Dog Sitting

This morning our friend Ginny called us to ask a favor.....if we would "babysit" her dog for a little while while she worked. She has some personal issues going on at home and does not feel comfortable leaving her "baby" at home while she is not there.

Well, of course we didn't mind..what's one more dog when you already have one running around?? I knew Summer would love having a larger dog around...one that chases balls and plays like a kid. Brandi, on the other hand was not impressed in the least and made it known that Phoebe was not a welcomed guest. I thought eventually they would warm up to each other but that never happened. I could see "snack" in Phoebe's eyes every time she looked at Brandi and Brandi likewise snarled at Phoebe every chance she got.



Needless to say, Brandi was kept in her kennel or locked in my bedroom so as I would not have bloodshed on my carpet.

Summer was much enjoying our unexpected company.

Summer trying to get the tennis ball out of Phoebe's mouth....



Summer and Phoebe hanging out on the stairs...




And in my bed.....



Around 2:00p.m Ginny came to pick up Phoebe. None of us had eaten lunch yet so we headed into the big city of Manor and ate at the Cafe 290. Toby and I LOVE this place but rarely eat there because we are usually in Austin when we are out and about. It's the best small town Southern cooking" kind of place. Austin doesn't have places like this to eat....as Ginny pointed out.

I even tried Fried Green Tomatoes for the first time. Ginny was a little surprised that I am from Alabama and have never tried them....not that we didn't have them in Alabama, they just never sounded appealing enough for me to try them. My assessment; they were pretty good.

Our Daily Life - The Past Week

I can't really say much of anything about the past week that doesn't involve the words nurse or maid....or better yet, nurse maid. Summer spent the most part of the week in a fever haze....ya know like the one in the song by Pink Floyd "Comfortably Numb" ? His hands felt like two balloons? I can't tell you how many times in my childhood that my hands felt like two balloons.

Even though not the best circumstances, I tried to make the best of the week. I caught up on some chores, read some magazines that had been hanging around for awhile and spent some unstructured time with my daughter hanging out in my bed looking at magazines together and watching T.V.

After a few days she was feeling much better and back to her old self. We had planned on meeting up with some of Toby's friends at Paleface (Pace Bend Park). We were all looking forward to getting out of the house after being couped up all week.

Unfortunately the weather had different plans and it rained ALL day Saturday. Part of me didn't really mind the rain it's been so long since we have seen it. Around here when folks see rain it's a celebration. Always a welcomed change from the hot dry Texas heat.

One of my favorite parts about a storm is the way the sky looks after it moves out.

What's A Bargain???

I guess this post could possibly be an extension of my Mad Money post. Over the past couple of years I have seen Austin top the "Best of" list from Forbes from the most attractive people to the most generous city. Most of the time I agree with the evaluation. However, this one I had to give a cackling laugh too.

A bargain?? Who's idea of a bargain? Just the other day while Toby and I were at the tattoo supply store in the less desirable section of Austin I noticed a home for sale. Out of curiosity, I stopped and grabbed one of the house info flyer's out of the info box out front. I wanted to see for myself if what my very good realtor friend had told me was true.....that I couldn't afford to live in Austin proper. (Hence the reason why I now live in the burbs of Austin, Tx.)

She was right. In my translation, the flyer read....800 sq. ft. 2 bedroom 100year old house in the "ghetto" for only $250,000! Are they crazy! Austin is the coolest city I have ever lived in but this is highway robbery! If Forbes calls that a bargain, then they are as crazy as the folks asking $250,000 for the house I just described. I am inclined to assume for the sellers to be asking that price that there is someone out there that has more money than they know what to do with that is willing to pay it just to have an Austin address. :-)

Here is a bargain for ya Forbes.....for only $130,000 reduced to $115,000, I got a 3 bedroom newly constructed home with an unattached 2 car garage and a large yard with access to the greenbelt in a nice family oriented neighborhood. I also can access any area of Austin with very little traffic issues in 20 to 30 minutes.

By the way, to my friend Jen in Cincy, it (Cincy) was also listed as one of the best cities for a bargain. Hopefully, your city has a better "bargain" than what mine does according to Forbes.

