Attack of the Owl

I know you all have been waiting with bated breath. I have decided to go with the mass majority and get longer curtains. I haven't exchanged them yet, but I hope to this weekend. I am also temporarily without a camera, which means it may be a bit before I can get any new photos up. Travis accidentally dropped it on the lens when we were attempting to get pics of this little guy.

Here's a close-up:

When Travis and I got home from the last crawfish boil, this owl swooped down from the tree in between us and up to the garage. I was trying to get a picture before he flew away (mostly because I couldn't tell what it was and I was getting a closer look in my camera). I had my hands full and kept fumbling with everything so Travis tried to take the camera from me to get the pic. Unfortunately, his hands were a little full too, so he fumbled AND dropped the camera. It still worked well enough to get these photos when the owl swooped down between us again up into the tree in our front yard. The sad part came when the lens wouldn't go back into the camera when we shut it off. =(

Thankfully we got the warranty on our camera so the Geek Squad will try to repair it without any additional charge. Turns out they do more than just computers! If they cannot fix it, then they will just replace it. Supposedly we'll find out by this weekend if they have to send it off for a new one. As soon as I get it back I'll put photos up of the new curtains. Because, again, I know you all cannot wait to see the finished product!

PS - I feel like crap again. What is going on?! I feel like I've been sick for two months!

Nutshell Reference #2

I have come across several instances with the use of the word "nutshell". I am always reminded of my blog when I see these and I want to share them with you. You may have missed #1. It was incognito in a previous blog.

Rachel told me that every time she reads my blog she is reminded of a moment she had in church with her mom. The reverend mentioned "in a nutshell" and Rachel's mom started laughing, but holding it back only made the tears come stronger. Come to find out that she was in turn, reminded of a certain scene from an Austin Powers movie.

My New Do

This weekend was fairly ho-hum for us. We kept busy, but nothing crazy. I know it wasn't quite the weekend yet, but Thursday we watched the movie Juno - IT WAS SO GOOD. I laughed hysterically for the first half. Juno's character was absolutely hilarious. That's another DVD I'll be buying. Friday night we went over to Sara and JR's for a delicious meal of beef stew. Sara's friend Dana came over too, so we hung out over there for the rest of the night. Travis worked on Saturday, so he didn't stay late.

Saturday I ran a bunch of errands. First on my list? My hair appointment! For just a trim, I usually go to some cheap place like Super Cuts. I've never had a problem with those place, so the price seems just right for me. But when I go in for a color change, I go to a nice place. I'm not going to risk the integrity of my hair with just anybody! =D I decided to get highlights again for the summer and I'm attempting to get rid of my layers. It will probably take a few months to do this, so in the meantime, my hair is a little shorter than I had wanted. In the following panel, the first photo is my previous brunette color. The second photo is my new, shorter blond hair, straightened. The third photo is my new, shorter blond hair, scrunched.

I am totally in the car the last two pics. But I was stopped at a stoplight in both... I swear. I have always had blond hair. I'm not sure why it's taking me so long to get used to it again. Nehoo! I ran a couple errands (picked up my new glucometer, grocery shopping, dropped off camera for repair, etc.) and then that evening I went to the movie theater with Sara. We saw the movie Forgetting Sarah Marshall. It was pretty good, but I tell you what, that first scene where Sarah breaks up with the main character, is hilarious. There are a bunch of shots where you see a full frontal of the guy. It surprised us every time!

Sunday, Travis and I took Bella to the vet. She was due for her annual visit, but most importantly we wanted to discuss her inappropriate elimination. Turns out, she DOES NOT have a urinary tract infection. That means that it is a behavioral problem. Shoot me. Just shoot me now. The doctor gave us this thing that looks like a Glad plug-in that contains an imitation cat pheromone to promote happy cats in my house. So far so good, but then again it's only been a day since we plugged it in. I sure hope this works, because the last thing I want to do is pill that psycho every morning with Kitty Prozac. She was so mad at us on the way to the vet that she peed in her carrier. Talk about yuck! I can't wait to go a day without smelling cat pee. Seriously.

Travis spent the rest of Sunday working on widening our driveway with our across-the-street-neighbor, Cowboy Willy. (Yes, he really goes by Cowboy Willy.) He dug up the grass on either side and gave the sod to Willy in repayment for his help. Then he spread the remaining dirt in all the random holes in our yard, including those dug up by Callaway in the backyard. That evening, we had Ariel and Robert over for fajitas. There was this awesome deal at HEB: buy the pre-seasoned fajita meat and get the following for free - beans, shredded cheese, Jalapeno cheddar sausages, shredded lettuce, tortilla shells and a 2L of Sprite. Freakin awesome deal. After dinner we watched Sweeney Todd. I've decided that I'm just not made out for musical movies. I like going to the theater to see musicals, but it's just not worth it on the TV. On a fun note, we did try a healthy treat of edamame instead of popcorn during the movie. It was pretty good. It reminded me of roasted Chinese chestnuts that we used to eat all the time when we were little. Ah, memories.

Global Food Shortage

You may have already heard that we are in the middle of a world food shortage. Because of this, Sam's is limiting the sale of bulk rice per person. Costco has made similar limits due to the increased demands for rice.

If you are feeling the strain, or just interested in supporting your local organic farmers, check out Urban Harvest online if you live in the Houston area, or Local Harvest online to find farms in your area. I haven't had a chance to get to any of these farmers markets due to the distance from my home, but I hope to check it out soon!

