflex at bay when I eat it. The Whips! yogurt is fine though, because the texture is different.
7. I've worked out every weekday for the past 2 1/2 weeks. It's tough, but something has clicked in my head, and I have no interest in quitting. I'm going to lose 30 pounds!
8. The only way I can drink non-Dasani water is by adding lime juice. I'm a water snob. :)
9. I went to state in Spelling in High School.
10. I also was in All-Region band for 7 years, mostly 1st chair, playing the French Horn. I went to state for that, too, but only in ensembles.
11. I could play games all the time. Anything is more fun when you make a game out of it. Lee doesn't really understand this. He thinks I'm mean and competitive. I guess he's just afraid to lose...
12. With so many people losing their jobs (4 people in my office have lost their jobs in the past month), I just want to quit my job and hide from the world.
13. I had a frenectomy when I was in junior high. Sounds cool, but all it was was the removal or the skin between my two front teeth so that they would grow together.
14. The teeth have kind of grown apart again, but I don’t mind. Unless I get a taste bud stuck in between them…that really hurts.
15. I really like to go to dine-in restaurants by myself. I sit and read and let some waiter cater to me.
16. I went to a movie alone the first year I was teaching, and some of my junior high girls saw me and demanded that I sit with them. That, I will never forget.
17. Lee and I have known each other for 10 years now, but we’ve only been married for 3 ½. It took him a while to grasp the concept that I was real and not a figment of his active imagination. J
18. I am not an animal person. Unless it is a baby, or a white tiger.
19. It amazes me that people can be so different. God created us all to be unique and that is incredible to me.
20. I dislike perfumey fragrances. I’d rather smell like a cupcake over a gardenia any day.
21. I think Crème Brulee candles smell fabulous.
22. I can’t function without something on my lips. Lipstick, Gloss, Chapstick, anything. I Don’t leave home with out it.
23. I am a procrastinator. I try hard not to be, but I often forget to try. However, things tend to work out for me regardless, so it’s hard to get too down on myself about procrastinating.
24. Also, I’m not a perfectionist. I don’t usually worry about things that I can’t change, and if I do my best and it’s not good enough, I’m generally okay with that.
25. I took a spiritual gifts test one time and found out that my gifts are compassion and faith. It means a lot to me to not only recognize what my gifts are, but to be proud of them and use them to glorify God whenever possible.
26. I could have Starbucks every day and not grow bored. My favorite drinks are Chai Lattes, Dulce de Leche Lattes, White Chocolate Raspberry Mochas, Green Teas…
27. I’m not good at small talk. Lee could do it all day, even though he hates meeting new people. I love to meet new people, but can’t think of what to say past the whole “Hi, I’m Alecia…” thing. I’m working on this, though.
28. Cheer Bear (The pink one with the rainbow on the chest) is my fav.
29. My nicknames, other than derivatives of “Alecia”, are Sunshine and Queenie.
30. I used to sit on the counter and talk while my mom worked in the kitchen. It was my throne, hence the name “Queenie”. It got me out of work because I kept her so busy with stories and questions that she didn’t notice that I wasn’t working. To this day, I can’t talk and cook at the same time.
31. I love music. Anything from Hannah Montana to Eminem, Simon and Garfunkel to Britney Spears, the Carpenters, Journey, Duffy. Lee got me an Ipod Touch for Christmas, and I walked around with it all the time. It’s like I have a soundtrack to my life now.
32. I have the best family ever.
33. I love dark chocolate.
34. I read a lot. Romantic comedies are my favorite, but sometimes I take a break from them to read something dramatic (as long as there is still some romance!).
35. I love to wear lots of bracelets. I feel like a gypsy when I wear them.
36. I hit when someone scares me. Lee’s trying to train me to react differently, but it’s not taking.
37. I love to sing. It makes me happy.
38. I am much better at Wii bowling than regular bowling.
39. I am a better at being second in command than first. Even though I love the spotlight, I know that honestly, I enjoy being the helper better than the decision maker.

Snow!!

There's actually guys out shoveling our sidewalk this morning! With SNOW shovels! Not just the garden ones that daddy would use. ;) The real thing is definitely more needed up here. We are supposed to get a couple of inches. Nothing major, but it's been coming down and sticking all morning and it is beautiful. Lee's in Kansas City all week so I'm entertaining myself as best I can. I wish he was here to see the snow! We love pointing out all the ponds up here that have a frozen sheen on them. Anytime we are driving and see one we have to ooh and ahh over it. We are such dorks.

