Time and Place

Purple Day

2009-01-29T22:19:00.003-06:00

Purple is the order of the day for Imposter Color Week, organized by none other than Miss Mary T. While not an official purple lover, it has begun to win me over, little by little. When I was in preschool, we had a pink and purple party. I never considered how the boys might have felt about that, but for me, it was a party to remember. In middle school, my sister was a bona fide purple fan. There was a kiosk in the RiverCenter mall in San Antonio devoted to all things purple and she would always want to spend time in there when we would visit our San Antonio relatives. Reesie looks pretty darn cute in purple (and polka dots too) so I snapped her picture, along with some new growth on my rose bush, a piece of purple fabric from my great grandmother's doorstop, and a slightly blurry shot of Jingo and his stolen purple toy. For more color week photos, check out Mary T., Sonnie, and Chrissy's cool posts.

Jingo and the purple toy he stole from the Cox kids.

Lovely new growth on my roses. Too bad I'm going to prune them in February.

My Aunt gave me this super cool doorstop made by my great grandmother.

Green, a Day late...

2009-01-29T08:13:00.005-06:00

Green is one of my favorite colors, so you can imagine my frustration when my camera decided not to play along with Imposter color week yesterday. It's on its last legs, and until I can get my dream camera, I'm just going to have to coax it along.

Here is green, a day late - which is better than never I suppose-

When I was a kid, I would make up stories about pencil families -I'm sure these rulers would have been a happy family too..

Tready's legos- now Rees' favorite plaything.

At the end of the day, Green defeats blue in a battle of the ray guns.

If you haven't already, please check out Mary T.'s blog for green photos featuring The Snapper herself, and Chrissy and Sonnie's fab green day shots too!

Polka Dotty Day

2009-01-27T20:48:00.003-06:00

Clear-ly polka dots are everywhere!

Our dotty dog, Jingo!

Nature's polka dots- nandina berries

A Target find.

For more Color Week posts, Check out Mary T., Chrissy, and Zay.

Red-dy for the week

2009-01-26T16:31:00.006-06:00

Mary T. has coordinated color week for us. Expect a colorful post each day. Today's color is red. While my kitchen is primarily pink, I think it secretly wants to be red.

Enjoy!

We bought this bib for Rees before we even knew she was coming!

This little guy is both a bit scary and jolly.

Did you know that Scott and Nick collect "rare" candy? Now you do!

Ch-Ch-Change

2009-01-20T23:47:00.005-06:00

Why is it that all that is on at 11:45 p.m. is a Ziggy Stardust concert, Spaceballs, and Heavy Metal 2000? It's like all of the cable stations wore themselves out with Inauguration coverage. I just heard that the Obama girls are watching Bolt and High School Musical III- thank goodness for them they aren't flipping channels while their parents are out dancing the night away.

I was happy that most media outlets offered streaming online coverage, since I was BACK TO WORK today.. I know I know, I had a lot longer vacation than most, still its hard to get back. Thankfully we stopped our faculty meeting and watched it on a video projection screen. For some reason I was in charge of keeping the darn thing running, which was no small feat, given the fact that a ka-gillion people were all crowding the Internet trying to get a glimpse of history.

I could totally identify with the various students that were interviewed along the Washington Mall today. Many expressed a desire to see something of this importance for themselves. People, old and young, were giddy with excitement and anticipation. I recalled a simialr feeling in the air back in January 1993 when Bill Clinton was inaugurated. I was a second semester freshman at UT, and I watched the inauguration on a small television in the University Co-op bookstore where I had been buying books for the coming semester. People crowded around the tv and stood silent as President Clinton was sworn in. It was a defining moment and one that echoed today's air of anticipation. I had campaigned for Clinton, was working for a yellow-dog democrat at the Texas Capitol and felt totally invested in the government. Shoot- I was only 18...

While I am not sad to see him go, I did scan President Bush's face as President Obama gave his speech. I can't help but think that he never thought it would all turn out this way.I supported Bush as governor of Texas, attended both his inaugurations and even two inaugural balls. (the balls were something else- long gloves, long dress...) I interviewed Laura Bush one-on-one in her small office at the state capitol when she was first lady. She was gracious and kind and didn't rush me a bit. When he was inaugurated as President, I was hopeful for a return to Texas prominence on the national scale. But, the rest of the story, as we now know, was something quite different. Bush surrounded himself with complete idiots or worse, malicious people hoping to further their own agenda. Instead of national prominence, Texas was reduced to the butt of jokes and most of Bush's Texas confidantes left his inner circle long ago.

So it is with a happy heart that we move on into something that has promise and hope. I'm heartened to hear that the Consumer Protection Act is going to be reviewed and was chosen by Change.org as an issue with immediate importance. And I'm also excited that when I got home from work today, Reesie was excitedly pointing to the t.v saying "Barrrk, Barrrk"

Lazy Day

2009-01-11T23:55:00.003-06:00

This is the life!

Soup yourself

2009-01-11T19:34:00.006-06:00

A Haiku to soup:

Soup.. comfort food, simple

warm and inviting rich broth

makes your tummy smile

So I had this cauliflower. And the Pioneer Woman had this recipe. So I had a dream of recreating her fabulous soup to round out a fabulous weekend. The cauliflower was perfect and local - straight from Millard's farm via the Farmer's Market. While I had the majority of the ingredients, I was lacking onion, parsley, and half and half. Off to the store went Scotty.

chicken broth - check, cauliflower - check, soup tureen- double check.

Up the ladder went Scotty to retrieve my soup tureen. I'd never used it before, somehow it seemed too precious. I bought it from the estate of my dear friend's mother, Miss Dot. Miss Dot out-Martha-ed Martha with her complex and unbeliveable holiday meals. There would always be at least three or four soups, served in beautiful tureens. After she died, I felt so lucky to get one of her tureens.

While getting the tureen, he realized that the shelf it was sitting on was precariously teetering on a broken peg. Back to the store went Scott to get new pegs AND more butter. He not only fixed the shelf, but re-organized too. I should make soup more often.

The soup was really good, and it looked good too. Miss Dot would be proud.

Thankful

2008-12-10T22:57:00.002-06:00

Okay, so I know Thanksgiving is over.. it really is just a bleep in the calendar compared to the huge holidays of Halloween and Christmas. And while the turkey (and the corresponding leftovers) has been eaten, I'm still thinking about everything I'm thankful for. So indulge me if you will in a re-counting of recent blessings:

warm mochas on a cold day. Today Mary T came to my door with a wonderful mocha to fuel our trip to the beauty shop. It was a very welcome surprise.
Far away friends who took the time to show me the sights. It was so wonderful seeing Kealy earlier in November. She is really the most wonderful hostess. I find myself thinking of Portland often, and wanting to get back.
Festive pals ringing in the Christmas season. It was great to see a bunch of friends at the Nine Flags lighted Chritmas parade. The best part? Watching Rees watch the floats, watching Pat play Santa, watching our very own doll Ruby the whistler go through 2 costume changes, and eating!
Living vicariously. Thanks to Sonnie for sharing pics of her recent cruise. Her description of the dolphin swin was awesome.
Winding down the school semester. Even though I've got a lot left to do, the end is in sight!

Thai one on...

2008-11-13T22:15:00.003-06:00

Today has been a series of ups and downs. This morning I had the great pleasure to talk architecture with a reporter from the Austin-American Statesman working on a story about a building I wrote a National Register nomination for eight years ago. He found my name through my blog so that was cool. Not cool was getting to the confrence 10 minutes early, only to find 1) that almost all of the breakfast food was gone and 2) that both the sessions I was interested in were full. Portland has a strict policy that if a breakout room is full there is no standing room..I ended up coming back to the room and worked on some emails and course stuff. I tried to go to the second session of the morning only to be foiled again.. Full...

At 2:00 central I gave a long-distance lecture to my tourism class using a webcam. That worked out pretty well, and I had just enough time to catch lunch at the conference..WRoNG! They were out of lunches when I got there. They were about 50 short.. talk about mutiny. There is nothing so bad as 5o interpreters who are hungry and waiting on food...I finally was able to eat and did actually get to attend a pretty good session over technology and interpretation- using iphones, gps, and ipods to do tours at museums and nature sites.

Afterwards I met up with my good pals from High School and got to hang out at their awesome home. The highlight was a fabulous 4 course meal at a rocking Thai place. Pad Thai, Drunken Noodle, Tom Kha soup and spring rolls..yum..plus good company and the most adorable little boys ever..

Unfortunately as the evening has worn on, I am working on a raging sore throat and earache..I'm hoping that it will be gone by morning..I've got a bookstore and a whole street full of vintage clothing shops calling my name.

It's a new day

2008-11-13T11:02:00.003-06:00

The sun is shining, the birds are singing and best of all- I'm going to get to see Kealy this weekend! Woo-HOO!!

I had a hard time sleeping last night because I kept thinking of all those books.. just sitting in that enormous bookstore, calling my name. I'm taking a tour of Portland's China town tomorrow, but hopefully I can steal away for a few more hours at Powell's. It must be love...

Portland

2008-11-12T23:38:00.003-06:00

I'm here in Portland, and guess what? It's raining! Last night, after a full day of travel, I wasn't so sure that I was happy to be here. I gave my presentation to a packed room today and I think it went okay. I had a few questions from the audience and no one threw organic tomatos or recycled plastic ware. A few thought on Portland:

1) It's beautiful. There are gorgeous trees with leaves every shade of red, orange and yellow.

