7 Items

I don't usually do 'forwards', but I liked these questions. They really make you think.

Seven things you plan to do before you die!!
1. Get married but have no children
2. See the Grand Canyon
3. Write a history of my family
4. Go out dancing in San Francisco
5. Shape up/lose weight
6. Get a tattoo on my ear
7. Ride a motorcycle

Seven things you can't do!!!
1. Raise one eyebrow
2. Go underwater without holding my nose
3. Draw/Paint
4. Forget about my friends
5. Drive a stickshift
6. Pretend to be something I’m not
7. Be tactful

Seven things you can do!!
1. Wiggle my ears
2. Shape up/lose weight
3. Let my friends know I love them and will be there whenever they need
4. Go on a road trip at a moment’s notice
5. Learn to drive a stick
6. Make a friend laugh when they really need it
7. Stand up for myself and my friends

Seven things that attract you to the opposite sex!!
1. Intelligence
2. Sense of humor
3. The shape of their ear (weird, I know)
4. Politeness/respect
5. Dark hair
6. Confidence
7. Laugh

Seven things you say most!!
1. "So,"
2. "Are you kidding me?"
3. "Fucking A! (this is mostly to myself)"
4. "Awesome."
5. "Hey, babe.”
6. "Do you have Coke or Pepsi?"
7. "Excuse me?"

Seven celebrity crushes!!
1. Jonathan Rhys-Meyers
2. Orlando Bloom
3. Raoul Bova
4. Johnny Depp
5. Clive Owen
6. Colin Farrell
7. Colin Firth

Seven people you want to take this quiz..
1. Jayson
2. Nathan
3. Melanie
4. Andrea
5. David
6. Heidi
7. Kim

Suckered into helping

Ok, I shouldn't have been so smug about not being able to help my parents unload the trailer. They came in around 5pm and I went over after work. When I got there they were about a quarter done with unloading even though they'd told my sister the unloading would be on Saturday. My dad just cannot leave anything undone. So, I helped unload the rest of the crap (while wearing completely inappropriate footwear) and listened to my mom bitch at my dad for not throwing anything away. Yes, they are going to have professional movers do the main stuff. It's a 4 bdrm house and there's no way they could move all that themselves. But, my dad got the little trailer for the HEAVY stuff like boxes of books and two work tables for the garage. He even brought wood. WOOD. He just can't leave it behind. I told my mom to drug him and burn the wood while he's sleeping. It looked like she was actually considering it.

It'll be nice having them out here. Their house is about 15 minutes from mine. Close enough to get there fast in an emergency, but far enough away that my dad can't see I haven't mowed the lawn. My sister's coming up tomorrow to help unpack and organize things. It'll let her feel useful.

For those of you waiting to hear about MHW, yes he did reply. It turns out he didn't sign his name out of sheer laziness. And he's a lawyer now. A lawyer. I just can't wrap my head around that. Am I old enough to know a lawyer my age? That's kind of depressing. I thought being a lawyer took a lot of schooling. Like YEARS. Shouldn't we at least have to be 30 to be a lawyer?
Looking back on my previous post about him, I think I threw things a little out of proportion and got a bit ticked off when I shouldn't have let it bother me. It's kind of weird that I've really mellowed out since moving to Austin. Things just don't bother me much anymore. But, I really got riled up about this. Don't know why.

On a personal note (not like this whole blog isn't 'personal'...) it's now been one month since I started this. I actually tried blogging back in April but just couldn't get into it. It wasn't until the BCHS reunion, running into Jayson, hearing about and reading his blog, that I really gave it a thought. This time around, I think I'll try and stick with it. I'll probably tell a few more people. Maybe some college people as well as HS. It just feels so self-important. I think there's some negative feelings going around about bloggers which I can understand. I don't want to take this too seriously. I just think it's just a good way for people to keep in touch. Come on Nathan! Your blog (or $ilky's) would be so AWESOME.

109

How much do I LOVE Austin weather? Mon-Wed it's been 109 degrees. That's right - 109 and it's FALL. Even coming home at 5:30 it's been 103. We were expecting a cold front to move in today (but we were also expecting rain and wind from Hurricane Rita and didn't get squat). Imagine my surprise when I woke up this morning and was cold! All day it's been around 78. That's a 30 degree change overnight. Pretty nifty! It'll be nice and cool for my parents to get here tomorrow so I don't have to hear them bitch about the humidity. They brought a trailer full of stuff for the new house. Luckily (I'm such a bad daughter!) I've got New Cat Volunteer Orientation at the shelter on Saturday so I won't be able to help unload. Too bad, so sad. Last time I was there we still had a bunch of Katrina animals in the auditorium so I have no idea what they are planning to do with them during Orientation.