Phone Flub

Yesterday I was at work talking on the phone with this guy. No idea who he is, probably will never talk to him again. However, if you were eavesdropping on the convo, you would have heard this:

Him: Ok, Thanks for the information.
Me: You're Welcome.
Him: Bye. Love you.
Me: Love you too.

Yep. I don't really know if he actually said, "love you," but that is what I heard and I automatically responded in kind. So some stranger got the warm fuzzies after talking to me yesterday. Or the warm creepies, perhaps.

funny email

I sent out emails to our YA class today regarding our ski trip this weekend. The first one I sent out just said "Hi" because I hit the wrong button. Well, Lee sent out the following to everyone, in response:

Things that could have finished Alecia's message of "Hi":
-Ya!!! (followed by karate chop)
-Ho, Hi, Ho, its off to work I go (get it, because she is short)
-Waii (said with a Texas twang)-& Lois (her favorite Sunday newspaper comic strip)
-gh School Musical 4 tryouts were today and I am in!!!!
-tler movies are so much more interesting when Tom Cruise is involved.
-illary Clinton and Hilary Duff should totally do a song together. They could call it "You're the Secretary of the State of My Heart"
-lton Hotels are so overated. I much prefer when Lee books America's Best Value Inn
-Five! Very Nice!

Have a great day, See you all Saturday.

I'm married to the funniest guy around. :) Maybe I'm biased, but I had tears coming down my cheek from trying to suppress all my "LOLness" at work.

Lee's terrible, horrible, no-good, very bad day

Lee called me at 7:30 yesterday morning stating that today was his "terrible, horrible, no-good, very bad day". He missed his bus by 10 seconds and had to walk half a mile to catch his next one. Then he missed his train by 10 seconds as well. When he got to work he realized that his lunch of barbecue sausage and black eyed peas had leaked all over his Spiderman lunch box, which was open just a crack, so it also leaked into his leather bag he carries to work. Then at lunch he realized that black eyed peas and barbecue sausage don't really compliment each other, which was odd, because sausage goes good with every other bean. (When he came home and told me this, I laughed as I told him that black eyed peas are "Peas, not Beans" and his eyes widened as it dawned on him that I was correct in this assessment). I called him from work and asked if he wanted a videogame that was on sale for $10 dollars, because my friend and coworker was going to go buy it and would pick up one for him. but alas, they were all sold out all over the area. so I got his hopes up, then came home and told him I didn't get it after all. Hmmm, also, his stomach hurt all day. All of this really started on Sunday, when he dropped a cherished and rarely-bought half-gallon jar of big pickles all over the concrete as he was carrying them into the house.

I think today is going better, but it's not over yet! Poor baby!



In better news though, we put an offer on a house yesterday. Yay!



Last week we were watching TV and Lee thought he saw something run across the floor. However, we were listening to the ghostbuster song and the phrase, "If you're seeing things, Running through your head...Who ya gonna Call? Ghostbusters!" So we figured it was his imagination. But then, I saw it. One of the alien cousins (AKA a house centipede), ran out from under the TV, made a wide circle and went under the couch. A bit later, Lee saw it go from the couch back to the TV. Then a few minutes later, we saw him repeat his little jog. It's like our living room was a race track for squiggly little creatures. I'm sure you are wondering why we didn't kill it, since we saw it so many times. Honestly, the first time we realized what it was, we were so entrance watching it, we forgot. Then, it was just too fast for us.

Oh, here's a good story! Last week Lee found this recipe for chicken tortilla soup and made it for me (he cooks a lot now, because I get home an hour later than he does). So sweet! However, he made a few "learning experience" errors that were quite humorous. First, he used cream corn instead of whole kernel, because that was the only canned stuff we had. Of course, we did have some frozen corn, but he didn't think to check the freezer. Second, he thought the tortillas were supposed to be 2 inch strips, not 1/2 inch, so they were huge! Third, we didn't have canned black beans, so he used dried ones. Which is great, but basically triples the amount of time that the soup cooks. That brings us to the most crucial mistake. The recipe said to "set aside" the tortilla strips after cooking. He thought that meant "set aside in the same pot that the soup is cooking in". By the time the beans were done cooking, the tortillas had turned into huge slimy masses, plus the beans had dyed the tortillas and the chicken this nasty blue-black color. It actually tasted ok, if you ate around the tortillas, but it looked disgusting! And for some reason, by the time we had it for leftovers it was so salty it was inedible. I think Lee learned something that day...

