Haven't you always wanted a monkey?

I was getting all geared up to go to the grocery store this morning, and I asked Cas what he may want over the next week. We had no items on our list, but I knew we were down to a few eggs and almost no fruit. I pulled out my phone and started making a list.

We use a phone app that lets us both see and edit the same list, and it updates the list on the other person's phone. When I left for the store, I figured he could add anything he decided we should have to the list. 

When you enter an item, there is a line below the item where you can add a note. It's a good feature. If the list item is "trash bags," you can use the notes feature to say "tall kitchen bags," so you don't end up with lawn and leaf bags. 

Somewhere between me walking out of our kitchen and walking into the grocery store, Cas managed to add one item to the list:

A monkey

Haven't you always wanted a monkey? 

The Barenaked Ladies' song "If I had a million dollars" promises that the singer (we're he suddenly in possession of the aforementioned funds) would buy the person to whom he is singing a monkey, then he asks, "Haven't you always wanted a monkey?" 

Well played, Cas, but I thought I was pretty clever when I picked up a plush beanie baby monkey near the front of the Tom Thumb. I asked myself if a joke is worth five bucks. Then I saw this notepad: 

I was so damn triumphant when I handed it to him back at the house. When he got done laughing, he told me he had always wanted a monkey. 

It's his intention to use the notebook for some teaching-related purpose. I can't picture him standing in his classroom, teaching geometry and reaching for his monkey notebook. 

Still, it was good for a laugh, and I've always wanted a monkey. 

Nicknames

Shamaraye is the first name of a student who is taking my Journalism class this year. She was in my speech class last year.

Juan was in my speech class with Shamaraye last year. Having taken my digital and interactive media class two years before. 

When I was teaching Juan about Photoshop a few years ago, I had occasion to show the students how to use the magic wand tool. Every time I said "magic wand," he looked up or said, "What?" 

He thought I was saying Magic Juan. Because that's exactly what most people would say, right? 

His name became Magic Juan. Other people called him that. He answered to it in a totally unflinching way- as though his name had been Magic Juan since birth. 

Last year, Magic Juan was in my speech class, and so was Shamaraye. When I made a sample presentation wherein I made mention of Waikiki beach, Shamaraye said she loved that name. She said she wanted to name her first born daughter Waikiki. I stopped on the middle of what I was doing and asked, "Why? Do you hate children?"

She thought that was hilarious and insisted we call her Waikiki for the rest of the year. That's why it was so funny when she came to me on the first day of school and showed me her new fragrance from Bath & Body Works. 

Brilliant. 

I think my favorite part of the whole thing is that Juan was absolutely convinced until about three days before his graduation that her name was Waikiki. 

That makes me smile. I have Waikiki in class again this year, and Magic Juan is off at UT. 

I just hope the Waikiki body spray smells good. It's going to be the official fragrance of the right side of my classroom for the rest of the year. 

Three things that never lie

I once heard a maxim that I now generally regard as true:
There are three things that always tell the truth.  They are small children, drunk people and leggings.  

That seems like a pretty accurate statement, too.  Children constantly risk embarrassing their parents by speaking their minds and saying what nobody is supposed to utter out loud.  Drunks find their inhibitions vanish with their sobriety, so they are often guilty of uttering the ugly truth.  Leggings hide only the actual skin of the wearer.  They hide none of the flaws.

A woman I work with was coming in from the parking lot this morning in a pair of especially unforgiving leggings.

I imagine she was headed out to do something athletic or active, and she had a change of clothing with her in the bag.  At least, I hope so.  If a girl showed up to my class in that outfit, I would have to send her out for violating dress code.  

It's the third day of school today, and everything seems to be going pretty well.  The counselors are starting to overfill my speech classes, and that is a little frustrating.  No matter- they will either fix it or they won't.  I will say what I need to say and attempt to have it fixed.  Otherwise, the kids seem pretty decent.  None of them have been terribly difficult or evil yet.  Then again, it's only the third day...

Back to school shopping

I am somehow very confident that I am not the only teacher in the city to head directly to a liquor store after work today for a little back-to-school shopping.  It seemed like the thing to do.

Overall, it was a pretty good day.  The classroom was too hot, but that's almost to be expected at this point.  It's my fifteenth first day of school in my teaching career, so I know I have had better first days and worse ones.  It was pretty good, actually.  For the first time since I started teaching in a computer lab, my classes were not overflowing.  There were no more than thirty kids in any section.  I feel like saying that out loud is the same as announcing that you are watching a baseball pitcher in the midst of a no-hitter, but it was pretty sweet to actually have enough chairs for the students.

I have a few hiccups, of course.  The kids can't log in to the computers, nor will they be able to do so until Thursday, I'm told.  I had to come home and re-work some of the stuff I had on the books for tomorrow and later in the week.  It's all workable, but just a little aggravating.  No matter.  Everything will work out, so it's all good.  I came home with my back to school shopping and made a drink or two before helping Cas out with some cookies for a thing he has at work tomorrow.  It's all under control.  My website is updated; his cookies are baked and I am ready to go to sleep.  It's probably time.

