HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

posted at 10/31/2001 01:38:00 a. m.

This is what I look at for 5 days of the week. I know, I know - I have a lot of crap on top of my moniter but as you can see, I like frog stuff.

Here is another picture that shows you most of my desk... (it's u-shaped and you can only see 2 sections... there is another section to my right side).

I really don't know why anyone would really want to know what my desk at work looks like but I'm bored... can't you tell?

posted at 10/30/2001 04:12:00 p. m.

I haven't had much to blog about lately so my entries haven't been as wordy as usual. I've been busy just catching up on my life away from the computer and it has involved catching up with friends too.

I was able to talk to each of my best friends for over an hour on the phone this week. We discussed our worries and problems, giving each other advice and support. Then tonight I have the wonderful pleasure of seeing an old friend from college who moved to London after graduation. I saw him last about 2 1/2 years ago right before he went on a 2-year travel adventure around the world with his girlfriend and now he is back in town visiting his parents. I am really looking forward to hearing his stories about Australia, New Zealand, Vietnam, Siberia, Malaysia, China, etc. in person.

I hope everyone else out there is having a good day! See you around...

posted at 10/30/2001 10:48:00 a. m.

K-Pax - I recommend it! Go see it if you get a chance. Kevin Spacey and Jeff Bridges do a good job.

posted at 10/29/2001 11:56:00 a. m.

Here is a picture of my beautiful roses as promised! :D

posted at 10/26/2001 12:18:00 a. m.

What would you do with $5 million?

I would:
-- Buy a nice house.
-- Buy my husband whatever he wanted.
-- Buy my 328 BMW with the European Delivery option.
-- Travel, travel, travel with my husband!!!
-- Give some of it to my Mom.
-- Give some of it to my 2 nieces for their college fund.
-- Take care of my grandmother.
-- Give some of it to friends and distant family.
-- Give some to charity.
-- Throw a big party.
-- Did I mention travel?
-- Put away a large chunk of it and live off of the interest.

Thanks to The Lavender Kitchen for the idea.

posted at 10/25/2001 03:48:00 p. m.

My wonderful husband sent me a gorgeous bouquet of red roses, with extra long stems!! I will take a picture and post it tomorrow!

posted at 10/24/2001 03:24:00 p. m.

Wow! What a wonderful group of women! I am a member of the web-ring Traveling Women of the Net and they created this beautiful anniversary page just for me (there is even a guestbook to sign)!!

This simple gesture has truly made my day and has encouraged me to become a more active member. Thanks ladies!

posted at 10/24/2001 11:39:00 a. m.

Today is my 3rd year wedding anniversary! Yay! And it also marks 4 1/2 years + 1 month of being together (does that make sense)? Despite all the ups and downs, it doesn't seem that long ago that we met...

posted at 10/24/2001 10:55:00 a. m.

This picture was forwarded to me by a friend today...


*no comment*

posted at 10/22/2001 10:20:00 p. m.

It's Monday again and the drudgery of work begins anew. The weekend was nice though. Here's a quick run-down:

-- Spent Friday afternoon with my best friend, Gretchen. We had a good time and later joined friends for dinner at Pappadeaux's. Ended the evening with drinks at Cecil's and Lola's. Overall, it was nice to catch up with people I hardly ever see. My husband, who was with a different group of friends for half the night, came back rather inebriated and was definitely paying for it with a nice hang-over the next morning! :P

-- Saturday I dragged myself out of the house to do some more cow-hunting (latest count: 201 found, 119 to go). Our friend Beau came into town from College Station and we went out for sushi and some more drinks downtown.

-- Sunday took my Mom out to celebrate her birthday. I think she enjoyed it. I also bought her a box of Godiva chocolates, her favorites. This little purchase almost became a disaster though since I found out after lunch that my wallet was missing. It had fallen out of my purse at The Galleria after buying the chocolates. Fortunately someone found it and brought to a nearby restaurant where the manager looked my number up and called me. Major disaster averted thanks to the smart managers at The Cheesecake Factory!!

-- Ended the weekend by grabbing a movie with friends.

I had a busy weekend but I felt like it was at our own pace so it was nice and yes, relaxing. I hope everyone had a good weekend too!

posted at 10/22/2001 11:45:00 a. m.

Thanks Cesar for bringing Krispy Kreme doughnuts to the office this morning! Yum-my! They were still warm too... :D

posted at 10/19/2001 09:43:00 a. m.

Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! The margaritas at Berryhill's are strong and they are the perfect remedy for a cranky mood! Hee, hee! And remember my silly co-worker? She's a lightweight and now has the hiccups. My other co-worker, although hiccup free, is even more of a lightwight and now is trying to act as sober as possible. The afternoon should be interesting. At least 2/3 of the office is in a manger's meeting so hopefully we won't get noticed!

posted at 10/18/2001 02:32:00 p. m.

