San Antonio SeaWorld (Saturday)

I went to SeaWorld with the family yesterday and we had a great time!!

We got our picture taken by the fountain - put my copy in my wallet.

We saw dolphins and sharks in their habitats!!

We saw 4 shows!!

- the Beluga Whale show - "Viva"
- the ski show - "Cool Vibrations"
- the Sea Lion show - (sooo funny) -"Capers??"
- the Shamu show - "Believe" (the one at 8pm - love all the cool light effects on a night show).

We had lunch at the park - we did the "all you can eat" special at the picnic area. (Port-of-Call)
**you have to be a season pass holder to do this - it was yummy and I loved the music that was playing. It was all the stuff I listened to in high school - sooo fun!!!
(Blink182, Madonna, Christina Agularia, Smash Mouth, etc.).

Michelle and I rode the "Steel Eel" rollercoaster. We almost didn't get to go because they had a temporary shut-down. I think it got stuck or something. But they fixed the problem pretty fast so we got too!! Michelle and I liked the roller coaster.
**We wished the bar was lower though - Michelle and I popped up out of our seats a little higher than we would have liked!!
**And a handlebar to hold-on to would have been nice. LOL. It wasn't too scary, I'm just used to having one.

We also spent a lot of time in the Lost Lagoon Waterpark!!
**We started out in the Lil' Gators Lagoon - basically for the babies.
It was soooo hot, I was getting overheated. I was like - let me under the mushroom - after about 2 minutes I was feeling great!!
** We did the lazy river called "Castaway Crusin' - without a tube. They only have a few tubes and they were all occupied!! So we floated without the tube. It was fun. We took turns staying out with Annie - if we'd been able to get a tube we coulda taken her with us!!
**Wave Wash Pool!!! I love the wave pool!! Michelle and Jamie went in whenever the waves stopped. Me: I was out there the whole time, waves and all - 6ft left side (lol)!! Mel and Annie were in the little Oasis area at the very front of the wavepool - away from the waves - getting their feet a little wet!!!

We had lots of liquids!!! Sprite, Lemonade, (UNsweet Tea!!) and Frosted Lemonade!!! Not the hottest day of the year by far - but definitely not cool either!!!

We have Fun Passes so hopefully we go a lot this summer - pray for cooler weather (I know wishful thinking!!!).

San Antonio - The McNay

I went with a friend to San Antonio for the day on Sunday. We had a great time.

We went to a mexican restaurant for lunch and my friend got me to try Menudo and cow tongue . Different. It tastes good - but it's one of those things you don't want to think about when you're eating it!!! My friend refused to tell me what it was until after I tried it. LOL.

We went to the McNay Art Museum and it was absolutely awesome!!

I love art museums. I was happy to recognize a lot of the artists. And was thrilled that they had a John Sloan painting - he is one of my favorite artists - but I'd never gotten to see his work in person before.

I also got to see a piece by Takashi Murakami - a Japanese artist I did a project on in my Senior of High School. it was the first time I've ever seen one of his pieces in person too.

And of course I owww-ed and ahhh-ed over Renoir and Degas. I adore Renoir and Degas!! They have t-shirts in the McNay gift shop with prints of Renoir and Degas artwork. I want one!!!

We tried to go by the "Japanese and Sunkin' Gardens" but the area was too busy - some concert. Have to do that another day (along with the the San Antonio Zoo!!!).

We had a great time hanging out with my friend's folks. They were very nice and I loved their dogs!!! and Birds!! We had a cook-out for dinner and the dogs loved the rib bones. LOL.

Hope to do it again soon.

This Saturday my family and I are going to SEAWORLD in San Antonio -woot woot!!!!
I'm excited. I've only been to Seaworld once before - my 15th birthday. We are planning on getting Fun Passes so hopefully we will be able to go alot this summer. I love shows and I can't wait to check out the 2 rollercoasters. I don't remember doing the coasters when I was 15. I think it was too hot we tried to stay in the shade or AC!!!

"Girl With A Pearl Earring" A Novel By Tracy Chevalier

"Girl with a Pearl Earring" is a 1999 historical novel written by Tracy Chevalier. It takes place in Delft, Holland and was inspired by Vermeer's painting Girl with a Pearl Earring. It fictionalizes the circumstances under which the painting was created.

Plot summary ( from Wikipedia)

Sixteen-year-old Griet lives with her family in a poorer quarter of Delft in 1664. Her father has just suffered a blinding accident and the family's precarious economic situation forces Griet's parents to find her employment as a maid in the painter Vermeer's house.

