How much is that Froggy in the window (ribbbittt, ribbbitt)

Frogs love our front porch. I have no idea why. Actually, thats a lie (and that rhymed) because I do know. Our porch light attracts lots of yummy bugs and the frogs have quite a time with feasting. Good thing Ken Ken wasn't here. She hates frogs.

Dixie Gets a Bath

Poor baby Dixie gets terribly itchy skin in the hot summer. Her daddy gave her a nice, soothing bath. She hated every minute of it.

My Boys

Have you seen My Boys on TBS? Its on Thursday nights at 8:30. We discovered it this summer, so we Netflixed Season 1 and made a night of it with Disk 1. It's one of those shows that's not roll-on-the-floor-holding-your-sides funny. It's
just...funny. And different. And set in Chicago, not NYC or some other typical sitcom town. I love that the lead is a woman, and she's not a girly girly type. If you haven't seen it, you can watch Season 1 online.

No More Montgomery

I started the final book of the Velvet series yesterday afternoon and by midnight, I was reading the last page. I was devastated. No more beautiful, strong Montgomery men. No more powerful, inspiring Montgomery women. No more English countryside. No more breathtaking Scotland shores.

Thank heavens for Edward Cullen, who is waiting patiently for me in the pages of Breaking Dawn, released this Friday at midnight. I miss my vampires.

Sid's Newest Project

Isn't she a beauty? (snort)

No, I'm sure if anyone can turn beast into masterpiece, it's Sid. Until then...

Ryan, Randy and Me

Introducing the most beautiful baby boy anyone has ever seen

My nephew. Ryan Walker. 8 pounds, 4 ounces, 22 inches.

Summer Scarecrow

Someone planted a scarecrow in the cornfield down the street. I guess it was for fun, considering one scarecrow wouldn't make much impact to a 500 acre cornfield. If I sound bitter, it's because I am. I see scarecrows, and I think of pumpkins, spicy candles, cool breezes, fall festivals, Thanksgiving....but it's July...and it's 100 degrees. Stupid scarecrow.

Does Fort Worth Ever Cross Your Mind?

Fort Worth, here I come. Can I contain my excitement? Yes, I can.

Mmmm, Mmmm, Mmmmm

Sid brought home lots of yummy, home grown goodies from his Mom's garden! Fresh okra, squash, tomatoes, and steaks from a grass fed cow. Are you jealous? You should be.

Story of My Life

There is never a day that I'm not stuck behind a concrete truck going 20 mph under the speed limit. I think my Jeep has a hidden magnet that attracts obnoxious traffic situations. Oh the many many joys of living in a small but rapidly growing country town. Another joy - dirty windshield with seven million cracks, as seen in photo. My favorite routes usually involve dusty dirt roads.

Jury Duty

I have jury duty tomorrow. Blah.

Sorry for the horrible picture - cell phone camera again.

Night on the Town, La Grange style

Sid and I had date night at Bistro 108 in La Grange. For those who are unfamiliar, La Grange is roughly an hour from Austin and about 15 miles from my parent's new house. It's a quaint town with a small town vibe (because it IS a small town), so the Bistro is a bit unexpected. It's a tiny place, on the square, and looks like a cute place to grab a sandwich if you didn't know any better. On the contrary, they have delicious gourmet cuisine (although you can also have a sandwich if you prefer!), fabulous service, and scrumptious desserts. Both of our meals were incredible!

Girls Day

Mom, Granny and I spent the day together. We had lunch at The Bistro, ice cream cones at Dairy Queen, and went on a quest to find my great grandparent's graves in Lincoln. They were born in 1861 and died in 1922. (the two headstones in the front of the photo our theirs)

A Perfectly Logical Combination

Loungewear and Cowboy Hats - because when you're in the mood for lounging, a cowboy hat really sets the mood. And for $4, it's sure to one classy ensemble.

Road Trip Necessities

Traveling will never be the same. Blackberry, laptop, MP3 player, GPS. How did we survive without all our gadgets?

Keys

See my other blog to read the story of the tiny hero who saved the day.

The Black Lyon

I was compelled to photograph my book this evening, because it has been slowly driving me to insanity. A beautiful, lowly baron's daughter, Lyonene, falls in love with a fiercely handsome Earl with a legendary reputation as the 'Black Lion" and attempts to tame him. The characters are deliciously interesting, as is the backdrop of medievel Europe. My quandary is the Three's Company plot, crammed with misunderstandings that take a hundred pages to resolve. As soon as one problem is resolved, another bursts up. It's maddening! Amanda and I discussed this today - why do authors do this to us? The poorly written stories bore us to tears and the great stories makes us physically ill with stress and grief. I will be exhausted when I read the last page, but I do recommend it!

Oops!

Forgot to take a picture today. Shame on me!

EDIT: Since I didn't take a picture Sunday, I'm adding one that I took tonight (Monday).

I came upstairs and found Dixie in this condition:

Apparently, she found an old latte and tried to get whatever goodness was left in the cup. My dog, my computer, myself, my husband - all Starbucks addicts.