Beer tourists

When I got to Mom and Dad's house yesterday, Dad was standing on the front porch, waiting for me to arrive.  He and Danny got into the car, and we headed to Rockwall for the Firewheel Brewery tour.  It was a pretty great time.  We walked in just as they were opening the doors for the day, and we were customers 10, 11 and 12.  They only let 16 people into each tour group, so we were happy to get a slot in the first tour of the day.

We had a beer before the tour started, then we had four samples while on the tour.  It was pretty good.  Dad and I had been on a few brewery tours before, starting with the Franconia brewery in McKinney a few years ago.  Last year, we were at the Samuel Adams brewery when we made it to Boston for my birthday.  This was our third.

The tour was pretty good, and because I had bought the Groupon so long ago, I forgot the bonus stuff that came with the deal,  We each walked away with a free pint glass and T shirt.  Not bad...  Twelve beer samples, three pint glasses and three T shirts for the low, low price of $51 (unless I got the deal for 20% off- which I may have).

Here are the guys, both checking out the welds on a big tank that they make beer in:

It was a pretty cool Saturday.  I am glad we did that yesterday, but I have to cancel my typical Sunday visit, now, so I can get ready for day one tomorrow.  I have to get my lesson plans figured out, my website updated and my lunch packed for the first day of school.  It feels like there should be another week or two...  Alas...  

Spoon man

Alejandro and I met during lunch yesterday to go over some of the paperwork for the house deal. The buyers will have to alter their expectations if they intend to own my house. The inspector discovered that my house is 30 years old, and some of the problems of an older home apply. I can't fix stuff. I have also been too poor for the past decade to hire someone to fix stuff. Hey- it happens. Houses age. Get over it.

Anyhow, as we were deciding where to go and eat lunch, we tried to think of places that had free WiFi.  He suggested BJs in Addison, so we met there at one. I sent him a text message at 12:56 saying I was early, and I had planned to get a table. He showed up, and we were seated by one. We had the worst waiter I have ever even heard of, let alone experienced. We ordered our food, and after that, we watched another table order, receive their meal, eat it and have their plates cleared away. That's when our food finally came- just not all at once. Alejandro's food came out first. It was a chicken dish. I had ordered the soup and salad. Soup is generally prepared in the morning- before the lunch rush- and salad is a bowl of freaking lettuce. It's not like I ordered the most complicated thing they serve. When the person who was running the food set down Alejandro's chicken, he looked as though he was about to turn and walk away. I stopped him and asked, "Did you happen to see a soup and salad when you were back there?"

Our waiter, Michael was the worst. showed up with my soup and salad after Alejandro had his chicken for a while.  I didn't manage to get a spoon right away.  As he set the bowl down, I asked for a spoon.  He said, "Oh, yeah." Then he went to go get one. When he returned he was carrying two pizzas. Even though he was serving food to another table, I stopped him and said, "A spoon?" He said, "Oh, yeah," as he walked away with the pizzas.

He came back after dropping off the food to explain to me why I didn't have a spoon. He said he had sent someone to go and get the spoon. I didn't care. I didn't want a conversation, I wanted a spoon. 

It does make you wonder, though, if he didn't get a spoon for me because he was not authorized to handle flatware. Maybe there is some special code to access the spoon drawer, And he does not yet have that access code. Hard to know. 

Anyhow, Michael ran back to the kitchen and emerged not too long after that with a spoon. It was kind of remarkable timing too, because Alejandro was finished with his meal. I was finished with my salad. I had only a bowl of soup to handle at this point.

I went ahead and ate some of the soup, but we had already been at that table for a very long time. Michael promised us a dessert. Something called a pizookie. 

The desert never materialized, and the check came out. We just wanted to pay and get back to work, since I had been gone from my campus for an hour and a half. The check had four food items listed on it and was for over $50. We had only ordered two food items, so the check was a bit puzzling. 

Alejandro brought this to Michael's attention, and then Michael went away, only to return with a corrected check some time later. He started to explain to us how he couldn't find a manager to help him erase the items that did not belong, so he split the check, putting our items on one and the wrong items on another.  I can't envision a world in which either of us could have cared.  Michael seemed to want to explain every misstep to us. The thing is, we really didn't have the time or the interest in any of the explanations.  We wanted food and beverage in a reasonable time frame, served with the appropriate tools and billed correctly at the close. 

Finally, when the corrected check was presented, Alejandro took a credit card and walked over to the terminal where he watched Michael run the card. Alejandro signed it, leaving no tip, and we left an hour after we set down. 

It's unlike either of us to leave no tip, but this was absolutely the worst dining experience in a restaurant I have ever had. It was pretty funny, to be honest, and it would have been a lot funnier if we weren't both trying to get back to work. Still, amusing me with your terrible service does not guarantee you a tip. It was pretty horrible. 

Anyhow, we got the paperwork signed, and we are still going back and forth with the buyers realtor. It's kind of a huge pain in the ass. I am headed out this morning to pick up dad and Danny so that we can redeem our Groupons that I bought for dad on Father's Day. 