At the Vermeer house, Griet settles into the family's schedule. She makes friends with the Vermeers' oldest daughter but suffers sabotage and mouthing off from another. She also becomes friendly with Tanneke, the other house servant, but is careful to remain modest and unobtrusive for fear of making Tanneke jealous. These fears later prove to be justified.

During this time, she begins to be courted by Pieter, the local butcher's son. Griet's situation as a maid casts a thin veil of doubt on her respectability and she finds that she has to be both more forward and more careful with Pieter and others than she otherwise would. This is largely because of the bad reputation that maids have for sleeping with their employers. It is not revealed how much of this reputation is earned. The book depicts rumors of employers demanding sexual favors from maids but does not directly show any specific cases. A line, often repeated is, "A maid comes free," implied to mean that maids are more accessible than prostitutes.

Also during this time, the area in which Griet's family lives is struck with plague, and her younger sister Agnes dies. Also during Griet's months with the Vermeers, her younger brother starts having problems with his apprenticeship, being singled out for mistreatment for supposedly accepting romantic advances from his master's wife.

In Vermeer's studio, Griet is exposed to ideas entirely absent from her quiet, modest life. She is fascinated by Vermeer's paintings and his treatment of light. In one scene, Vermeer asks Griet to look at the clouds, and she realizes that even though everyone always talks of clouds as white, they are really a mix of several colors, and a painter must use several different shades of paint so that they will look real. It is implied that Vermeer finds Griet's ability to understand concepts like these unusual.

Gradually, Griet's relationship with Vermeer changes. She is told to run errands and perform tasks for him, such as paintmaking and subbing in for sick models, while keeping them secret from the rest of the house. In particular, Vermeer's sensitive wife would assume that Griet is acting improperly or even having an affair with Vermeer. In contrast, Vermeer's pragmatic mother-in-law recognizes Griet's presence as a steadying and catalyzing force in Vermeer's career.

Griet is warned by Vermeer's friend Dr. van Leeuwenhoek not to get too close to Vermeer because Vermeer is far more interested in paintings than he is in people. Griet realizes that this is true and remains cautious.

the same time, Vermeer's wealthy but licentious patron, Van Ruijven, notices Griet and her beauty and begins to pressure Vermeer to paint them sitting together. Griet and Vermeer are reluctant to acquiesce, due to Griet's strict modesty and a scandal surrounding the last girl who had been painted with van Ruijven. Eventually, Vermeer compromises and begins a painting of Griet by herself, to be sold to van Ruijven. However, he tells her to wear his wife Catharina's pearl earrings. When Catharina discovers this, Griet is forced to leave. Griet at first runs toward the center of town, but then she thinks, "Only thieves and children run." She changes her mind and walks steadily.

Ten years later, long after Griet has married Pieter and settled into life as a mother and butcher's wife, she is called back to the house. Vermeer is dead, and his will has been read. Griet assumes that Vermeer's widow wishes to settle the household's unpaid fifteen-guilder bill with the butcher shop. Pieter laughs and says that he didn't mind losing the fifteen guilders because they bought him Griet as a wife.

At the Vermeer house, Griet learns that even though Vermeer had made no effort to see or speak to her, he had remained very fond of the painting. In addition, Vermeer's will had included a request that Griet receive the two pearl earrings. However, Griet realizes that she could no more wear pearl earrings as a butcher's wife than she could as a maid. She then pawns the earrings and gives most of the money to her husband, claiming that Vermeer's widow had given her the coins to settle a debt with the butcher shop. The book closes on the line, "A maid came free."

***A friend of mine suggested I read this book. I wasn't expecting to get past the first 10 pages without being extremely bored - but was quickly captivated by the story. It's definitely not one of my usual reads - but it was interesting in a quiet way...I really liked it!! :)

I would recommend this book to anyone who loves art!

Half Price on Books and Disney!!!

I got a text message from a friend today letting me know that one of the "Borders" here in Austin is closing it's doors and that everything in the store is half off or 70% off.

Needless to say Michelle and I had to go visit the store before it was gone (last day is May24th)!

We went and Michelle found 3 books. Very good price!

And I FOUND A DISNEY STORE!!!!

When we were living in VA we had 2 Disney Stores near our house - until they both got closed down (about 2 years ago??).

I am absolutely thrilled to have found a Disney store here in Austin. Michelle and I spent a lot of time browsing in there - I especially adore the snowglobes!!!

One of the Joys of Moving to a New State? Getting Totally LOST and Turned Around!! LOL

I woke up this morning and went to work - only to discover I AM OFF TODAY!!!
***I'd misread my schedule (dumb Sha).

So - I called Michelle on my cell phone and said:
"GREAT NEWS I'M OFF (Better NEWS - I'm AWAKE) What do you want to do today?"

