Friday, October 22, 2010

Critol gel

I found out this morning that I passed all my National Board Exams for Part II, III, and Physiotherapy!
Woot-woot!
Today was my last day of X-ray rotation!
Woot-woot!
And tonight we went to see Anjelah Johnson!
Woot-woot!

The doors opened at 7:00, so we knew we would have to be rushing to get there. (Because we are on Zeagler time) So when Michael got off work, he had to run home and grab poor little Beaux and wear him out because he had been locked up all day. Then he ran through Chick-fil-A (which by the way also gives dog treats to your dog if they are in the car...another plus for them). Michael couldn't decide what he needed to get so he got 2 sandwiches, 2 orders of nuggets, one large order of fries, and a side of fruit. I got home about 6:00, changed, fixed my hair, touched up my make-up, we grabbed the food, tossed Beaux a raw-hide, and flew out the door. Once in the car, we had to program the GPS, sort through the assortment of food, balance chick-fil-A sauce on our laps, and manage to make it to down-town H-town. We got there and were parked at 6:40. We meet our friend Linda in line and found our seats.
How many times will we go to concerts or comedy shows before we learn that there is at least an hour between door opening and the start of the show?
We could have actually chewed our food.

The show was hilarious and she's pretty good at beatboxing too!
But appearantly someone seated near our section did not read my blog post about eating too much fiber...
Laughing and gas do not mix (unless you are at a dentist's office...hardy-har-har).

Other than that, we had a great time.

If you have never seen or heard of Anjelah Johnson, here's a clip.




Friday, October 15, 2010

Coal-y, Woal-y, Guacamole

Coal. He was the best dog in the whole world.
I know, I know. What about Beaux? I love Beaux, but Coal was a great dog.
Truly a best friend.
We got him when he was 6 weeks old and just a ball of black fur. He grew up with us.
Oh the trouble he got in. If you have ever had a labrador puppy, you know. They eat everything. They dig everywhere. They drag up anything.
But they love you.
Many people argue that dogs can't love.  I dare to say that they love better than we do.
If you have ever seen a lab with their kids, you know exactly what I'm talking about.
They guard them, play with them, lick them, are gentle with them.

That was Coal.


Yeah, he tore up so much stuff. He chewed on all the furniture outside. He dug up Momma's flower beds. He stole from our neighbors. And he smelled like butt. Even right after a bath...

He also never left our side when were outside. Went with us to Mawmaw's. Ran beside the fourwheeler. Guarded our house at night from 'booggers' none of us could see. Sat with us when we were sad. Listened to us when we needed to talk. Made us feel safe.

To greet him, we would say "Coal-y, Woal-y, Guacamole".  No matter what, his tail would wag to greet us back. No matter how hot he was, how tired he was, how sick he was. He was always happy to see us. 


Well, before we got Coal, Big Mawmaw decided she would not get attached to another dog. Ever. She had too much heart-ache when something happened to them and she couldn't take it anymore.
So when we got Coal, she didn't pet him and would barely look at him. I don't even think she wanted to know his name.
Well, Coal, being Coal watched out for Big Mawmaw too. Since we lived so close to her, he made her house a part of his territory and would make his rounds everyday down to her house. She continued to ignore him. He would just sit and be patient.
I think it would have been easier on her if he had been obnoxious or would jump on her or tear her stuff up. But he didn't.
He just waited.
Every day he would stop by her house and wait. Then go back home.
One day she was working in her flower beds and lost her balance. She fell right on her butt. It didn't hurt her, but she couldn't get up. Coal went over and tucked his head under her arm and helped lift her up.

That was it. She couldn't bare it any more! From then on he got a full breakfast every morning from Big Mawmaw.



Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Painting a House

Big Mawmaw and Mawmaw were artists. They drew, sketched, painted, weaved, sewed, and created.
They also loved history. Not really dates of wars and political administration, but geneology and anthropology. They loved personal stories about families and the history of the community.

They started a project of drawing old town buildings and old houses.
They did sketches of the old banks, stores, and churches. Some of there weren't still there, but they found pictures of them and drew them from the photographs.

They also did drawings of some of the old houses in the area. Many of them were past their height of beauty, but they worked to capture the beauty that had been lost in time.
They would pack up their easels and supplies and set everything up but not before asking permission.
On one particular occasion, they went up to the door of one of the historical homes that had lost some of its luster and asked the old man that lived there is they could paint his house.
He excitedly agreed.
They were pleasantly surprised by his enthusiasm, so they went and sat at their easels and got to work.
A little while later, the man came back out and asked "When y'all gonna get started?"

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Double Your Fiber...Not Double the Fun

I am on X-ray rotations this week. I am only allowed to see patients a few hours per day and I am booked. Yay!
This also means I don't exactly get a lunch, so this morning I packed a sandwich.
I have recently become addicted to Activia. So I packed some.

We also picked up some Fiber One bars last time we were at the grocery store. So I threw one of those bad boys in.