2) It prides itself on its sustainability. I ate dinner at a Burgerville last night. The menu featured sweet potato fries or regular, organic pumpkin shakes and non-hormone crazed beef..

3)People are generally very friendly and pretty talky.

Tonight I ate at this crazy restaurant called Sushiland. It had a conveyor belt resplindent with sushi, nigiri, edamame and more. I had a spicy crunchy tuna, miso soup, edamame, a veggie roll and a tempura shrimp roll plus a Black Butte Porter for $11.50. Can you believe it? Next stop was Powell's books. Apparently it is the world's largest independent bookstore. At 68,000 square feet of heaven, I can't imagine anything any bigger. I was there an hour and didn't make it out of the children's section.

I'm hoping to catch up with Kealy over the weekend and tomorrow night some friends from high school are taking me out for Thai food. I miss my family - Red Menance, the Snapper, Scotty and of course Jingo too.. as you can see, I'm salving my wounds with GOOD FOOD!

remembering October

2008-11-05T21:02:00.002-06:00

I've gotta tell you. I am ready for a change. Not the political kind, although I gotta say that is pretty exciting, but a change from feeling the damp cloud of sadness that came with the month of October this year.

At the beginning of the month we lost my mother's sister.. my aunt Bettye. My aunt had been ill since a stoke nearly two years ago. She was ready to go, even though the rest of us weren't ready to let her go. Her death was a surprise to me, though it shouldn't have been. My uncle, who had been her partner for over 44 years, held up remarkably well at her funeral. I offered to write the obituary, but he decided against an obituary. As it turned out, I ended up writing the eulogy, which the minister read verbatim over her grave at the funeral. It wasn't written to be a complete eulogy, and I left out some of the things I remember about my aunt: that she would always kiss our hands, close them and say "lock it up, lock it up" when we would leave their house in Dallas. That she used cameo soap. That she liked to have her feet rubbed. She never had children, and my sister and I were her closest neices to my knowlege.

I had been thinking of her, missing her most of the month when we lost our dog Pogo. So many people have sent cards, sent kind thoughts and said comforting words to us. One of the sweetest cards said that "one day we will be able to remember his antics and laugh." I know it is true..we had so many good times with him.

So as you can see, I'm ready for a change. I'm ready to get going with November.

Ike!

2008-09-15T11:43:00.003-05:00

Well, we made it through remarkably well, considering that this image is just about 75 feet from our house. We, unlike so many of our friends and famillies, have power. We were only out of power from 12:30 p.m. on Saturday until about 7:30 p.m. I have no idea how that is possible, but I'll take it.

Our neighborhood was hit really hard, with massive trees down everywhere. The Daily Sentinel has some good pics of the path of Ike as it made its way through Nac.

Last night we had some folks over for an electricity party, and my parents are staying with us. Now for the clean up!

Hunker down now Y'all...

2008-09-12T10:40:00.002-05:00

I'm interested in where the term hunker down originates from. I don't recall hearing it much outside of old war movies until we waited out Hurricane Rita last time. Even thought the digital sign at Walgreens' consistently reminds us to by a NOAA weather radio for only $29.99, we still only have our regular old battery operated AM/FM deal. During Rita, we all came into the front living room, turned the radio on and listened as announcers took calls all over East Texas from those who were hunkering down. A typical call went like this..

Announcer: "Howdy, you are on KFROG FM. What's it like where you are?"
Caller: "Well Sammy Bob, the missus and I are hunkered down here in Broaddus. We're at my Aunt Lil's watching the pine trees snap like toothpicks at a Catfish King"

Since NPR had abandoned the airwaves we were stuck with *gasp* E. Texas commercial radio during the duration of Rita..Caller after caller noted how they were "hunkering down".

This time around I'm making sure we have all the essentials:

batteries - check
flashlights -check
diapers - check
Books 3 & 4 of Twillight - double check

I can't think of anything else we'd need to hunker down...

(really) wish you were here

2008-08-16T23:43:00.006-05:00

Greetings from Anchorage! I'm on day 4 of my 10 or so day trip and I am experiencing something I haven't had since I left Texas.. Quiet! There is a pretty big group of us here, including my major professor and her family, another graduate student and her extended family and a researcher and videographer. All in all it has been pretty good. Here are the Highlights so far:

Staying at this place in Cooper's Landing, and having a morning hot tub soak next to this unbelieveably blue river.

Eating well. We haven't eaten out once, but since we have some Taiwanese folks on the trip, they are making some really fantastic dishes. Tonight was a vegetable soup that was really good. I also had a famous Reindeer dog from M.A.'s hotdog stand. Grilled onions, cream cheese, reindeer...what more can I say?

The scenery. Too bad photos don't do it any justice.

Rees has had a good time. Today she went with all the kiddos to the Alaska Zoo. She's also hiked on the back of someone up to the rapidly receeding Exit Glacier.

The Lowlights:

Being away from my husband and family

Having to work, and not being a tourist. Interviewing is hard for me,and I'm a little uncomfrotable approaching people.

Not being able to hang out in Anchorage, or go on a charter boat out of Seward

Getting up early and working until midnight or later

Being away from Rees during the day and missing her adventures
Not making the fab joint birthday of Chrissy and Mary

I'm hoping to post more later...here are some pics from the trip so far.

What does it take...

2008-07-15T00:08:00.002-05:00

To get outta town?

How about -
2 wheelchairs
1 wheelchair lift
1 high chair
1 pack n play
120 diapers
2 coolers
1 57 gallon tub full of dry goods
4 suitcases
2 laptops
4 GI joes
1 airsoft gun
2 dogs
1 5x8 U-haul

Whew! Good thing we are getting away from it all!

Week (end) wrap up

2008-07-13T09:30:00.003-05:00

It just seems like summer is flying by, and there isn't enough time to swim, sleep and eat watermelon with pals. Make no mistake, I'm trying to make the most of long days and time off.
To that end, I'm heading northward to work on some dissertation research today. Colder climes, here I come!

Last week I got to meet a new friend who discovered my blog during her re-location to Nac efforts. She and her daughter (and husband, I'm sure, although I didn't get to meet him) are super cool. I hope she'll take part in our renagade crafting sessions. She's already scoped out Morning Glory, got a library card and joined the CSA. What more can I say? Welcome!

On the first day...

2008-06-30T20:56:00.002-05:00

Today has been the first full day with just the Runnels' girls. This morning I got Nick shipped off to camp to join Scott, then left Reesie with her new best friend - a ninth grader she met at VBS. I had a few work meetings, came home and dropped the sitter off and Rees and I hit Walgreens.

I like Walgreen's, I just wish that
1) they weren't enemies of historic preservation
and
2) that they didn't do those buy 2 for $5.99, or 1 for $3.99 deals
what a rip. Btw - that link above is just one of the numerous examples of how Walgreen's rips up historic properties, including my beloved Frisco Shop.

My quest was some candy for my niece in China. Her favorite is M & M's but I knew they wouldn't make it in the summer heat. I settled on candy necklaces --mmm sticky sweetness, and couldn't help but pick out a Lisa Frank sticker book (1200 stickers in everyshade of bubblegum pink!) and then a Candyland watercolor book. I also picked up some Dr. Pepper flavored ice pops for my brother in law. I won't reveal the entire contents of the package to China since my sister reads this blog.. but its goood. REALLL good! The main thing is the bumpo seat which I scored at Goodwill over the weekend.

Reesie and I took a trip to the postoffice to mail the package plus 5 letters to Scott and Nick and a package too. They'll be dancing and singing until dinner if I get my way..mrahhhaa...
The postal workers were quite enamored of her and she enjoyed the change of scenery. I took her over to her grandpa's for a quick nap and ran to the libray to renew my current read, Barbara Kingsolver's Animal, Vegetable, Miracle and to return a big pile that included The Runaway Bunny and The Yiddish Policeman's Union by Michael Chabon.

That last one was Scott's latest book to finish. Its an alternate history to what might have happened if the Jewish state was set up in Alaska instead of Israel. He liked it I think. All I know is that he woke me up at 2 a.m. last week to tell me that it mentioned Nacogdoches. The dialogue goes something like

"Where is Palestine?"
"It's about two hours from Nacogdoches"

Obviously a play on the Palestine/Palesteen pronunciation.

Tonight I ate grilled Salmon and veggies from the CSA with my in-laws. Dessert was fresh raspberries with sour cream and brown sugar. Kroger's got raspberries on sale for $1. Woo hoo! Did I mention I love summer?

Weekend Recap

2008-06-29T22:41:00.002-05:00

It has been one of those wonderful summer weekends. I can't complain about how I spent ANY of my time this weekend. How rare and wonderful!

Friday started off by getting jazzed at VBS then sprinting off to the Library to give a Blogging 101 workshop for the Teaching Excellence Center. The audience was filled with tenured, senior faculty and friendly faces too! Thanks Chrissy for supporting me. I want to team teach Blogging 202 with Chrissy next time. I got everyone on their way to making a new blog, then ran back to the church to pick up Nick and Rees. Nick had the very strange scent of movie theater popcorn on him. It all made sense when I learned he had been slip n' sliding in popcorn butter, ketchup and chocolate syrup with the rest of the 6th graders. He assured me that he had a shower at the church- I only learned later that it was a shower sans soap. Oh well.