She decided she wanted to take the Dogs to the Park.

So we went home so we could change clothes, grab the dogs - and MOST IMPORTANTLY - Print out instructions to the PARK!!

While we were at home I also did some BILLS (yucky) and took inventory on PET MEDS that I need to buy. I discovered I needed all Flea Medication and Rhiley and Maddy only have one month left of Heartworm Medication.

I told Michelle we needed to stop by the Vet to pick up Flea Meds. I'll get the Heartworm pills with my next paycheck.

So - we grabbed the dogs - unfortunately not all the dogs - just our 4. It's too difficult to walk with all six - so Nick and Goldie stayed home.

We went to the vet office first and all the babies got weighed.

Lily loved being inside and laying on the cold tile floor!! She was looking at me with her big "doe" eyes saying "Let's stay here all day!!"

$231 dollars later (each dog got a 5 months supply of flea medication) we hopped back in the car and were off to the park!

We got off at the exit we needed - and then we were sunk - we drove and we drove and we drove.

And we did not see Barton Springs Rd.

However we did see Zilker Park.

Which wasn't the park we were planning to go to - BUT IT WAS A PARK!!

We stopped the car, unloaded the dogs and hit the trail!! And quickly realized that gravel and rocks are not fun to hike on - where is a DIRT trail when you need one?

We reversed course and hung out near the picnic areas (shade!!!) and near the drink stand and pool area.

We got a lemonade from the stand and got 2 doggie cups of water!!
(It was cool today - but not THAT cool!)

Then we decided it was time to go.

We hopped in the car again - this time with the windows up and the AC blasting!

And quickly realized we didn't know how to get back on the interstate from where we were...

We got LOST near the Capitol, but Michelle eventually realized where we were on Lamar and was able to get us back to the interstate.

It was a FUN adventure and now we are home. The pups are worn-out and happy sleeping in the backyard. I am a little sunburned and am happily sipping on a smoothie Mel and Michelle just made us.

Life is Good.

As Marti would say - you never know what your gonna do when you wake up in the Morning!!!!

P.S. sorry no pictures - we packed the camera, but accidentally left it in the car!!

Thursday Was Grooming Day _ Naked Pups!!!

I couldn't sleep Wednesday night so I stayed up all night, and Thursday Morning I woke Michelle up at 8:30am to start grooming the dogs. It took us 5 hours to shave 4 of the dogs and brush out 2.

Madelyne was very happy about getting brushed out!!!

(look at all that gray!! She's 4 years old - she's not supposed to have all that gray hair!!)

Lily liked getting brushed out too - but she's not sure about the camera.

When we first started on Nick we were planning on leaving 1/2 an inch of hair - but then we decided to take it all off.

Nick is one naked Golden Retriever!!!

When we weren't shaving them down they went into the crates so they weren't underfoot. Nick didn't like it too much he wanted to be where all the action was!!

I love my Little Bear - fluffy or naked he is sooooo adorable!!!

We have 5 crates - and they decided to all go into the same one!!!

(shakes head)

Thirsty Puppies!!

Goldie's turn!!!

Michelle worked really hard!!

All Done!!! Rhiley was the last one!!


Goldie all done - look at that color difference!

I love Lily's head tilt!!!

Pretty Girl!!!

Jamie's Horsey Party!!! (2)

I promised to put pictures up of the horses as soon as I was able to!! And I did!!!

Meet the Pretty Horseys:

This is: Faith

I love her coloring - and I adore this saddle!!!



This is: Mirage

I think "Mirage" is the prettiest name for a horse!!

And with the costumes and rope lead this picture looks right out of a fairy tale!!!

Jamie's favorite of the horses was:

Jess-a-belle (Jessie)

- Jamie likes Black horses -

P.S. Jessie and Mirage are both Pregnant!!!

Michelle got her hair cut - SHORT!!!

Michelle had been sporting a really cute "curly" (and light brown) look the past few weeks, but the curls have started to grow out.

So, Tuesday she decided to cut her hair - VERY SHORT!!!

I think the new cut looks really cute on her - but it's gonna take a while for me to get used to it. I don't think she has had it this short since 2nd grade!!

What do you think? Cute!?!?

Jamie's B-day Presents

Saturday, we had the party at the park. After the party we came home and Jamie opened PRESENTS!!!

Michelle holding Annie, Jamie and Sha (me!)

(Mel took our Picture: Jamie's 10 years old - Annie is 6months old)

Jamie likes Pink!!

(I think those shorts and flip-flops are SO CUTE!!)