I am spoiled.

Christmas was a different experience this year, because we weren't surrounded by family. To compensate for the emotional pain of this, Lee and I kind of overindulged each other with gifts. I guess we were helping the economy out, so that's a great thing. On my birthday, Dec. 24, Lee woke me up with a necklace as my first present. Then he braved the traffic and took me to work since he had the day off, and brought me Starbuck's. He spent the morning shopping and got my car washed. There is this white stuff they use up here to de ice the roads. I don't know if it's salt or calcium or something else, but it sticks on the sides of your car and, being the cold weather novices that we are, we are afraid this white stuff will damage our car, so therefore, it is of utmost importance to wash the car often. If anyone can tell us what that stuff is, we'd appreciate the knowledge and it may just put an end to our paranoia. Anyways, Lee picked me up from work around 11 and we walked around this fancy mall across from my office, then he took me to a fancy seafood restaurant for lunch. I got to have crab legs! This was very important, since I get good seafood twice a year: my birthday and our anniversary. Crab legs are so worth the effort of eating them. Yum. I opened a second present there and got a pair of leather boots. They smelled so good. We got lost going to Walgreen's in Fairfax (we always get lost in Fairfax), then we went bowling. Turns out, the bowling alley we went to was donating all their proceeds on Christmas eve to a charity of the patrons' choosing, so we got to help out the Diabetes foundation. That was a great way to spend my birthday. Lee made me a white chocolate macadamia nut cookie cake that was really good and we had BFD (breakfast for dinner). We rented Fred Claus, because White Christmas was already rented out. Other gifts I got ( I really sound like a child...) was XBox SceneIt, which is so fun, a couple more necklaces, a Cowboys hat, sweatpants, and a hat with earflaps to keep my head warm when we are outside and it's cold.

Christmas morning we woke up and opened our stockings. Turns out Santa was really into gift-giving this year as well, as our stockings were definitely stocked to completion. We drank Coke, as is the tradition in my family. It serves as a nonspoken reminder of my Maw and how much she loved Christmas (and Coca-cola). After stockings I put the ham on and we opened our presents from each other. Around 12:30 we tried to get on the Webcam to open presents with my family, but the online call kept getting dropped so we just opened them over the phone. This was the hardest part of the day because we could tell exactly what all we were missing. It was very bittersweet. Then we used the XBox to watch Lee's fam open presents. After all the presents were opened we ate our dinner of ham, mashed potatoes, bread and green beans. My ham was unbelievably good and we are still eating the leftovers, 5 days later. Later that eve we went to Benn and Laura Oltmann's house and had dinner and played games. They just moved here from Oregon and couldn't go home for Christmas either, so it was nice to be able to hang out with people in a similar situation.

Friday eve my friend Ann threw me a birthday party at the Cheesecake Factory. It was lots of fun to be with friends for my birthday. I had been telling everyone I was getting an ipod for Christmas, but when I realized I didn't get one, Lee just told me that he was waiting for a newer version of the Zune to come out, and I just accepted his excuse at face value. One of our friends gave me an ipod case and said, "You got one, right?" So I had to explain that I didn't, actually. Lee told everyone that he was planning on getting me one, but then he saw this bread maker and decided to get that instead. (The bread maker is great, by the way, we used it for the first time last night and it worked really well). Anyways, his story made everyone laugh and at the end of dinner I opened Lee's last present for me and it was, of course, my Ipod Touch. Now I have a constant soundtrack of my life, because I listen to my ipod everywhere. Or, that was the plan at least, but apparently Lee doesn't like that plan because we were grocery shoppin last night and he took my earphones away, saying, "No Alecia. We're shopping together. I want you with me." I was only listening with one earphone, anyways...I could so hear him still. But, I was reminded of the times I've seen families together, but not, and decided lee was probably right in insisting that there is no ipod during family time. However, right now, I'm either with Lee or at work. Good thing I can use it at work!

flurry of activity

I am now legal to drive in VA! It is so exciting to have the "DMV Drama" behind me. The best part is that my license now reads "AL3CIA". My name was already taken, but this is pretty close, right?