Personal crappy news ~ For the past several mornings, Bella has been peeing on the floor in the corner of our kitchen. I think its just dumb luck that its on the vinyl flooring and not our carpet. I went to the vet last night to pick up this special lab litter that does not absorb moisture, so hopefully we can catch her urine for a urinary tract infection (UTI) test. This morning, Travis caught Bella redhanded peeing IN Callaway's water dish. IN IT. If she doesn't have a UTI, then I'm thinking she's pi$$ed at the dog. I left the litter box (which was loaned to me by the vet) on the floor in the bathroom. Phage, our only male cat, decided he wanted to mark his territory and pee in the loaner box. Awesome. The house absolutely reeked this morning. I locked Bella in the bathroom with the lab litter in hopes of a lovely sample when I get home tonight. I was reminded of a certain story told by one of the boys in Stand By Me, but instead of people vomiting it was my cats peeing. I know. Graphic. (*Warning! Graphic Material* Stand By Me clip)

Personal great news ~ Travis' Journeyman's license is being mailed to us today!! Finally!

Babies and Kittens

Wow. I am fatigued. I cannot figure out why because I didn't stay up late and I didn't do any strenuous activity yesterday. Eh. Anyhoo! Alexa came over for dinner last night. I made Greek salads with seasoned chicken - so delicious. It really hit the spot. So did the red pepper hummus and pita! LOL! I just need to move into the kitchen. Chris is out of town for several days again, so Alexa wanted to get out of the house and take Blair for a ride. I think he was really worn out from all the activity and new sights because he was in a trance by the time they left. I think he's gotten bigger since the last time I saw him - check him out.

Even Sagira came up to check out all the action.

Eh... still exhausted...

I just might eliminate my cat. JK JK!

Well, it looks like we have an elimination disorder on our hands. One of the cats urinated and defecated on a throw rug in the kitchen yesterday morning. I immediately threw the rug in the wash and Travis cleaned the floor underneath with a cleaner to remove the odor. I made sure to clean the litter box before I left for work, in case this is the problem. Then this morning, there was poo on the floor in the kitchen again! No urine, thank goodness. I don't know what is going on. I think it might be Bella again, but we haven't caught anyone in the act.

I Googled this and came across a website that said defecation elimination disorders can be caused by social problems between the cats. We have three cats and I feel like the other two are constantly picking on Bella. I can't decide if it is that, or if Bella is completely intolerant of interaction with others. The website recommended separating the outcast to their own space. My problem here is that we don't have a room we can close a door on that doesn't have carpet. Except for the bathroom I guess... Guess I'm going to buy another litter box. She is due for her annual, so I suppose I'll just discuss it with the vet. I REALLY don't want to deal with this.

On a side note, I went to the doctor yesterday for a general check up and she took blood to check my hypoglycemia. I HATE getting blood taken, but I can deal with it as long as I don't watch. My arm is a little sore today. When I was doing my hair this morning, in front of the mirror, I noticed that a bruise formed and is falling down my arm towards my hand. Eeeeeuuuuuuuuwwww!!!!

PoBoys and the Magic Carpet

Ariel really surprises me sometimes. I feel like we go so long without seeing each other and then she will give me a call asking if we can meet for dinner. I do wonder if Robert is behind these invites, but I'm not complaining! The hard part about meeting for dinner is finding a time when we are all available. Ariel is a bartender and her busy time is the weekends, Travis and I have the normal 8 to 5 jobs, and Robert works at a restaurant so his schedule varies each week. We all agreed on Sunday evening, after I spent all day volunteering and then stopped into work for an hour. Phew. We decided to go to a local seafood place, that I think may only serve the fried form of seafood. Travis and I both had PoBoys, Ariel and Robert both got fried shrimp. I decided to try the combo of fish and shrimp. I'm always nervous about ordering fish at restaurants because if I don't like it, I'm out of a meal. (And being hypoglycemic makes that risky business!) I figured it would be safe with the combo, not to mention that Ariel and Robert had an abundance of shrimp leftover. Dinner was pleasant and relaxing. We sat out on the tropical-plant-covered-patio, complete with a water feature/gigantic bird bath... sans water.

After dinner we headed over to the miniature golf course. We don't have a Putt-Putt, but this place is MUCH better. It's called Magic Carpet Golf and it is magnificent. There are all these gigantic creatures placed throughout the course that are VERY FUN for taking photos with. =D Here's Ariel posing in the big, scary tree man:

Robert was attempting this shot from an awkward angle. Travis obviously thought it was hilarious:


I took a picture of us using the timer on the camera, but impromptus are always more fun:


And of course, Puff the Magic Dragon and his two minions.

The customer service was not so great this time. The woman running the putter hut was quick to take our money with no mention of closing time. But then she came after us (while we were attempting to hit our golf balls through the canon and into the castle) to tell us that they were closing and they were just waiting for us to finish, so could we "please hurry up". How rude is that? She should have said something when we bought our entry. Ariel and Robert were super irritated because they both work in the people-pleasing business of customer service. Both agreed that if they said anything like that at closing, they'd get a warning and possibly let go. My guess is this lady is the owner. Every other visit to the Magic Carpet has been magical and this visit was too. Up until hole 15 anyways.