this weekend i introduced casey to his version of heaven. we were invited out for a visit at the peavy ranch in blanco and we all had such a great time!

casey's mouth covered in mud from digging for rocks

it was really nice to have lots of down time to hang out with the peavy family. jill and gardner are raising the most precious 2 year old boy, kyle. he is such a doll! he has something to say about everything and he made the weekend really fun for all of us.

kyle and tucker playing with trucks

katy and jay drove all the way down from dallas and brought their two canine children with them. it was just really awesome to hang out with no distractions and enjoy being away from being busy.

the girls sometime after midnight...

casey barked to his heart's content at everything from llamas to donkeys. he dug around their fresh water springs in search of the perfect rock. he flopped around in mud and got as dirty as possible. he tested the limits of his new knee- and surprised us all with how much he can run and play so soon after surgery!

casey attacks a log

kevin was crazy enough to ride his bike back from the ranch- about a 75 mile trip down farm roads that is so beautiful, i couldn't help but be jealous! i drove home to the sounds of an exhuasted snoring dog, thinking about how thankful i was for the beauiful weather and for the friends i got to share it with.

whenever i hear a newscaster quote the total cost of the war in iraq, it's such a high number that it is somewhat impossible for me to even have a frame of reference for it. $243,930,497,980 is so unbelieveable that i don't really know what it means.

today i was watching jon stewart, who i am frequently secretly (fond of), and he gave me a number i could finally relate to.

$2300.

that is the amount of money that each individual tax payer has spent on the war so far. its almost 20% of the taxes that i paid in 2005. now THAT is unbelieveable.

i am not here to make a case against (or for) the war- it is just interesting to me how much more personal that number makes it seem. its not some crazy war that some crazy president started that i roll my eyes at- its something i am paying for. something i'm paying quite a lot for.

kudos also goes out to the one person out there that caught my willie nelson reference. at least something about this post is remotely amusing : )

casey is a working dog! he is our new part-time office assistant. he helped us out with a little light filing and organizing.

he was also helpful enough to sniff out everyone's trashcans just to make sure there wasn't anything fishy going on.




too bad he isnt full time. we could really use the health insurance.

i just ran across this side by side comparison of mega m&m's versus the standard size. i think you can see the source of my disappointment illustrated clearly here:

i had a blind date today. it was more of a set-up really. i was in the checkout aisle of the grocery store and the cashier asked if i would like to try the new reeses peanut butter cups with caramel.

would i?! yes i would!

the thoughts going through my mind - could you possibly combine better ingredients? chocolate and peanut butter are already heaven together - but throw caramel in the mix?! count me in!!

i barely made it to the car when i ripped open that little orange bag of treats. my initial reacton was "hmmm... i think i like where this is going, but i'm really not sure yet." so of course i had to eat the second cup just to be sure i liked it. in the end, i think this new snack answers the question, 'is too much of a good thing a bad thing?'

the caramel kinda just gets in the way of the peanutbuttery goodness. it takes away from that thick p.b. texture... its kind of an unwanted third-wheel on a great date.

i'm chalking this up to another in a series of recent candy disappointments. don't even ask about my "mega m&ms" experiement. mega, my ass. more like "slightly larger than usual m&ms" i guess the marketing department didn't think that was a compelling enough slogan.

i had a great weekend! despite the freezing cold temperatures, it was a whole lot of fun. saturday morning i had breakfast with friends and we went to visit murff and ryan. their new baby, taylor michelle, is such a cutie!

sunday i got to stand up with tim & michelle as they had lucy victoria baptised. her cuteness was confirmed by the loud "AWWW" that we heard from the congregation when the minister held her up for everyone to see.






i also got some rare quality time with my mom, dad, and sister! erin and i were without husbands this weekend, so we had a slumber party at mom & dad's complete with ice cream, chocolate, & popcorn. we also had a little too much fun with the silly settings on my cell phone...

interesting and/or somewhat noteworthy things that have happened today:

my outfit doesnt really match. i have to start turning on the light in the morning instead of catering to my sleeping late husband.