We picked up Scott and headed to Lufkin so he could finish up his teaching gig at the Museum of East Texas Art Camp. After we dropped him off, Nick, Rees and I went to the Goodwill. I scored a Baby Bumpo seat for $5. Then I took Nick to the Army/Navy store. He was in hog heaven and came away with personalized dog tags and an army issue beret. We still had time to kill, so I suggested Big Lots. Much to our luck, Ruby was pulling in right as we were. She hopped in the car and we headed to the Lunch Box for lunch for her and Rees and a snack for Nick and me. Then we returned to BigLots for an hour or so of fabulous discount shopping. I scored a gorgeous package of Mrs. Sullivan's pecan pies and a few other things. We parted ways with Ruby and picked up Scott. Our destination- dinner at UFO pizza. I highly recommend this Brick oven style pizza place. We had the veggie with artichokes and peppers and also one with meats of many nations. When we got back to Nac, the boys hung out and watched the Dirty Dozen, while I hung out with some gal pals drinking wine and gabbing.

Saturday started off great too! I picked up Chrissy for a Farmer's Market expedition and got some wonderful white peaches from Promiseland orchards. YUM! I had a hankering for Fried Green tomatoes so we went to Butcher Boys for lunch then ran errands with the family. Saturday night I helped Scott and Nick pack for camp and organized my recipe box.

Today has been good too- I got Scott sent off to camp then hung out with the parents. Rees and I had a nice dinner of leftovers for me and squash, chicken and pasta, and avocado and yogurt for her. She was sleepy early and went off to bed without a bath or change of clothes.

Tonight I've been catching up on emails from work, cleaned the kitchen and watched *gasp* the Miss Texas USA pageant. Hopefully this will be the start of a great week!

V.B.S.

2008-06-27T00:18:00.003-05:00

This week I have been a crew leader at our church's annual Vacation Bible School. It has been an interesting experience and I've actually learned a lot. Namely that teaching college students is a piece of cake compared to 6, 7, 8 and 9 year olds. Whew! It has been a wild week.

The theme for the week was Power Lab. It's actually been pretty cool. Each day we've done some experiments (today was mentos and diet coke) and then tied it back to a Bible lesson. Each day the kids have learned about being thankful, brave, helpful and so on. We do crafts, sing songs, play games and generally act silly. I drew the line today when one of my 8 year old charges announced that we would ALL be doing the crab walk down the hall way!

All in all, its been a great experience. Our church is a Free Summer Lunch site for children, and our VBSers have also participated in the free lunch this week. I think it is great that kids can have access to solid nutrition even though school is out. Today they had watermelon, apple juice, something called pizza sticks and cheese crackers.

Next week Scott and Nick leave for a week of church camp. Rees and I will be bachelorette- and I will join the ranks of my pals who have had spouse and partners gone for extended periods this summer. I'm excited for the boys, but I'm sure going to miss them - and their diaper changing skills!

Two Toed Sloth

2008-06-21T00:27:00.002-05:00

So I buy this new pair of peep toe sandals. They are super cute, and actually fit my wide feet. Last week, as we are running out the door to a potluck, I decided at the last minute to wear them for the first time. No problem right? Except for the fact that I've put off getting that "beginning of summer" pedicure.

So I do what many a time-crunched lady would do... I paint just the 4 little piggies that actually show through the cute peep toe. Crisis averted, and my bright pink toes looked pretty darn cute if I do say so myself.

Walk in to the potluck and immediate realize that I am the only one wearing peep toe sandals with bright pink toenail polish. As a matter of fact, I'm the ONLY ONE WEARING SHOES! Apparently this was a "shoes off" affair. Luckily I was ablea to curl my toes, tuck them under my jeans then finally inconpicuously scrape away the majority of the pink polish. I think I got away with it...

I've definitely learned my lesson on the old 1-2 paint job.

(re) connect

2008-06-17T17:42:00.002-05:00

Part of the beauty of MySpace and Facebook and email and even blogs is that old friends can be "found" or re-discovered or brought up to speed on things happening. Just recently I reconnected with a friend from high school that I hadn't seen or talked to in over 15 years.

So I wonder why I'm totally down about a friend who doesn't want to reconnect? Could it be that she was a mentor of mine and more than just a friend when I was an undergrad? Could it be that we shared a lot of fun times at the Texas Association of Museum's annual conference? Could it be that I eventually followed her into architecture school and found my niche in historic preservation?

Actually, I think it has something to do with the beautiful red acrylic bowl that is currently holding our farmer's market bounty. She gave it to us for our wedding, and it's been on our counter ever since. I think it was meant for chips and dips, but the flowing organic shape of it is perfect for fruits and veggies.

She was the first person that I ever knew who brought a cooler to Central Market and stocked up on fine wine, cheese and bread long after she had left Austin. She was sort of the older sister I never had.

I last saw her in November of 2005 at her wedding. It was just perfect and everything was beautiful. We exchanged Christmas cards in 2006 and I sent her one in 2007. Sometime in 2006 we lost touch. I tried to email and even visited her museum on my way out to Guadalupe Mountains but didn't hear anything from her again.

Just recently, as I was cleaning out the red bowl, I thought to try to re-connect again. I sent an email and-

no response.

I'm thinking of sending an old fashioned letter, apologizing for whatever transgression I might have made. Any suggestions??

(Pizza) Pie Man

2008-06-12T17:29:00.003-05:00

You may not know this, but our very own Red Menace is not only a kid-about-town and all around good guy, he is also an award winning chef! Nick placed 1st in the Nacogdoches County Extension's Kid's cooking contest with his Double Blueberry Pizza recipe. He developed the recipe, tested two variations and cooked it to perfection. If you are interested in it I'm sure he'll be willing to share!

Shhh...don't tell her

2008-06-11T18:55:00.004-05:00

As I have chronicled here, you know that the Snapper is the happy recipient of many wonderful gently used and just plain fab clothes. Dressing her is really a delight- but I seldom get to buy her clothing myself. I'm not complaining - but with 2 grandmas and numerous "aunties" in town - her wardrobe is taken care of.

We really haven't bought many toys either- she has a few faves and LOVES books too. She's easily amused by a spoon or even the Kroger circular. But we just couldn't resist picking up the classic Fisher Price chatter telephone for her birthday recently. I know, I know, it isn't for 2 more months, but you don't see these beauties every day. The box says that it was introduced in 1962 as a way to teach children how to use a rotary dial phone. Lucky for us, we actually use a rotary dial phone.

The challenge for me is going to be keeping it a secret from a very busy baby. And from buying all the "classic" Fisher Price toys BEFORE August!

Good Luck Kitty

2008-06-09T22:52:00.003-05:00

I couldn't resist posting this shot of the Snapper, begging her daddy for a bite of Blue Bell's newest flavor, Southern Hospitality. Of course I wanted it just for the carton, but it is actually pretty good for non-homemade ice cream. It doesn't hold a candle to Kendal's ice cream creations, however.

My other motive for posting this pic is to show off my recently finished Maneki-Neko onesie that I embroidered for Reesie. I used Sublime Stitching's t-shirt stabilizer for the first time, which I HIGHLY recommend. It made stitching through jersey so much nicer.

Sad day

2008-06-09T09:49:00.002-05:00

The fabulous-ness of the weekend (complete with Pink Panther watching, day lilly buying, onesie embroidering, and two potlucks) was completely clouded by this morning's news of the Texas Governor's Mansion burning yesterday.

The paper reports that the cause of this tragedy is suspected arson. It is a true crime against the people of Texas that this building would burn. I know the building intimately - having attended numerous functions there when I lived in Austin - and then studying it as a preservation student. Built in 1856 by msater builder Abner Cook, this Greek Revival house was elegant and stately. It stood near the capitol building, tucked away on a side street. As a student,I wrote the National Register Nomination for it's next door neighbor, the Austin Tribune Building. Right before I left Austin, I worked as an architectural historian for a downtown firm. I'd take the bus downtown from my Delwood duplex and my route would take me by the Governor's mansion each day.

Fortunately, the mansion was undergoing restoration. Most of the furnishings and even some architectural elements like doors and windows had been removed for safekeeping. The current occupants, Rick and Anita Perry, were living in a rented house in West Austin. Already, preservationists from around the state are calling for complete restoration. To lose this piece of Texas history would be a terrible terrible shame.

Gettin' it done

2008-06-06T09:34:00.003-05:00

Frank Gehry on the Simpsons

This has been a pretty productive week, all told. I'm finally at the end of teaching a 4 week online Travel and Tourism class. I started 2 onesies for Rees, paid bills, cleaned out Rees' wardrobe, watched Nick and Scott clean Nick's room, mailed some correspondence, re-upped our subscription to the New Yorker and Preservation magazines, and got a haircut.

In between all of that I made baby food, picked up some locally grown eggs and a chicken from Heritage Farms, and went to the public library! I'm happy but beat!

Tonight I'm excited about the "Cool and Collected" closing at the Cole Art Center, followed by a screening of a film about architect Frank Gehry. Gehry is a super cool architect, famous for the Guggenheim musem in Bilbao, Spain and the Disney Concert Hall in L. A. He makes materials do things no one else can.

Tomorrow its on to the Farmer's Market then the Daylily Farm. A church luncheon on Sunday (YUM!) and a Parenthood Juggle Teaching Circle social. Can I re-iterate my love for SUMMER??

Still Smiling

2008-05-23T17:41:00.003-05:00

I have to admit, I was completely overwhelmed by the well-wishes, e-cards, phone calls and visits I had yesterday in celebration of the big 3-4. The day started off snuggling with Rees - then the phone rang. It was my dad. He instructed Scott to wake me up so he could be the first to wish me a happy birthday. After that, there was a steady stream of good thoughts sent my way.

