Rattlesnake Roundup

Yes, luck was on my side today. By the time I woke up this morning the predicted rain had already came and went.

My goal for the day was the rattlesnakes. We took care of a couple of small errands along the way to the Capitol. Once we got inside the Capitol after stripping off everything but our clothing we went in search of the snake presentation.

Whew! We made it there in the nick of time. They were in the process of ending their show for the day. Luckily all the school groups were cleared out so we got to talk to one of the handlers uninterrupted and pet the snake without the aggravation of a large crowd....

Afterward we walked around the Capitol a bit....

 

Toby and Summer racing to the Capitol Visitor Center



We had a good time in the Capitol Visitor's Center. We have been there many times so Toby spent his time doing his antics to entertain us...well, mostly me because Summer does not find them as amusing as I do...

 



Watching a Red Tailed Hawk that was perched on top of the star on the very top of the Capitol Building.

I believe we all enjoyed our day at the State Capitol.



Hear Me Scream

It's probably not the best idea to put words into written form when highly agitated, but my blog is not only my online diary but a form of therapy. I don't have many outlets for my moody personality and if I weren't able to vent I have the potential to make decisions that aren't socially acceptable.

I woke up this morning and did my usual morning routine...drink a cup of coffee while checking e-mail and seeing what sort of ridiculous shit people have posted on FB - I told you I was in a mood so don't act so surprised.

As I was scanning FB I noticed KXAN had posted about the Sweetwater Rattlesnake Roundup at the Capitol. On initial reading I thought it was a little amusing....rattlesnakes at the Texas State Capitol, how fitting. As I read on it described how they were giving demonstrations on what to do if you walk up on a rattler, letting you pet them, and the importance of them in our environment. I immediately decided that would be our activity for the day. It was perfect. Sounded like fun and it would be educational for us all.

I had it all planned out and everybody was agreeable until Toby was spouting off so many other things he needed to get done for the day (work and errand related). I knew we didn't have time to get everything he needed to get done AND see the snakes so being the accomodating wife I am I  suggested we wait and go to the rattlesnakes tomorrow. Tomorrow will be their last show until next year.

After we got home Toby checked the weather and lo and behold we have a 80% chance of rain tomorrow. Where in the hell did that come from??? It never rains in Central Texas. I was envisioning us watching the rattlesnakes with the warm sun enveloping us as we watched the show on the rotunda of the capitol not underneath an umbrella in the rain. I really wanted to see those damn rattlesnakes!!!

I got annoyed about that and the rest of the day just went downhill in my mind. You know how you get annoyed about something and everything else that follows just seems to be like an avalanche of annoyances in your mind????? In the whole scheme of things I know it's not really a big deal but I really wanted to see those rattlesnakes!!!!

Later on in the evening Bo comes upstairs while I am sewing and just STARES at me. I know there is something he is wanting...most likely leftover food that Toby and Summer have been eating downstairs. Why in the hell can't they just put the god damn plate down for him to lick after they eat????????????  Why does he have to come upstairs and ask me? Why can't they be aware of anything but themselves and their devices? After all, they picked the god damn dog out!!!  It's not Bo's fault. He's just going to the person he knows will respond to his needs.

So then I go to the door and holler at them to give him their scraps as I muttered idiots under my breath. Later on I go downstairs and Toby's ass is asleep on the sofa, Summer is hoarding MY IPAD as usual and there are dirty napkins, trash, snot rags, and plates all over the floor. Then I go to the kitchen and apparently Toby had given Bo some kind of sauce that he had smeared all of the kitchen rug.

At that moment I wanted to tell them all exactly what I thought of them, but instead I made me a much needed vodka and grapefruit and headed back upstairs. I already feel better.

Hopefully tomorrow will be a more exciting day.

Beautiful Danger

Monday is my designated grocery store day, so off to HEB I headed after I took Bo for a short run. Summer opted to go with me again this week which I have found to be helpful lately. When she was younger she wanted to go with me and her help usually hindered me. Now that's she's older and can properly read a list and push a heavy cart around I can cut a good 15 to 20 minutes off my trip.

Before we got to the store I had to drop off some stuff  to Toby at work. About 100 feet before the turn in to his building I spotted a bill being whipped around by the wind in front of my car. I couldn't tell if it was a 1, 5, 10, or even if it may been $100, but it was definitely cash.