A few weeks ago I sent out an email to everyone asking for donations to the Austin Humane Society to help out with the Katrina animals (Red Cross = red tape, AHS = help the cute doggies!). So far, I've received $150! Pretty cool. Even one of my old bosses from Accenture sent me something. Every little bit helps.

Don't even get me started on the Alias premiere. Melanie already called, all upset. She also just saw the Sex & the City ep where Samantha gets breast cancer so it was in general a bad tv day for her. I've got to say, I think I may be a little over Alias. I'm just not as interested as I was in S2 or S3. I'll still give it a shot though, Sark (cutie!) might show up again. One can only hope.

Chores, chores, chores

Well, for a Wednesday this has been a very productive day. My boss let me go a couple hours early (Woo Hoo!) to get an oil change and brake inspection on my car. I really thought my brakes were going bad, but it turns out they're fine..I'm just a shitty driver! I also washed my car, washed the dishes, and did three loads of laundry. AND I managed to catch the 2nd season premiere of 'Veronica Mars' which did not disappoint. I'll catch 'Lost' later on the DVR.

I noticed in my comments that Kevin Long is around. Hey dude! Where you been? We were all asking about you at the reunion. Can't believe you dissed us! You missed out on fun times. Next time I come out we'll have to have a mini reunion. If you're reading this...where is the cat poem from? I totally remember that but can't remember what is was about. Did Eric make that up? So now that brings it to 3 people that know about my blog. I'm trying to keep it to a select few. Cause if too many people read it, I'd feel I'd have to watch what I say about people.
But, really, would I? mmmm nope. But definitely don't want my family reading it!

Anyways, at 9:15pm on Wed there is still no reply from MHW. Hmm... I'll give him a week and then send a 'whatever!' email.

A very random, unexpected email

Ok, something very odd happened yesterday. I got an email in my junk box with the subject So where are you now (my name)? I didn't recognize the email address but figured it was a real email since my name was spelled right. But, there was no 'name' of the sender - just the email address. So, I click on it and it said this: just a quick hello from an old friend at Wash U :)

That's it. No greeting, no identification. What's up with that? What kind of person sends a 'hi what's up' email after six years and doesn't even say who it's from? Is it some kind of test? Weird. I looked at the email address and thought 'what kind of person would send this email'? And then I figured it out. For some reason I remember people's middle names. The email address was just MHW99. For three years in college I had a huge crush on a guy and I'm 99% sure those were his initials.

Before I continue, let me explain something. It was my habit in high school and college to find one cute guy in every class so I could look at them when the class/teacher got boring. It's a great way to not fall asleep. Wash U had a lot of cute guys!

So, first semester I had a few classes with MHW. I don't even remember how we got to know each other but we did a lot of study groups together with other people. I knew he was just using me for help with homework and studying but I didn't mind. Showing somebody how to do the work and discussing it in groups helped me to learn. He was not the brightest person, but he was tall and had long dark hair (which is my weakness! - sorry Jay!). He was a bit of a snob and I guess he came from money cause he made a big deal about coming from Westchester county in NY. I didn't even know what that meant! (Thanks to Law & Order, found out later it was the upperclass area). Yes, he doesn't sound like the greatest guy, but he was just so cute. Oh well. By senior year I was living off campus and had a job and other things to focus on. I don't even remember if we had any classes together, but I was completely over him by then. I know he knew I liked him those few years. It's very difficult to hide that kind of thing and I probably made a bit of a fool out of myself. I choose to not let that bother me. And quite honestly, I haven't given him a thought in six years (unlike T.C. who y'all know I've thought about for 11 years!) So, needless to say, I was very surprised to get that email!

Long story short (too late!) I responded back, mentioning the lack of signature, said where I was, what I was doing, and how I thought I knew who he was. I then said it was his turn to say what he'd been up to. He responded with this: i have to say you have a good memory and or that was an amazing out of the blue guess- i am not sure if i had this email back then so maybe it was just a reminder....im impressed.

Once again, no signature. The paranoid thing is that I'm not 100% sure it's really him since neither of us have said his name. How crazy is this? It's just so out of the blue and I almost feel like he's just playing with me. And really, do I care what he's been up to? I'm not sure. I responded, and he hasn't replied yet. It's all just very unexpected. I really didn't feel I'd ever hear from him again, so I just didn't think about him. He probably won't even reply.

