Was that enough?
All right, you're all caught up in my life. Now I'm going to bed, damnit!
posted by Speck at
2:20 AM
|
2 comments
Monday, October 29, 2007
Halloween 2007
Our annual ANK Halloween party was a blast as usual. I told MB he didn't have to go since he didn't have a costume and it's such a low-key party. I wouldn't feel weird going by myself. He already met most of the people in ANK at movie night a couple weeks ago and they all gave him the thumbs up.
My costume this year was not as awesome as last year. I couldn't think of anything cool, so I went as a homeless person. Here are some pics of me and others at the party.
I had two different signs. They told me I was smiling too much in the pictures so we took this one too. I make a cute homeless person! The thing around my neck was braided newspaper and duct tape. The hat and plaid shirts were from my dad's old work clothes. I also got dirt from my backyard, added water, and smeared the mud on my face and chest.
The 'God Bless' really sells it, doesn't it?
Annette as a ballerina. She actually took that for 10 years and could stand on point!
Sherry (new to ANK, co-worker of Gil's) as Marilyn Monroe
Jeff and Judy as followers of followers of the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster (I've actually linked this on my blog before! http://www.venganza.org/about )
Group photo (some people got cut off on the right, though) And that's Mike in the back as the Dread Pirate Roberts from the Princess Bride...though some people thought he was Zorro. And on the left is Jerry as Fat Bastard from Austin Powers. Marjean in the front with the black lace was a Southern Belle who slashed her wrists after they lost the Civil War. Awesome costume.
My costume this year was not as awesome as last year. I couldn't think of anything cool, so I went as a homeless person. Here are some pics of me and others at the party.
I had two different signs. They told me I was smiling too much in the pictures so we took this one too. I make a cute homeless person! The thing around my neck was braided newspaper and duct tape. The hat and plaid shirts were from my dad's old work clothes. I also got dirt from my backyard, added water, and smeared the mud on my face and chest.
The 'God Bless' really sells it, doesn't it?
Annette as a ballerina. She actually took that for 10 years and could stand on point!
Sherry (new to ANK, co-worker of Gil's) as Marilyn Monroe
Jeff and Judy as followers of followers of the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster (I've actually linked this on my blog before! http://www.venganza.org/about )
Group photo (some people got cut off on the right, though) And that's Mike in the back as the Dread Pirate Roberts from the Princess Bride...though some people thought he was Zorro. And on the left is Jerry as Fat Bastard from Austin Powers. Marjean in the front with the black lace was a Southern Belle who slashed her wrists after they lost the Civil War. Awesome costume.
I'm sure in a few days there'll be more posted here:
posted by Speck at
1:48 AM
|
1 comments
30th Birthday!
Damn, I hate that little '3' in the front of my age now. Oh well. My actual birthday was on Wed and MB took me out. We've only been going out for 6 weeks and I told him he didn't need to get me anything, but he took that for the lie that it was. Instead, he surprised me with a bottle of my favorite perfume - Chance by Chanel. I don't wear perfume a lot, but I had a little tester of it and really like it. I'd worn it once a month ago and he mentioned that he really liked it. I offhandedly said the name and that I just had a little tester so I didn't wear it that often. We were in my room and I showed him it. Well, last week while I was on the phone with someone, he snuck into my bedroom to double check the name. So sweet. And it's a perfect gift cause it's something I wanted but would never have bought for myself.
For dinner he took my to Ruth's Chris Steakhouse where I've always wanted to go. Yes, it was good, but I don't think a piece of steak is worth $40. I'm not as much of a food connoisseur as he is. After, we went to Mozart's for dessert and sat by the lake for awhile. It was a wonderful birthday.
Everything with MB is going quite well. I can't believe it's been 6 weeks. He's very thoughtful and perceptive of what I say and my moods. He's starting to read me quite well (scary sometimes). Also, he really knows how to make a woman feel special. I've talked with some of my single girlfriends and we've all agreed that a lot of the single guys in their 30s/40s don't know how to treat a woman. They don't take the time to tell her she's beautiful or treat her like she's special. So few guys understand that importance of that. I am so lucky I met MB.
