Super Bowl Fun

While reading a small-business blog today, I found a great way to have a little fun with the Super Bowl...

BusinessPundit.com pointed to Charlie O'Donnell's wiki of a "buy a square" charity pool around the game. Join me and buy a square!!! Charlie explains everything here.

Since we brought Thunder home on the 13th, I took square #13. And in honor of the newest crazy addition to our zoo, I chose the Austin Humane Society as my charity of choice.

Good luck... and have fun!!!

Mac 'n Cheese

Family dinners when I was growing up were a huge production. Gran-gran is one of eight brothers and sisters, so it was always a packed house, no matters whose house we were dining at. With so many people to feed, we always filled the table potluck style. And the feast was never complete until my Great Aunt Dot placed her homemade macaroni and cheese in amongst the other great dishes.

It was a simple dish, but incredibly delicious. Nothing from a box could ever come close. She didn't have a written recipe for it, it was just something she threw together. It was unspoken, but I believe she understood that she would not be allowed to dine with us without bringing it.

Cole and I have recently discovered the mac 'n cheese at the Galaxy Cafe. It reminds me just a little of Dot's homemade version: fresh gooey cheese; big, perfectly cooked noodles; warm, not too hot to eat. Comforting somehow.

Dot passed away in a house fire a couple of years ago. But before she did, Mom took the time to go to her house and talk mac 'n cheese with her. We have her recipe written down now, and out of the ashes of her house, we were able to salvage the oversized floral pot with the brown lid that she always had in hand when she walked in the front door for a family meal.

I've yet to try her recipe. But until I perfect it the way she did, I'm glad Galaxy Cafe is just down the street.

Commercial Conflict

I know we all need to learn that it's OK to eat out, that we can eat out and not lose control. We should take along the tried-and-true lessons when we do: portion control, moderation, balance, etc. So, having a taco from Taco Bell doesn't seem so bad.

Here's my question though: Am I the only one who finds it strange that Carmen Electra is doing commercials right now for Taco Bell and NV, the "weight loss beauty pill"??? No other commentary, I just find it odd...

Oh, she's also doing Wolf/Ritz Camera commercials/ads right now too. I won't tell you the word that was used in our house last night describing someone who does so many commercials at once... HA!!!

What a Week!

Well, this time a week ago, Cole and I were grabbing luggage and heading to the airport. Right now, I'm sitting at my desk with three dogs sleeping around me.

It's been a crazy week, but the boys have allowed Thunder to come in and start becoming a part of our little family much more smoothly than I expected. There have been a couple of barks here and there, don't get me wrong, but that's mostly T.J. just telling Thunder he doesn't want to play right now. No fights over food or toys or who is sitting closer to Cole. Now that the ice is thawed and down the drain, we've started getting ourselves into a regular walking routine that is good for all of us.

Now this weekend the real fun begins: Getting Thunder to understand that the cats are not an afternoon snack... I'll keep you posted!!!

Thunder and Rain

Well, he's home. We're home. Exhausted, drained, safe and home. We're running on four hours of sleep right now...

Cole provided an excellent recap of the trip back from Nashville. It really went more smoothly than I expected. It rained on and off the whole trip, basically from one end of Arkansas to the other, but we were very lucky that at the vital points of the trip -- picking Thunder up from NHA, stopping to rest/walk in Memphis, etc. -- the rain let up enough for us to do what we needed to do. I consider it someone up above taking good care of all of us...

I can't express my thanks enough to Rex and Kerry for their support during this whole crazy thing. Thanks to them, we have plenty of pictures of the adoption day, Jan. 13, which will now be Thunder's official birthday in our house.

Fast forward to Sunday afternoon. The first blood was drawn. Thunder thinks the cats are pretty cool and would realllllly like to get close and check them out. C.J. is hiding right now so that doesn't happen to her, and Augie let him know that she's not cool with that quite yet either by leaving a claw in his forehead. I hope the novelty of the little kitties will wear off soon.

After eating lunch at the Salt Lick for our annual "Huggins-Bailey-Fowler-Saucedo After-Christmas Birthday Celebration" today, I headed out to Stay 'N Play to pick up the boys. Then Cole and Thunder met us in the park. Again, the rain let up long enough for us to spend all that time outside together. I was pleasantly surprised at their first meeting!!! I'm not saying they were acting like long-lost friends, but we sniffed and walked and sniffed and walked and they all did really great. Thunder has been around other dogs and it shows. As I type, T.J. is curled up in bed, Bugsy is sitting beside me on the couch, and Thunder is laying in the floor near Cole, chewing on a bone.

