T&L

I scheduled my annual eye exam this morning to check up on the general health of my peepers and to update my prescription for contacts and glasses. The conversation, as it usually does, went something like this.

Eye Doctor: Hi Lara, I’m Doctor PerfectVision. So, what brings you in this morning?

Lara: I’m just in for my annual eye exam and a new prescription for my glasses and contacts.

Eye Doctor: Have you noticed a change in your vision that makes you think you need a new prescription?

Lara: Not really. But every year after I make a raging fool out of myself during the eye exam, I’m always written a stronger prescription, so I’m just assuming it’s about that time of the year again.

Eye Doctor: Alright, well let’s take a look to see where you’re at. Cover your left eye. Can you read the bottom line of letters?

Lara: Hahahaha

Eye Doctor: What about the next line up?

Lara: Above the dotted line?

Eye Doctor: Those are letters, not a dotted line.

Lara: Oh. Well, no then, I guess I can’t read them.

Eye Doctor: That’s okay, just go one more line up. Can you see those?

Lara: Uhhh…

Eye Doctor: How about the fourth line?

Lara: There’s a K…or wait, it’s a P, maybe…then, ummm…uhhhh…Q?

Eye Doctor: Read me the first line you can see.

Lara: N, D, L, R, S, O

Eye Doctor: That’s the top line.

Lara: Well, will you look at that. It sure is!

Eye Doctor: Now let’s cover up your right eye and try again. What letters can you see from the third line?

Lara: blink, blink

Eye Doctor: Let’s try line four.

Lara: Is that a 7?

Eye Doctor: There are no numbers on the chart.

Lara: So, it’s not a 7?

Eye Doctor: No, I’m afraid not. Just read the letters from the first line you can see.

Lara:  N, D, L, R, S, O

Eye Doctor: First line again?

Lara: I have an excellent memory.

Eye Doctor: Okay, which lense is better, one or two?

Lara: One.

Eye Doctor: One or two?

Lara: Uhhhh…

Eye Doctor: One or two?

Lara: Neither?

Eye Doctor: Hmm, has your vision always been a little blurry even with a new prescription?

Lara: Well, duh. Isn’t that how it is for everyone?

Eye Doctor: Lara, I’d like to dilate the hell out of your eyes for the next 45 minutes with eye drops that feel a lot like acid and will leave you with pupils the size of a spaceship and a highly noticeable wandering lazy eye, so you’ll look a bit like a drunken cat. The dilation won’t wear off for about two hours. In the meanwhile you’ll be farsighted instead of nearsighted for the first time in your life and extremely sensitive to sunlight. We’ll ask you to take out your contacts, fill out paperwork blind, and then try to drive home like this. Remember, you’re farsighted now. Oh, and we’ll charge you $34 for this experience and don’t worry, your insurance doesn’t cover this. Is that okay?

Lara: You had me at drunk cat! Do I really get to wear those amazing roll-up sunglasses and try drive home blind with an empty wallet? Sign me up!

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We dined for half-price on crispy tacos topped with delicious authentic queso fresco and drank divine strawberry daiquiris at our favorite little Mexican eatery in Cincinnati, Ricon Mexicano. We killed time browsing a new furniture store and picking out our dream living room and bedroom furniture sets, laughed about renaming KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken) CFP (Cincinnati Fried Python) in honor of the newest town pet, and then hit up a showing of the animated flick Rio at the dollar theater. It was date night perfection. Every Thursday night should be so grand!

Observation 1: I have seen more lightening in the past six months of Ohio living than in 23 years of Texas living. When we get storms here (which seems to be often) we are almost always treated to some pretty nifty lightening shows as well – sometimes between 3-5 strikes per minute. The intensity and frequency can be alarming at times, and often it’s rapid and bright enough to keep me awake at night, but it can be really beautiful too.