The past couple of weeks have been crazy busy! We've had Christmas parties, Birthday parties (not mine yet...Dec. 24th, don't forget...I may be turning 28, but I'm still excited about my Bday.), Babysitting at the Church Building, Shopping, Wrapping and sending off packages, Christmas card writing, plus, work and long traffic lines everyday. It has been fun, (even traffic's not bad when you are listening to a good book), but we are excited about this week, when we have nothing planned and can now just relax and make Christmas goodies and watch Christmas movies.

I won lots of tickets at the Christmas party at Dave and Busters!!

Lee and i are really spoiling each other with gifts. I think we are subconsciously trying to make up for the lack of family that we will see over the holidays. But it's kind of a race...who can put more stuff under the trees?

Speaking of trees, we have the tackiest tree ever this year. It is a soft pine, which means when you walk past it, it doesn't poke you. Which is great and all, but it also means the branches are too soft to really hold ornaments. We shoved them all on anyways, and now all the branches are droopy. Also, we couldn't find a tree stand anywhere because they were all sold out, so we made our own with a bag of rocks from Home Depot and a bright orange washtub we had sitting around. Then, we strung multicolored lights all over it, only half of which blink on and off, and topped it off with a plastic reindeer lawn ornament, in lieu of a star. Finally, Lee found a scraggly piece of silver garland and wrapped it around the bottom of the tree, since it already was way past "tastefully tacky". Oh, and the tree kind of leans because the washtub is too big, so Lee had to strap the tree in using a hanger. We are one moon pie short of being a redneck catastrophe. On the bright side, we have a fake tree in the corner that is decorated in only the color blue...so classy. But unfortunately, it becomes background noise to the "other" tree.

DMV adventures, deux

A couple of weeks ago Lee and I got up on a chilly Saturday morning to stand in line at the DMV and finally get my license and registration done. This was our third time to do this, and we still hadn't accomplished anything. Well, I succeeded in getting my license (which meant that I had my TX license confiscated, much to my chagrin). However, my title that was supposed to have been fedexed could not be found and the girl behind the counter told me that after 30 days they send it back to the lienholder. Drats! I had had it sent, but then got my job and pushed this terrible errand back, and now I had to wait some more! Well, with Thanksgiving and everything, I haven't taken the opportunity to recall my lienholder to re-request my title. Today, I received a call from the DMV saying, " We've had your title since September, and if you do not come in soon, we will be sending it back to your lienholder." Excuse me? I was at the DMV, my title was at the DMV, all my other paper work was at the DMV, and I still am not registered? Ugh! I called and actually was able to talk to a human being who told me she'd gladly file it unti l Saturday, so that I could come in and get it taken care of. So cross your fingers for Saturday morn! The incredulousness of this predicament is baffling....

Thanksgiving

Our first Thanksgiving without family went surprisingly well. We went to some friends' house and feasted on a terrific bird. I made rolls, but they just don't taste like mom's...I'll get it right someday though. :) We played lots of games and kept busy, so that we wouldn't get homesick. Friday morning I got up and went to Target where I was able to buy lots of goodies. The store wasn't too busy, thankfully. That night we got all dressed up and went to the National Harbor to see the Tree lit up and fireworks. It was fun being on the water, and the Harbor is just beautiful. We went to Old Town Alexandria to have dinner and stopped in at this Mexican place. It looked kind of strange because there were low tables and couches instead of chairs. I was cool with it, though. Then we looked at the menu and saw that it was "Morroccan" not "Mexican". Apparently in our starving stupor we can't read. So we gave our apologies to the mait'r de and vamoosed out of there...it was cold and we weren't feeling adventurous. Then we went to "Hard Times Cafe" and found a new favorite place to eat. They serve the best chili, and it's from Texas! Bonus!

It's Snowing!!!

Ok, so it just snowed for, like, 10 minutes, and now it is over. But still... Snow before Thanksgiving? Doesn't happen in TX very often, that's for sure!