M & K took Scott and I out to lunch at the best new place in town, the Garden of Good Eatin'. I feasted on chicken and dumplings, fresh squash, carrots, cornbread and buttermilk pie. YUM! I guess you could say Southern food was the theme of the day. My mom and dad made my favorite smothered steak with fresh green beans and rice, and Scott made a bananna pudding confection to die for. Then came the presents. The ever-fabulous Lee Brothers Southern cookbook (that includes a chocolate grits ice cream), a book by Madeline author Harry Bemelmans, called Hotel Bemelmans, and the New Yorker Magazine's collection of food writing. I'm set for the summer.

The best present, however was the touching tribute from my sister who lives in China. I'm not sure how to top what she wrote about me...Thanks sis! We are off to Austin to see Jack Kerouac's On the Road scroll at the Ransom Center. Hooray for summer!! Hooray for birthdays!

Knights of the Roundtable

2008-04-10T22:17:00.004-05:00

I've been thinking a lot about local food and food-ways lately, and I've been wondering why we don't have restaurants like the Columbia Roundtable that I wrote about a couple of days ago.

From the very un-scientific research I've done, it seems like these places are only found in Mississippi. There is one in Vicksburg, McComb, and of course Columbia.

We barely put a dent in it...

The best fried chicken I've ever eaten...

Sweetie pie

I've heard tell of a new restaurant here in Nacogdoches that serves good, locally grown home-cooking. I'm pretty excited to try it before it catches on and get too popular. Unfortunately for me, it is only open M-F 11 -2.

In the meantime, I plan to attend the Quantity Foods luncheon being made by our SFA hospitality students next week. Next week's theme is local food and 100% of the meal is going to come from locally produced fruits, veggies and Bellebrook farm organic beef. For $10 diners will be treated to locally grown epicurian delights. The luncheon will be held Thursday, April 17 and starts at 11:30. Let me know if you are interested in getting a ticket to this super-cool event.

Hooray!

2008-04-10T11:09:00.003-05:00

Well, the SFASU School of Art has made a fantastic decision! They decided to hire our good neighbor (and husband of fellow crafter, Michelle) Neal Cox for a tenure track position! That means that us crafty folks will get to keep Michelle in our group and it also means that the art students at SFA will have a great faculty member.

Check out Michelle's store - she is doing some AWESOME things, especially for little ones!

Hooray!!

March Madness

2008-04-07T12:45:00.003-05:00

What happened to March?

The month just flew by and I had every intention of at least blogging once, but you know about good intentions, right?

March was a whirlwind of babies, trips, and Easter bunnies galore. All in all it was a fun (and busy) month. Some highlights:

Welcoming Baby Ava Raye! It was fun getting to know my new neice and hanging out with my 20 month old neice Annabelle. I think my sister and her family are getting adjusted to being back in China after being in the states 6 weeks, but we miss them!

Eating our way through the south:

For spring break, we headed for Hattiesburg, MS to see Scott's grandmother. We took the scenic route through New Orleans so we could take in the National WWII museum. Wow! It was pretty incredible and 3 hours + wasn't near long enough. The day we were there, Anne Frank's step-sister was speaking. I think we all learned a lot and had a great time too.

While Scott and Nick had definite ideas about what they wanted to do, so did I. My main goal was to eat my way through the south. Using the fab website "Roadfood" as a guide we hit some fantastic places.

We started in Natchitoches at Lasyones. This small joint is known for their meat pies but the Red beans and rice aren't too shabby, either.

We stayed in Lafayette and I really fell in love with this cajun community. The night we were there, they were having an artwalk downtown and live music too. We gorged on "plate lunch" specials at Dwyer's cafe, then headed to this super-cool Borden's for ice cream sundaes (me) and double dips (Scott and Nick). That evening we scoped out Breakfast options and settled on Keller's Bakery. Wow! I'm still thinking about the sweet potato hand pies that I had, and I know the boys loved their cream puffs, elcairs and blueberry hand pies too. We washed it down with MelloJoy coffee. A smooth coffee blend exclusive to Lafayette. I'm still sad we didn't get more to bring home, since you can only get it in Lafayette.

We didn't really get to eat in New Orleans. I wanted to check out the ultra-touristy Cafe Du Monde, but the thought of finding a (close) parking spot and navigating downtown was too much for me.

In Mississippi we ate at the most exceptional restaurant - The Columbia Roundtable. This place was really unbelievable..It featured large round tables that sat 20 or more, with a huge lazy susan in the middle. The food just kept coming - fried chicken, spare ribs, beef stroganoff, shrimp, field peas, mashed potatos, sweet potatos, lima beans, beets, corn, coleslaw, greens, baked beans, mac and cheese...and then dessert- chocolate cake, banana pudding, coconut pie, chocolate pie, pecan pie, buttermilk pie, lemon pie, and gallons and gallons of tea.

We somehow made it home in a food-induced stupor...of course I'm paying mightily for it now, but boy was it fun!

Candy Man Can

2008-03-03T10:45:00.002-06:00

Okay, so I am pitchng for *another* school fundraiser. But you were gonna buy a chocolate Easter bunny anyway, right. And these guys are guaranteed SOLID silky chocolate. None of that hollow chalky stuff you might find at say a big box retailer. The best part is, they are only $5 . I know this is a little more than you would pay at say, the Dollar Tree, but all the proceeds go to making life better for folks over at Raguet Elementary. I can hook you up, but it has to be TODAY - I'll even front the $5 and deliver them right to your door on March 19th. How can such good service be combined with such a high quality product, you might ask? I've got my own 10 year old CandyMan.. don't say I didn't ever give you a hot tip on a sweet deal!

One last thing.. check out how the bunnies are wringing their hands imploring you to buy them so you can chomp their satiny ears off.. YUM!

Meet Ava Raye

2008-02-28T22:19:00.004-06:00

Here is my beautiful new niece! Mom and baby are doing great. She was 7 lbs, 5 oz and 21 inches

Weekend recap

2008-02-25T22:39:00.001-06:00

Seems like I am finally just now catching my breath after a whirlwind weekend. Friday night was a blur of good music and seeing good friends at the Pineknot Music Co-ops 7th Anniversary Party. It was great seeing old friends Grey DeLisle and her hubby Murry Hammond, but the best part was meeting Mr. Jefferson Texas Hammond (Tex) 1 year old son of the afformentioned DeLisle-Hammond family. Tex is a cutie pie, and Rees couldn't get enough of him or Murry's harmonium. She finally conked out during Social Bliss.

Saturday we got up early and headed with my dad to Austin to celebrate his upcoming 80th birthday. Rees took in her first UT basketball game (she loved it!) and we had a nice walk through the campus afterward. That night we had dinner with my dad's brother, sister and their families then headed northward to spend the night with our pals A & P.

There are some people in this world that are truly top notch, and A & P are in that category. We've been friends for 15 years and its one of those deals where we may not talk for a while then slip right back where we left off...P made yummy cinnamon rolls for breakfast on Sunday and we all went to University Chrisitan Church (where Scott and I married). The music was beautiful, the sermon inspring, but Rees wasn't up to being quiet for an hour.

Afterwards we made a quick stop back at the aunt and uncle's then headed north to IKEA. IKEA on a Sunday afternoon makes rollerderby look tame - especially when you are with an 80 year old and a near 7 month old. Dad made a pretty good haul- i think we ended up with a package of napkins.

It was good to be back home Sunday night but the morning came way way too early.

Uh-Oh

2008-02-20T22:10:00.002-06:00

On her most excellent blog today, my pal Chrissy asked what "brillant nuggets" her readers have discovered. Well - today my students got me hooked up with Facebook.

I have to say, I may be addicted. Finding friends on Facebook is so much easier than myspace. Plus, within 10 minutes several folks had already confirmed my friend request. Including the sister of an old BF and the Provost of the university. Wild.

I've been a bachelorette this week. I am ready for S to come home. The Snapper's been great, but I am not cut out for single-mom-ness. I'm not so sure how my sister does it. She's here in the states, waiting to have her baby while my brother-in-law is still in China. It's esp. tough because she has a little cutie knocking on the door of the terrible twos.

Although I've got tons of work to do tonight, Ithink I'll try to snazz up my facebook profile.. uh-oh.. this could be the beginning of a major time waster.

Odds and Ends

2008-02-01T17:05:00.000-06:00

Whew, its been a long week! Thankfully, my dad came home from the hospital yesterday. The infection was NOT in the bone, and they have sent him home with some new medicene. Hard to believe a week ago we were in ICU, wondering how things would turn out.

Today is February 1 - important for several reasons. First, it is the 5th anniversary of the Columbia accident. I'll never forget that morning when Nacogdoches was unfortunately thrust into the national spotlight. We heard the terriffic boom, and then several minutes later, our good friend Miss L called to tell us what happened. She has written a beautiful tribute to the astrounauts.

The second important thing about today is that it is the beginning of American Heart Month. Today was National Wear Red day. I made Scotty wear red too, and talk to his classes about keeping your heart healthy. It was probably lost on most of them, but it is a topic near and dear to my - uh- heart. My maternal grandmother died at the young age of 68 from heart disease, Scott's paternal grandfather and father both died from heart related illnesses and of course, my dad has had heart diesase since 1980. I applaud my pals who are shaping up for a 5K and taking better care of their tickers than I am. I hope I can get in on some excercise myself this month. I just realized this week that since I am technically a student at SFA, I get a "free" membership to the Campus rec center. Woo-hooo!