i actually witnessed someone giving an elevator pitch on an actual elevator.

i have spent at least 6 full hours working productively - thats big for me right now.

i had two co-workers astounded by the fact that i am the youngest sibling in my family. apparently to them i come off as more of a "oldest."

murff and r.perry had a tiny perry! hooray for baby taylor michelle!

i'm quickly learning the difference between a 'haircut' and a 'hairstyle'.

i would say that 99% of the time, i just get a haircut. of course, i get the requisite layers just to make sure my hair doesn't look like a giant mushroom cap on top of my head, but really its still a 'haircut'.

i finally caved and got a 'hairstyle' complete with bangs and lots of choppy layers. it doesn't look ALL that different, but its definitely a lot more work!

so truly, the difference between a 'haircut' and a 'hairstyle'? about 10 minutes a day.

i didn't get much of a workout this morning at the tri team practice, so i headed to the gym for the hour & 1/2 spin class. class was nearly full and the last available bike left was front row center- i jumped right in.

as i leaned over to adjust my seat height, i noticed an ex-flame in the back row. as awkward as seeing ex's already is... it totally sucks to see them when you are not looking your best. i spent 2 hours this morning standing in the wind and cold, so needless to say i was not looking so cute.

after class, i did the awkward "wow, i am in a such a hurry to leave class that i cannot even pause to look at anyone around me" act. who really cares if it worked or not, i just wanted to high tail it to the car!

i showed up at the rental car desk in california and to my dismay was told that due to a golf tournament in town, there was only one car left on the lot. now, my company doesn't exactly spring for the fancy cars, but they get me from point 'a' to point 'b' without a problem.

the last car left in the lot? a jeep wrangler. thats like showing up for a night's stay at a hotel, not expecting the four seasons, but perhaps a decent hampton or even a borderline la quinta and instead they offer to let you set up a tent in the backyard.

jeep wranglers are best suited for high schoolers or those in mid-life crisis. since i qualify for neither, i felt like a total dork driving it around. it is seriously the least practical vehicle ever made for normal urban transport. anything valuable must be locked up in a tiny breadbox of a trunk because it would only take a swiss army knife to break into the car. it threatens to tip over on any turn taken above 25 miles per hour and when on the highway anything below a shout is hard to decipher.

i was happy to turn in the keys for my return flight - now if only i'd flown back into the sunny austin that i was expecting. the misty gray winter day made me grumpy, but thankfully today is back to our usual sunny goodness!

i just saw the best SNL commercial. steve martin was the host this weekend and all of his skits crack me up.

its for a "unique new program for managing debt", a book called "don't buy stuff you can't afford."

the chapters were titled "if you dont have any money, you shouldnt buy anything" and "how to buy expensive things using money you saved."

heehee.

i went to 'le garage sale' today. as i walked past one of the booths, i heard a store owner say to a customer, "you should come shop at my store sometime. you know, i carry women's clothes up to size 6."

i swear i'm not making that up. it was right before i passed by a table of jeans that retailed for $275, on sale for the fantastic price of $90.

sheesh. it just goes to show, if you're looking for it, you can find a little taste of dallas in austin!

in other fantabulous news, our sweet mary martin is headed back to texas! i could hardly contain myself when i heard the rumor, but i called katy for verification, and its TRUE!

my first summer in big D just got a whole lot better : )

i'd never be the big winner on "the price is right". i just unsucessfully bid $4,000 on a showcase showdown package whose actual retail price is apparently $17,877.

i think the problem is, i was going off what i'd pay for the items in the showcase, not what the retaillers think they are worth.

i mean, really. who wants a full size jukebox and nasty looking giant bedroom set of furniture?

oh well- the hour wasn't a total loss. at least i've been reminded to help control the pet population and get my pet spayed or neutered.

another great busted tees shirt.

because "blow me and then wedge another cartridge on top of me once i'm in the nintendo" wouldn't fit on a t-shirt.