Kids Grow Up Fast....Sometimes Faster Than You Think

The other day I reached over and lovingly stroked Summer's leg. I noticed that her leg felt a little prickly. I asked her why her legs felt so rough. She said very nonchalantly.."Oh, probably because I need to shave them again." WHAT! She is eight years old! My daughter has been shaving her legs and I didn't know about it? And without any cuts?? How did this sort of thing come about?

When she was younger and we could both still fit into the bathtub together, she would always insist on shaving my legs for me. I guided her and told her how to do it so as she would not slice my legs open. I guess she figured if she mastered shaving her momma's legs than she could do her own.

As a preteen, I can vividly remember wanting to shave my legs. I asked my mother on several different occasions if I could shave my legs. All the other girls in my eighth grade class were doing it. It was like a big deal...like wearing makeup or wearing high heels.

Mom always said no. Being the rebellious sort of child I was, one day without permission, I took it upon myself to shave my legs. I'm not a hairy person at all so I figured my mom would never be able to tell I had shaved my legs.

My defiance backfired on me as my inexperience with a razor showed as a bleeding gash on my ankle. I was really surprised that I didn't get into trouble for this one! My mom showed me how to work the razor, and from that day on I was a shaven member of my eighth grade classroom.

Thank goodness my daughter hasn't wanted to wear makeup yet. I can remember the clown look I used to have when I first started experimenting with makeup. I actually really believed it looked good on me....ughhhh.

Yes, my little girl is growing up. Before you know it she will be budding those little mosquito bites called breast.

Mad Money

I recently watched the movie Mad Money. It got me to thinking about money in general. Because I was raised in a lower middle-class family I never got attached to the idea of money. Growing up, there were no luxuries in our home aside from a basic T.V and a telephone. We didn't even have cable T.V. and unlike most of my high school classmates my mother drove me to and from school until I graduated. After graduation I got a job and bought my first vehicle....a 1972 Dodge Demon for a whopping $500 cash.

Of course, as I got older and got out into the real world I started to see what all money could do for a person....and that how much money you had made a difference in the way you were viewed as a person. I wanted all that stuff...the nice car, the fancy house, nice clothes. Around this time I also figured out that money was also very hard to come by for someone with no real skills or talents and only a high school diploma.

I decided to go to a two year college thinking that it would be the answer to my financial woes. All my college education ever did for me was ensure that I had a job that paid my rent, which of course I was grateful for. Over the years I eventually surrendered to the fact that I would never be "financially well off" and came to terms with it.

I guess you could say that I have never had enough money to know if money does or doesn't make you happy. I usually get pretty happy when I have an extra 20 bucks in my pocket, but I have managed to be pretty happy with very little money also. I do believe my life would be much easier in certain ways if I had a little more money.

Really, the only people I have ever heard say that money does not make you happy are the people that have or have had money. Sure, we have always heard that wealthy people have the same problems as poor people. In my opinion, not necessarily. For example, if they need a new car they go out and buy one...no driving clunkers that may or may not start in the morning. All their comforts in life are taken care of from having a maid to clean the house to a personal nanny to take care of their kids while they go to the spa....the list goes on and on. Comfort is very important to having a full life...in my opinion anyway.

Aren't we here to enjoy the best things life has to give and to ensure that others are having the same experience???

My point is that yes, I have survived all of my life without a whole lot of money. And yes, you can be happy without money. I don't think people that have never had it ever stop longing for it though. I play the Texas Lottery religiously in hopes that one day I will have that sense of security that money gives. I really don't know what I would do with a lot of money, but I'm sure it wouldn't take me too long to figure something out. :-)

Tuesday May 12, 2009

Today was Toby's day off. We didn't have anything big planned at all. We were just going with the flow and enjoying being together.

Toby had to take a trip downtown for tattoo supplies so I figured while we were downtown we could check out one of the hundreds of parks that we have not yet visited in the downtown area. One I had seen passing by before was Metz Park. It looked really nice and it's right on Lake Austin.

We checked it out right before lunchtime so we only investigated a small section of the park. I also was detecting a bit of lethargy in Summer which is unusual when we are out and about at new places. I assumed that she was probably just ready for some lunch.