The area where I spotted it is heavily trafficked and is also an exit area from I-35. As the passing thought of pulling over to chase the bill and risk getting ran over entered my mind, I noticed someone else had already  beat me to the idea and was pulled off on the shoulder eyeballing it. Good Luck to them as all I thought. I would hate to know that I had risked my life for a measly dollar...but then again risking my life for $100 wouldn't have been so bad.

As far the rest of the day, I spent it making a cake I saw on Pinterest. I know, as if I needed cake but I had some Greek Yogurt that was 2 days past expiration and if it didn't get used it was going to be wasted...I don't eat yogurt plain so that was not an option. I added the yogurt to the Devil's Food cake mix in replacement of the eggs and oil as directed and baked away. It turned out delicious. I also whipped up some butter cream frosting for the top...I KNOW, I KNOW I didn't need to add the frosting either. Hopefully Toby and Summer will eat the bulk of it like usual.

I'm not sure how I will spend the rest of my evening. Most likely trying to figure out how we are going to spend our week in this beautiful weather we have been having.

Lucid Truth

I'm beginning to feel like a broken record, but for the sake of my online diary I will rehash every boring moment of my day.

Took Bo for another long run. The weather was beautiful..perfect, and it felt good.

Made lunch...Mexican Pizza's, Toby's favorite.

I spent some more time outdoors today. With a tall glass of ice water I sat under my canopy-less gazebo and soaked in the warmth of the sun and watched the jets/planes fly overhead. We seem to be in the flight path of both the Executive Airport and the ABIA airport so I see plenty of air traffic throughout the day and night.

Since I was a small child, I've always been obsessed with watching flying machines. When my son was little I used to take him to the regional airport in Mobile. There was a large glass enclosure that allowed you to watch the planes land and take off. I was never sure who enjoyed watching the planes more...me or him. Ironically, he now works in the airplane industry.

Looking back I think my obsession of planes came from my childhood of living very near a military airport. The huge navy planes would fly over so low across our house that you could see the writing on them. Me and my brother would play "army' with them. You could hear them coming with their low roaring engines from a distance and once we heard them we would run and hide. Once they appeared overhead we would run out with our plastic weapons and shoot at them. Because they were doing exercises they would fly over numerous times in the afternoon. It was one of my favorite childhood games and I can still remember it like it was yesterday.

Anyway, I also did some more mental planning for my backyard. I also dug up an "Elephant Ear" and relocated it to a shadier spot. Of course, Bo was right beside me making sure he didn't miss out on any grub worm that may have been hiding in the freshly dug soil.

This evening I had an itch to sew, or more likely I was bored stiff and needed something to do with my hands so I whipped up this....ummmm, whatever. It could be a lap quilt, a wall hanging, or a table cloth??? It doesn't matter really, it kept me occupied for a couple of hours so I didn't go insane.

Yep, that was it for my day.

Ping Pong

Feeling a bit "gutty" lately, I hopped on the scale to check out the situation and there it was staring me in the face, I have picked up an extra 7 lbs. from somewhere...hmmm....let me guess, could it possibly be my addiction to Coke that I can't seem to get control of???

I remember my mother having a strong affection for Coke at one time and even referring to herself as a "Cokeaholic" She eventually "kicked the habit" and refused to drink it ever again and instead replaced it with sweet tea.

Luckily, I have the type of metabolism that it's as easy to get rid of pounds as it is to gain them. I have to make note to keep better tabs on my calorie intake.

In light of this new weight gain situation I didn't turn Toby down when he suggested we take the longest (and with the most inclines) neighborhood route this morning.

It was such a BEAUTIFUL, sunny, warm morning that I spent some time outside pruning some bushes and plants after my run.

After I got Toby off to work I spent some time browsing Pinterest for my weekly menu plan while half-heartily watching Test Kitchen. I learn a lot of useful tips and tricks watching PBS cooking shows.

Quite honestly after that I was something I hardly ever say or claim to be...BORED! Not that I didn't have anything that could have been done, but it was such a beautiful day I just hated to waste it doing chores. I really wanted to be out hiking a trail or sightseeing somewhere, but Toby was at work and Summer was occupied with the neighborhood kids.

So I sat....then I drank, and now here I sit -  drinking and writing.

What a waste of a beautiful day.