Webkinz

Jam is really into Webkinz - I'd never heard of them before: they are a stuffed animal that come with a code you use to get online to play computer games. The stuffed animal is your character in the game. Different.

Michelle and I got Jamie two Webkinz for her Birthday :

an Irish Setter and a Blue Whale

I love latch-hook!!

Michelle and I used to do latch-hook all the time with Mel when we were younger. Mel told me Jamie has tried them before. So when we saw the "Pony" one we had to get it!!

We had gone to the store a few weeks ago and seen some blue capris (her Easter Capris)!

So when we went shopping for Birthday clothes I was like -

"We gotta get the HOT PINK Capris!!"

They were a hit!! (Of course!!)

Mel found a Musical Birthday Card - Jamie was Jammin'!!

"Rock Around the Clock"

And her favorite part of opening all those goodies???

Making Tissue Paper fly!!!

Shall We Kiss? (French movie)

Shall We Kiss?

Opened March 27, 2009 Runtime:1 hr. 42 min.
NR
Wry, observant and touching, Shall We Kiss? is a very contemporary meditation on the myriad implications of a simple kiss. When Gabriel and Emilie meet by chance, he offers her a ride, and they spend the evening talking, laughing and getting along famously. At the end of the night, Emilie declines Gabriel’s offer of “a kiss without consequences”. Emilie admonishes him that the kiss could have unexpected consequences, and tells him a story, unfolding in flashbacks, about the impossibility of indulging your desires without affecting someone else’s life.

*Note: Film is presented in French with English subtitles.

Cast: Virginie Ledoyen, Emmanuel Mouret, Julie Gayet, Michaël Cohen, Stefano Accorsi
Director: Emmanuel Mouret
Genres: Romantic Comedy, Comedy

I saw this movie (Shall We Kiss) tonight with some friends and my sister. We did not realize that it was gonna be subtitled until like five minutes before it started!! LOL.

It was quite an entertaining film - I was laughing and blushing so BAD!!!

Good movie - not one I will buy though - I'm not big on subtitled films - I am glad that the dialogue was slow enough that I could keep up with the subtitles. Sometimes the words go too fast to read!!!

I miss My West Tower Friends and Being a Manager!!!

My Friend, Sarah, took these pictures and had them on her myspace. They are from my Going Away Party (March 4, 2009).

Me and my going away cake.

This picture was taken a second before Christian put icing on my NOSE!!

Me and Sarah!!

Nicole, Christian, Horace, and Me!!

My Girls!!!
Puliti, Christian, and Sarah!!


Me with My Girls!!!

I miss West Tower and I miss my friends. I miss being a Manager.

One of the Managers at the theater I am at now just put in her two weeks notice.

I know that a manager from another theater is coming in soon...I don't know if there will be a management opening available at my theater. I hope so, and if so -I hope I get it.

I'll keep my fingers crossed!!!

Jamie's Horsey Party

My cousin Jamie turned 10 this past Wednesday. We just celebrated her double digit with a party today (Saturday).

We had the party at a park not too far from here and there were a bunch of girls. I think 8 in all. Jamie wanted a horse for the party. She got 3!!! Mirage, Jessie (Jess-a-belle), and Faith.

A family friend brought the 3 horses to the park so that all the girls could take turns riding. Michelle even got a turn - she loved it. It's been a while since she has ridden. She truly enjoys riding.

I love horses every bit as much as she does - but I like my feet on the ground. The horses sense this - I've had too many close calls with being thrown off - and have actually been thrown into a ditch. I am happy on the ground and content with petting their noses.

The kids loved feeding the horses carrots.

It was a very fun afternoon and I really wish I could put pictures up, but Mel's computer is being ornery and isn't letting us upload them. Hopefully the boys will get it figured out and I can add the pictures later.

Have a good night!

Domestic, Me????

I did some cleaning today.

Scrubbed the bathroom top to bottom.

Cooked a salmon/pasta dish (turned out good)

I helped Michelle "burn" pizza (oops! smoke detector).

Unloaded the dishwasher, then did some dishes (I love you dishwasher!!!).

Feed the pups and guineas' and gathered all the "pup" blankets in the backyard.

Took out the trash.

Did laundry.

Now I get to go to work!!!

Yay!!!

Reminisce

LOL. Have you ever gone back over your old blog entries???

I have been reading my old blog entries for the last hour and have been laughing soooo hard!!!

Wow!!! I miss my old house and having the Pups indoors. I had soooo much silly, fun blog material!!!

I really need to type on my blog. I haven't posted anything "personal" in a while...

*****

On the that note:

I have made some friends here in Austin and have been hanging out with them regularly.