So, when is this dog gonna get some sleep??? hehe

Check out his pictures, more to come soon.

Happy Birthday, Mom!!!

Cole and I spent the evening celebrating Mom's birthday over dinner with her and Dannie. You never really have to twist our arms too hard before we agree to a meal at Threadgill's.

Our table was full of homecookin' favorites such as San Antonio squash, cornbread, chicken fried steak, fried okra, beer, iced tea, buttermilk pie... shall I go on??? Note: Not all of those things were in front of just one person.

We also spotted our first of Austin's 10-foot Guitar Town sculptures this evening, just outside of Threadgill's. This one was signed by Dwight Yoakum, one of Mom's favorites. I'm sure we'll find more as the next several weeks go by.

Happy Birthday, Mom!!! We hope it was a good one!!!

One Week Down

Well, this little photo of Poopie (aka C.J.) wraps up my first week of project 365. Cole and I started this little photo game by suggesting themes for each other, and this first week for me was pets.

Starting tomorrow for week two: My theme is food. That'll be yummy!!!

In for 2007

I've been meaning to put a couple of things in writing, okay, typing. I'm not making resolutions for the new year, but I am striving for a few goals and making a couple of changes.

There are are a few things that I'm ditching with 2006 and replacing as we start 2007.

• Out -> Subway. It's just not exciting or even very good. When I need a sandwich, Thundercloud or WhichWich? is the way go to. The bread at WhichWich? is so good, and I love their simple, industrial decor.
• Out -> Starbucks. Starbucks sucks. It's bitter and tastes old and watered-down. Instead, I'm becoming a fan of Scooter's and Ruta Maya. I'd love to get to Ruta Maya more often, but Scooter's is just closer to the house. Sidenote: There are three Starbucks locations between me and Scooter's, but no more Starbucks.
  
• Out -> Walgreens. Ick. It's just becoming funky, and not in a fun '70s-dance-champion kinda way. Instead, CVS now houses all of my prescriptions and is the place for a quick stop for toothpaste or any other quick errand where I don't want to mess with going into the grocery store.

I'm sure there are more. Cole and I were talking about it just the other day. I'll think of them, I'm sure...

Where Did That Dog Come From?!?

So, I'm sitting at my desk this afternoon around 3:45, knee-deep in small-business tax issues in Kentucky, when my next door neighbor rings the doorbell. She asked me if I knew there was a big dog in the backyard. No, I did not.

The boys had been very quiet, and I had my music up a little loud, so I never heard this dog break one of the fence panels off of the gate. (One was already broken [see photo], by the way, he just made the entry for himself a little bigger.)

He was a big black lab who looked just like the lab that lives across the street from us. So I called that neighbor to see if she was missing a dog. She wasn't. But this intruder dog did have on a tag that I could see from the back door -- his name is Bear -- so I grabbed the phone and headed outside to call his owners. Voice mail. I filled a bucket with fresh water and he drank and drank and drank...

I thought I'd go in and get him a treat, just in case it had been a week since he had eaten. And the door wouldn't budge. I was locked out with this strange dog who could kill me at any moment. T.J. and Bugsy were just staring at me and Bear through the door. Bear drank. T.J. barked. My jaw dropped to the porch. How could I have gotten locked out?!?

Luckily, I had the phone in hand and Cole's office is only six miles away. He was on his way to save me. While he was headed this way, Bear's owner called and was in the neighborhood. Bear and I went to the front yard to wait for someone to come rescue at least one of us.

He didn't eat me. He was a very sweet dog. And It was 76 with a cloudless sky this afternoon, so being "stuck" outside wasn't so bad.

Cole showed up about three minutes after Bear's owner, and T.J. and Bugsy ran out the back door like they were the ones saving the day. They checked every inch of the yard to make sure that strange giant dog wasn't still hiding on their turf.

When all the drama was over, I had only been away from the office for about 10 minutes.

Happy New Year!

I don't think I'm going to make resolutions this year, but there are definitely a few things I'd like to do in 2007...

• Take better care of my skin
• Get rid of these last 10 pounds
• Floss my teeth more often
• Plump up my savings account
• Eat more calories that do my body some good
• Keep a cleaner house

I'll let you know how it goes. But here's wishing you your best this year, too!!!