This was not the smartest thing I've ever done.
All afternoon there have been creepy sounds coming from my intestines.
Just a tip -- don't mix fiber enhanced foods.

Sunday, October 10, 2010

Houston Greek Festival

My all-time favorite movie is My Big Fat Greek Wedding.


I think my family was meant to be Greek.
We are big, loud, and love to eat.

Mr. Z and I went to the Houston Greek Festival yesterday.
We had to park at a 'near-by' school and catch a bus to the festival.
The parking was crazy! I guess everyone else loves Greek too.
After waiting about 20 minutes, we got on the huge piece of machinery that is our transportation to the festival.
I have to tell ya, city bus drivers are talented people.

But we arrived in one piece.

Oh my good gracious. The people. Everywhere.


We went into the gift shop which was actually more like an indoor flea-market.

Aren't these lanterns great?






I would have taken more pictures inside, but I could barely move my arms.



Then, we got to the whole reason we really wanted to go.
The food.
There were several food and drink stands all in a big open parking lot that was CRAMMED with people.
To increase efficiency, each booth is dedicated to one thing. You don't get your gyro, salad, and drink at one booth, you have to go to all three.


Once we got everything on our menu, we found a nice piece of grass in the shade and chowed down.






It was so beautiful outside and felt great!


After we got our fill, we decided to trudge our way back through the market of people and buy an olive tree.
They said they will do fine in this climate and will actually make olives in a few years.


They looked more like olive branches, but appearantly they were planted in cement.
It was insane how heavy the thing was!

So we made our treck back to where we had gotten off the bus.
To our joy, there was a bus already there waiting, so we hurriedly jumped on.

Mr. Z had to carry the tree onto the bus and we felt ... so out of place.




There had been many people at the festival carrying trees around, but none of those people were on the bus.
We both got so tickled at the whole situation we couldn't stop laughing.
We were carrying an olive tree and left over salad on a bus that we never verified was the bus we were supposed to be on.  A bus that was driven by a very sassy black lady who made an SUV back-up to get out of her way because they were over the line. And the music on the bus was black-gospel-have-church-kind-of music.



We left a little more experienced. A little more cultured. And very full.

Opa!

Friday, October 8, 2010

Friendly Service + 50% Off = A Great Day

Oh my goodness. Doesn't it make such a big difference when you get nice and efficient service at a store or restaurant?


Chick-fil-A is one of my favorite 'fast-food' places.
And talk about FAST!
At the one near our apartment they have workers that come to your car when your are waiting in the drive-thru when they are busy. Before you ever get to one of those annoying speakers, a real-live person is at your window writing down your order.
Well today, they were so busy they connected a computer outside the building so they would go ahead and take your money. I was behind at least 15 cars when I got there and it only took me 5 minutes to get my food! Even if I would have had to wait everyone was so friendly and polite I wouldn't have minded.
Welcome, please, thank you, you're welcome, and my pleasure are just a few of the things I am told every time I order food from there. In today's world, these small gestures go a long way.
I have read a little about their company and have not found a negative thing yet.


After that, I ran to Wal-Mart to get some diapers for a friend that just had a beautiful baby boy. She said that's all she needed for a gift. (I picked up a pair of the smallest rubber boots I could find, too.)

There is a Smart Style in our Wal-Mart. I have been putting off and putting off breaking down and buying some more Biolage shampoo and conditioner.

Well, what did I see when I rounded the corner?
A 50% off sign
Oh glory!
So this girl got to get the BIG bottle!

Now all that is ahead of me is a glorious 3-day weekend without having to add water to my shampoo bottle.

Happy Shampooing!

Thursday, October 7, 2010

One more quote

Ok, just caught another great quote from Gilmore Girls as I ate my supper.

Richard: No...I did not call her cell. In addition to losing my wife I also lost all control of my faculties. Of course I called her cell!


Monday, October 4, 2010

Guilty Secret

I have a dirty, guilty little secret.

I have watched the entire series of Gilmore Girls at least 5 times, certain episodes I have watched 10 or more times.


I have the DVR set to record it every day.

While I eat my supper, I want at least one episode.
It's how I unwind from the day.

It makes me crave Chinese food and Mallomars.
I want to read all the great American Classics.
Watch all of Audrey Hepburn's movies.
I want to fix up and run an old inn.
I want to have crazy costume parties.
I want to have weird small town meetings.



Some of my all-time favorite quotes:

Michel (a snotty British concierge): Look, I've had my peace with the fact that everyone who calls here is a notch above brain dead, and that the pennies I am thrown each week are in exchange for me dealing with these people in a nonviolent manner. And usually that is fine, but today, sorry lady, I have ennui.

Luke: Do you wanna know the problem here?
Lorelai: Actually no. I don't like problems. I avoid them when I can and I don't like people pointing them out to me.

Luke:  I don't even like kids. They always have jam on their hands. Even when there isn't any jam in the house, they get jam on their hands. I can't deal with jam hands.

And I will leave you with this
Lorelai: Hey, if that's a crack at my housekeeping skills... well then, okay.