Mere053

Brush fire! Eek! IDK exactly what burned today and it's kind of hard to tell from the pic (I took it from the car while we were up in LH) but early this afternoon something out toward Burnet was on fire. And it looked like a big one. Ugh, wildfires make me nervous.

Mere052

Yup, there's Dale and Amy, "Uncle John"-ing it up at my mom and dad's during our big family day on Saturday! Maw-Maw came for a visit and we had a great day hanging out and goofing off. Notice the ghost orb floating around in the middle of the room - I wonder who that is!

Mere051

The only victim of the great Callison Fire of February '09. Luckily I was home when this little piece of plastic started burning in the dishwasher and I was able to take care of it quickly, I hate to think about what could have happened if the Puggy was home alone! God is definitely looking out for us. Eek!

Mere050

Ohhh this pic. So this is at Casino Night at Dale's work, and they have a dance contest every year for the RAs and RA applicants. They dance and D and his ARD wander around and tap people on the shoulder when they're out. See the girl currently getting tapped out by D? Not in the contest. Not supposed to be, at least. She just spent the entire evening dancing all by herself up by the DJ, which is fine, but this was a contest she wasn't even supposed to be in. So Dale politely tapped her on the shoulder and told her she was out. A few seconds later, she was back in, dancing away. Dale finally had to say something like "YOU AREN'T IN THIS CONTEST, PLEASE LEAVE THE DANCE FLOOR." The "you freak" was implied. :-)

Mere049

St. Valentine's Massacre 2.0! Somehow Cam ends up being my Wednesday trivia photo every week. We took Amanda's divorce papers so Mary got to pick a bag and it had some wackadoo stuff apparently from Tabu Lingerie. Here's Camden with his Max Control! Yeah I don't know. He would later go on to be used as a biological weapon against GTYO. Fawesome.

Mere048

So if you've ever been to our apt you may have noticed our living room shelf. You may have even knocked some stuff off of it once or twice. Anyway - Saturday night at the Pants Party it took its last hit and we started to get worried that it might actually fall, ripping part of the wall away with it. So we decided to move it BUT apparently moving it requires minor wall repair. LUCKILY Dale patched it with bubble gum! Ok it's not bubble gum it's actual wall putty stuff but it goes on pink but dries white. Fun home repair!

Mere047

So I'm disappointed in the quality of the picture here because the glare bounces off the best part of the photo, BUT: I was at Wal-Mart yesterday with Dale, and I hate Wal-Mart because it's evil and disgusting but D was using a gift card from work to buy a prize for their casino night, so we really didn't have a choice. Anyway, the sign says "Dare You To Touch One" but...you can't because it's under plastic. Wal-Mart you dirty piece of crap.

Mere046

Dale and I didn't really celebrate Valentine's Day but my MOM, now there's a different story! :-) She gave us these awesome little cups filled with candy (it's hard to tell from the picture but they light up!) AND she gave me an iPod shuffle! Freakin amazing!! And Dale got a gift card to Cheesecake Factory, which will be wonderful, too, but the iPod completely blew my mind! What happened was, I had one and I loved it because I LOVE running but I have to run to music or I get bored, and it was in my purse and I'm pretty sure someone stole it out of my purse at work one day! And what's even worse is that I know who did it but I can't be 110% certain so I could never say anything, I just know that this person happened to have the very same one as me right around the time mine went missing and she had easy access to my stuff. CRAPPY! So anyway this upset my mom who awesomely gifted me with an unexpected but much-needed replacement!!!!!! I LOVE IT, I'm so excited!! As soon as we got home I set it up (it's name is "My Mom Is Awesome") and now I have the ULTIMATE WORKOUT MIX OF ALL-TIME on it. I'll have to type up a copy of my running mix, it's pretty awesome. Anyway I know this is a super long post for this little blog but I'm just SO! EXCITED!! Also she gave Rygel a toy, a red loofah dog with a heart that says "I WUFF YOU!" and he's already flattened it out completely. HAPPY VALENTIMES! Aww, Tracy Jordan.

Mere045

Here's some nostalgia for those of us who go WAAAAAY way back: Old Brown! Still alive and kicking (well...it has a new battery and it starts ALMOST every time) at Susan and Donnie's. We hung out there this afternoon and Rygel had SOOO much fun zipping around the property! For those of you who don't know, Old Brown was Dale's truck until he graduated from high school. By the time they bought the Dodge, Old Brown had no air conditioner, only one mirror (The rear view mirror melted and fell off and the driver's side mirror got smashed by a chicken on Highway 29 in Liberty Hill. Yeah you read that right.), the ceiling hung down but was tacked up in places with thumbtacks, the front passenger seat didn't always lock into place and sometimes slid around when Dale accelerated, until he put the CD player in the radio didn't work so he kept a boombox on the floor, and the driver's side door didn't latch all the way (still doesn't if you look closely at the pic) and flew open every time he made a right turn. We pretty much lived in that truck the second half of senior year, driving all over the place just for fun (gas was like 99 cents a gallon and neither of us paid for it ourselves back then) and taking it wherever. It's kind of a symbol of some of the best times ever.

Mere044

Awesome Cake, anyone? This was my dessert contribution to the Pants Party/Mere Quit The Bridal Shop Celebration: Rainbow soda cake with vanilla frosting, a.k.a. "Awesome Cake". Delicious? Hmm yes.

Mere043

Oh well HEY look who showed back up at trivia! Camden has mostly beaten the mono and is once again on the loose! In his Google shirt and sunglasses. Rockin.

Mere042

I don't often post anything very personal online, I am including this because I want people to know about the person I am writing about.

Didn't take a picture today. I went to a memorial service for a woman who very well may have saved my life during the first half of my senior year of high school. That was the most difficult time of my life and when everyone that I loved and trusted had either betrayed my trust or just abandoned me, the high school crisis counselor was there, taking care of me. Her name was Jinx Lacey and everybody who knew her would tell you she was crazy, but really I think she had it together better than anybody I've ever known. I was so sad to hear of her passing last week and I was so grateful to be able to attend her memorial tonight. She was funny, loving, free of judgment, and a steady presence for the thousands of lives in turmoil that she touched. I will never be able to fully express my gratitude for people like her, and I hope that everyone whose life she touched will honor her existence by striving to live by her example. She had unlimited talent and could have chosen to do anything with her life, but she chose to work in public schools. She chose high schoolers. She chose all of us. She was an amazing, amazing woman and I am grateful beyond measure for having known her. One of the most significant things I ever heard her say came during a press conference at school just after a classmate was killed in a car accident in front of the building, and I hadn't heard it again until McNeil's principal said it again tonight. I hope these words mean as much to you as they do to me:

"When you share joy, you double it. When you share grief, you cut it in half." - Jinx Lacey

Mere041

This is the story of my day. I'm driving, and I see a light, it's green...it's green...it's green...I get close to it ANNND it's red. BOO YOU, STOP LIGHT GODS!

Mere040

Went to my grandma's today! :-) Yay! I'm working on a photo project about her kitchen and here's one of the shots I took. It just sits there in the corner, observing the entire family coming and going, towering over at least three gigantic buffets a year and by now I'm sure it is infused with all of the wonderful aromas of forty years of home cooking. Thought I'd share!