Observation 2: Mother Nature seems to be pissed at us lately. I mean really hacked off. Yesterday we had a pretty massive severe thunderstorm cell sitting directly above our house in Anderson Township for a good hour and a half. The wind was blowing, the sky was dark, the rain was hard and relentless, the thunder was deafening, and the lightning strikes were right on top of us. In a mere 45 minutes we accumulated enough rain to A) terrify me and B) have a serious flash flood that created a deep, rushing river with whirlpool across our driveway and backyard that was so powerful it came pouring through our neighbor’s fence, carried debris, covered the tires and nearly reached the base of Ted’s trailer, and left a nice pool of several inches of water in our basement and garage. It closed several major highways and roads and called for a few high-water rescues in our area. All of that in only 45 minutes. If it had kept up I’m confident that the trailer would have moved at least several inches if not altogether washed away and our basement would have outright flooded. Our comical weather radio thought it a good idea to inform us that it was “mostly sunny” out. My friend Kelley graciously offered to ship me fresh tortillas if I ship her water in 5 gallon pails. They’re as desperate for water in Texas as I am to get rid of it! I do, of course, have proof:

Observation 3: Our trees, too, seem to be supremely pissed at us for some unknown reason. Last night around 12:30 Ted and I both bolted awake when we heard a suspicious snapping sound that we both immediately knew was the sound of a tree falling. I’ve never heard a tree snap before, but it’s one of those sounds that wakes you instantly out of a sound slumber and you just instinctively know what happened. If you’re keeping track, this is our 3rd tree in three weeks. Yes, third. The first two branches were so large we haven’t been able to clear them yet. I wonder if we’ll have any trees left at the end of August? Our landlord has a lot of work coming his way.

Observation 4: I’ve decided I like the administrative side of the arts more than I previously thought. I attended a fantastic workshop yesterday morning about fundraising and development for non-profit arts organizations and I loved everything I learned. There’s a few more coming up on board development and strategic planning, etc. It’s good stuff!

Observation 5: Ice Road Truckers is an addicting show. Ice Road Truckers and Deadliest Catch should both be on your “must watch” list. Do it.

Observation 6: It is indeed raspberry season and they. are. delicious.

Observation 7: We’ve been married for 8 months today and honeymoonin’ time is fast approaching. Excited!

This handsome little guy needs no introduction. He is my angel and a huge part of why I was so looking forward to my Texas trip with eager anticipation. Regrettably (and obviously), I’m not entirely familiar with the neurological inner-workings of the cat brain. I’m a slacker, I know. Therefore, I’m pretty uneducated when it comes to my deepest kitty concerns like, “Will Sancho remember me?” and “Does he remember my scent or my voice?” or “How long can I be away from home before he starts thinking, ‘who is this psycho and why is she weeping all over my fur?'” I’ve been occupied with these and other crucial thoughts since I moved to Cincinnati seven months ago. Much to my extreme (I assure you) joy, Sancho seemed to know me right away. He took a minute to sniff me out then immediately began to nuzzle and lick me. It wasn’t long before the purring kicked in and I knew for certain that he remembered me as the mommy who spoon feeds him jars of turkey baby food (keep your opinions to yourself), buckled his cat carrier into the front seat of my car for weekend trips home during college and played nothing but Christmas music the entire way no matter the season to calm his frantic mewing cries, allowed him to sleep cuddled up next to me at night, and the mommy who scooped his litter every single morning. I love my cat. Cats are, unarguably, the best creatures in existence. I am of the solid opinion that everyone needs a cat. By the way, if my husband is reading this, he’s cringing in intolerable embarrassment and horror and is well on his way to looking into the institutionalization of crazy cat ladies. I am, indeed, crazy for my cat at the ripe old age of 24 and I see no shame in this. Sancho is about as awesome as they come and he deserves all the doting he gets.

Anyhow, after I momentarily got my fill of kitty lovin’ I eventually did make it out of the house to hang out with my core group of girlfriends, all of whom stood up in our wedding.

On Saturday I…

That evening I met up with Katie, Julia (and boyfriend Matt), Kelley (and husband Mike), and Emily (sadly boyfriend Sean wasn’t in SA that weekend) at Aldaco’s Mexican Cuisine for some delicious Mexican food and flavorful margaritas.

On Sunday afternoon I went to visit some of my Magik friends at a post Shakespeare-in-the-Park and pre-summer-camp party. It’s a crazy busy and exhausting time of the year for theatre people, so only about 1/4 of us made it out, but it was so nice to see everyone again!

