What Did I Do Today?????

This post is probably more for my very inquisitive friend Angela than anyone...so here's to you Angela. I know you like the play by play day posts so I will do my best to give a rundown of my day from the moment I opened my eyes this morning until...well, whenever...

My eyes popped open around 6:00a.m. I layed there for a while contemplating my day, watching Toby sleep, and giving thanks to whoever or whatever for everything I have. This is usually my mental routine every morning before I drag myself out of the bed.

Once I staggered out of the bed around 7:00a.m, I grab Brandi out of her cage, give her plenty of morning hugs and kisses and head out the door with her so she can relieve herself. While Brandi is doing her business I inspect my yard for any disturbances....chewed up baby diapers, dead animals, anything out of the ordinary.

Once I get back inside with the dog, I make myself a cup of coffee and go back outside to sit and drink it. This is something I just recently have started doing. It seems to be the only time of day I can completely be alone with myself undisturbed, enjoying the morning wildlife and enjoying the cool breeze that only the early mornings bring in the Summer.

After I finish my cup of coffee, I head back inside and up the stairs to my best friend...my computer. I check my e-mail, facebook, my homeschool groups, my blog, and anything else that strikes my interest for the day. This morning I got enthralled in a site called Animoto. I was also messing around with a site called Picnik. I guess you could say pictures is another one of my hobby's. I love being creative with my pictures.

Around 9:30-10:00a.m. my family began to stir...yes, they unlike me, like to sleep the morning away. Toby I can understand because he works late into the night, but Summer has no excuse. I guess she is getting in the practice of being a teenager.

Anyway, once they arose I made breakfast for them and Toby and I had our morning conversations while Summer ate her breakfast and watched T.V. After breakfast I did a few chores to take up time while Toby and Summer poked off....as they usually do in the mornings. I had a few errands I wanted to run today and they are never in any hurry to get out the door.

Once we finally made it out of the house it was 1:00p.m. I really hate getting out of the house that late but.....

Our first stop was Best Buy. Summer and I sat in the car while Toby ran in to check some prices on some printers. Our next stop was Toys R Us. Summer wanted to spend her allowance on something useless. Next on to Target where we took back some headphones Toby had bought for his computer. We also grabbed a bite to eat in Targets snack bar while we were there.

After Target we went to Walmart where we bought an electric hedge trimmer, a couple of grocery items and some necessities for our trip to Mobile next week.

Oh....and we stopped into Fantastic Sams for Toby and Summer a haircut.

By the time we had all of our errands finished it was 4:00p.m.

When we got home I heated up some fresh green beans and potatoes. While Toby and Summer were upstairs setting up her new computer game, I sat downstairs eating my dinner while reading my latest book A Wrinkle in Time.

After Toby got Summer set up with her game he came downstairs and took his afternoon siesta.

After Summer bored of her game I went to my "best friend" where I sit right now writing my daily blog.

While I was trying to write my blog Summer and Toby were playing "monster". Here are a couple of shots of them playing monster...




I will go ahead and tell you how the rest of the evening will go. Toby is off tonight, so he and I will sit down around 10:00p.m after Summer is in bed and watch our nightly movie....which I think will be The Knowing.

That's it....that is my day in a nutshell.

Not So Much.....

I have not done my daily blogging for the past couple of days because well....there is nothing to say. No activities to make note of, no notable thoughts, ideas, or stories entering my brain....writers block I think they call it.

Sure I could post about the little mundane details of my life, but who in the hell cares?? I don't even care. They are just daily activities everyone has to fulfill.

Bear with me....hopefully my creative mind is just taking a vacation.

July 10, 2009

This morning Toby woke up with his allergies flared. Maybe it was manifested by swimming in algae infested water the other day...who knows. Anyway, he wanted to eat some spicy Mexican food to help open up his nasal passages.

At the same time I also had an offer from Angela to meet them at the Chikfila. You could dress up as a cow and get a free meal. Angela and her gang were going to participate. Now this I had to see!