Here are a few snaps of the park:







After we left the park as we were heading to the supply store Toby said "Hey! There's that place I saw on the Travel Channel!" That answered our question about what we were going to eat for lunch...Juan in a Million. I figured if it was on the Travel Channel Man vs. Food. it had to be a pretty good eating destination. (I LOVE the Travel Channel)

I have to say the food was pretty delicious. I ordered one chicken taco and it was big enough to fill me up.




As we were eating I started to figure out Summer was not up to par. She was freezing in the restaurant and it was definitely not cold in there. She started coughing a little yesterday, but otherwise seemed fine. When we got home she went straight to her bed and got underneath the covers.....THIS IS HIGHLY UNUSUAL. She was sporting a low grade fever. "Sigh"...I guess I am thankful that she waited until after our weekend getaway but it sure does suck that it will put a damper on our play date tomorrow. Both of us always look so forward to our weekly play dates. Hopefully she will be better by Thursday.......

Memories From The Past - The Boating Incident

My ex-husband and I didn't have a whole lot in common, but one of the things we did enjoy doing together was fishing/boat riding. Throughout most of our 10 year marriage we owned a boat. We were also lucky enough to live only a mile or so away from the nearest boat launch.

Most evenings in the Spring and Summer after he got home from work we would hitch the boat up to the truck, stop by the corner store for some minners as he called them, and head to the launch.

One particular evening we decided to check out some of our uncharted inlets and gas lines. I'm not really sure what the gas lines were but that's what they were called by the locals. They were long creek paths with underwater pipes. The pipes were usually deep enough that you could pass through in a boat without harm.

After our exploring dusk was nearing so we decided to head back to the launch. We didn't have running lights on the boat and we didn't want to get stuck out in the middle of nowhere without lights to get back on.

Because darkness was quickly falling on us we decided to take a shortcut through one of the gas lines. Frank (my ex) was flying pretty fast down the gas line. My 7 year old son and I were at the front of the boat while Frank was at the back driving it.(we were in a john boat at the time) All of a sudden I hear Frank's voice over the loud roaring of the boat engine..HOLD ON!

At the very moment he hollered HOLD ON! I saw it! The gas pipe was sticking up far enough that you could see it just below the water. It all happened so quick. All I remember is grabbing my son and then we hit it.

I think this had to be one of the scariest moments of my whole life. We were going so fast that by the time Frank saw the pipe line he didn't have enough time to slow the boat down at all. As we passed over the pipe at at least 40 mph or more it flipped the boat motor up and off the back of the boat straight into the back end of the boat where Frank was. As the motor flew up and into the boat it hit Frank in the head.

As the boat motor's loud roar came to a halt and the boat was slowed abruptly by the gas line everything seemed to move in slow motion. All in one moment I saw the blood trailing down Frank's head while hearing the stillness of the deserted creek.

Checking to make sure my son was o.k, and slowly realizing that we were in the middle of nowhere at dusk with the driver and the motor of the boat out of commission I felt the panic rise up in me. I was truly scared. If Frank were not o.k there is no way I could have gotten us back to land....which I might add was a few miles away.

I didn't even know where we were. We had no paddles, no cell phones back then, and the motor was no longer attached to the boat, but laying in the back of the boat. I also had a son that was a bit shaken and beginning to panic also.

Thank goodness, Frank began to "come to" and get his senses back. It still didn't solve the problem of the boat motor in the back of the boat. Although my ex was not wimpish in the least, a boat motor is a pretty heavy thing to be trying to lift. Even if he did manage to get it lifted up and attached back onto the back of the boat, there was no guarantee that it didn't sustain damage from the full force blow it took from the gas line. Oh, and by the way, I was also worrying about the gas line that we had just hit full force might do.

Somehow in Frank's dazed state, he managed to lift that 500 lb boat motor back onto the back of the boat by himself. I think that might be called adrenalin. It took a few minutes, but the boat motor cranked up.

Believe it or not, we actually made it back to the launch just as dusk passed into total darkness. I really don't remember the ride back to the launch but I can tell you it took us a all a long while before we were ready for another adventurous boat ride to the middle of nowhere.