For the Most part I have been able to have my full-time hours at the Theater.

I am still looking for a second job.

I found a dog organization I want to volunteer with. I need to mail in the paperwork - hopefully I can start volunteering soon.

I need to get the car looked at - probably Thursday. The starter is acting stupid...I'm sure that will be expensive!!

***********

Movie NOTE:

Today was my day off. So I vegged. I watched three movies today:

"Quest for Camelot"

"Anastasia"

"Wolverine Origin"

I watched the first two during the day while I was playing/babysitting Annie.

And then at night, Michelle and I went to the theater and watched X-men's "Wolverine Origin". It was my second time seeing it. I love Gambit!!!

Yay! I got Tagged!! Thanks Shawna!!

#1 What is your current obsession?

Good Obsession? my dogs and dogs in general.



Bad Obsession? I think I have become addicted to Texting and Checking this blogger, FaceBook, Myspace, and my email!!!


#2 Who was the last person you hugged?
Baby Annie - she's gonna be 6 months old this week!!!

She's four months old in this picture!!

#3 What’s your favorite dinner?
hmmm. It changes - but lately Mexican. I love Fajitas.

#4 What was the last movie you saw in the Theatres?
Michelle and I went to see "Wolverine" tonight. Really good - definitely buying.

#5 What was the last thing you bought? (to wear)
These cute blue P.J.s

#6 What is your most challenging goal right now?
Paying off my debt and finding a second job.

#7 What is your weirdest obsession?
ummm -not so much an obsession - but unconscious habit: lately I've been snapping my fingers when I'm trying to remember something.

#8 Why did you start a blog?
My aunt had one that she has been writing in for the last 3? years...thought it would be a good way to keep in touch. Now I live with her and it's a way for my Mom to keep up with what we are doing.

#9 What's your blog about (give me the 2-3 sentence elevator pitch)
Michelle and my day-to-day activities and a lot about our dogs.

#10 Which blogs are you obsessed with at the moment?
My favorite blogs are Elizabeth's (guide dog raiser), Shawna's (sewing, cooking, and her kids) and Anna's (books)

#11 What is your dream job? (realistic or unrealistic)

Opening and running my own dog kennel. It would have dog adoption on one side and dog boarding/day-care on the other.

#12 If you could change professions or careers, what would you like to try?
I'd open my kennel.

#13 Who is your favorite designer at the moment?
I'm not really a designer person, I like what I like - I love the store: Ross. I love the slightly fancy "pattern" shirts.

above: an example of pretty Ross shirt

#14 What are you listening to right now?
It's pretty quiet in the house...the computer keys and the A.C. running.

#15 What is your favorite weather?

I love fall. Cold enough for long sleeves, but you don't need a jacket. The leaves changing colors and the wind blowing...

#16 Say something to the person who tagged you.
Shawna you have the cutest kids!!! They are darling!! And your blog is so FUN!!

I love checking it and seeing what you and your girls are up too!!

#17 Tea or Coffee?
Sweet Tea.
I swear the restaurants here in Texas are weird, where-ever I go here the places only have unsweet tea - you have to add the sugar yourself - which I hate because the sugar doesn't blend well when the drink is cold...I know I'm spoiled!!!

#18 What did you want to become as a child?
I wanted to be an art teacher from the age of 7 - up until my senior year of high school. Then I wasn't sure what I wanted to do. I was 19 when I decided I wanted to open my own kennel. That's my dream now.

#19 If you could go anywhere in the world for the next hour, where would you go?To VA. I want to check on my friend, Michelle. She's been in the hospital for the past 3 weeks waiting on a certain baby to decide if he is ready to be born yet!!

#20 Who do you want to meet in person?
Steve Smith and Alayne Marker. The co-founders of the "Rolling Dog Ranch" in Montana

And I'd like to meet my future husband - can someone deliver that man to my doorstep please!


#21 What's your favorite brand of jeans?
I love jeans!!! I don't have a particular favorite brand, but I do love "Flare" Jeans and I like it when they are a little faded and worn...

#22 One thing that you would snitch out of someone's closet, with no regrets.
hmmm - most of Marti's closet!!! (oh wait I already did that!!) I love to steal her "Bahamas" flowery shirts - they are so pretty!!!

#23 What designer piece of clothing would you most like to own?

I wish I could wear "Hot Topic" clothes - I love Tripp jeans...

P.S. Yes, I know I have a split personality when it comes to clothes. Yes, I did just say Ross, flare jeans, Tripp Jeans, and flowery shirts all in the same survey. LOL. I'm Art-sey!!

Tag time: Mel, Elizabeth, Anna, and Hawk!!!