Should be a good time. We have a tour to go on of the Firewheel Brewing Company in Rockwall. I need to hurry up and pick up the guys so we can make it there. Hopefully, I will not need a spoon.

That classroom is half full

A pessimist would say that I have only set up half of the stuff I need to do in my classroom.  An optimist would say I am already halfway done. 

Hey, it's a work in progress.  I talked to my mother for a few minutes today while I was working on things.  We discussed how we're pretty optimistic people.  We tend to find the bright side of things.  I told her that, if I had decided to become a prostitute, she would try to find the sunny side of that, too.  She would say something like, Well, she really likes to work with people, or At least she's earning her own money.  

You have to look on the bright side of things, so to be as sunny as possible about it all, I have a lot done.  

On the home front, though, there is a slight hiccup.  The buyers want to have me reduce the sale price by a ridiculous amount because the foundation and plumbing aren't perfect.  News flash- things like that are pretty common on homes that are three decades old.  By the time I reduce the sale price to please these people, I would end up with a $10,000 profit from the whole ten years I lived there.  That was the same amount as the STEM award I won in 2007.  

I'm waiting for word back from Alejandro to see if they come back with anything close to a reasonable compromise.  I am not terribly inclined to give even an inch.  Someone else can buy my house.  

Back to the day I had at work, though- I was a special kind of stupid this morning.  I had my classroom keys in my hand.  I keep them on a lanyard.  I managed to drop them at just the exact correct angle to fall between the car of the elevator and the floor.  I took a picture so I could explain how much I screwed up.  

The head custodian had to call the elevator maintenance guys and have them come out to retrieve the keys.  I wasn't expecting them back in any kind of short order, but I had them in my hands again at the end of the day.  In true half-full style, I was very thankful that it was the classroom key instead of the car key.  That way, I could at least make it out to lunch and back.  Still, it was a pretty special kind of stupid mistake.  

Archer

Cas and I often sit down and watch an episode of Archer on Netflix. We've also watched a few episodes of Arrow. Last night, we stuck to a theme pretty effectively.

We had a Groupon to an archery center where we shot arrows. 

I did pretty well. 

Cas did better. 

But it was a blast.

After that, we had dinner, then headed home. Cas had to go to work for the beginning of his professional development sessions today. For me, today is the convocation for Dallas ISD. The teachers of my school were instructed to dress like rock stars.

I had few ideas, and I was thinking mostly of finding a star who dresses like a regular person. I was also thinking of being Courtney Love- just smudge around some dark makeup and look stoned and dirty all day. Then someone recommended the bubble dress Lady Gaga once wore. 

So, when Cas and I came home from dinner and switched on the Netflix, we worked on this: 

Best I could do...

I won a prize. It's a $25 gift card to Starbucks. I don't know what happens after lunch today, but I do know I am glad I brought a change of clothes with me. 

But I made the doughnuts...

And yet, it seems time to make the doughnuts again.  Yesterday, we sat in a semi-dark auditorium all morning listening to a woman make a presentation about engaging reluctant learners.  The irony, of course, is that she was making this presentation to a room full of reluctant learners, and we were not terribly engaged in the learning.

It's pretty relaxing, really- just a semi-dark room and this:

It was cold, so at the break, I went to pick up a blanket.  It's a wonder I stayed awake after that.  

When we broke for lunch, I went out with Laura and Erin to get a sandwich, then we were all back in department meetings.  We had to talk about the mission statement again.  I wonder who got all hot and bothered about mission statements this year, but it's suddenly very important.  Fourteen years of teaching, and no one has bothered to talk to me about a school's mission statement.  I thought it was usually pretty clear- get the kids graduated and ready for the next piece of their lives- hopefully, in four years.  

I think the one we turned in was a little more elegant than that.  No matter, we did our afternoon meeting, then I stopped by Modella to water plants.  When I got home, Cas was there.  He had spent the day organizing the library, and he skipped his class at the Cooper Center.  Check it out:

He started to explain about skipping the class, as though I was about to be judgmental.  It was fine by me- I was glad to come home and see my guy.  We had dinner together, then sat outside in our beautiful back yard and had a cocktail.  

He is off again today, and he has to be home to have Jim come and fix the attic vent from the new water heater.  He may also be showing his brother Chad around the place at lunchtime.  I am at work.  We start our concurrent sessions in about 30 minutes.  Elementary teachers, Middle school teachers and my colleagues from White are all arriving on our campus (not sure where they're all parking at this point, because it was tough for me, and I was early) to take classes they signed up for yesterday.  

I have to go clock in soon so I can get credit for my attendance and for showing up on time to make the doughnuts.  I am sure it will all be very important.  

The oracle of Omaha

When I got to Mom and Dad's house yesterday, Dad agreed to go with me on my daily trip to Modella.  We watered plants.  It was pretty thrilling...  But after that, Dad kind of wanted to head to the new location of the Nebraska Furniture Mart.  I had already maxed out my interest level in furniture stores for the week but Dad was curious.  And it was pretty interesting.  The store was out where Plano meets The Colony- a pretty good stretch North, and almost next door to the Ikea Cas and I visited not too long before.