I am NOT happy at work and I'm very quickly going to crack. It's the reason I'm cranky today. Argh.

In other news, I made a major redesign last night on my Explore Europe site. It still needs some major tweaks (check broken links, fix the web-rings, add some buttons) but the biggest changes are done. I am much happier with the new look - it's a sleeker, crisper look. Plus, those are a couple of my pictures as well as my husband's pictures on top top, thanks to some Photoshop magic.

posted at 10/18/2001 01:02:00 p. m.

I watched the world premiere of Smallville last night. It's the new Superman series that chronicles his life as a teenager. It was actually better than I thought - the casting is great, especially Clark and Lex. John Schneider, infamous for playing cute blonde haired Bo on the Dukes of Hazzard, plays Superman's adoptive father. Wow. To think I had a huge crush on him growing up. At least he finally got work again!

posted at 10/17/2001 05:09:00 p. m.

I have a very silly co-worker and she recently went on her own cow-hunting excursion. Here is a picture illustrating her silliness... and can you believe the shot was not framed (notice the horns coming out of her head), it was just a happy coincidence!

Her friend is weird too as this other picture proves...

posted at 10/17/2001 04:41:00 p. m.

Eek! Brad Pitt modeling dresses!! Yet he still looks good. *sigh*

posted at 10/17/2001 10:15:00 a. m.

Hee, hee! I entered two more submissions at The Mirror Project:
"vanity" & "glass bricks"
(I love this site!)

posted at 10/16/2001 11:45:00 a. m.

As promised, here is a recap of my stay in San Antonio with my wonderful husband!

-- The Emily Morgan was nice but the room was a bit pricey for what we got (scratched furniture, no mini-bar, no water pressure) but we had a good time nonetheless. The bed was super-comfy, the views (view 1, 2, 3 and 4) were wonderful from the 12th floor and we were lucky enough to get a room with huge ceilings and cathedral-like windows . If you look at the outside, our floor (3rd form the top) was the only floor with these particular windows. I thought it just made the room so much nicer, don't you think?

-- We went to the RiverCenter Mall and my husband bought me some clothes as an anniversary gift. He told me to pick something, as long as it wasn't black (which he thinks I wear too much). I bought a turquoise tank top, a purple sweater and a blue top. There, is that enough color? :P

-- The Riverwalk is just sooooo beautiful and fun to walk, especially in the evenings. It such a great place to people watch too!

-- The Alamo is beautiful at night.

-- I'm such a little devil!

-- The Plaza Wax Museum and Ripley's Believe It or Not were more fun than I thought! Elizabeth was my favorite wax figure.

-- I will be definitely be returning to El Mercado once I have a house for some decorating items but for now, I am happy with my new coconut mask. He's the one on the left and I bought him to accompany the watermelon girl my sister had given me.

-- The margaritas are extra yummy and the decor is a lot of fun at Mi Tierra .

-- And of course, I have a wonderful husband!!!

posted at 10/15/2001 01:56:00 p. m.

My husband and I will be going to San Antonio this morning to celebrate our third-year wedding anniversary a few weeks early. We splurged and will be staying at the Emily Morgan Hotel. It's a beautiful, old but newly renovated hotel in Downtown San Antonio with some great views of The Alamo and the Riverwalk. My husband has always wanted to stay there and since it is a special ocassion we reserved the Plaza Suite which even has a jacuzzi! I'll tell you all about it when I return Sunday... Have a great weekend.

posted at 10/13/2001 09:31:00 a. m.

It's a gray, misty Friday morning and waking up to it was difficult to do. Even my dog Ginger had problems this morning. She usually is waiting at the door every morning for me while I check my e-mail. I then walk her before heading out to work. This morning I leave the computer room only to find that she isn't waiting for me.

Yep - she was still under the covers with my husband. I have a lazy dog. Only after calling her name out a couple of times did she reluctantly crawl out from under the comforter. She was half-asleep as I encouraged her to go outside.

Have you ever seen a drowsy Dachshund? It's actually pretty funny...

posted at 10/12/2001 09:33:00 a. m.

This story on Osama bin Laden's evil association with Bert (from Sesame Street fame) is actually true...

(links thanks to faith)

posted at 10/11/2001 12:49:00 p. m.

I've gotten restless with my web-site designs so I went ahead and recently redesigned my book group site. What do you think of the new design? Here is the old design for comparison.

posted at 10/11/2001 09:52:00 a. m.

I'm so excited!! I just bought pre-sale front-row tickets to the Cirque du Soleil Dralion show.