For dinner he took my to Ruth's Chris Steakhouse where I've always wanted to go. Yes, it was good, but I don't think a piece of steak is worth $40. I'm not as much of a food connoisseur as he is. After, we went to Mozart's for dessert and sat by the lake for awhile. It was a wonderful birthday.
Everything with MB is going quite well. I can't believe it's been 6 weeks. He's very thoughtful and perceptive of what I say and my moods. He's starting to read me quite well (scary sometimes). Also, he really knows how to make a woman feel special. I've talked with some of my single girlfriends and we've all agreed that a lot of the single guys in their 30s/40s don't know how to treat a woman. They don't take the time to tell her she's beautiful or treat her like she's special. So few guys understand that importance of that. I am so lucky I met MB.
posted by Speck at
1:39 AM
|
2 comments
Corn Maze!
Saturday I went out with Gil, Mike, and Annette for my birthday. We drove to Marble Falls for lunch at the Blue Bonnet Cafe. This place is really well known for its pies. I'm not going to get into it, but we were all disappointed. Before we left I had brought some of my mom's pear pie that she makes for me and THAT is pie! The stuff at Blue Bonnet was ok, but I wouldn't drive an hour out for it.
After lunch we went out to the corn maze and pumkpin patch. I'd never been to one and it was fun. The maze was in the shape of Texas and eveyone was given a paper card that had 10 names of cities on it. Throughout the maze were signs with each city's name on it and a hole punch. If you came out with a punch for every city you got a free soda (and yes, all punches were different). We got 8 of them in a little over an hour. I was getting hot and tired and wanted to stop. Mike went out, looked at a little map of Texas they had posted, and 2 minutes and many left/right turns later, we had all the punches. That man is a walking compass.
On the drive back we pulled off on a little road that Mike/Annette had been on before called Cow Creek Rd. It was an out-of-the-way road and with Cow Creek running next to it and really pretty trees everywhere. We pulled off at one spot and walked around the river a bit. I think this picture of Mike and Annette is cute. Nice outing.
After lunch we went out to the corn maze and pumkpin patch. I'd never been to one and it was fun. The maze was in the shape of Texas and eveyone was given a paper card that had 10 names of cities on it. Throughout the maze were signs with each city's name on it and a hole punch. If you came out with a punch for every city you got a free soda (and yes, all punches were different). We got 8 of them in a little over an hour. I was getting hot and tired and wanted to stop. Mike went out, looked at a little map of Texas they had posted, and 2 minutes and many left/right turns later, we had all the punches. That man is a walking compass.
On the drive back we pulled off on a little road that Mike/Annette had been on before called Cow Creek Rd. It was an out-of-the-way road and with Cow Creek running next to it and really pretty trees everywhere. We pulled off at one spot and walked around the river a bit. I think this picture of Mike and Annette is cute. Nice outing.
posted by Speck at
1:28 AM
|
1 comments
Day at the Salon
On Friday the 19th I took the day off work to go to a spa/salon that Judy and Jayne had both recommended. I'd never been to a spa before and had never gotten a real professional cut and color. I was turning 30, and thought I'd do it as a gift to myself. I was also looking forward to seeing what a 'professional' would suggest as a hair cut. I always just cut it straight around with a little layering in the back. It's so wavy, it kind of just does its own thing. Any cut I get has to take that into account and I didn't want to get my hair straightened. I was REALLY looking forward to the color. I wanted to do a color, highlights, streaks, whatever. I wanted to do something different.
The first thing was an hour long facial and brow wax. Ok, the facial I would definitely do again. That was awesome. She put a bunch of different stuff on my face and cleared out the pores on my nose and chin a bit. The brow wax was interesting. I just wanted them cleaned up a bit and shaped and she did a good job. Afterwards I was handed off to the owner of the salon (Marcia) for my cut and color.