Dad's utter refusal to take a toll road led us to approach the place from the back, which was clearly the shipping end of this shopping complex.  It was hard to imagine that there is this much need for dining tables and sofas in the whole world.  Certainly, the people of North Texas will someday find themselves with fully furnished homes, and no longer in need of this store.  It's 560,000 square feet of retail space, and that does not take into account the warehouse and shipping space, nor does it bring in any of the extensive parking garage space.  That place was nuts.  I remember going to malls when I was a kid that were smaller.

It was mostly sheer morbid curiosity that led me and Dad walk all the way through the place. 

Here was our reward;: 

Pretty glorious chair, if you ask me.

It turns out that the Nebraska Furniture Mart is a very old business that is owned, in some part, by Berkshire Hathaway financial genius Warren Buffett. I didn't contribute to the wealth of the Oracle of Omaha yesterday. Cest la vie. 

I'm in the gymnasium at WT White high school right now, about to participate in some kind of training exercise. It's pretty far out of my wheelhouse- there are basketballs. I'll try to contain my enthusiasm...

Ikea

Cas and I started off our day yesterday with a nice breakfast.  I wonder when it will stop impressing him that I fry eggs sometimes.  No matter- if it makes him happy for me to double up what I used to cook just for me and share half with him, I see no reason to stop.  

He wanted to make his way to a class at the Cooper Center yesterday- apparently the most difficult class of the week.  It's offered around lunchtime on Saturdays, so he isn't always able to make it to that one.  

Earlier in the morning, Alejandro sent a text to tell me that there was a third offer on my house.  Three offers in three days.  Wow.  Later in the day, he texted to tell me that the home inspection is scheduled for Wednesday of this week.  All is moving along...  Hopefully, the home inspector comes up with a short list.  I don't have a lot or time or money to play around with fixing lots of stuff.  

Anyhow, while the house-selling stuff happens in the background, Cas went to his class and managed to come back in time to run a few errands with me.  We went to Ikea- a trip we never intend to repeat.  I thought they may have some good options for the furniture we're after.  We saw a few appealing things, but mostly, we moved through the store like cows through Temple Grandin's livestock handling machine.  We were not slaughtered at the end, though.  We were offered the opportunity to purchase Swedish meatballs.  They were pretty good.  

I took photos of the furniture we liked so we could look everything up online later, but the wall-to-wall humans made the trip less fun than I thought it would be.  No matter- we're narrowing it down.  I think we will be able to agree on a breakfast nook table, a bathroom cabinet and a china hutch-thingy very soon.  

After Ikea, we went to the house on Modella and watered the plants.  We did that on the way to his Mom's house.  The plan was to swim in the afternoon, dry off and have dinner.  Here is a shot of Cas and me in the pool:

Good times.  Anyhow, it's Sunday, so I am headed out soon to go to my parents' house.  I have to hit up Modella again and water the plants.  They're not great plants or anything, but they do give the place some curb appeal.  I want to keep them from dying as long as the house is actually mine- plus, it gives me an excuse to go back and satisfy my paranoia about the safety of the house.  I keep the plants from dying and I make sure the windows are all intact.  It's becoming a routine, now.  

Cas has a few more days off of work than I do.  I'm a little jealous of that, but I'll suck it up.  I just need to settle into my pattern for the year.  Sunday: Mom and Dad's house.  Monday: back to it.  I'm clearly not quite there yet- on Friday, my eyes were drifting shut during dinner.  It's a work in progress.  I guess that's why we have to go back before the children...

Blue ribbon

Two down, five to go.  There are seven days of teacher-only time before the students come back this year.  I have now completed two of them.  Woo-hoo.  Yesterday, I was with my colleagues as we all discussed the finer points of the teacher handbook and the evaluation system/pay scale.  It's no coincidence that at least three teachers pulled up the following photo on their phones and showed it to me:

When I got out of the auditorium for the day, I stopped by my classroom and played for a moment with the new laptop we were issued this year.  It's pretty sweet.  I honestly didn't spend that long dorking around with the new computer- I headed home to get together with Cas.  He and I drove to a coffee shop and meet with Alejandro.  We looked at the two offers on the house, (yes, there were two), choosing the better of the two and preparing the contract, etc.  It 24 hours, we had an offer.  In 48 hours, we were officially under contract.  It's pretty amazing.  If everything progresses like it should, the new owners will close on the house on September 17th.  I couldn't be much happier if I tried.  

As a bonus, Jim called while Cas and I were in the car- he's going to come by the new place on Monday while Cas has to be home anyhow.  Jim's going to fix the post at the top of the stairs and take some measurements for the new windows he's going to replace.  

After the call with Jim and the paperwork with Alejandro, Cas and I went to a few furniture stores to check out some options for the few pieces of furniture we want.  At Freed's, we determined that there was absolutely nothing in the store that we found appealing.  At the discount place next door, we saw the strangest chairs:

First time I had ever seen furniture with butt cheeks.  Interesting.  I think we're destined to end up at Ikea.  It seems like the middle ground between the extremely formal looking crap at Freed's and the cheeky options at more modern-themed places.  We just want a plain table for the breakfast nook.  Maybe a small cabinet for the half bathroom where we can stash toilet paper.  If it's not too much to ask, a cabinet-thing to put at the end of the dining room so I can put Grandma's china somewhere.  