**Edited to add: just looked at the Wash U alumni page. Yup, that's his email. I guess that's where he got mine too.

Curses to all Spammers!

You have forced me to turn on that damn function that makes you type in the letters you see before it'll publish your comment. I HATE those. I always get it wrong because I over analyze the marks. At least the test on this site is easier than the one on hotmail. I hate that one.

You go to hell! You go to hell and you die!
(south park)

new try for kitty pics

Ok, so here are my cuties. Spike and Asher I got on the same day about four years ago. Spike was from a shelter in Stockton and Asher was a stray that a friend of a friend rescued. The funny thing is that I already had 'Spike' and 'Asher' picked out as names. 'Asher' works great for a gray kitty and 'Spike' works because even though she's female, she's got a spike of white on her forehead and nose. So cute! I got Pagan a year ago from the Austin Humane Society. He was only up for one day. I mainly got him as a playmate for Spike and it's worked out well. I tried to find another vampire name for him, but just couldn't find one that wasn't common (like Drac or Lestat). Besides, 'Pagan' is just a cool name for a black and silver cat! He's an exotic - called Smokey Egyptian Mau. If I bought him from a breeder he would be like $450! Crazy. Supposedly he was found as a stray and was malnourished. A local cat rescuer took him in until he was well enough to go to the shelter. He's a good kitty. It's worked out well, but Asher still doesn't really like him.

cute kitty pics

Ok, it looks like Rita is going to bypass us. Houston might still get hit a bit though. Right now my parent's house they bought in north Austin has 25 people in it. It was empty, so my sister is letting her in-laws stay there. She's also got a bunch of people at her house. Luckily they didn't need to use mine so I didn't have to go on a crazy cleaning spree. Anyways, enjoy the kitties! The gray tabby is Asher (after a character in Laurell K Hamilton's books), the brown and black tabby is Spike (from Buffy), and the black/silver kitty is Pagan (just liked the name).

Ok, it's not wanting to upload the pics....I'll add them later

I'm such a tease!

And here comes Rita

So, Houston has been evacuated. But, they can't come to Austin cause we don't have any hotel rooms left! This weekend is ACL (Austin City Limits) music festival. So, everything is booked up. Unfortunately it looks like the festival might get canceled for Saturday. Right now we are expecting Rita to hit Austin as a Level 1 Hurricane - which means 70mph winds. They are telling people to stock up a bit on water and food and fill up on gas now because we may have widespread power outages. So, this weekend should be interested. It may veer off and miss us completely. I just hope none of my trees fall on my house! I'll post on Monday, let you know what happened.

Lake Travis rocks!

I'm back from my fun-filled afternoon on Lake Travis. The group ended up being me, my roommate Rachael, my next door neighbors Mike and Marcia, their son-in-law John and grandchild Regan. Mike/Marcia have a 24 ft pontoon boat that has seats along each side and a barbeque grill that hangs off the side. It was AWESOME. The lake was beautiful and there weren't that many boats out. There was one cool Barbeque Boat (see pic) that sold BBQ to boaters. What a great idea! We didn't get any though.

We went swimming for quite awhile and then had bbq hamburgers and hotdogs. We were out for about 5 hours. It was a lot of fun. The water was really warm and had a very gentle current. We're going to try and get out again before winter. Here are some pics.

The Aristocrats

So, it's been awhile since my last post. Gobs and gobs of things have happened to me! Well, maybe a little gob.

Last weekend I saw The Aristocrats. (haven't heard of it? It's about comics telling the nastiest joke ever) Who did I see it with, you ask? Well, I went with my friend Sarah that I knew from college in STL and had somehow ended up in Austin (long story). She also invited a bunch of her friends from her Lutheran BIBLE STUDY CLASS A Lutheran Bible Study Class going to see the Aristocrats?? Yes, yes they did. The movie was awesome. The audience was great and there were people that were REALLY laughing at the jokes. It wasn't as 'disturbing' as I thought it was going to be. Just good fun with beastiality, incest, blood, and feces. Anyways, at the very end of the movie two comics tell their version of the joke to little babies. I'm talking maybe 10 months old. After the movie, I am standing around with the Lutheran Bible Study Class (Sarah had to go to the bathroom) and I say 'That wasn't as bad as I thought it'd be'. Then they start going off on how could somebody tell that joke to a tiny kid and how that kid's upbringing is going to be horrible and they'll be scarred for life and blah blah blah. ok.