She suggested a short layered cut in the back and leave the front long. Uh, ok? Then for color, I told her that I look really good with dark hair and reds. She agreed. She said she'd do some dark red lowlights that would look 'chunky' and 'cool'. Uh, ok? The cut only took a few minutes and then she did that funky tin foil thing with the color in my hair. While I was waiting for the color to set, one of the girls did makeup for me. That was fun. After 45 minutes they washed out the color. When I got back to the chair with my wet hair, Marcia said 'huh, you can't really see the red.' I replied that when wet my hair was dark and we'd probably see it after it was dry. Uh, not so much. She blow dried my hair and we just kinda both said nothing. You couldn't see the 'red lowlights' at all. My hair just looked darker with no color distinction. She pulled out a little slice of my non-colored hair and then a little slice of my colored hair, and I agreed that yes, parts of my hair were colored. But, you couldn't SEE IT. She said she'd only charge $20 instead of $65 for the color. Yeah, thanks. I could've done this with a $7 box of hair color from the grocery store. I was also disappointed with the cut. The long hair in front was weird and if it wasn't all styled and scrunched up and curly, it looked odd. And frankly, my hair isn't very curly every day. It all depends on the weather, humidity, and how fast it dried in the morning. Sometimes it just flips at the end. A week later I ended up having my mom cut off the extra inch in front so now it looks more like the length at the back...which is basically how I always cut my hair. Well, I tried, didn't I?
...and an after picture in my kitchen. Wow, I look SO DIFFERENT! All right, I'll shut up now.
The first thing was an hour long facial and brow wax. Ok, the facial I would definitely do again. That was awesome. She put a bunch of different stuff on my face and cleared out the pores on my nose and chin a bit. The brow wax was interesting. I just wanted them cleaned up a bit and shaped and she did a good job. Afterwards I was handed off to the owner of the salon (Marcia) for my cut and color.
She suggested a short layered cut in the back and leave the front long. Uh, ok? Then for color, I told her that I look really good with dark hair and reds. She agreed. She said she'd do some dark red lowlights that would look 'chunky' and 'cool'. Uh, ok? The cut only took a few minutes and then she did that funky tin foil thing with the color in my hair. While I was waiting for the color to set, one of the girls did makeup for me. That was fun. After 45 minutes they washed out the color. When I got back to the chair with my wet hair, Marcia said 'huh, you can't really see the red.' I replied that when wet my hair was dark and we'd probably see it after it was dry. Uh, not so much. She blow dried my hair and we just kinda both said nothing. You couldn't see the 'red lowlights' at all. My hair just looked darker with no color distinction. She pulled out a little slice of my non-colored hair and then a little slice of my colored hair, and I agreed that yes, parts of my hair were colored. But, you couldn't SEE IT. She said she'd only charge $20 instead of $65 for the color. Yeah, thanks. I could've done this with a $7 box of hair color from the grocery store. I was also disappointed with the cut. The long hair in front was weird and if it wasn't all styled and scrunched up and curly, it looked odd. And frankly, my hair isn't very curly every day. It all depends on the weather, humidity, and how fast it dried in the morning. Sometimes it just flips at the end. A week later I ended up having my mom cut off the extra inch in front so now it looks more like the length at the back...which is basically how I always cut my hair. Well, I tried, didn't I?
Before the cut/color:
...and an after picture in my kitchen. Wow, I look SO DIFFERENT! All right, I'll shut up now.
posted by Speck at
1:05 AM
|
1 comments
Two weeks ago...
Obviously I have been piss-poor about posts. So, damnit, I'm going to catch up tonight!
Here's the first thing to talk about:
Last year sometime I went on a bird watching expedition with Jeff/Judy and some other ANK folk. It was a nice leisurely walk through a nature preserve with stopping often and enjoying nature. Our guide was wonderful and I really enjoyed the outing. So, when Judy sent me an email about an 'Autumn Amble' that a wildlife refuge was holding with a guided walk, I thought that sounded like fun. It said it was three hours of a leisurely walk to enjoy nature and learn about the local prairie land, wildlife, etc. Now I may not be as active as Mike/Annette or Matt, but I like nature. I like being outside. And since Jeff/Judy are about the same speed as me, I thought, why not?
Here's the website:
It's about an hour outside of Austin, in a really pretty area out by Lago Vista. When we got there, we were greeted by a volunteer that was going to lead our group of 12 people. She said that she'd point out all the local plants and whatever wildlife we come across. Then she said 'we'll be going over that mountain and then around the side. It'll be pretty vigorous, so I hope everyone brought water'. Uh, vigorous? What happened to a leisurely amble? Amble means stroll, walk, enjoyable time in the outdoors! Jeff/Judy and I kinda looked at each other, and thought, hey, we can handle this. Most of our group were older people (40s-60s) so it's not like we were surrounded by heavy duty hikers.