It was truly wonderful to see my friends again. Of course, I’d love to see them all the time! And I didn’t have time to see everyone I wanted to see. I can name at least 8 other close friends I would have loved to have seen on my Texas vacay. Next time around I’ll make it happen!

Because I have more bragging to do, I have to include one last shot of my beautiful baby boy. I know you can’t get enough of his sweet face or engaging personality either, so enjoy!

With family, friends, and cats like mine, Texas is a fine place to be!

This year has been our first real “homeowners” adventure together. Last October when we learned we’d be relocating to Cincinnati only one week after our wedding, our initial list of desirable qualities in a place to call our own included a nice yard, a little seclusion, a basement, ample storage space, a driveway and/or garage that can fit two vehicles and a trailer, a decent amount of square footage, a fair price, a good neighborhood, a home that’s actual building and grounds were well cared for, and a place that’s close enough to the lures of the city, but far enough away for a little country-time peace and quiet. These are all reasonable requests. And we found a great little place that suited our needs, for the most part. We love our home and we’ve had a blast!

However, six months later, we’ve lived and learned and had our whimsical little bubble popped and now we’re a little wiser and we have a few more “must-haves” to add to our list for the next time around. These include: Waterproof (this is generally a good rule of thumb), new (or at least clean and unstained) carpet, insulated (for the love of God, insulated so we don’t roast in the summer and freeze in the winter and blow all our money doing so!), windows and doors with proper sealing and able weather-stripping, large trees that are healthy and do not crack and come crashing into our yard with alarming regularity, up-to-date and safe plumbing and electrical wiring not left over from 1937, a sound foundation that isn’t bowing in and is in no danger of imminent collapse, ample cabinets for food and gear storage in the kitchen, and – if we’re going to be picky – just a twinge closer to work might be nice. To complicate matters, we still want our original set of criteria to apply too. All of that plus a steal of a price and breathtaking views. That’s not too much to ask for, right?

Well, maybe.

Let me be clear, we love our home. We always will. It was our first house together, the place we moved into as newlyweds. It’s charming and lovely and set-back off the road and all ours! It has a fantastic yard with beautiful views, plenty of wildlife to cozy up to, offers privacy and seclusion, is located in a beautiful and safe neighborhood with an ice cream shop within walking distance, and has a full-level basement, personal parking lot, and lots of room for all our stuff. But when we signed the lease, we didn’t know to check that the house is insulated, that the doors and windows seal, that the basement doesn’t leak, that the foundation is sound, and that all the wiring and plumbing is well-kept. Rookie mistakes. It all seems so clear now, but if you’ve never owned a home before, these things aren’t just inherently obvious. We didn’t realize how hilly and uneven the yard is and how much of a pain-in-the-ass it is to mow. We didn’t think too much about the 316 foot driveway and the 2.5 hours of snow shoveling that would surely occur at 6 a.m. on weekday mornings four months out of the year. We didn’t realize we’d have hundreds of dollars worth of electric bills to pay every month from that lack of insulation, that the trees were heavy and old and dying and would fall into our yard come summer, and that we’d guess that foundation wasn’t going to make it past next winter. We didn’t budget to include not only rent, but also insurance, electric, water, internet, trash and more – all of which added hundreds of dollars to the monthly price tag. To be fair, I think Ted knew all of this, but I fell in love with this house and there was no convincing me otherwise. It was, by far, the nicest house we’d toured. Ted likes it too. It would have been a mistake to let it pass us by.

So, as we began to move forward last week to spend the long days of summer and early fall browsing houses, townhouses, and apartments for rent, something occurred to us. Houses are great. Having land is great. All those things on our initial list of qualities are great. But we’re young and we have our whole lives ahead of us to find a house that is everything we want and more. City living, apartment living might not be so bad for a couple of years. When we first got married, I wanted a house. We’re adults, we’re married and it was our first opportunity to have a house, so I was bound and determined we’d rent a house. And you know what? I love living in a house. But when better to live in the city than when you’re young and can handle the stairs up to your 3rd floor flat? It might be nice to live somewhere closer to downtown, where we can bike to work or at least substantially decrease our daily commute. It might be nice to live in an apartment where we’re not responsible for mowing a lawn every week, or hauling away fallen trees, or shoveling snow off a long driveway. It might be nice for a few years to live in a newer place with insulation. It might be nice to stay somewhere smaller and cheaper and build up our savings account in the meanwhile. We have years of home ownership and maintenance and landscaping ahead of us. We don’t need to rush into it all right now (unless the too-perfect-to-pass-up house that meets all our desires and boasts solar and geothermal energy for $100,000 presents itself). I’m not saying we’re rushing full steam ahead toward to a swanky downtown loft, or a townhouse in the suburbs, or a sweet little apartment, or a just-right house for rent in the hills of the tri-state. But we’re keeping our options open.