To solve my problem of wanting to be in two different places at one time, I improvised. Toby, Summer, and I got out of the house and had an early lunch. By the time we got through with lunch it was time to meet up with Angela at the Chikfila.

There were a few interesting looking "cows" in Chikfila. We didn't stay too long in Chikfila. Summer and I were planning on passing time shopping until Toby had to go into work at 5:00p.m. so we invited our friends along.

Angela declined because she was in the middle of the very stressful job of potty training her 2 year old and other motherly tasks had to be taken care of, but Jordan came along.

So off to Toys R Us Toby, Summer, Jordan, and I went. We hung out in Toys R Us for a long time "window shopping" and reading teen magazines. Actually, Toby and I were mentally getting our Christmas ideas together....before you know it Christmas will be here. Every year, I say I am going to get my shopping done early, but every year it creeps in on me before I know it. Hopefully I won't let that happen once again this year. We will see.

I was hoping after Angela got done with her momma chores she would be able to meet back up with us.

We finally made our way over to Target where we also spent a good bit of time. I actually lucked up on a really good deal on a comforter set for Summer's bed for $10! Can't beat that deal.

After Target we went BACK to Chikfila. Finally Angela was able to join back up with us where we met her at the Marble Slab Creamery for an ice cream treat.

By the time I made it home it was past 6:00p.m. It was actually a very wonderful day with the girls. Growing up with two brothers and having my first child be a son, I never really spent much time around girls until Summer came along. I am finding out that girls can be rather fun....

July 9, 2009

Another day at a waterpark! I know I am beginning to sound like a broken record with my post, but I swear it's hot as hell here!

Today we went to the Rock n River in Round Rock. It's a bit larger than the one in Phflugerville. We got there pretty early but the place was already packed full. I really hate crowds and even more so hate crowds of kids. I am a real odd-ball in the fact that I don't like to be around kids...except for my own and a select other few.

Anyway, the waterpark today was not a place to be if you have an aversion to kids. They were wall to wall no matter what pool area I went to. Of course my daughter was having a blast so I didn't want to be the big party pooper by dragging us out of there before we got our $10 worth.

The day was actually very uneventful and I am only posting just for the sake of keep my online diary going.

When I got home and jumped in the shower I went to open up the window to the shower to let the moisture out. I jumped back a little when I saw this little guy staring at me. I guess he was trying to get a little cool air that seeps out of the window. We sometimes forget to close the window back after our showers and the window was cracked a bit.



He's pretty big isn't he?? Remember, in Texas everything is bigger. :-)

Barton Springs

I'm really starting to bore just a little of water activities but quite honestly, there is not much else to do in 100+ plus temps. Well, not for outdoorsy types like ourselves anyway. I'm really looking forward to the temps cooling down just a little so we can do some much missed hiking.

Isn't it funny how when it's hot you want it cooler...when it's cold you want it warmer? I guess that's why Spring and Fall are mostly always favorite seasons to most folk.

Anyway, so today we went to Barton Springs. Toby needed to get some supplies at the medical supply store downtown so we decided to kill two birds with one stone and go swimming in Barton Springs which is also downtown.

Barton Springs is in Zilker Park and is also one of my favorite places to go in Austin. I love, love, love the water in Barton Springs. It has such a natural clean feel to it and it's a beautiful color. The water is also very, very icy cold.

I don't typically like ice water but the temp was 105 today so it felt pretty refreshing...to Toby and I anyway. Summer shivered and complained the whole time she was in it. We kept trying to get her to move around so she would generate some heat in her body. She kept insisting that she couldn't move because she was frozen solid. My daughter, the dramatic one.

I swam around as much as I could in-taking the fresh aroma of natural earth water. Because of the algae in the water it's almost impossible to walk in the water without water shoes...of course, we forgot our water shoes. There is massive amounts of algae and plant life in the water. I am just glad there are no stinging or biting animals wandering around in there...at least none that I have come across yet. :-)

I had also forgotten until today that it is perfectly "normal" to sunbathe topless at Barton Springs. Warning: Anyone that is squeamish or has an aversion to topless ladies should not enter the pool area. :-)

Here are some pics of our day...