If you've never experienced a Cirque du Soleil performance, I hope you get an opportunity to do so. Kenny and I were so moved emotionally when we saw our first show, Quidam. They are hard to describe but I guess I can say they are meld of music, dance, color and acrobatics that is awe-inspiring!

Hee, hee. I can't wait till February...

posted at 10/10/2001 11:15:00 a. m.

I've added some more Cow Parade pictures that I took over the weekend. Check out the last couple of pages of my album. My favorites were Miss Moo America, Chocolate Moo-se and Marilyn Moviestar.

Which one is your favorite?

posted at 10/10/2001 10:23:00 a. m.

We recently rented and watched the DVD A Knight's Tale. This was surprisingly good! The modern music set to medieval times was a nice twist and Heath Ledger was irresistibly cute and funny. I would recommend it, especially if you are sick of cuss words (does 'shite' count?), bloody violence and uncomfortable nude scenes. This movie does without all this mess and still delivers an entertaining story!

posted at 10/10/2001 10:18:00 a. m.

Argh! My radio at work went on the fritz. The speakers went out and I have nothing to break the quiet over in my corner of the office. I'm going to go crazy! I still have the box so I am going to try to exchange it at Target tonight. Still, I am not a happy camper this morning.

posted at 10/09/2001 10:48:00 a. m.

OK, I must confess or I'll be going to hell for sure...

I spent my Monday off watching the creation of O-Town during an MTV marathon of Making the Band.

There. I admitted it publically. May the flogging begin. Losing a million brain cells isn't enough punishment. At least I still think their music sucks.

(One other horrible confession - Ashley is still undeniably cute for an 18-year old!)

posted at 10/09/2001 10:37:00 a. m.

I've been rather lazy this past weekend and haven't actually posted any journal entries so I guess I should catch up. Let's see...

It was another good weekend with good weather... even the horrendous storm we had Friday night was fun and it cleared up quickly. I spent Saturday night attending the wedding of a good friend, Natalie. I have known her since she was 6 and I was 9 and it was nice to see her so happy with Andy. After the wedding, since the reception was Downtown, Kenny and I decided to have a drink at one of the many nearby bars in the area. We hadn't been down there in a while and wow, were the sidewalks crowded and the bars packed with people! We finally found a place along the window at Saba's (they have killer mojitos) and enjoyed ourselves watching an commenting on the "hip" crowd walking by. The hootchie mamas (of all colors) were the most fun to watch. We saw silicone and lots of tight pleather walk by... Kenny and I felt old (we went to 2 bars and they both ID'ed the people before us but waved us in when they saw us) especially surrounded by these poeple but it was nice to spend time alone with Kenny and we were entertained to say the least..

Sunday was so beautiful that I forced my husband to go out with me and we grabbed some lunch and ate at a local park. Believe or not, it was a hard sell because Kenny really wanted to stay home but once I got him out he admitted it had been a good idea. The picnic table we chose was next to a Mexican family celebrating a little girl's birthday. We had a good time watching them try to break the piñata. When I went past them to throw my trash away, I told them "Feliz Cumpleaños" and they said thanks and offered me candy from the piñata. Another gentleman even gave me two cold soft drinks to take with me. That was so kind and really made my day! :D

Monday was Columbus Day and I had the day off so I stayed at home and watched TV for most of it. Didn't get the things I wanted done but that's OK. They'll get done in due time... Now I must say good-night seeing that I actually have to work tomorrow (or today technically). Buenas noches...

posted at 10/09/2001 01:33:00 a. m.

Well - I'm done giving this page a TOTAL design change. I used Brokensky Designs again but went with something a little more elegant. I'm happy with it. The design incorporates mouseovers at the top of the page so I was able to create individual "About" and "Links" pages creating a much less cluttered page.

I hope you like the new design!! :D

posted at 10/08/2001 02:32:00 a. m.

This Dilbert cartoon reflects exactly how I feel about my job. *sigh*

posted at 10/08/2001 02:22:00 a. m.

Popcorn plant workers develop rare lung disease

This doesn't make sense to me: "Doctors who investigated for NIOSH said the problem appears to be limited to workers who inhaled large amounts of butter flavoring vapors wafting from big vats. They said there is no danger to people who microwave the popcorn and eat it at home."

These people are getting lung cancer due to the chemicals used in the butter flavoring but "there is no danger" to the consumers? I'm sure it is due to some chemical change during processing but still, it makes me rather leery of the microwave popcorn now...

posted at 10/04/2001 04:24:00 p. m.

Good morning everyone.

It's a gray and cloudy day in Houston with some scattered showers but that's fine. Two weeks of sun was nice but I also don't mind the cloudy, misty days like today.