I just want rather plain, simple options.  No gold-leaf, heavy oak fancy things with Queen Anne legs and tapestry-looking upholstery.  No angular black-and-glass tables with cheeky chairs resembling human bodies.  But that's way down on the list of priorities- I am so much more happy about having my house under contract than I am concerned about a table for the nook.  We'll get to it later.  I just need to get through the next week of meetings and such.  I feel like I will be seeing that blue ribbon a few more times before we see the children...

An offer you can't refuse

One day on the market, and there is an offer in on my house.  It turned out that there were four showings yesterday, and one of the people offered over the asking price.  I also got an email this morning saying that one of the people who took a look thought the house was not worth the price.  Different strokes, I suppose.  

Still, I have a meeting with Alejandro this afternoon, and we'll go over the offer.  I think we can get this house off my hands in pretty short order.  

I am so happy that it took 24 hours for an  offer to come in.  Hooray!  Alejandro put it on the web overnight on Wednesday.  He called to talk about the offer on Thursday.  

I am in day two of my professional development today.  It's Friday.  We have three more days of meetings next week, followed by two days of working in our classrooms.  I can't really focus on any of this right now- I just want to get to the coffee shop where Alejandro tells me how to do the next piece of selling my house. 

For sale

Cas and I started out day today with a surprisingly good free hotel breakfast. It was pretty substantial- certainly better than the cereal and yogurt most places give you. 

When we finished that, we pulled our canned hard cider out of the mini-fridge and put it in the cooler. We iced it down, checked out of our room and made our way to the tube rental place. It was a fantastic float. 

We were better prepared this year, having some spray-on SPF 50 with us (in a bag tied to a tube) for re-application throughout the float. Worked out, too. We appear un-burned. Hooray for the technology behind that magical spray-on solution. 

Post-river, we had barbecue at the New Braunfels smokehouse. After that, we headed north, stopping in West for kolaches. You have to stop in West for kolaches. I think there's a law. 

We made it back to Dallas by around dinner time, though we haven't really eaten. We may just have another kolache. We did swing past Modella on the way home. Here's the progress:

Man, it's good to see that in the yard. I hope it sells in a hurry. 

As for the house, everything is fine, and we left just after watering the plants. We got home, and Cas offered me the first shower. I wish I could say I was polite and let him take it, but I've been smelling the Comal River in my hair for several hours, so I jumped in there before he could reconsider his offer to go second. 

He's showering now. I loved the quick trip, but I really love being back home (and clean). 

The major bummer is that I have to go to work tomorrow. It's our first day of professional development. Ugh. At least I got a trip and came back to see my house is for sale. Yay! 

Get outta town

This morning, Cas and I decided that it was time to get ourselves to New Braunfels. I have to go back to school on Thursday, so these few days are our last opportunity to do anything resembling a trip this summer.

We left town at around noon, stopping at Modella to make sure nobody had burned the place to the ground. So far, so good. 

We managed to hit Austin traffic at an inopportune moment, but I get the sense that all moments in Austin traffic are inopportune. To combat that, we stopped at a bar. We are very clever people. 

When we got to New Braunfels and checked into our hotel, we wakked to the front desk to ask about a few restaurants in the area. On the way to the desk, a fellow hotel guest recommended a restaurant in the adjacent town of Gruene named the Gristmill. Totally good call. Greune is one of those totally cute towns with a general store that sells absolutely nothing important- but if you want a ten dollar jar of salsa or a seven dollar refrigerator magnet, they've got you covered.

Here we are at the Gristmill: 

Cute, no? 

We left there and returned to the hotel for a little swimming pool time. We have the river tomorrow, and all Cas and I need to do before that is pick up some sunscreen. 

I sure am happy we managed to get out of town before we have to go back to work. Best. Idea. Ever. 

Short hair, tall restaurant

Yesterday, I went to the house on Modella and checked to see if it was still okay.  I also watered the plants.  I spent about an hour doing that and packing up the last of the cleaning supplies and remaining stuff I was using to get the house realtor-ready.  On the way back home, I decided to stop and get the haircut I have been wanting ever since the summer began.  My hair was clearly ready for its fourth Locks of Love donation, but I needed to have long hair for the wedding.  Now that it's done, I had this much hair cut off:

It's kind of refreshing.  It had gotten so long that I would sometimes sit in a chair and find that my shoulder blades held my hair down, making it so I couldn't turn my head.  I would inadvertently restrain my own head.  That was a little out of hand.

I headed home and got ready for dinner.  After I dried my hair properly, I sent Mom a selfie:

It's Restaurant Week this week.  Cas and I went to Three Forks at a serious discount last year, so this year, we decided to continue using this annual event as a back-to-school thing.  Cas and I had reservations to eat at Wolfgang Puck's restaurant, Five-Sixty.  It turns out that Reunion Tower is 560 feet tall, and since the restaurant is in the tower, they named it for the height.