Hmmm

2008-01-29T23:06:00.000-06:00

Thanks to everyone who has sent emails asking about how my dad is. He's been in pretty good spirits, but it is hard to keep it up when you are in a hospital bed. Right now we are in a holding pattern. He has a strep infection, and something called cellulitis. We are really hoping that the anti-biotics will take hold and get rid of all those strep monsters.

I've been pretty stressed with work and school. We have some big deadlines coming up on my Alaska project - so its been hard to stay focused on that with all that's going on. The Old Snapper has been really fussy lately too, I think she can feel the stress that we are all going through.

The good news.. tomorrow is a new day!

sick sick sick

2008-01-13T13:40:00.000-06:00

I am now on day 5 of being sick. I am not a very good sickie to begin with, and this run of illness has really gotten my goat. Since I am still the Snapper's main food supply, there isn't much I can take. I've been dosing myselft with Emer-Gen-C and tylenol, but I've really just about had it. I spent all of yesterday in bed, should have stayed in this morning, but drug myself to church. Now it looks like I'm headed back to bed. grrrrr...

Last night I decided I had to do *something*, and that something was find out who sings the song on the new oreo candy commercial. Although I didn't get an answer to my query, I did discover perhaps my new favorite time waster, WikiAnswers.

I have to admit, I am fascinated to find out what people are wondering at any given moment in time. You can ask a question (like my oreo song..) or you can answer one. If you ask one, they want you to try to answer someone else's request for info. While a lot of the questions have to do with scientific stuff or car-care, there was one question I just knew I could answer - "What president was in a wheelchair?" In my excitment I pounded out the Answer - Franklin Delano Roosevelt!, hit enter, then realized I answered the WRONG question.

I hate being sick...

Welcome Back

2008-01-04T12:11:00.000-06:00

I can't believe it is already the 4th of January...where have the holdiays gone? And more importantly, why hasn't the holiday fairy whisked away all my decorations? We really didn't get the house done until about a week before Christmas. Christmas eve was spent in a marathon of baking and wrapping. This year I attempted microwave peanut brittle, Sonnie's Red Velvet Cake balls, my dad's pralines, and stuffed dates. I'm still planning on making some sand tarts this weekend with a new recipe I found in Cook's Illustrated. Yum!

Several days after Christmas, the Rees-Runnels' family (me, the snapper, red menance, Scott and mom and dad) loaded up the van and headed out to Cloudcroft, New Mexico to retrieve my dad's electric scooter which had been abandoned there during our summer vacation. Highlights of the trip included a meal at Perini's Steak Ranch (voted number 3 steak place in Texas by Texas Monthly), a trip to the world's only Solar Observatory at Sunspot, New Mexico, Seeing a herd of elk run accross the road in front of us, and watching Scott and Nick sled in the snow. It was a great family vacation, albeit a short one.

Today I awoke with the feeling that I absolutely HAD to get going on my dissertation proposal. Since blogging seems to come easy for me, I've decided to blog about this proccess. If you are interested, you can follow my progress at http://runnelsdissertation.blogspot.com/. Any encouragement is greatly appreciated.

Now for some pics from the trip!

All is not calm....

2007-12-26T19:53:00.001-06:00

Here is my latest brush with terrible customer service in Nacogdoches...
The problem began on Sunday, November 24. We ordered 2 double deep dish pizzas, and when we went to pick them up, found they had given away one pizza. Not wanting to wait, we left unhappy, with one pizza. When we got home to eat it, we found that it was cold and not good. I called to speak to the manager, to tell them we were unahppy that they gave away the first pizza and that the second was cold. I asked him how he could make it right. He offered a free pizza at the time of our choosing. When I called to collect on the pizza this evening, he said no problem. When we went to pick it up, guess what? THEY HAD GIVEN IT AWAY! The manager said "guess I owe you two pizzas now..." Frustrated again, we left. I called back and asked to speak to the manager. I was placed on hold for 11 minutes. I left my house and returned to the store. The manager was away on a delivery. When he returned I asked him about the situation and he said that my mother had given HIM attitude. I told him that they had absolutely NO REGARD for customer service. We have been customers for 30 years and will NEVER return to the store. BEWARE... the Pizza Hut on University Drive is wonderful. Avoid the one on North Street

The Rules

2007-12-24T00:48:00.000-06:00

A lot has been written about Rules..There are rules to live by, the Golden Rule, rules of the game. The baby and I have come up with our own rules for what I call "Baby Club".

Rule Number 1: You don't talk about baby club.
I've found myself in recent days waxing poetic about feeding the Snapper rice ceral, wondering aloud about the contents of her diaper (YIKES), and other things that absolutely NO ONE ELSE wants to discuss. I think Rule number 1 is very important.

Rule Number 2: Get on it and stay on it.
Now for the Snapper and me, this rule applies to feeding time. But I can see where this rule will be important later in her life too. Basically we've agreed to stick with things, to see them through.

Rule Number 3: Don't bite Mama.
This, dear friends, is becoming a big issue. I think old Snap-E-Tom herself is getting teeth. I've tried to convince her that I'm a lot like Harlon's barbeque (You don't need no teeth to eat my beef, the slogan goes) to absolutely no avail.

I'm sure we'll come up with more rules, but for now, three is pretty good, don't you think?s

The Golden Casket

2007-12-08T23:12:00.000-06:00

I just got home from the fabulous FOUND tour at Millard's Crossing. It was an exceptional way to spend the evening. Scott looked dashing in his M.C. outfit, I wore non-maternity jeans (whoo0hoo) and I got to see skads of my favorite people. The Snapper spent the evening with the grandparents. A wonderful time was had by all!

During Davy Rothbart's presentation, I got to thinking about this picture I took the other day. I was on University Drive, and I pulled up behind this truck that seemed to be hauling a Golden Casket. I've been wondering what the story was with this thing...any ideas??

Licking the Dog

2007-11-19T23:27:00.000-06:00

Its been almost a month since I last posted anything. I was sitting at the computer tonight, reading my pals blogs, and thinking that I needed some non-academic writing time. The past few weeks have been pretty rough. While NOT blogging, I:

edited a textbook chapter that I had written a year ago. (what a ripoff, textbooks now have a lifespan of about 1 year)
Finished a poster presentation/paper on GIS and tourism
Completed a take home test in multivariate data analysis
Researched recreation specialization theory for my dissertation
put my pre-tenure review packet together
Wrote 2 tests for my travel and tourism class
and advised 20 students for spring 2008

I say all this because I'm pretty bummed that all this boring academic stuff has meant that my NaNoWriMo masterpiece pretty much got put on the back burner. One day, however, my fictional masterpiece about a disgruntled grad student/mom will be unleashed.

Speaking of leashes, I think maybe my maternal instincts are kicking into overload. Yesterday I found myself licking the dog's ear to determine whether or not he'd been pepper sprayed by the mailman. He had this reddish brown spot on his ear - wasn't pepper spray as it turns out - that looked suspicious.

I think I need a break - hooray for Turkey day!

Olan

2007-10-30T11:33:00.000-05:00

I've got this dull headache that just won't go away. I guess it stems from my sadness over the sudden death of my dad's best friend and roommate, Olan Brewer. Thankfully, Dad talked with Olan on Friday evening, just hours before he ended up in the hospital. They had a really good conversation, which ended with Dad tentatively making plans to see him in Austin over the weekend. Unfortunately, that visit never happened, since Olan passed away on Saturday afternoon.

Dad's been pretty quiet about his feelings since we found out. We took him to Beall's last night to get something to wear for the funeral. He made a comment about not wanting to get too much, since " I might be playing dominos with Olan next week." I know that is just his way of dealing with his friend's death.

For 57 years they met at the State Fair for the Texas -OU game. They didn't talk much during the year, except in the last few years. I think that had something to do with them both having cell phones. They would talk for hours and reminesce about Austin in the 1950s. Olan told me once that he knew powerful politicians, influential sports figures, and wealthy men, but that my dad was his best friend in the whole world.

He called my dad Outhouse Mouse, (I never knew why and he didn't say). He told stories about my dad when they were college roommates (allnight poker games, double dates in convertibles). He loved Texas sports just as much as my Dad does. Dad told me once that Olan had been charged with babysitting his young kids one evening when the horns were playing basketball. He decided to bundle them up and take them to the game- unfortunately he was found out by his wife, when the TV camera zoomed in on them cheering at the game- in Pajamas!

When we saw him at the Fair several weeks ago, Scott commented that he didn't look good. He seemed weaker to me, but I was so happy to see him that I guess I didn't recognize how sick he must have been. He wanted to hold Rees, and he kissed her and said to me "This right here is what it is all about. This is the secret to life."

God Bless You, Olan Brewer. I know you'll be pulling for the Horns in Heaven.

Have to Shout Above the Din of My Rice Krispies

2007-10-18T22:08:00.000-05:00

Today I continued my quest for an elusive box of Count Chocula and Booberry cereals for the Red Menace and Dread Scott. Believe it or not, while Halloween decor is everywhere, these Halloween-esque cereals are absent from the supermarket shelves. After trying both the big and baby Krogers and Fresh Harvest with no success (and a little nervous-ness at Fresh Harvest when I observed grain moths on the cereal aisle), I headed out to the Big W.

Ahh the W, where the parking lot is teeming with humanity even at 3 p.m. It takes a lot for me to go there especially by myself. I grabbed my Eco-Friendly shopping bag and headed in, forgoing a shopping cart since I was only getting 2 boxes of cereal if I was lucky.