At first, it was a great time. We ambled, we stopped, we looked at the pretty plants. Then, we got to the edge of the mountain side where our guide practically sprinted up the side. By the time we got up, I was....not enjoying myself as much. Then, it all went downhill from there (unfortunately I mean that figuratively). Our guide never really stopped long enough for us to ENJOY the countryside or take a rest. I'd stop to take a picture and then have to jog to catch up. Judy told me afterwards that one of the women had fallen and our guide didn't even stop. By the end of the three hours I was actually starting to feel faint. Our guide began talking about this random plant and I basically just interrupted her and asked if we stay on the path if we'd reach the parking lot. She said yes and that we were close. I just headed off, and most of the group followed me. I think we were all done. When we got to the parking lot I talked to a park ranger that had been in the back of our group and I asked him how long we just hiked. It was 4 1/2 miles! I told him if the website was going to say LEISURELY AMBLE it should have been more like two. That was a HIKE! Judy said she was close to taking our guide out near the end. But, it was nice to be outside and enjoying the great weather we've been having.
You can kinda see in this picture all the colors in the grass. Yes, it was pretty. I just didn't need to see 4 miles of it.
posted by Speck at
12:38 AM
|
1 comments
Saturday, October 20, 2007
all right, all right
ok, sorry about not posting in a while. And I can't post now either! Heh. I'm leaving momentarily for Marble Falls with Mike/Annette and Gil. We're going to Blue Bonnet Cafe for lunch and then over to the corn field maze. Yes, MB and I still together. Five weeks! Crazy. We're going out tonight and also on Wednesday for my actual birthday.
I have many pictures to post from last weekend's nature preserve 'leisurely amble' which turned into an arduous 4 mile hike. Damn marketers! I also took yesterday off and went to a salon/spa and spent a shit load of money for something I could've done myself. Oh well. At least the facial was awesome and I'll probably do that again. The cut/color was a disappointment - you can barely see the color. I'll get into this later.
Gotta go!
I have many pictures to post from last weekend's nature preserve 'leisurely amble' which turned into an arduous 4 mile hike. Damn marketers! I also took yesterday off and went to a salon/spa and spent a shit load of money for something I could've done myself. Oh well. At least the facial was awesome and I'll probably do that again. The cut/color was a disappointment - you can barely see the color. I'll get into this later.
Gotta go!
posted by Speck at
10:07 AM
|
1 comments
Friday, October 05, 2007
Crack!
Didn't realize it's been so long since a post! Everything with MB is still going well. On Saturday it'll be 3 weeks. He lives really close to me (less than 5 minutes) so we've been hanging out a lot after work and just watching tv/talking.
Last Friday night we went out on a date and I told him to surprise me. We like the same food (no sushi) so I figured anywhere he liked I'd probably like too. I've realized that I love being surprised. So, he took me to a restaurant in RR that was nice, small, low lighting, excellent steak and then afterward we went to Mozarts down on the lake. It's a dessert/coffee place but it was around 10:30 and not that busy. We were able to sit on their patio for a long time and enjoy the weather and breeze from the lake. It was a lovely time.
Later after we got back to my place and were hanging out, I noticed my back was hurting a little. And no, we were not doing anything kinky! I figured it was just cramps or something. I rarely get cramps...maybe once or twice a year, but it was my lower back so I figured that's what it was. The whole weekend it bothered me. MB and I had separate plans for the weekend - we're trying not to become the couple that ignores all their old friends when they're dating someone new. I have always found that annoying, so I'm glad we're setting time aside to see our friends. Saturday afternoon Nathan and I went out to barbeque and then walked down South Congress and did some window shopping. There's a cowboy boot store down there that all the celebrities shop at. I think the cheapest boots we saw were $300 and some really cool ones were $1200. I should have taken some pictures. Some of those boots were real works of art. Later that night I hung out with the usual gang and we saw the Simpsons movie at Mike's and it was so good! Incredibly funny. Sunday Jayne and I were supposed to go out on my neighbor's boat but they canceled it because they thought the weather would get bad (and it didn't! boo hoo!). Instead, Jayne and I went swimming in her pool. She lives on a really expensive golf course so there aren't a lot of families with kids - we had the pool to ourselves for a couple hours. That helped my back a lot, but it was still painful.