Everything was fantastic.  I had a great view, a wonderful meal and a fabulous date.  Behold, the tower selfie:

We showed up just before sunset and ate as the sun went down.  It was the perfect time to be in a rotating restaurant.

We're thinking of heading to New Braunfels today and sleeping there tonight so we can float down the river tomorrow.  It sounds like the right thing to do, since I have to actually go to work on Thursday.  Blegh.  Work.  

The greatest show on earth

The problem with Facebook is that the moment you say you did something awesome, you have made someone angry.  I posted a photo last summer from my surfing lesson, and some girl I used to work with was all grumbly that I got to do that.  I guess because she didn't get to do that?  Geez- try being happy for people.

I went to a campaign event for Hillary Clinton eight years ago when she was running in the primary against Barack Obama.  No way am I dangling that kind of red meat in front of my very diverse group of Facebook friends.  They are all too fond of the reply button.  I have blocked so many people from my feed just so I wouldn't have to get upset looking at their dumb musings on the world.  I have also stopped posting my own crap so much.  I mostly lurk on there, now.  

I was contemplating posting a photo from the circus last night, but I know some of my puppy-hugging friends who donate money to animal shelters and adopt rescue critters would be absolutely incensed that I had the nerve to watch a show that exploited animals.

So, no news for them, I'm afraid.  It was awesome.  

The pre-show featured an elephant who could dunk a basketball and paint a picture.  There was stunt motorcycle riding in a globe of steel, Chinese acrobats, a lion tamer with his ten big cats and a number of other things happening.  They say it's the greatest show on earth.  It is certainly the kind of show with something for everyone.  Don't like daredevils?  How do you feel about critters and clowns?  Acrobats?  Trick horse riding?  A song-and-dance man with his Dinklage-sized sidekick?  A nice group of people just trying to make the most of the carpool lane?  

It was really great.  Cas and I went with Danny and Laurie.  We had dinner at Holy Frijoles first, then headed to the American Airlines Center.  We dropped them back off at the house after that, then headed out on a very long detour for a bottle of cold water.  We went all the way to the kitchen of my house on Modella.  I know I am paranoid, but I know that my paranoia is totally justified.  I needed to walk into that house and check for intact windows.  

We walked in, changed which lights were on and which ones were off, and headed back to the neighborhood.  Still with a little nervous energy (walking into a thrice-burglarized home after dark will really get your heart pumping...), we went to our new local watering hole.  After a pair of beers at Jack Mack's Swill and Grill, we headed home, watched an episode of Archer and hit the bricks.  It was a pretty good end to a day that started out pretty rough.  

It's Sunday, so I am headed over to Mom and Dad's.  It's also the last real weekend I have before the whole professional development roller coaster starts for the fall semester.  I also need to do laundry and buy food.  Oh, and a million other things.  Still, I am very happy that we all headed out to the circus.  That kicked ass.  

Windows update

This is getting pretty old pretty fast. I got to the house on Modella yesterday at about 3 or 3:30 in the afternoon and entered through the garage door. I started putting out my recycling and trash. There were pieces of broken glass in the bottom of the recycle bin. Weird.

After I did that, I entered the house. Someone broke a window in the office. Great. At least they recycled. The place smelled like weed. Also great. I called the cops again. 

Not too long after that, I had Danny, Dad and Cas over there helping me out, but the only thing I could think of to do before they all arrived was put the little plants into the strip next to the sidewalk. I had plenty of nervous energy for that. 

The cops came and filed a report. We got another officer out to take fingerprints. She said she got lots of them, and she was sure they would lead somewhere. 

Dad and Danny boarded up the window. Cas arrived with extra window locks and some Febreeze. The whole house smelled. 

By the time we all left, we had boarded the window, repainted the front windowsill, cleaned up some of the dirt and glued a little bit of carpet into a spot these idiots had burned out- presumably with whatever they were smoking. 

Danny got Jim on the phone and explained the window situation much better than I could have. 

After we sealed the place up, we all went to Two Guys from Itlay for dinner. I appreciated the help so much. This morning, Jim came out and replaced the window. It took him three hours from start to finish, and that includes the time it took to get to a glass shop and have them put new glass into the frame where broken pieces had been. It was a very quick turnaround. 

While all of that was going on, my freshly-hired lawn crew came by. They got me all fixed up. Between the new window and the nice lawn, I don't think we can get this house on the market fast enough. 

Oh- here's the new window: 

I can't peel off the stickers or otherwise jostle it this evening. We have to wait for the sealant that's holding it in to dry.

What a stupid 24 hours. I'm glad we have tickets to the circus tonight. I just need to get a little dolled up and head out. Cas and I are taking Danny and Laurie with us. They said they're down to clown. 

Wine, dine and watch a man get arrested

Last night Cas and I went to Stoney's Wine Lounge and used our Groupon. We tried six different wines, pairing them with six different foodstuffs. It was a course intended to teach people how to pair these things. When we came to the almonds that were supposed to be paired with the Prosecco, Cas announced that he was trying out some of the unprocessed amaretto. Funny guy.