I had asked Sarah to invite some friends since I'm trying to meet more people in Austin. I don't think I'll be hanging out with them again. Also, earlier she had told me that she'd been hanging with them all weekend and they all got drunk Friday and Saturday night. In fact, one night they were so drunk somebody puked on her carpet (not a huge issue since she's getting new carpet next week, but still). This is one thing I have never understood. Why do people have to get so piss poor drunk to have a good time? To drink so much you puke on your friend's carpet? This is fun? I can't help but think back to my week in CA where I was hanging out EVERY NIGHT until all hours of the morning, and NOBODY was drunk. Even when we were at the hotel suite with liquor, people drank a little, but nobody got drunk. I had the best time that week just hanging out. If you need to get drunk to have a good time, you need to reevaluate your life. All the friends I've had in high school, college, and now have never been big drinkers. Sure, some like wine with dinner or a beer now and then, but nobody is going out every night and drinking till they puke. I just can't relate to that type of person.

The good news is that I think I'll be meeting new people soon. The Firefly move Serenity is coming out in two weeks (shiny!) and I found a group on Yahoo that is all Austin Firefly fans (aka: Browncoats) So, it looks like I'll be hooking up with them to go see it. Awesome!! I don't have any Whedonesque friends since Amy and Mark moved to Boston last month, and usually people that like Joss Whedon are people I'd like to know.

Tomorrow I'm going boating on Lake Travis with my roommate Rachael and my neighbors that have a huge boat. Can't wait!!

Incredible photo gallery

You've got to check this out. It's almost 200 pictures from a guy walking around New Orleans before and after the hurricane. Crazy!

** I removed the link. The gallery has been taken down. **

....blah

I'm going into the shelter tomorrow. I'm not sure if we'll be open to the public or not. They've been closed all week because of the Katrina animals they've taken in. It's going to be crazy. I sent out a mass email to everyone I know, trying to get donations to help out. I've become very cynical about the Red Cross. I heard that they only gave out a fifth of the 9/11 fund. I heard they are keeping the rest as a 'war fund'. I didn't give money to a 'war fund' - I gave money to help out those people that lost loved ones and homes that day. So, I prefer to give money to local agencies where you are more sure of where that money is actually going.

I'm listening to the NIN With Teeth CD. It's ok. I'm half way through. I'd definitely listen to it again (unlike the Fragile), but it's not as good as Pretty Hate Machine. I love that new Spoon 'I Turn My Camera On'. I'm gonna listen to the other samples on Amazon. I may have to buy it - and I HATE buying CDs just for one song. We'll see.
**ok, just listened to the other songs. Wow, they really, really suck. Guess I'll just have to buy that one song sometime. :-(

At work today I was doing a lot of 10-key work which reminded me about my childhood. My mom used to do some of the accounting for my dad's business and she was always doing 10-key. I was so enthralled by how fast her fingers would hit the numbers. I used to make her write me lists of numbers that I could input. It's certainly come in handy now. I love doing 10-key. My mind just goes blank and my fingers move without really thinking about it. It's fun. Very calming.

I'm trying to find a second job. I need some extra money. The house I bought last year was at the top of my price range. The main reason I bought it was that it was about to be foreclosed on and was priced $10,000 less than it should've. I love this house, but my finances are not working out as they should. I'm also spending way too much money, and I know I have to work on that. I don't understand how people can afford to go out partying every weekend. Usually my friends and I do cheap stuff, mainly just hanging out, getting something from Netflix. And yet the money just goes and goes. I'm not really saving anything. I miss the money I used to make as a consultant. I'm making like half now. My boss said I'll probably get a raise in January, but it'd better be a lot. I'm making myself pretty damn indispensable, and I know she likes me. I'm as anal about details as she is, and we get along well. If the raise in January is crap I'll have to have a talk with her. I know my worth. I'm trying to find something for nights or the weekend. I'll probably check in with some staffing agencies and see what they have.

Austin opens its arms

Over the next couple days Austin expects to get 5000+ evacuees. It looks like they've got everything pretty well organized. People are showing up with just the clothes on their backs. They get a decontamination shower, medical assistance, and hot food. Some haven't eaten in 5 days and most are dehydrated. Austin is preparing to house these people for at least three months. I don't know what can really be done in three months with a city that's still underwater. I would expect they'll be here for much longer.

