Water Fun!

Poor Bunny was overheating the other day in the 95 degree heat, so I went to fill up the kiddy pool to give her a dunk. The weather has been bad for so long, silly me forgot that Bunny loves nothing more than a big old water fight! The second I turn the hose on, she chases the water stream around the yard attacking it. Lily got in on a bit of the action, too, but she was more interested in drinking it and running from it than getting scrappy. Needless to say we all cooled off (except for Cosmo, seen chilling by the patio door waiting to be let in).

"Yes, it is pronounced "Unt."

"Dear T, you are eligible to enroll for fall semester." Yay!!!! You'd think I was planning to enroll at the South Harmon Institute of Technology as my brother picked up the envelope, snickered, and said "U-N-T? You realize that is pronounced unt, right?" I didn't understand why that was funny to my friends 12 years ago when I was accepted there, and I don't understand why it is funny to my brother now. Oh well.

I feel like this is some sort of strange, full circle thing. UNT was the college I went to right out of high school on a full music scholarship. I left after a month because the violin teacher who had recruited me was mean, my dorm suite mates hated me, and I missed my mama. Yes, I was that much of a sissy at 18. I left a full ride scholarship, at a school in a state that I totally love, because I missed my mother and people made me cry. Wow.

Now here I am, a couple years later. Ok, busted... a few years later :) I have gone to some wonderful places (Hollins made me who I am, AND I got my friendship with Miss C out of it!) but due to the constant chaos that is my life, never emerged a graduate. I was enrolled at U of H Downtown last year (though it is the academic equivalent of community college so I always have a twinge of shame when bragging about my 4.0). Then life got me again and I have been out of school for a year! I got the idea for UNT from C, who has chosen to wallpaper her home in college degrees (seriously, we could get you some custom paint colors at Lowe's and it would be a lot cheaper and less time consuming). She got her Master's at UNT, and since she was living in Houston at the time and was always on her computer for classes, I assumed it was an online degree, and if it looks good on C's wall then it will probably work on mine. Luckily UNT has a true online degree for undergrads, which is what I will be doing.

So I'm really excited!! They've already lost all of my transcripts so I am classified as a freshman for now, and are asking for my application fee (which is written on a check, enclosed in the envelope with all of my transcripts). It's ok, though. I probably should have just stuck with this 12 years ago and I'd have been done with it by now. Oh yeah, and here's hoping my favorite Chinese restaurant is still in Denton. Did y'all know that it IS possible to eat sesame chicken at every single meal for 3 weeks... and when you're 18 it doesn't even go to your thighs!

Foot in Mouth Update

Before Jeff starts calling around to Hippyville USA and paying refrigerated Fed Ex charges, I did a little research and discovered that Nancy's is available at Whole Foods in Houston! Go Texas! I think the stars must be aligned.

The Best Damn Yogurt (that your eyes have ever seen)

Yogurt is supposed to be good for you, right? So why, when I walk through the yogurt aisle, am I faced with either high fructose corn syrup or aspertame as a sweetner? Why do people eat that crap?! Dirty Hippy jokes aside, Miss C, I decided to take a walk down the organic aisle and bought a couple of these babies. This stuff is like yo-crack. I eat it all day long. Totally organic, natural fresh fruit on top, sweetened with honey. Mmmmmm... I ate a spoonful just now. The best part? It actually fills me up! It has the same calories as crap yogurt, but this stuff is like a meal! Here's the deal Jeff: I will move to Texas, but YOU have to figure out how to import my weekly supply of Nancy's. Here's the contact info to get you started:

Our Creamery Address
Springfield Creamery29440 Airport RoadEugene, Oregon 97402
Our CreameryPhone Numbers
541-689-2911Fax: 541-689-2915

My next blog will be on the bliss that is called Organic Pad Thai.

Wonderful Pictures from the Past

Quinn and I went to see Aunty Gail last weekend and she surprised me with these pictures that she found while cleaning out her closets for the Pergo project! This is me and Uncle Jerry on the day of my high school graduation. It's the only picture I have with just me and Uncle Jerry, so it is really special to me and I'm so glad she found it!

Here is me with my Aunty Gail!

It really does take a year!

On this exact day last year, Jeff and I finally got to Hobby airport after getting LOST (like we haven't both been there a hundred times) and reluctantly put me on a plane to Washington so I could figure out what was going on with my mom. She'd been really sick for a couple months, and was complaining about problems with breathing. Once I got out to the sidewalk at PDX and into the car, it was pretty clear something was wrong and she shouldn't even be driving. She had zero energy, and absolutely could not stop coughing.

Everyone knows what happened next. Probably the most intense month of our lives! My mom was diagnosed with lung cancer. Suddenly we were running around dealing with wills, attending support groups, having hospice workers over at our house... and did I mention that the toilet blew up during this time, and we had to have all of our floors taken up? It was crazy. I hope my brother got everything he needed emotionally... I really don't remember because I was pretty much on autopilot- cleaning up, sleeping on the floor in her room, taking trips to the pharmacy and being in denial. Things got really bad, really quickly, and on July 31st she was dead. That's kind of a blunt way to put it... but the whole event was pretty, well, blunt.

It's funny looking back over the past year and realizing that only in the last 2 weeks have things started to feel ok. Normal even. Poor Quinn missed a ton of school in the fall, but he just found an awesome program last week that will help him catch up on all the classes he missed! He came home yesterday and actually did his homework. No fighting, he just sat down and did it like he used to. I have survived work this year on reputation alone... making hardly any sales, keeping my own wacky schedule, and probably should have been fired long ago if not for some really good friends who are in charge and wanted me around. Now finally my mind is clear and I am back to making some really great sales. I think I'm going to shoot for a top 10 spot in the company next month- I used to automatically make the list without trying.

Anyway, it has just been a really interesting year. I think Quinn and I finally have our groove down, though. We talk and we laugh, and we see things for what they really were. He doesn't get as annoyed with me unless I forget to do the laundry... and I am starting to figure out what he likes to eat. He probably plays too many video games and we both probably stay up too late, and I really shouldn't have let him eat 6 bluberry muffins for dinner tonight. I also really have to appeal to his sense of logic rather than telling him what to do because sisters don't have much clout. Fortunately if I need a big gun I can call in our Aunty Gail! Great Aunts apparently have a lot of clout.

Our mom is still in a box, which is the great joke around our house... but the whole thing doesn't seem so strange and hard anymore. It just sort of is, and we just sort of are, and the whole thing is working out and feels kind of like a regular family again. And now I have to go join in on a game of Lego star Wars...