What tops your list of must-have criteria for your future home?

I moved away from my hometown in the Texas Hill County nearly eight months ago. Apparently, a lot has changed.

As a kid, growing up in Boerne could have been described as “peaceful.” We had a town swimming pool, a library, a nature center, a gymnastics center, a bakery, an old-time bowling alley frequented almost exclusively by seniors with a nicotine addiction, an animal league/thrift store from which I hoarded cats, a German polka band, a Main Street full of antique stores, and – for a little spice in our lives – there was the Dairy Queen. There were also a lot of ranches with rolling hills perfect for the dreadful 5k walks I was dragged on and an outstanding population of longhorns, horses, roadrunners and armadillos. Please don’t think us uncivilized – we did have 20 churches, 10 bars and a post office. Hardly a child’s paradise. I didn’t quite appreciate the charm of Boerne back then.

As my high school years rolled around Boerne became slightly less dull with the addition of a Sonic Drive-In restaurant, a Blockbuster for movie rentals, a great snow cone stand with at least 100 flavors of awesomeness to choose from and the nicest snow cone lady in existence, one or two shops on Main Street that carried clothing a teenager might consider wearing, and – the crown jewel – a Super Wal-Mart which was blessed by Preacher Bubba Stahl while the BHS band marched through the aisles playing lively orchestral tunes (I’m serious). Impressive indeed.

In college a few more young-adult worthy shops appeared on Main Street, Marble Slab Creamery opened its doors, a pampering massage salon went up, Beer Fest began, the Urgent Care Clinic and Hospital were born, and a delicious Thai restaurant (ethnic food in Boerne? Amazing!) and an organic vegetarian restaurant also came to grace our small town. We had hit the big leagues (but really, it was that Super Wal-Mart that pushed us over the edge)! In the year before I left Texas to get married and become a resident of Ohio, I lived with my parents in Boerne and worked at an excellent youth theatre in San Antonio. At about this time people suddenly decided San Antonio was getting too crowded and the Hill County was the place to be. New homes and big commercial developments began cropping up along I-10 West, looming closer to our dear little town. The Boerne of my childhood, which in the 1990’s was certainly in no imminent danger of being labeled as a “cool place to live” (just ask the escaped trio of alpacas that ran rampant down Main Street one Christmas during the Dickens on Main celebration), was getting just a little bit cooler – both a welcome and unwelcome change.

I arrived home this weekend and, upon driving into town, one thought came to mind:  When did Boerne get so hip!?

A Main Street full of happening young stores stocked with mod yet vintage-inspired clothes and accessories that even I had to try on! A popular 50’s burger joint that serves the latest and greatest fry trend – sweet potato fries! An HEB Plus in the works the size of Rhode Island! A brand spanking new state-of-the-art library with energy efficient instruments, the latest technology, and stunning views of the Hill County from its multi-level windows and dry-erase walled kid lounge! A women’s shelter breaking ground! A swankily decorated gluten-free, sugar-free, non-fat, low-cal Frozen Yogurt shop with odd hippie toppings like boba beads in place of the old pewter store! Marketing firms with funky logos and creative advertising materials!