Three Day Getaway

We took our first mini vacation of the year to Houston.  I wanted to take Summer to the Children's Museum there before she got too old to enjoy a Children's Museum. Houston's museum has excellent reviews and the reviewers also boasted of activities that would also appeal to the older kids.

We arrived at our hotel around 2:00pm and made the mistake of getting sucked up into lounging around on the comfy beds and watching cable T.V. I had planned on us doing a little Houston sigh-seeing once we got there but before we realized it it was 6:00pm. We went and ate dinner at a nearby Chili's and came back to the hotel and sucked in more T.V. O'well, I guess that's what vacations are for but we could have spent $100 less per night doing the same thing at home...minus the cable, that is.

The next day we met up with my littlest cousin who lives in Houston at the Children's Museum. My cousin Shannon wasn't able to meet up with us because she couldn't get off work, but luckily Ted was off that day and able to bring my cousin Emma to enjoy the museum too.

I do believe...no I KNOW, that both of those kids had a blast at the museum. We all gave it a thumbs up and it was a five star Children's Museum's in my opinion.  Summer gave it a 10 on a scale.

Summer "driving" the Mustang

 

Daddy, the passenger of Summer's "driving"

Hands down, Summer's favorite parts were the vehicles and  realistic ATM machines. They were pretty cool.  The kids get a card when they first arrive and the electronic card system  keeps track of money, age, height, weight, heart rate, and a litany of other things.  You have the standard art room, different professions, local bank chain, and local grocers spot.

There were so many different activities that I can't even begin to name all of them, and certainly can't post all 157 pictures I took there! Here are few highlights....



Cousin Emma and daddy, Ted.

I can see why this museum got voted the #1 Children's Museum in the nation. If you are - or ever will be - in the Houston area I would put this on your "List of Things To Do" with the kids.

After a long day we got back to the hotel just in time for Bo's late afternoon walk. Ironically our hotel was only a couple of blocks away from Joel Osteen's Lakewood Church. Funny thing about this is Toby and I use to watch Joel's sermons every week on T.V. when we lived in Alabama. He was the only religious speaker we would ever watch...I guess because, unlike traditional preachers, he preached more about love than fear, hell and damnation, or self righteousness. His sermon's reflected our view on what we perceived "God" to be. You could say we were quite a fan of Joel.

I suggested we take Bo for a walk by the church so I could take a few pics and maybe sneak a peek of the inside. When we arrived at the church I was so overwhelmed by how massive it was (it didn't look that big from the road against all the other huge buildings) that I decided that I would be in there much longer than I wanted Toby and Bo to have to wait outside for me so I just took some snapshots of the outside of the church....

That evening we ordered pizza delivery and watched more cable T.V.

The next day before we headed back to Austin we checked out the Houston Arboretum and Nature Center. It was a beautiful morning for a walk through a nature center....

It's always nice to get away, but it's equally as nice to get back home.

Desperado

This afternoon Summer went outside to enjoy the nice warm day until she came running inside screaming about a bee chasing her around. She told me she had tried to kill it. As she washed her hands for a snack she began telling me about her bee encounter in relation to her thoughts on fear.

I was pretty impressed with her rationalization of how humans operate....maybe because I, myself, have only began to understand such things in recent years.

She went in depth telling me about how it's fear that motivates us to kill and that's why there is war and guns and why we do hurtful things to other people. It is fear and only fear that makes us react with violence.

I guess it's just not something I ever really thought about before, but she is absolutely right. From everything to war to killing a zooming bee all our negative actions are motivated by fear. We go to war because we fear someone is going to hurt us....or most likely take away our power. We swat at that bee because we fear it will sting us if we don't kill it first.

FEAR - False Evidence Appearing Real

I just thought it was interesting the way she analyzed her reaction to the bee chasing her and used it as a comparison to the world around her. I would have never made that sort of connection when I was her age...then again, that's probably not saying much. She's a HELL OF A LOT more worldly than I ever was.

Maybe it's no big deal, but I thought it was. It reminded me of a quote I ran across once:

 "To know ones self is to know others. He that is ignorant of himself, could not write a very profound lecture on another man's head."

In other news, I heard through the neighborhood grapevine the "old man" across the street died from falling as he got out of the bath tub. For some reason this gave me some sort of closure with my obsession of the old man across the street.

I promise this will be my last mention of the old man.