Monday morning I was in agony on the way to work. When I parked, I could barely get out of the car. I tried sitting down and working, but after an hour I was like, no way is this cramps - something is really wrong with my back. The girl in the office next to me goes to the chiropractor once a month and she gave me her doctor's name. I have never been to a chiropractor and never really saw the need. But at that point, I was ready to try anything. They got me in at 10am and did some tests which were so painful I actually started crying. I NEVER cry over pain. They said I have a really high pain tolerance after doing the tests and marking my reactions. Some of the things I reacted to made them realize my back was a lot worse off than they thought from my initial description. It was my lower back - L5 disc that was inflamed. I went everyday this week and I'll go 3 times next week. They've been cracking my neck and back and putting this cool electrode thing on my lower back that pulses electricity through it and works out the muscles. I feel a lot better now, but still can't sit for very long. When I get up my back is incredibly tight. At least my insurance covers it. It's still a $35 co pay every single time. They took X-rays of my lower back and hips (awesome! love x-rays!) and I saw that my hips are a little uneven. They said that they'll work that out and everything should go back to normal in a couple months. I almost wish I had some crazy kinky monkey-sex story that I could blame this on, but I don't. Maybe I'll make something up....
Last Friday night we went out on a date and I told him to surprise me. We like the same food (no sushi) so I figured anywhere he liked I'd probably like too. I've realized that I love being surprised. So, he took me to a restaurant in RR that was nice, small, low lighting, excellent steak and then afterward we went to Mozarts down on the lake. It's a dessert/coffee place but it was around 10:30 and not that busy. We were able to sit on their patio for a long time and enjoy the weather and breeze from the lake. It was a lovely time.
Later after we got back to my place and were hanging out, I noticed my back was hurting a little. And no, we were not doing anything kinky! I figured it was just cramps or something. I rarely get cramps...maybe once or twice a year, but it was my lower back so I figured that's what it was. The whole weekend it bothered me. MB and I had separate plans for the weekend - we're trying not to become the couple that ignores all their old friends when they're dating someone new. I have always found that annoying, so I'm glad we're setting time aside to see our friends. Saturday afternoon Nathan and I went out to barbeque and then walked down South Congress and did some window shopping. There's a cowboy boot store down there that all the celebrities shop at. I think the cheapest boots we saw were $300 and some really cool ones were $1200. I should have taken some pictures. Some of those boots were real works of art. Later that night I hung out with the usual gang and we saw the Simpsons movie at Mike's and it was so good! Incredibly funny. Sunday Jayne and I were supposed to go out on my neighbor's boat but they canceled it because they thought the weather would get bad (and it didn't! boo hoo!). Instead, Jayne and I went swimming in her pool. She lives on a really expensive golf course so there aren't a lot of families with kids - we had the pool to ourselves for a couple hours. That helped my back a lot, but it was still painful.
Monday morning I was in agony on the way to work. When I parked, I could barely get out of the car. I tried sitting down and working, but after an hour I was like, no way is this cramps - something is really wrong with my back. The girl in the office next to me goes to the chiropractor once a month and she gave me her doctor's name. I have never been to a chiropractor and never really saw the need. But at that point, I was ready to try anything. They got me in at 10am and did some tests which were so painful I actually started crying. I NEVER cry over pain. They said I have a really high pain tolerance after doing the tests and marking my reactions. Some of the things I reacted to made them realize my back was a lot worse off than they thought from my initial description. It was my lower back - L5 disc that was inflamed. I went everyday this week and I'll go 3 times next week. They've been cracking my neck and back and putting this cool electrode thing on my lower back that pulses electricity through it and works out the muscles. I feel a lot better now, but still can't sit for very long. When I get up my back is incredibly tight. At least my insurance covers it. It's still a $35 co pay every single time. They took X-rays of my lower back and hips (awesome! love x-rays!) and I saw that my hips are a little uneven. They said that they'll work that out and everything should go back to normal in a couple months. I almost wish I had some crazy kinky monkey-sex story that I could blame this on, but I don't. Maybe I'll make something up....
posted by Speck at
11:05 PM
|
3 comments