Very cool, very hip, but what’s happened to the Boerne I knew? The Boerne of the girl scout troop, 4H club, vacation bible school, rodeo, tiny 4th of July fireworks displays, and the annual Berges Fest parade? I mean, those are all still there and we’re still a long ways off from getting anything as outrageous as an art museum, movie theatre, shopping mall, Brazilian Steakhouse, Sushi bar, or sports arena and concert venue…but a hip frozen yogurt parlor and stores that carry stylin’ maxi dresses instead of blue jean vests with embroidered horses? Now we’re pushing the limits! On one hand, it is really great to have things to see and do without the 30 minute drive to the big city, but it’s also hard to imagine Boerne as anything other than a tiny little German town with a blooming senior population, parched grass in desperate need of water, and a small handful of basic country amenities. I love it all the same, but I can’t wrap my mind around Boerne as the new hip place to be.

Ready for the picture proof?

How has your town changed?

More to come in the next few days – Wildlife at Enchanted Springs Ranch, a Texas food diary guaranteed to make you drool, Sancho lovin’, my awesome friends, and a surprise for me!

I’m still tremendously enjoying my brief Texas vacay but thought I’d drop by for a minute to regale you with a little late 1990’s-early 2000’s nostalgia brought on by a highly entertaining discussion at last night’s dinner with my dear friends. I think these few things just about sum up the gradeschool experience of any child who attended school in San Antonio between 1993 and 2001.

First, we have the popcorn shirt. This was fashion excellent at its trendiest. My friend Julia from Wisconsin wasn’t familiar with this sexy style. Apparently this was a Texas thing? The best part was that it started out itty bitty and stretched to fit you. We saw a lady wearing one last night and it brought back all kinds of stylin’ memories. If you were a kid growing up in San Antonio, don’t even pretend that you didn’t own or seriously wanted to own one.

Do you remember the ever-popular rainbow pencil that was sold for $0.25 out of a pencil machine at every single elementary school in south-central Texas? They were top-notch and cool enough that they were actually prone to being stolen by your peers. You definitely didn’t lend these babies out to your friends. If you had these, you were officially rad. These little gems ranked right up there with glittery gel pens and mechanical pencils, which were about the hippest thing ever to an 11-year-old. Last night Emily divulged that she used to participate in the black market purchasing of mechanical pencils for $5 per pencil in elementary school. They were that cool. She said that $5 per pencil seemed reasonable at the time. I about died laughing.

Ah yes, the power bead bracelet. Another must have accessory. Again, don’t pretend you didn’t own at least 5 in a variety of colors and wore all five daily because they brought you powers such as stregth, patience, grace, wisdom, and skinnyness.

Here we have The Battle of the Alamo Imax film that played at Rivercenter Mall’s Imax Theatre. If you went to gradeschool in San Antonio, you DID see this film. If you were extra lucky, as many of us were, you saw this film every. single. year. for six years in a row. You had it memorized. You preffered field trips to the actual Alamo, The McNay Art Museum, The Witte Museum, the HEB Treehouse, The Children’s Museum, The Tower of the Americas, The Magik Theate, The San Antonio Missions, and even the San Antonio Symphony Orchestra performances you were dragged to, but let’s be real, if anyone escaped their schooling years without seeing this cinematic masterpiece at least once (you didn’t), you must have been home schooled. This film is still playing 15 years later.

Pogs and slammers. I have to be honest – I have absolutely no idea what the point of these were, except that you played some kind of game with them (that I obviously don’t remember) and you traded them back and forth and they were a blazing hot commodity. As kids we had millions of them in every imaginable color and pattern and you traded for prettier ones and kept them in special pogs scrapbooks. They were glittery and metallic and the biggest waste of space and time ever. I cannot get over how big the obsession with these things was. I had them, but what was the point of them again? It was just one of those things you had to have in order to exist as a kid in San Antonio.

Watermelon lollipops covered in chili powder, Lucas, and Twang. Nowhere else on Earth other than in Mexico and Texas would it occur to people to coat everything from fruit to lollipops to pickles in absurdly spicy, salty or sour candy powder that, like an acid, eats away at your intestines. This stuff was addictive. It could be purchased at the sketchy south-side Walmarts, from gas stations, street vendors, and the gradschool black market where kids bought it and sold it to other kids for a $0.25 profit (so you could in turn buy a metallic rainbow pencil). You’d think these were drugs and not candy. Unless you’ve had this before, I don’t think I can explain Lucas to you. It’s red and spicy and sour and hot and to automatically decrease the nutritional value of nearly anything, you just spinkled this on it. I may have to buy some today and bring it back to Ohio so Ted can experience the life of a child in San Antonio.