We had a great night, and after we left that place, we went out to dinner. We came back home and watched all but the very last episode of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. We actually watched the very last one this morning. 

I know that the show will continue after John Stewart leaves, but it won't be the same. 

After we finished breakfast and watched the show, we got ready and hit up the Home Depot for a brand-new water heater. As we were walking into the store, we saw a crazy person outside. It wasn't your garden variety crazy person, either. It was someone violently reacting to the several individuals trying to restrain him. When we left the store, there were two police vehicles and an ambulance out front.

I don't know what goes on in the hardware store that makes someone that violently enraged, but I am certainly glad I wasn't around for the beginning of what turned out to be a very strange event. 

Cas and I went to lunch at Rockfish after that, and then we came back home. He has an appointment to get his car serviced today, and I have to meet with a landscaper about fixing up the grass at the Modella house.

I am about to head out to Modella right now. I was thinking of stopping at another hardware store on the way there to pick up some plants for the strip of dirt right next to the sidewalk. Hopefully, it will be a calmer hardware store. Maybe I will do that while I wait for the landscaper to arrive.

Keys

Yesterday, I went to Holly's house to help out with the babies.  Today, the nanny should be back in place, so my services are no longer required.  Good thing, too, because as much as I was getting the hang of things around the Bennett house, I am not really great at baby care.  Also, on Tuesday, Wyatt vomited down the front of my shirt.  Yesterday, Beau pooped right into my hand.  I shudder to think of what Savannah would do if I was back there today.

After I left there yesterday, I met up with Kris and Alejandro.  They came to the house on Modella, where Kris took many photos for the online listing Alejandro will place for my house.  He said I should wait until the landscaper comes and goes, then we can put the sign in the yard.  We'll put it out next week on Wednesday- just in time to get the weekend house hunting crowd interested.  

In order to get everything ready, I filled out some paperwork.  I also have one of those realtor boxes on the front door.  Alejandro pulled out the bottom piece that holds a key, then gave it to me.  I had an appointment with a locksmith, so the new key had to go into the box.

Since my freaking thieves stole the keys, I had to have new ones cut.  That happened this morning.  

The locksmith came in just after the appliance installers left.  The new dishwasher is in place.  A copy of the new key is in the realtor box.  I have to meet with the landscaper tomorrow, and the grass should be pretty on Saturday.  

Cas came with me to the house on Modella this morning, so he is taking a nap now.  I will probably join him in a little bit, but I had to send an email to Alejandro with my current mortgage information.  As a reward for all of the hard work, Cas and I are headed to Stoney's Wine Lounge this evening.  I have a Groupon for a food and wine pairing class.  It sounds like the perfect way to spend a little time this evening, and I think we could use the break from all the hard work.  

I'll be glad when this is all done

So, yesterday was not my favorite Tuesday ever. I woke up at 5:30 because I had to make my way to Holly's house for the 8 am feeding. I had plenty of extra time, and I could have kept sleeping, but I was too nervous about the break-in and other things to sleep.

I got there and learned very quickly how to feed a baby. I don't think I had done that since the twins were little. We prepared everyone for a big trip to visit my mom, and we spent the majority of the day with three infants in Richardson. We had to stick around for a while, since dad really loves babies. He got home from work at 4:30 and got an opportunity to feed Beau. 

That put me off my schedule pretty seriously, since I had to get home, clean up, make it to trivia before eight, and somehow check on the Modella house.

It turns out that I only had time after I left Holly's house to get home, shower (Wyatt puked on me) and get to trivia on time. Cas agreed to take me by Modella after the game was over.

We played, but we only came in fourth place. Not exactly our best showing, but maybe I was a little off my game because I had spent so much time dealing with crap lately, both figuratively and literally. 

Since the people who broke into my house on Modella also managed to steal my spare house keys and my spare car keys, I felt it was necessary to return to the house and check on it at least once a day. It was a good thing, too. The people who broke in left an extra window open for themselves so that they could return. Oh, fantastic. I checked every window at least twice before we left last night. 

Through the open window, they went in and unlocked the front and back doors. I assumed they were looking for the car to which they now have a key. It was not there. In fact we arrived that night in Cas' car. 

I went ahead and called the police, even though nothing new was missing. I thought it was smart to report the crime. I called them at 11, and by 1:30 in the morning, we decided it was just getting too late. I called them back, and explained to them that I did not want to sleep in a house that has been burglarized more than once, so please cancel the officer that might be on the way. It's incredibly frustrating, and there's nothing I can do about it today, as I am writing this with the voice-to-speech feature on my phone while driving over to Holly's house for round two with the trio of infants.

I believe Wyatt made a face that expresses my feelings about yesterday perfectly: 

Other news from the weekend

Apparently, when someone breaks into your home and steals a bunch of stuff, it pretty much deflates your enthusiasm to discuss anything else.