Silly girl, big box stores know how to pull me in...their end-caps filled with impulse buys (of course the BROWNIE mix belongs near the ice cream..) Maybe it was the hyper fluorescent lighting or the over-conditioned air. I spent an hour in the place and almost made it out without the 2 things I went there for. What, you may be asking yourself, captured my attention?

First it was the tidy stack of my new favorite hot cereal: Quaker Oats Simple Harvest Multigrain cereal. Let me tell you , this stuff is good. With real pecans and non-gluey grains, it is the perfect fall breakfast. The only problem is that this stuff costs $4.88 for 8 servings at most stores. Ahh.. but the W had to do it.. I found boxes for $1.50 each. Wow!

At this point I should mention that i was trying to navigate the clogged aisles with my eco-friendly bag but no cart (by now I was juggling lightbulbs, organic milk, six boxes of oatmeal and a pack of sponges). I gave up and went to the front to get a cart and then I saw it - the small sign advertising fresh sushi! I figured the sushi would be in pre-packed clear boxes and guessed correctly that it would be found near the fish counter. What I didn't expect was 3 impeccably dressed Asian men, jovially rolling sushi at a new counter near the lobster tank. They were so friendly and happy that I had to pick up a Dragon Roll. Yum! Darn You Wal-mart.. with all your organic food products now you have to go and add delicious FRESHLY MADE sushi to your offerings.

A call from Scott telling me the Snapper was ready for her afternoon tea broke the hold that the W had over me, and I remembered to go look for the Count Chocula and Boo Berry Cereal. Thankfully I found both and was able to get out of there before the impulse buys emptied my wallet. Apparently General Mills only releases the " Monster Cereal" line for Halloween. Who knew?

These folks ain't right..

2007-10-17T23:09:00.000-05:00

Something must be terribly wrong with us. We have WAY too many pairs of shoes for two people. The honey and I spent a couple of hours tonight going through our closets and culling out shoes. It was easier for me than I thought it would be. If they didn't fit, were damaged beyond repair or desire to repair, or just didn't do it for me anymore, out they went.

It felt so good to get my closet into shape, that I moved on to another closet and discarded old t-shirts, worn out sweaters, and stuff that was just plain raggedy.

Some shoes were either never worn or barely worn, and I've got a few pairs up for grabs, so if you are interested and wear a size 8 let me know. Otherwise they'll be out the door to the women's shelter on Friday. I will hand deliver any shoes you may be interested in (within the Naconowhere city limits). For your viewing pleasure:

Worn once.. Slightly worn Never Worn

Hoochie Mama Shoes

Bed's too big without you

2007-10-12T08:49:00.000-05:00

When I got to work this morning, still thinking about how much fun I had a CRAFT NIGHT last night, the first thing in my e-mail inbox was a message with the subject "Find Someone to Sleep With Tonight"

I get a lot of these Spam messages. I'm sure you do too. Usually I just delete them and go about my happy way. Which is what I did with this one. Except the subject line continues to intrigue me.

It's true - Sleeping alone isn't much fun. I've only ever slept alone for a brief time in college and post college when I returned to live in my parents house. Growing up I shared a bedroom with my little sister, before that I shared a bed with my parents. Now my bed seems to feature more characters than a one act play. Pre-Snapper it held me, Scott, Pogo, and three cats. (well, actually just two unless it was a chilly night). Now that the Snapper is here, the bed is off limits to the cats, and Pogo seems to have jumped ship, preferring his bed on the floor. The Snapper finds her way into the bed, usually around 4 am (her new wakeup time). And last night because is was slightly cool, Pogo joined in too.

All of these bed partners make for an unseemly mattress cover. Scott has suggested documenting what stains are what.. baby, Pogo, Cat. I'm not sold on the idea.

I do know one thing- the spammer who sent the "Find Someone to Sleep With" Email is barking up the wrong tree.

Fried Guacamole and Root Beer to Drown my Sorrows

2007-10-09T00:15:00.000-05:00

The bad news: Texas lost.
The good news: I watched the game with the Snapper, Red Menace, and my Mom in the cool comfort of the Women's Museum. They have this awesome fundraiser every year where they sell memberships in exchange for yummy snack, beer and cookies, plus a great place to watch the Texas-OU football game. The museum itself is worthy of a post dedicated only to it. What an incredible place.

The bad news: Olan looked frail and his declining health really upset my dad
The good news: He made it to the fair to celebrate his 61st Texas - OU game with my dad. His daughter (ex-wife of a Dellionare ) hooked him up with a room at the Mansion on Turtle Creek, plus a limo ride right to the fairgrounds. I was really glad for him, because it would have been hard otherwise. He seems reluctant to admit that he could benefit from an electric wheelchair and insisted upon sitting in his seat in the stands at the Cotton Bowl instead of sitting with my dad in the wheelchair area.

The bad news: I spent way too much money..Way Way too much. With admission costing $44 for 2 people for two days, $20 on parking, $100 on a football ticket and who-knows how much spent on fair food and midway rides, the State Fair was not a cheap endeavor.
The good news: I tried fried guacamole (Yum), Fried banana pudding (yum) and had root beer, fresh squeezed lemonade and a couple of Fletcher's Corny Dogs. I also replenished my supply of Quick N Brite. The wonderful non-toxic miracle cleaner, not sold in stores. If anyone wants to try some of it, I'm happy to give you a sample. It cleans anything and everything, and is great for tough laundry stains.

The bad news: The Snapper had a minor melt down as we left the fair late Sunday evening. The day had been too hot and stimulating for her (and me too)
The good news: There were lovely tents available with rocking chairs, changing tables and fans especially for nursing moms, so that made things easier. Plus, she stole the show everywhere she went.

A Fantastic time was had by all!

Brother can you spare a dime (or 140 dimes)?

2007-10-04T23:25:00.000-05:00

While I'm thinking about food - I was reminded today that it is cookie dough fundraiser time at the Red Menace's school. I have to admit I haven't done a good job pushing the dough this year. Its not because it isn't good. It is actually delicious. In addition to the standard Choco chip, they are selling white chocolate macadamia, Oatmeal Raisin, Pans of turtle brownies, cranberry oatmeal, peanut butter, chocolate chocolate chunk, and my favorite - soft ready to bake pretzels.

The dough comes in 3 pound tubs of pre-shaped nuggets. All you do is bake the desired number that you want. I think each tub makes 3 dozen. Now I know that $14 bucks for 3 dozen cookies seems like a lot, but the proceeds go to updating the playground equipment at the school. A very worthy cause indeed. Unfortunately, they don't offer vegan dough - too bad!

The best news is that the dough will arrive Nov 5, just in time for the holiday swirl of drop in guests and holiday crafting parties.

If you're interested, let me know. I'll personally deliver the dough directly to your door. Now that's service!

Get me to the Fair on time..

2007-10-04T23:11:00.000-05:00

It's that time of year again.. The Great State Fair of Texas is officially open and yours truly is headed to the Big D this weekend. For our family, the annual pilgrimage to the State Fair and the Texas-OU game is more sacrosanct than Christmas or Easter. Perhaps it is because my dad hasn't missed one since 1950 (seriously.. this is his 57th TX-OU weekend).

Dad has been meeting a group of his college roomates at the same place on the fairgrounds for as long as I can remember. They only see each other once a year, but they have an incredibly strong bond. Over the years, the group has dwindled. In the last few years, it has just been my dad and his best friend from college - Olan. Dad has been in a wheelchair for 11 years now, but his buddy has resisted. This year is different. His friend is not well at all, and I think it is taking a toll on dad too. For over a week, they've been plotting and figuring how Olan will get to the fair.
"Can he rent a wheelchair there?" "Where could he park?" all of these questions have been up in the air this week. I think we finally got it all figured out. The weekend is as important to Olan as it is to dad. He's been going to the game for 61 years, and I think he's worried that this might be his last. I think dad is worried too.

So think of us this weekend, dear readers, as the old and the young hit the fairgrounds. This will be the Snapper's first taste of the fair. She's too young for fair food, but I'm not. I've already set my sights on the fried banana pudding and fried mac n' cheese.

Wide open spaces

2007-09-17T01:06:00.000-05:00

This is my new favorite place in my house. Note that you can actually SEE the countertop. I've caught myself just staring at this space several times tonight. The large jars next to the recipe box contain rare candy collected on vacation, and a brandied fruit mixture that has been fermenting for about 2 years now. I make a killer brandied fruitcake (recipe courtesy Scott's grandmother) from this stuff. Next to that jar is the two- count 'em- two, boxes of pills, vitamins, supplements, and assorted potions that are helping me through this post-partum stuff.

Clothes Horse part II

2007-09-17T00:32:00.000-05:00

I've spent the better part of this weekend messing around with Rees' wardrobe. Early Saturday morning, I got a call from Mom saying that some of our good friends were having a garage sale featuring baby items. Mom and I both hot-footed it over there to find a baby paradise. There were so many cool things I was a bit overwhelmed.

This is the BEFORE shot.. thank God for Mom.

I picked out a super cool pram and stroller for Rees, plus some awesome vintage clothes. I also made sure to call my mother in law, who purchased $50 in clothes for Rees too. Later that afternoon, our friends called to say they had put aside "some things that didn't sell" for us. I was not expecting 4 huge garbage bags full of clothes ranging in sizes from newborn to 6. Needless to say, I was a bit overwhelmed. Ruby and I spent an entire afternoon before Rees was born, going through mounds and mounds of clothes, and here were even more!

The problem with this most generous gift was that the clothes were pretty much all AWESOME. It would have been so much easier to toss some. As it is, I won't have to buy much until 2011.