A Day of Play

We had our weekly playdate today. Angela and I decided since there was a new theme at the Children's Museum and we had not been there in a while we would go there. The girls always seem to have a blast at the museum.

Although today was Toby's off day, he had worked a double shift yesterday so I just assumed that he would want to sleep in and enjoy the peace and quite of the house. He awoke as Summer and I were getting ready and decided he wanted to join us on our playdate.

Toby is one of those type guys you never mind tagging along. Aside from having to be close by a restroom, we usually got it covered with him. He never complains and goes along with most anything we want him to do. The one exception is the Goodwill. He hates Goodwills and thrift stores...he thinks they are gross. :-)

We spent four hours in the museum. The theme was "Makers". Toby ended up making a couple airplanes and cars. Everyone thought he did a pretty good job and was wanting to check out his creations. Here are some pics of us at the museum....









After we left the museum I really wanted to get some aerial pics of downtown Austin...something I have been wanting to do for a while. Most of the high rise buildings downtown are condos but I figured we could go to the top of the Frost Bank Tower skyscraper and I could find a window up there where I could get some shots.

No luck, the Frost Building is an office building so there wasn't anywhere...that I could find anyway, that I could take pictures from. The windows were all offices and I couldn't find anyone who was willing to let me snap a few pics. I'll have to search for another spot one day when it's not 110 degrees outside.

Anyway, we were all starving. Summer was in the mood for some pasta so we went to Carraba's. There was a Carraba's in Mobile too, but we had never eaten there before. As usual, in places like that the food is really good but expensive. Thank goodness for the bread or we probably would have walked away still hungry.

Something rather amusing did happen while we were eating. Our waiter was making small talk with us. We got on the conversation of us being from Mobile, Alabama. He then said..."Oh, I know Mobil. (that's how he pronounced it)that's the place that had the leprechaun sighting."

Oh my God, please no! I thought. Half way across the U.S. in Austin, Texas someone knows Mobile for being the place with the leprechaun sighting. Mobile will forever be marred by this embarrassing video. But sadly, this is what a lot of Mobile has become.

I may have already posted this video in the past, but for anyone who has never seen the leprechaun video that managed to make national news here it is.

Another great day!

Go, Go, Go....

I don't recall being as busy last summer as I have been this summer....then again, last summer we were limited to one vehicle so I was pretty housebound for most of the summer. Maybe that's why I am like a bird let out of it's cage this year. :-)

This morning Brandi had a vet appointment. I take my animal to the doctor about as much as I take my kids and myself....only on our deathbeds. Actually this will be Brandi's second visit to the vet in her 3 years of life.

So Summer and I got up early and took her to her vet appointment. I will be needing to board her somewhere while we are in Mobile and I knew that she would need some shots before the vet would board her. She was a trooper and only tried to bite the doc one time.

After the vet we drove a few doors down to the Manor Lube to get my oil changed. After my oil change we drove down to a new plant nursery I had seen in passing. The vegetation is so different here and everything that I love and try and grow in this drought ridden hot dry climate burns up. All the edges of my caladiums are are burnt up. Even my hosta's that I planted a couple of months ago are burnt around the edges.

I hope I am not doomed to plant Prickly Pear and Agave all over my yard.

Not being familiar with the native plants of this area, I have made it a point to study up. I visited the nursery in hopes that someone could give me some insight. I got some helpful info from the girl that was running the nursery. On a more positive note I found out that as hard and sticky as the "soil" is here, the Blackland Prairie is very fertile and easily facilitates it's native plants.

So after my nursery trip we took Brandi home to let her rest. It was only a little after noon at this time and Summer and I really didn't fell like hanging around the house trying to find things to entertain ourselves. We decided to go shopping. :-)

We hit the Goodwill, Toys R Us, Petco, and HEB. By the time we got through with our afternoon shopping trip we were ready to get back home and relax.

It was a nice, relaxing day.....believe it or not.