I did other stuff over the weekend besides have crap stolen from my old house. Cas, Chad and Jerone have a friend from way back who is also named Heather. She was in town over the weekend, and it was my opportunity to meet her. We all met up at Mariano's, the home of the first ever margarita machine. I'll go ahead and ruin the suspense- I had a margarita. Most of the adults had a margarita. The kids... I have no idea what they drank, but Zoey had a very good view of it all:

After we left the group, Cas and I went home and awaited refrigerator delivery. We have a fridge in our kitchen, now.

That evening, we went to Chad and Becky's house to play one of the most complicated board games I've ever seen. 

There were so many cards and options and little pieces that it took up the entire (rather large) dining room table. 

I just couldn't keep up. We were playing on teams, and Cas was my teammate. He seemed to have a pretty firm stranglehold on the situation. I excused myself to lay down on the couch. 

See? Other, non-robbery stuff happened. 

Also, Danny and Laurie came home from their honeymoon. They had a blasty-blast.  They both came out for Sunday beers with dad, and it was almost like they couldn't recount all of the fun they had fast enough. 

Also, this: 

Niagara Falls is kind of a great idea. It's a little cliché, somewhat retro and pretty awesome. I am glad they had such a great time. 

I hope you saw your arm off

Well, today was the first in my life. It was, in fact, the first time I have ever been robbed.

Dad, Danny and I went to the house on Modella today. They were going to help me with a few more things in advance of my home being for sale. When we arrived, the attic ladder was down. I was very confused. As I searched further, I saw that the screen was removed from one of the windows, and the back door was unlocked. There was also a light left on in the garage, and a door open between the garage and the house that I would certainly have closed.

Might knee-jerk reaction was to call our contractor, Jim to see if he had for some reason come by the house. He had not. We began to look around, and noticed that then stools were all missing. Someone called off and entire bag of tools. They also managed to take the barstools, my great-grandmothers pearl necklace, and my father's circular saw. I hope they saw their damn arm off.

We called the police, and an officer came out to file the report. After that, we went about the business of finishing up. We have to get it on the market, before someone decides to come and steal the appliances.

Dad, Danny and I finished but we need to do and headed back to Richardson to get Laurie so that we could go out for a few beers. It seems the only reasonable way to spend the afternoon.

When I left at the Flying Saucer, I went back to Modella to clean some more. I am now finished with the master bathroom, mostly done with the garage and backyard, and making headway in the kitchen. It is arduous, but I am making progress. I had to leave to go have dinner at my real house with my sweetie.

When I was on Modella for the second time today, I also noticed that my iPhone charger and my my iHome radio were missing. I shudder to think of what I may have forgotten to notice originally with the police officer was there. I am pretty sure that an old, gold locket also was taken, but I am not upset about that, because it was from an old boyfriend and I didn't know what to do with that anyway.

Anyhow, in these days of police making the news and for misbehavior, it was refreshing to be served so well by those protect and serve. He was a good guy, and he took my report while managing to keep me calm.

Here, for the first time ever, is the police report number for the report I filed today. Something I have never done before.

In the end, I was glad it happened while I was away. I was glad not much was taken, and I was very glad I had a different house to sleep in. 

It's shower time now, then dinner with my guy. At least this stupid day will end well. 

Good food, bad service, one and a half stars

I got back to the house in the late afternoon yesterday, and almost immediately got into the shower.  Cas suggested that we have a work-free evening, and I thought it was a fine idea.  I had really worked hard all day, and I had no urge to work any more.

We decided to go out to dinner.  I even put on a dress.  I had been wearing some rather grubby clothes for the past several days to work on the house, so it was kind of nice to look like a girl again.  I had a groupon for a place called Patrizios.  It's about a mile north of our house.

We got to the restaurant, and parking was difficult.  The restaurant seemed to be littered out front with cars awaiting valet parking.  I hate valet parking.  Cas isn't crazy about it either.  We drove around the parking lot for way too long in order to avoid handing his car off to a stranger.

We wanted to sit at the bar and have a cocktail, since we were early for our reservation.  This was the creepy painting at the bar:

We had plenty of time to sit at the bar and enjoy the creepy art, too.  We must have been there for about five minutes without anyone acknowledging us.  I was watching a bartender, a bar back and a manager behind the bar, and they were not nearly busy enough to be that bad at customer service.  

With no drinks, we decided to go see about our table.  Maybe there, someone would ask us if we wanted something to eat or drink.  The whole place was loud.  Everyone around us in the bar and the dining area seemed to be shouting to be heard.  There was a table of women at the bar who was laughing loudly and hysterically at everything.  Apparently, her twin sister was two tables away from us.  Between the hooting laughter and the the near-shouting conversations all around us, we had trouble even hearing the waiter.  

On the bright side, the food was great.  If the prices were more reasonable, we would probably get takeout there.  There's absolutely no reason to sit in that restaurant again.  

We decided to head back home and have some wine while watching a little Netflix.  

Today, we have lunch with one of Cas' friends who is coming in from out of town, and after that, we have the people from Sears coming to deliver our refrigerator.  I think the gang will reconvene after that for some sort of evening fun.  I should probably get into a shower and eat a little bit of breakfast.