Yoga class was good yesterday but I felt like the teacher was specifically talking to me most of the class period. I try to get there early enough to get the same spot right in front of him so he faces me. Well, I am new to all of this and not very flexible so I'm not always sure if I am doing things correctly or not. Last night, it seemed like he was trying to explain specifically to me how to get in the right positions. It was a little uncomfortable to say the least since I am already a bit self-conscious. Whether or not it was directed at me is besides the point - I just know I felt clumsier than usual during some of the moves. Specifically, I am having trouble with the push-up positions (unlike traditional push-ups, you need to maintain your elbows in). Everyone else seems to get them but I am having trouble getting my arms to bend correctly. I am thinking that I am just extremely weak in that area because I can do the leg moves O.K.

*sigh* I am just feeling negative about my body image overall. I've gained too much weight in the last year and I am genuinely uncomfortable for the 1st time in my life about my size. Granted, I am not obese but I am feeling unhealthy. I have gained enough weight to go up almost 2 dress sizes, all of my pants feel uncomfortable and even my rings are getting a bit tighter on my fingers. Ugh. You know what the hardest thing is? Motivating myself to do something about it. My personality is intrinsically lazy and I grew up in a household that never empathized good eating habits. Miraculously, no one is extremely obese nor have my sister, Mom or I had major health problems.

Still - I must do something before this starts to affect me even deeper. At this point, it brings me down a little bit but hasn't affected me too badly yet... I'm strong enough still to keep my chin up and stay optimistic and I keep telling myself that I am beautiful... and I get my husband to tell me very now and then too! :D

Well, I feel better for getting it out in the open. I'm not used to writing out feelings like this, especially for others to see but I figure it can only hope. Maybe seeing it in writing can be part of my motivation to change. Wish me luck guys!!! I'll need it!

posted at 10/04/2001 10:40:00 a. m.

My theme song is "Walking on Sunshine" -

"Your upbeat approach to life makes "Walking on Sunshine" the perfect anthem for you. We can see you dancing down the vegetable isle with your grocery cart, smiling at all the checkout clerks. We sure hope you've had your Wheaties to keep up with your perky pace all day long. This happy, horn-driven tune carries you to work every day. And even in those brief lapses when you're not fully on your game, "Walking On Sunshine" seems to put things in perspective and get you back to your super groove. "And don't it feel good?" Who cares that this tune was a one-hit wonder for Katrina and the Waves? Even that quality matches your one-of-a-kindness. You're walkin' on sunshine and spreading it wherever you go."

What's yours? (Thanks for the link Karen).

posted at 10/03/2001 11:46:00 a. m.

I wasted thirty minutes of my life at Marshalls last night. Yep, wasted.

I went to pick up a lay-away so I stood in line. There was only one couple ahead of me but they took their sweet time checking out, as if no one else exsited in the world except them. They discussed what items they were going to keep and what to return, never looking back at me as I leaned on the wall slowly getting more irritated at their deliberate slowness. Finally, they decided on the items. The checkout girl promptly recalculated their total, told them the amount and proceeded to wrap their stuff up. Did they get the payment ready at this point? Nope. They just stared around, as if they had completely forgotten they had to pay. Finally, the check-out girl had completed her end of the transaction when she asked them again, "That will be $60.33". With blank stares and a couple of blinks the couple looked at each other like "Now what?" "I thought you had the money." "No, I don't have the cash." Several minutes of digging through pockets and purses to come up with the money and the payment was made.

Thank goodness. It was my turn . "Ma'am. I can't find your ticket." Hmm... slowly, it hit me. I was at the wrong store. !!!ARGH!!!

Thirty minutes. Gone. Thirty minutes that could have been spent at home on the couch relaxing with the dog.

And you know what would have made things better? A simple acknowledgement from the couple that I was even back there. A simple "Sorry about the wait." would have sufficed as they walked by me. Simple courtesy. Just because you're stupid and slow doesn't mean you have to be rude too.

*sigh* I am getting so jaded as I get older. And I'm only 27...

posted at 10/02/2001 11:33:00 a. m.

Yay! My Cow Parade photo album is working again after being down for the day...

posted at 10/02/2001 10:49:00 a. m.

Osama bin Laden called his adoptive mother (he's adopted?!) before the attacks and told her “in two days you’re going to hear big news and you’re not going to hear from me for a while...”

How f**cked up is that?? I hope we find him. I hope we find him fast.

posted at 10/01/2001 04:52:00 p. m.

Today would have been my father's 64th birthday.

Feliz Cumpleaños Papi... estoy pensando en ti.

posted at 10/01/2001 09:18:00 a. m.