My mom and I spent 3 hours sorting, and then I made a trip to the big W for additional storage boxes. Of course I came home with 4 boxes and only 2 lids that fit, so that means another trip to the store tomorrow. Ughh...

Oh well, at least I'll have the best dressed baby on the block.

Here is the after shot.. I have another huge box of just size 3 months in our room, plus an enormous bag for the women's shelter..

Keeping Up with the Jetsons

2007-09-14T07:53:00.000-05:00

Our lives got a little more technologically savvy this week with the arrival of Scott's new laptop. I had fussed all summer over the darn thing. Comparing weekly ad circulars, doing internet searches, asking advice and soliciting opinions. When I finally was ready to buy, I found that the laptop of my dreams was NO LONGER available anywhere. (I blame the back to school crowd for the deficit in laptops this month)

So I had to start my search all over. We ended up getting a computer that has a little more horsepower than we actually need. Well, at least it has more bells and whistles than we actually need. Supposedly it can be used for kareoke, but I'm not sure. Also, we are supposed to be able to watch live television and record it too, but I can't figure that feature out either.

I'm a far cry from my 18 year-old self - the one who subscribed to the inaugural issue of Wired magazine, was on the internet before it had any images, and talked to folks in IRC chat rooms. I'm not sure what happened to me, but I definitely did not keep up with the changing technology.

When I met Scott, he was just a little better than a luddite. His telephone was a vintage 1930s rotary dial, and he was somewhat skeptical of the internet. Of course all that has changed somewhat, but we are still behind the technology curve. We don't have ipods or mp3 players, although I am mighty intrigued by them.

At least now we have Red Menace and the Snapper to keep us up to date. Some of the current baby toys employ so much technology that its scary. And RM is entering into the age when Christmas lists go from action figues and board games to cell phones and ipods. I'm not complaining mind you, I fully intend to get him to help me figure out the features on this #&@!* laptop.

No sharing drinks or kissing in the floral dept

2007-09-05T12:17:00.000-05:00

From the "BAD MARKETING CAMPAIGN" files:

Check out the bottom of this ad (that was in today's paper).

I'm not sure what a shocking Mono bouquet is. I don't think you'd wanted delivered to Hospitals, Nursing Homes or Funeral Homes. Heck, you probably wouldn't want it delivered to your worst enemy's home.

I'm trying to get a handle on what this bouquet could possibly look like. What makes it shocking?

I'm not brave enought to find out.

Nitty Gritty

2007-09-05T07:01:00.000-05:00

I have a confession to make. Until very recently, I never washed my face. I'm not exactly sure why. Over the years I accumulated face washing products: foaming washes, toners, creams, scrubs, masks that heated up, strips that guaranteed removal of blackheads and 7 layers of skin. I was fascinated by these pricy potions, but not enough to stick with anything very long.

When I was in middle and high school, I joined the ranks of most teenagers and used those stridex pads or Bonnie Bell toner. But I gave up on those too. I just couldn't get behind the whole face washing ritual. I think part of the deal was that since I didn't use makeup very often, I didn't think about my face too much. Since the Snapper got here, I've changed my tune a bit.

Why this change? Well, for one, my little sister introduced me to this line of non-animal tested, hypo-allergenic, mostly organic, plant based face products called Arbonne. The system is a five step deal that takes about 5 minutes to do. I gotta tell you, I'm hooked. My face feels as soft as the Ol Snapper's cheeks.

The other reason I'm hooked is because I've come to appreciate something as small as washing one's face as an indulgence. Since my world is a little chaotic right now, (see my next post soon on my recent trip to Austin) taking 5 minutes to apply these products gives me a little order and control over my day. A friend recently told me that the secret to baby-ing is EASY.

Not Easy as in the opposite of hard, but Easy meaning that the baby should:
Eat
Activity (changing a diaper, play, walk around the house)
Sleep
then the caregiver should spend some
You time.

Right now, about all the You time I'm getting right now is washing my face once a day. I dream of getting a lot of stuff done, of returning to my crazy Pre-Snapper lifestyle. I don't think it is going to happen any time soon. So I'll settle for face washing. I'm sure my skin is thanking me.

State of Denial

2007-08-30T23:22:00.000-05:00

One of the joys of post-pregnancy is navigating the bureaucracy of the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA). While this law was put into place to ensure that people can take care of family business without being penalized, it has its downside. In my case, I have to exhaust my sick leave while on maternity leave, then I can elect to stay on leave without pay for up to 3 months.

Leave without pay???! Yeah, right. I've been with my current employer 2 years, and have accrued only 3 weeks of sick time. Lucky for me, the ol' Snapper was born a week early and healthy. In the meantime, my health insurance was up for summer enrollment, meaning I could make changes to coverage etc. I decided that it would be a smart move to enroll in short term disability, in case, Heaven forbid, one of us gets sick in the next year.

I had to fill out a handy dandy Evidence of Insurability form, and send it off to Dallas. Apparently, being honest on your form gets you absolutely NOWHERE, because today I found out that I was DENIED coverage.

I have to admit, I'm not used to being denied. And who wants to be denied anyway? I've been pretty lucky when it comes to jobs - I've gotten all I've applied for. So denial is something that I'm not really used to. Of course I've been denied credit before, but I can get over that. The last time I was truly denied was when I first applied to graduate school. That was a hard pill to swallow. (They failed to tell me that they denied everyone who applied to the program that year, since the director's position was vacant). I spent a year feeling sorry for myself.

Being denied insurance coverage makes you feel pretty low too. When I called the company to find out exactly WHY I'd been denied, I found out it was because I was pregnant when I applied.
"But I'm not pregnant now..." I told the person on the phone.
"I'm sorry - we can't insure you until you go back to work, and we can't guarantee that we'll insure you then." said the very unhelpful person.

So, I've been denied. One more thing they DON'T tell you about AFTER you have a baby.

Night and Day

2007-08-27T20:06:00.001-05:00

They say that one of the worst things that can happen is to have a baby get her nights and days mixed up. Fortunately, that hasn't happened much with the Snapper. (I'm knocking on wood right now.) Of course, I consider 5 am to be the middle of the night, but she doesn't. I think she's going to be a night owl like her daddy. She stays up and has a midnight snack then usually hits the sack until 5 or so.

Just so you know, there isn't much on T. V. at 5 am. TV land shows reruns of Star Trek and there are some infomercials. I usually just turn on the early morning news and listen to the traffic reports for deep East Texas.

When I was a kid, there was always one person you could count on for early morning news- Horace McQueen. Old Horace hit the air waves promptly at 6 am for the Farm and Ranch report. Being a city girl and all, I didn't much care about the price of alfalfa, but somehow his gravely East Texas twang made me feel like all was right with the world. Must have had an impact on others too (Check out the link above).

Speaking of night and day, I was commenting to Scott about my desire to have breakfast for dinner, and poof! I got my wish. (See photo above). My poor sleep deprived husband - who is the only one actually having to get dressed each day and go to a job - made me a fabulous dinner of french toast and veggie omelet. YUM YUM. I am one lucky girl.

Tonight is a lunar eclipse. According to the early morning news, it should begin about 4 a.m. I am secretly hoping that the baby and I get to see it. I can't believe that I would hope for such an early wake up call- I guess having nights and days a little mixed up can be a good thing sometimes after all.

Clothes Horse

2007-08-26T14:28:00.000-05:00

I was never much of a clothes horse growing up. My parents might think otherwise, but I was way more into accessories -earrings, bracelets, shoes, hats - than clothes. I think back on my high school wardrobe and after going through the "black period", I pretty much limited my wardrobe to t-shirts and jeans.

In college, I decided to dress only in neutrals. Drab army green, brown, various shades of gray and black was the palette I chose. I bought a pair of converse chuck taylor low tops in army green and spent several hours "aging" them until they were the perfect faded shade.

When I hit graduate school, I gave up jeans for dresses. I wore dresses almost exclusively ( I think that might have helped me snag Scott). After I got married and put on a few extra pounds, I traded dresses for capri pants. Now that I've had the baby, I see another clothing era in my future. I used to hate empire waist shirts, and shirts with v-necks. Now, because that's what I've worn for the past 9 months, I'm actually okay with showing a little cleavage. I'm in that awkward, inbetween period right now, due to the fact that I've lost 30 pounds in 2.5 weeks. My body is totally different than it ever was, so I'm not sure what is going to look right once I venture out of the safety of too big maternity clothes.

I started thinking about all of this as I changed Rees out of her 3rd onesie of the day. A crusty baby with bad milk breath is too much to bear, so I find myself changing her pretty often. Thankfully, she has A LOT of options for clothes right now. Smack Bauer and I spent about 4 hours going through this glamour girls new wardrobe. The thing about baby clothes is that they grow so fast, sometimes they only wear something once or twice. Thankfully, I have some super good friends who have given me some fabulous clothes and a lot of great hand me downs for her.

Motherhood, I think has made me pretty introspective. I read an article on slate about the state of little girl clothes. It's pretty crazy what they are selling for kids these days. Girls, especially, are being over-sexualized at a very tender age. Its a far cry from the Garanimals, Underoos, and keds I wore when I was in grade school. I'm hoping that I can maybe the pendulum of fashion will swing the other way by the time Rees in in school. I'm pretty sure that won't happen, but I can hope. In the meantime, I'll be trying to figure out my next fashion move, and plotting how to keep Rees in appropriately sweet little girl clothes forever.

Conspiracy Theory

2007-08-21T19:33:00.000-05:00

I have admit, I've never been much of a conspiracy theorist. I'm not a big fan of sci-fi either When we added Roswell to our summer vacation itinerary, I was skeptical.