Along those same lines were the most popular after-school snacks for San Antonio school children, all of which were sold at the school by the cafeteria ladies – giant sour pickles spinkled with hot sauce or (what else?) Lucas and Twang, the rainbow popsicle, and Flaming Hot Cheetos. Please keep in mind the organic nature and excellent nutritional content of all these healthy snack choices. Flaming Hot Cheetos are ridiculous. They turn your fingers and tongue bright red and even for me they still require the drinking of milk afterward to tone down the fire in my mouth. Sour pickles are still a guilty pleasure of mine. I love them. Most kids after-school snacks consisted of something like this. Welcome to San Antonio. Be jealous.

While we’re on the subject of food, I’ve had two “Of course. I forgot this is Texas” food moments this weekend. Yesterday morning I bit into what I thought was a lemon poppyseed muffin, only to discover that it was, in fact, a jalepeno cornbread breakfast muffin. Then I remembered I’m in Texas and that of course that wasn’t going to be a lemon poppyseed muffin. What was I thinking? Clearly, I’ve been away from Texas for too long if I couldn’t expect a jalepeno cornbread muffin for breakfast at a buffet. And last night at dinner I ordered a watermelon margarita. When it arrived, the rim of the glass was glistening with what I assumed to be crushed orange flavored sugar crystals to compliment the watermelon flavor of the margarita. I immediately began sucking the sugary powder off the edge, like any normal person, only to be slightly taken back by the discovery that it wasn’t orange sugar at all, but chili powder. Because here in Texas (see chili watermelon lollipop above), we line our magarita glasses with Lucas. Note taken. Now I remember. You know you’re in texas when…

Stay tuned for recaps of my trip to texas!

There are, in my humble estimation, only three cheeseburgers out there worth the calories. I don’t eat them often, but every once every few months I get an insatiable craving for a fat, messy, flavorful cheeseburger. And if I’m going to pack on the pounds to eat a cheeseburger, I’m going to splurge and eat a cheeseburger. A huge, oozy, cheeseburger stuffed with ketchup, mustard, a smidge of mayo, pickles, onions, lettuce, and tomato. My top picks?

1. Culver’s Double Butter Cheeseburger. Okay, now you can say this is just a fast food chain, but Culver’s makes the most amazing cheeseburgers out there. They are my absolute favorite and so worth every single calorie – of which there are many I’m certain. They’re made of Wisconsin meat and cheese and they’re sloppy and drippy and greasy and cheesy and the patties aren’t perfectly round and the pickles are crisp. It is totally perfect. If you haven’t tried one, you have no idea what you’re missing. Get thee to a Culver’s immediately. The crinkle fries and milkshakes aren’t terrible either. In fact, you pretty much cannot top this meal.

2. Kopp’s. This joint only has three locations that I know of – all of which are in Milwaukee. Every time we find ourselves in Milwaukee, this is a must stop place. Like, it makes the to-do list. Their cheeseburgers are huge – really short but wide and stuffed with the toppings of your choice. The messier the better! I literally dream of this place when I know we’re headed to Milwaukee. Yes, it’s that good.

3. Five Guys. This one’s a recent discovery. A chain, yes, but its not really all that noticeable. When a Culver’s and/or a Kopp’s are unavailable or a really freaking long way away, this is a worthy replacement. Obviously I’m into messy burgers with tons of flavor – of which this has both. Good stuff! And it’s even better stuff since it’s the only one of the three that we actually have in Cincinnati.

Well, now that you’ve read more than you’ve ever wanted to read about cheeseburgers (sorry vegetarians!), I have to tell you that tonight was one of those nights. A night I was absolutely desperately craving a cheeseburger. Specifically, a Culver’s cheeseburger…with crinkle cut fries. Not exactly on my healthy eating for life plan by any means, but yesterday was an exception. My dumb people tolerance quota for the day had been breached by noon, there was a long after-work work meeting had me reeling and starving with no time to make a proper meal at home if we had any hopes of eating before 9:30 p.m. It just felt like a great night to splurge. So we did. We got back in the car and drove 25 miles south to our nearest Culver’s in Florence, KY. You don’t need to point out that we drove for nearly an hour, in the rain, and wasted about $15 in gas for a cheeseburger – we already know how ridiculous that is.