Birthday Yumminess in Southlake

Tonight, Sid, Stacey and I celebrated Scott's birthday at Trulucks by stuffing our faces with sinfully scrumptious wedge salads, delicious seafood creations, and lip-smacking desserts, all while our ears soaked in the dreadful renditions of a Billy Joel wannabe on the piano. Ahhh...I love Southlake, I love seafood, and I love good friends.

On our way out for the evening, I suffered a terrible, graceless, head-first fall down our stairs. Luckily I caught myself after four or five stairs, but I was horrified. I didn't realize until climbing into bed that my ankle has morphed into a cankle, thanks to the swelling. Beautiful.

Friday Bliss

What a day! I spent the afternoon shopping with Stacey. She made me try sushi for the first time (heavenly!), we converted a Macy's employee into a Twilighter, we laughed until my side hurt, (I'm starting to think the pain is not laughter related since it still hurts) and we jammed to our favorite MCR songs.



We spent the evening at Colin and Amanda's house grazing on nutritious snacks (thank you, Amanda, for your encouraging devotion to my diet makeover), giggling a lot (thank you Zoe, precious dachshund, for your borderline insanity), and watching Batman Begins (thank you, Christian Bale). Sid and I hadn't seen it yet, so Colin bought the CD as preparation for Dark Knight. I LOVED the movie - a definite must see!

Airplane

It's a bird! It's a.....Oh, nevermind. It IS just a plane.

Airplanes amaze me. I don't know how the gargantuan metal machine is able to fly gracefully through the skies. Sid has attemped to explain it to me hundreds of times, but I think it's magic.

New books!

I went book shopping today at my favorite store, Half Price Books. My girlfriends and I have been frantically searching for a Twilight replacement, and by golly, I think I found it:

Beautiful Bear Bear

I think Bear Bear should be a male doggie model.

Someone Call the Ambulance, There's Gonna Be an Accident...

Sorry, I'm not being insensitive with my blog title. I have the lyrics to Infra-Red in my head, and I always post the exact words that come to mind for a title.

Last night on the way home from dinner, we came up on a horrific scene, or so it appeared, at the entrance to our neighborhood. There were 2 or 3 fire trucks, an ambulance and the entire police force. We immediately freaked out and started scanning for cars we knew. Thank goodness the scene looked worse than it was, and no was seriously hurt. Nevertheless, Sid and I both agreed to treat the scene as a warning to be more careful. It's a dangerous intersection and because it's a lazy little town, sometimes we don't take the stop signs very seriously.

The picture is horrible quality, and I took it about 30 minutes after we first saw the scene with my terrible cell phone camera. I'm not an ambulance chaser, it's just the only picture I took yesterday, so unfortunately I am stuck posting it.

Fireworks!

Sid and I watched the local firework display from our hammock.

Dell Blues

My computer is still not cooperating, so I'm stuck using Sid's laptop (unless I'm at Starbucks - mine continues to function when bribed with coffee).

July 4th Extravaganza

To celebrate the adoption of the Declaration of Independence, Sid and I spent the day with Scott, Stacey, Coley Moley,Abbey, Gayle and David. We ate, we drank, we were merry. Cole, Sid and I reenacted the American Revolution in the pool with water guns. Abbey threw her first temper tantrum and pulled it off with class and grace (well, not really, but she did look adorable). We all watched as Sid and Scott attempted a firework show, but apparently horses aren't too fond of bright lights and loud explosions, so we had to call it quits. We topped the night lounging at the pool while I was relentlessly stalked by an 8 week old kitten that must've thought I looked quite tasty because he would not quit staring at me.

Edit: Stacey informed me that Mr. Kitten's life was tragically cut short this morning after making the fatal decision to sleep under the hood of her Yukon. Peace be with you, Mr. Kitten. You were creepy, but you were kind.

Mmmmm....Panera Bread

I met Stacey for lunch today at our usual spot and time - Panera Bread, noon o'clock, be there or be square.

We were greeted by our favorite celebrity lookalike - Cameron from Ferris Bueller's Day Off. As usual, he was abnormally cheerful and halariously creepy. I gobbled my Greek salad and chicken noodle soup and then licked the plate with eyes on fire like a starving rabid dog (not really).

Delicious!

Computer Crash

Nobody panic. I haven't been kidnapped, I haven't lost my camera. My Dell decided to malfuction. I already despised it because it never could quite fill the void my beloved Toshiba left when the screen broke off (long story - my fault). I'm using Sid's Dell now and I hate it too. It doesn't even have a photo card reader, and unless I go through 17 million steps, I can't upload my photos. So, stay tuned. I'll be back. I've got an appointment with the computer doctor on Monday.

Moment of Silence

Just to spite me, my computer refuses to connect to the internet. There is one very strange exception. Starbucks. It won't connect to my home network or any other hotspot - only Starbucks. Could my own addiction have transferred to my computer? Whatever the explanation, I'd like to take a moment of silence to mourn my loss of connectability.

Enchanted

I watched Enchanted tonight while Sid pretended to be disinterested (he liked it, I know he did). A cartoon princess-to-be booted from cartoon paradise and dropped in the middle of Times Square...a lovely way to spend a Tuesday evening.