Since the baby came I've become a believer. Not in aliens, presidential assassination plots or Bigfoot, but the conspiracy theory to suppress information about what happens AFTER the hospital.

It could be that I've been staying up (or finding myself up) bleary eyed, trying to stuff a giant bosom in the mouth of a squalling babe. At 2 a.m. my television choices are somewhat limited, and after I've had my fill of The Andy Griffith Show, I've found that I've landed on back to back episodes of the Twilight Zone, followed by the X-files. Now, I'll admit that being sleep deprived adds to the surrealness of the situation, but I do think that the truth about postpartum is out there - I just am beginning to find it.

Myth Number 1:
As soon as the baby is placed on your tummy you'll forget the pain of labor and instantly be happy happy.

Truth: It hurts. A lot. After 12 hours of trying to squeeze a watermelon out of a toothpaste tube, you're tired, sweaty, hungry and gross. Don't get me wrong, I was very glad to meet the little snapper, but my main concern was that she was happy, healthy and had all of her parts. A lot of books browbeat women into breastfeeding in first hour after delivery, but in my opinion, that may not be an option for everyone. After the pictures and cell phone calls, I was glad that she was carried away into the hands of the VERY capable nursery staff. Especially since it took the doc another hour to sew me up down there.

Myth Number 2:
Real women do it without pain killers or episiotomies.

Truth:
However it happens is the right way. I had to have some pain relief or I would have permanently injured Scott's hands. At one point I was squeezing them so hard he swore I was trying to hurt him. I've read in a lot of books that episiotomies aren't really necessary. I had two-
and I still tore in what they call a 4th degree . I had the massages, the controlled pushing, and it still happened.

Myth Number 3
Breastfeeding is the most natural thing in the world

Truth:
Breast feeding sucks. Literally. But I think its the right think for the snapper, so we are going to stick with it. The first few days she was so out of it that it was difficult to wake her up enough to latch on. When she finally did wake up, she was mad as hell that she had been evicted from her comfy cozy apartment in my body. She let me know it by wanting to suck anything (my fingers, her fingers, the dog's leg) except what she needed to. We've gotten past some of those issues, but each feeding is still a new day for her and me. I've tried everything, cut out coffee after 4 pm, cut out ice cream and milk, drank beer, wine and popped pills.. nothing seems to make sense.

Myth Number 4
You only really need to stay in the hospital 3 days.

Truth
When my mom had me in the 1970s, a 10 day hospital stay was normal. As much as I hate hospitals, I think that would be amazing to have someone take care of me and the baby for 10 days. There is a lot of grossness that happens with having a baby...and it keeps spewing forth for a long time after you leave the hospital. Two days after we came home, I was back in the ER, unable to function down there. They drained out half a gallon of urine and I was begging for a take home catheter. The idea of going to the bathroom is still very scary - I had NO IDEA that it would be like that.

Now I thank God for sitz baths, fiber pills and maxi pads the size of place mats. One true girlfriend brought over a can of the "red stuff" - a cooling spray for down there that helps numb things. She stuck it through the cat door, with a note attached. It all seemed very covert to me, although I think she was just trying not to disturb us. Yet it smacks of spy tactics seen in conspiracies if you ask me.

So, nearly two weeks out what have I learned...I think that there is a conspiracy to keep all the yucky stuff quiet after a baby is born. If it wasn't kept quiet, folks might just stop doing it altogether and then where would society be? There aren't any books called "The Girlfriend's Guide to Bringing Home Baby" or "What to Expect Your Pain Level to Be, when You bring Home the Snapper". I have a sneaky suspicion that the same folks who aren't talking about menopause are the ones not talking about postpartum. Folks with moms who have gone through menopause know what I am talking about...

All I know is this.. the truth is out there - I just wish I wasn't up at 4 am looking for it!

Make new friends...

2007-08-16T22:24:00.000-05:00

Well, its been a week and a day, and I am just now getting into some sort of swing of things. I realize when I left you last, dear readers, that I was on the verge of the life changing experience of having a baby. I promise to blog all about that 12-hour blessed event soon, mainly because I don't want to forget it, but also because I want Rees to read what happened someday.

I just read Smack Bauer's blog, and she pretty much summed up how I've been feeling about facing the computer postpartum. However, I've had so many good things happen in the past few weeks that I decided to swallow hard and jump back in. So bear with me...

There was a song we learned the during my brief tenure as a Brownie.. I'm not sure exactly how it went, but I do know that it had the line "Make new friends, but keep the old. Some are silver and the others gold." (Hey I just found the song in its entirety... I don't think I ever knew all the verses) Anyway, that's how I've felt the last few months before this baby is born. I've learned a lot of new things in the last nine months, but the thing that's been the most important to me is that I am learning about the kind of friend I want to be.

Everyone's overwhelming kindness, concern, friendship and camaraderie has blown me away. I used to think that I was a pretty good friend most of the time, but I've realized that I only touched the tip of the friend iceberg. So now, thanks to many of my friends, both new and old, the bar has been raised. Forgive me for being sappy, but I need to share a few of the things that have shown me the kind of friend I want to be and the kind of friend I want my tiny little baby to be:

two childhood friends waited for over 5 hours to meet Rees Landry Runnels at the hospital. They weren't in the delivery room, but had their ear to the door nearly the entire time. Of course I didn't get to see this, but the image is priceless. Apparently they shocked the nurse as she left my room and they went tumbling away from the door.
Another friend, spent several hours helping me sort through mountains of hand me down baby clothes, making decisions on what to keep and what to donate. When we found a box that needed to be washed, she whisked it away, bought baby detergent and laundered and folded the clothes for me. This same friend lent me nearly all my maternity clothes and even gave me the shoes out of her closet to accommodate my very swollen feet. All the while she was dealing with her own health issues.
Some new friends, somehow psychically sensing that I didn't feel like cooking, brought over a super yummy and comforting home-made casserole today. I was truly moved that they would think of us, especially since they too have a LOT going on.

Those are just a few of the acts of kindness that our friends have shown over the past weeks. We've received so many thoughtful, touching gifts that it really is overwhelming. I can't believe the tremendous effort so many people have put into giving us things to feather our new nest. Just to name a few:

We received a darling handmade outfit for Rees in the mail from a far away friend. The outfit was made of vintage fabric and buttons, but the best part was that it was hand made with such care.
Another indispensable gift we received was a teddy bear that has a "heartbeat" that helps get Rees (and me) to sleep each night. We couldn't live without teddy right now.
Some of our hip friends spend a lot of time seeking out the coolest of the cool gifts and gave Rees a set of baby board books that will make her the envy of the neighborhood. Those, coupled with the most fun little froggy slippers I have ever seen, remind me that giving a great gift is truly an art form.

There are so many more acts of kindness and care - Belgian chocolates and flowers in the hospital, grape snow cones on hot days when I've been stuck in the house, phone calls, emails and so much more.

But the best gift of all, by far, is the learning the kind of friend I want to be.

Twas the night before

2007-08-07T22:39:00.000-05:00

Do you remember the night before the first day of school? If you were like me, you'd have your clothes laid out, your lunch packed and you were already to go.. except for one thing...

You laid in bed nervous with anticipation about what the next day would bring, your eyes wide open with sleep being an illusive concept.

That's how tonight feels. Dad wanted all of us (meaning mom, him, Scott, my sister, my brother in law and my niece, Annabelle) to go out to dinner. He was pretty persistent about it, even though I didn't exactly feel hungry. I think he was trying to mark today as a special occasion. He missed out on the events leading up to my sister's delivery - he was in ICU.

So, tomorrow is the first day of the rest of my life so to speak. I'm giddy with anticipation and nervous and fighting sleep. I've done all the cleaning and preparing and packing one gal can do.

I'll keep you posted on what happens next...

On pins and needles

2007-08-06T22:28:00.001-05:00

I'm on pins and needles, waiting for this baby thing to happen. Every time I do something - run to the store, go to the post office - I think this may be the last time I do this without a baby. I've been nesting for sure, doing weird deep cleaning stuff like rearranging junk drawers. I need to do some vacuuming too, but that will have to wait until tomorrow.

Today I had my first round of acupuncture that is supposed to move the baby along. It had been a long time since I had been "stuck", so it was a new sensation. Unfortunately, the acupuncture room was also the only room in the doctor's office with a bathroom, so a calvalcade of folks paraded by me. Most pretended not to see me - How can you miss a nearly 200 pound woman with needles sticking out of her legs? One curious girl, about 5 years old, asked what was happening to me. She didn't stick around for an answer.

I'm in for more pins and needles tonight as the dreaded carpal tunnel sets in and my hands go numb. One good thing- at least that will end when the baby gets here, and I'm able to reclaim my body.

Oh well, it will all be worth it. I'm just ready to trade these pins and needles for some diaper pins!

You put your left foot in....

2007-08-05T10:04:00.000-05:00

Since this is my first foray into the wonderful world of blogging, I feel a little tentative. It may be because this summer I've become addicted to the blogs of my friends and some strangers too that now seem like old friends. Questions like: Can I be that witty? and Why would anyone want to read anything I have to say? abound.

The best answer I've been able to come up with is this...the summer is almost over and my new little one is almost here and I have a lot I want to remember. So, I figure I should put some of these thoughts down before I become completely sleep deprived and bleary eyed.

So here goes.. I sort of imagine the opening scene of the Mary Tyler Moore Show running in the back ground...except instead of the original theme song playing, I'd have this version by Husker Du.