The nice thing is that if these people have pets with them the Austin Humane Society is setting up a shelter and foster homes for these pets. So it's one less thing for the evacuees to worry about. I'm not sure how many pets we are expecting. But, if a person has held on to their animals this long, they are probably very important to them. The volunteer coordinator has been sending out emails about it, and I'll be helping out tomorrow. This morning we had the New Volunteer Orientation (25 people for the cats!) and a bunch of people brought pet food and animal crates. It's great how quickly people can mobilize. One kind of 'bad' thought is that it's probably a really good thing we had our Annual Telethon LAST weekend because if it had been this weekend we would have been screwed!

Two comments...all from the same person!

Ok. So I get all excited seeing that there are TWO comments on my last post and they are from the SAME person! Oh the disappointment!!! But really, what did I expect? That the masses on the internet would flock to my little two-post blog? Probably for the best that they didn't.

Anyways, Austin has been having stuff on the news of the Katrina victims getting bused here for housing. I feel bad for all the girls named Katrina. It's got to be depressing hearing your name on the news all the time and how you've killed hundreds of people and destroyed New Orleans.

Did you year about the congressman from IL that commented that maybe New Orleans shouldn't be rebuilt? He backpedaled pretty fast and corrected himself to say that when it's rebuilt it should not be exactly as it was. Well, duh! But, he makes a good point. If Katrina was one of those hundred or two-hundred year storms should that stop them from rebuilding? It's like people living in a flood plane. You know why it's called a flood plane? Because it FLOODS. Maybe building a huge metropolis surrounded by lakes and the Mississippi River plus being 7 feet below sea level wasn't the brightest of ideas.

And now some of the people left in New Orleans are SHOOTING at their would-be rescuers. That's just great. Hey! There's a helicopter coming to airlift people out! Let's SHOOT IT! I just cannot believe that. Looting is one thing. Shooting at people trying to help you? Whatever.

On a side note...saw Kung Fu Hustle last night (gotta love Netflix). That was a pretty good movie. I thought it was a spoof from the previews but it's just a funny kung fu movie.

I am also now addicted to Veronica Mars. Since Charisma Carpenter will be on it next season I've been recording the repeats. I just watched like five episodes at once. I may actually have to buy this DVD set. Really good stories and that Logan guy is HOT.

And here I go again

Well, I may as well give this the old college try.

A couple of weeks ago I went to my 10 year high school reunion in CA. I know most people lose touch with high school friends, but I'm pretty good about calling every once in a while and checking in. I knew my close group was going to go (I practically bullied them into it). You have to have a safety net at things like this, right? Why I really wanted to go was to see all the other people I'd lost touch with. Had they gained 200lbs? Three husbands? Ten kids? I basically look the same from high school so I didn't think people would be going 'oh my god! look at her!'

So, we went. And paid a ridiculous $83 for the tickets. For that price we were all expecting something pretty grandiose (but really, how grandiose can Stockton be?). A couple of my friends got a suite at the hotel for hanging out before and after. We met up there and walked to the banquet room together (safety in numbers). Basically, the whole thing was so lame. I did meet up with some good friends I'd lost touch with, but it was crazy how we segregated ourselves at the tables. Our two tables had the smart kids and theater kids. All the other tables were the popular people. Out of a class of approx 300 only 60 showed up. With spouses it was about 100 people. And, I couldn't care less about them. Did I want to know what the star quaterback was up to now? I thought I did, but once I got there - no, I really didn't. I tried to mingle, tried to be social. But after three hours, I was done. There was a horrible DJ playing Sir Mix-A-Lot and MC Hammer. No Nirvana, no Pearl Jam. Whatever. My group went back to our suite and I must say 'go me!'. Good idea on getting that suite. There were about 16 people there just hanging out. Some of us were up till 4:30am. And it wasn't just all lame reminiscing. Just nice people having a good time. No one getting stupid drunk or doing drugs. There's a lot to be said for just hanging out.

So that night began my four day spree of staying up late and hanging out with people I hadn't seen in years - and one guy I didn't even remember from high school, but was cute, so hey ok. In a way, I'm sorry I don't live in my hometown anymore. But when it comes down to it, I am so much happier in Austin. I just need to work more on getting people to move here!

As excited as I was about the reunion (and I was REALLY excited..don't know why) I don't think I'll be going to another one. We can just have all of our group get together in our own reunion. For $83 a pop we can have one cool party. Excuse me....a hella cool party. :-)