Winner Wednesday

Last weekend Lee and I went to a drafthouse/cinema to see Tropic Thunder. These places are really cool because there are waiters and stuff who bring you drinks and food throughout the movie. Plus, the chairs are all situated around tables and stuff, not in rows, so you feel more at home. It was a lot of fun, and we enjoyed the movie, although I definitely can't recommend it, since it was too crass for words. However, if you were to go onto YouTube at some point in your life and search for videos of Tom Cruise dancing during the credits of Tropic Thunder, you would not be disappointed. Or, for those of you not internet-savvy, just rent the movie and watch the last couple of minutes. It was so funny...Tom Cruise is making his comeback, just like Britney.

Last night we found a lighted tennis court, so we got to play again. We were in a good habit of playing after work, but then daylight savings happened and now it is way dark before I even leave work at 5:30. Playing with Lee is frustrating because I can hold him to close games, but I just can't go that extra mile and beat him. I have to get my "serious face" on, and even then that only works because it makes him laugh. He even says I grunt when I hit the ball...I would never admit this, however, because ladies do not grunt.

Tonight we are going to look at some houses to buy. Since it'll be dark, we have to look at the houses using a flashlight. It's kinda wierd, and I just home no neighbors call the cops on us for wandering around the neighborhood, looking in windows with flashlights.

this week's happenings

So I now know the true meaning of traffic. People in Fort Stockton who grumble about the cars on Dickinson need to shut their mouths. The past 2 days I've spent 15-20 minutes apiece waiting to exit the parking garage after work. Then the next hour I fight traffic to drive the 7 miles home. Seriously. And, from what I hear, the holiday season will be much worse, since there is 2 huge malls across from my building. I've started listening to audiobooks just to ward off the obvious melting of my patience. The book I'm listening to now is good, I think, but the reader is horrible. It's a romantic comedy, yet she's reading it like it's a dramatic piece of work. It is such a bummer when this happens! Lee and i were really excited one time to listen to a certain book on vacation, but had to stop a track or two in because the reader was so horrible we couldn't fathom listening to him for 10 hours. What are people thinking???

I forgot my cell phone and my latest paperback at home today, mostly because I was running late because I didn't get up until 7:20 and I had to leave by 8 (at the latest). I can't bring myself to get out of bed on time, even though I'm just laying there hitting snooze, wishing I didn't have to get up. Anyways, so now I have nothing to do between work tasks (and they are definitely sporadic on Fridays), and I can't call Lee and tell him about my plans for this evening. This also means that when I am stuck in the garage again tonight I won't be able to call my parents and complain.

So I've complained a lot, and that really isn't my style. I think the city life is making me a bit cynical. So now we'll talk about the leaves. All the trees around here are changing, and they look magnificent. We might go into the mountains tomorrow to watch the leaves change more (and to get away from the city for a bit). The fall leaves make me learn for a Chai Latte from Starbucks. Of course, every season makes me yearn for something from Starbucks. Ooh, the other day I had a pumpkin spice frap from there, and it was like drinking an actual pumpkin pie. Soooo good!

My work inbox is still empty. I have to much energy to not have anything to do!!!

homeland security

So for this small town girl, when a guy walks in and flashes his badge and say, "I'm from Homeland Security, and I need to talk to someone regarding a person employed here...", the heart finds its way into the throat. That's all I'm sayin...

For the 2nd time in a matter of weeks, Lee has mistaken the women's restroom for the men's. The first time, he noticed the door just in time. Yesterday, he did not. In fact, he didn't suspect anything when he saw no urinals, or when he saw the changing table (which, from what I understand, are showing up more and more in men's rooms). He was only struck with the horrible realization when he noticed the trash receptacles for "women-related trash". This was after he washed his hands, AFTER he had used the restroom. At this point, he rushed to the door and his worst fear of the day became a reality. Lucky for him, there was no one around to witness this debacle. However, in the Dept. of Agriculture building, security cameras abound...

I watched the last inning of the World Series game last night, where Philly won the pennant (or whatever the trophy is in baseball). I laughed out loud at the camera work done when the game was won. There was about 20 different scenes, all about 5 seconds long, depicting different players reactions to the final strikeout. The first few made sense, but after several of them, it just starting getting funny, because it was basically the same reaction over, and over, and over again.