Happy Thursday! I bet I know what you’re eating with that beer tomorrow night after work… ;-)

There’s going to be a lot of leaving going on in our lives. Most of it is the happy kind. Some of it isn’t. Like the leaving behind of my fingertip in the door frame of our front door yesterday morning.

Because the general preference is to end on a happy note, I’ll start with the sad kind of leaving first. Yesterday our dear cat Abby had to be put to sleep. She was a gorgeous calico we found at the shelter one day several years ago. She was an adult female with a limp on one of her hind legs – not the most popular combination for a cat adoption, which is partly why we wanted her – and she was the prettiest, sweetest girl with the loudest motor purr ever – we just couldn’t leave her there. She had to have a home; she deserved a great home. When we adopted her, they told us they thought she was only about 4 years old and didn’t know where her limp came from, but yesterday our vet said he thought she was closer to 16 years old. She had her share of medical problems later in life, but she really was the most loving cat out there. Despite her bum leg, she’d scurry up the chair or onto the bed and be in your lap in a second. She’d spend hours there completely content, nudging to be continually pet and cuddled until she fell asleep. She also loved to be brushed – grooming day could not come soon enough and she enjoyed every minute of it. She adored human food and would eat nearly anything she could beg off your plate….and beg she did. Often. Every meal. In her younger days if you didn’t tuck the chairs in she’d be up on the kitchen table instantaneously, whisker-deep in chicken, eggs, salmon, pudding, vegetables, rice, fruit, milk, martinis – whatever she discovered up there was fair game. And heaven help you if she found out you had ice cream. That was game over for your solo dining experience. She loved my dad and followed him around the house every chance she got. She was terrified of baths and despised them whenever we had to scrub her in warm, soapy water. One day she was so scared of her bath that she actually peed on me. Her health has been deteriorating for the past few years and along with shots every few months to keep her in control of herself and pain free, she had a couple of strokes. This really was probably the best thing for her since she was suffering so much, but she was such a loving little girl that losing her has hit hard. She and Sancho were especially close, always cuddling up together on her pillow, so I think Sancho will have a hard time of it too, wondering where his buddy went. But I take comfort that she’s up in kitty heaven, hanging out with her other favorite pal Rufus. Much love to our Abby.

In much happier news, we have a few kinds of nice leaving coming along soon! I finally quit complaining, got off my ass and put in for a new passport under my new last name. To fill you in on all things terribly unimportant, I am wearing the same shirt in both my passport photo and Ohio driver’s license photo. How’s that for expert planning? But do you know what this really means? Sure I’m thrilled to have finally accomplished something that has been looming on my to-do list since November 8, but really, this was step 1 for booking our honeymoon! It’s not officially booked as we still have yet to receive the official production schedule for CCM’s 2011-2012 season so we choose a non show-date. I’ve been doing a ton of research lately and it seems that for the past two days the research has finally been instrumental in helping us to reach a decision. We have it narrowed down to a time frame in which we know we’ll be going (based on the results of the production schedule), we’re 99% positive that we’re sticking with the location we’ve selected, and tonight we made a final decision between the last two major factors we were debating over. But boy does it feel nice to have made some progress! We’re almost there and leaving for this vacation is definitely something to look forward to! Want a hint?

Those are your only two hints. Can you guess where we’re going?

Perhaps the most exciting news this week is that, as of today, I am officially booked on a flight home to my beloved Lone Star State and the great San Antonio! I’ll be deep in the heart of Texas (clap clap!) from Friday, June 3 – Monday, June 6! I am so excited to be going home for a weekend to see my parents, play with Sancho, hang out with my friends, and down some delicious eats!

You know what this means? I’m in town for two and a half days only…I’m taking reservations for time to spend with my nearest and dearest! If you have some free time that weekend and want to see me after a 9-month absence, let me know because I sure as heck want to see you! I won’t be home again until Christmas, so I hope your schedules are clear that weekend! So, let’s plan something :-)

P.S. – And is it just me or is The Big Bang Theory getting funnier every episode?