BOO at the ZOO

Yesterday evening we went to BOO at the ZOO. The admission ticket comes with 6 coupons to get candy at various candy stations set up around the zoo. It was a different experience seeing the zoo at night. The big cats were all pacing and the birds of prey were eating. We got to see baby lions playing and a couple of foxes all curled up under a heat lamp. We got to see some animals much more close up than usual, including a penguin, the bobcat, and a screech owl. After the zoo we had very yummy pizza at Mellow Mushroom. Ethan started on the candy early. Actually, we all did.

The white Bengal tiger was pacing.

This is a 6 year old Eastern screech owl.

Nightmare Before Halloween

Last weekend we went and saw The Nightmare Before Christmas in 3D. It was good. I didn't remember the movie at all, so I really enjoyed it. I thought Ethan would like it, but he refuses to see anything in 3D because he had a bad 4D experience at Sea World. The 3D was a bit pricey, but I'm glad we went.

V for Vendetta

I couldn't sleep the other night, so I got up and finished reading V. I liked it. There were some differences between the movie and the book. I know I liked the movie. The main thing I feel was left out (that changed the story somewhat) was the neo-holocaust. In the book all darkies, yids, queers, and radicals had been rounded up and put into camps. I didn't get that from the movie. Maybe I just missed it or don't remember it. I think the movie flowed a little bit more smoothly than the book, but considering how the book was written that is understandable. I was confused at the end of the book, but I think I was able to figure it out. Natalie Portman did a great job portraying Evey Hammond in the movie and was a lot better looking than Evey in the book! Now I need to get back to that heavy reading...

Pumpkin Carving 2008

Saturday we had our pumpkin carving party. Ross made cream of poblano soup and crispy tuna sandwiches and I made guac and a pumpkin cake. We didn't get around to eating any cake until Sunday. After the food we started the routine...wash, dry, open, scoop, scrape, scoop, scrape, transfer pattern, then cut out pattern. Well, that is the routine for the more complicated patterns. Some people skipped the whole pattern transfer and just drew on the pumpkin (all the pumpkins in the first photo). Ethan took a shine to Heather and told her a really long story about pumpkins. I think everyone had a good time. Now I'm getting excited about the dessert party.

Leana's, Tim's and Terri's pumpkins.
Heather's Pumpkin.
Tiffany carved Ethan's Jack pumpkin and Robert caved the one on the right.
My beheaded cheerleader pumpkin.
Ross's sad Toad pumpkin. He doesn't want to try again because that would mean more scraping, scooping, peeling, chiseling, and carving.

Turning point?

I wasn't so good about working out last week. Monday and Tuesday of this week I only went for walks--no yoga or weights. I'm still no closer to my weight goal for this month. Today I decided to step it up. I did 90 minutes of yoga, a 35 minute firm dvd, and I'm planning on going for a walk after dinner. Tomorrow is supposed to be 30 minutes of weights class and 2 hour long yoga classes. Friday I'm going to do a 60 minute weights class and 60 minutes of yoga plus walking. The plan for Saturday is an hour long walk. I'm wondering if I can get that done in the morning. After the weekend I think I'll go back to the no C diet. One of the girls on the biggest loser lost 8 pounds this week! So I can meet my weight goal by Halloween! Next week I might throw in some swimming and sauna. Well, I'm sweaty, time to get cleaned up.

The Rabbi's Cat

I have finally made it through the first chapter of Light on Life by BKS Iyengar. It got a little heavy there for a while and I took a break to do some brainless reading. I read The Rabbi's Cat by Joann Sfar, the first trade of Y: The Last Man by Brian K. Vaughan, and Animalia by Graeme Base. I really enjoyed The Rabbi's Cat. Next time I go to the library I will pick up the second book. I didn't enjoy Y so much. Watchmen was definitely better. Last night I read Animalia to Ross. I pick out the children's books based on the art. The paintings in the book are awesome. It is an alphabet book, and as we were reading it Ross noticed that there were many things in the A painting that started with A (besides the armoured armadillo and angry alligator). It was fun finding the hidden things in each painting. When I read the T page Ross said "terrific..." and fell asleep. I think over the last year or two Ross and I have read quite a few graphic novels. It is a strange kind of bonding experience. I preferred watching anime series together. We need a new series. In the meantime he will start The Rabbi's Cat, and I will get started on V for Vendetta.

Follicular Cyst

When I Google "follicular cyst piercing" I get all these things saying it is a big scary word. Uh, not really. I have some sort of bump right next to the bottom hole of my piercing. All the research I've done seems to indicate that it is a follicular cyst. I have a clogged pore. Gunk has accumulated, forming a big bump. I think my pore is probably clogged with adhesive because I have been taping my piercing almost every day for the last two weeks. The bump started about a week and a half ago. This morning when I removed the tape from the bottom bead a piece of skin over the cyst came off with it. Eew, I know, gross. I thought everything would come out and it would just deflate, but that didn't happen. I soaked it for 15 minutes and tried to clean up the area really well. I need to be better about soaking and cleaning. I hope this thing goes away soon. I promise I'll be better about taking care of it....

Pop Tops

Bailey gets special food on the weekends. Usually she gets some kind of wet food which comes in a pop top can. On Thursday or Friday I decided to make some canned soup. Some of the new Campell's cans come with pop tops now. I popped the can open and Bailey came running into the kitchen. She cried and cried (I guess she doesn't understand the word soup.) until I let her sniff some of the soup on my finger. She walked away a little miffed and confused. Yesterday Ross made coffees for me, Joey, and Lisa Diane. He had to open a new can of Illy and I guess those come with pop tops too. Bailey finally got out of bed and ran into the kitchen. Ross let her sniff the coffee grounds and she didn't seem to like that. Our poor girl sure has Pavlovian responses. Pop tops mean special food. Freezer door opening followed by zip lock bag opening means beef jerky. Even when I crack the top of a banana to peel it she runs into the room (she loves banana). Shower stopping means water--followed by a combing. I could go on and on. I love my pretty pretty princess.

Laura and Jason's Wedding

We had a good time at Laura and Jason's wedding. It was great to see them and Troy, Christine, Debra and Rachel. The actual wedding was lovely. I especially enjoyed the priestly blessing (which I'd never heard in a church before), and the Irish song that followed. With all the music I know my mom would have loved it.

I love cake, and had three pieces! Of course that was partly because I knew I was starting no C diet on Sunday (which was violated by coffee twice already!) Ross and I enjoyed the mariachis and the pinata was just plain funny. I don't think I will be going to another wedding anytime soon, and I know there will never be another one like this!

Texas State Fair 2008

So Saturday morning we headed over to Dallas for the Texas State Fair. It was a beautiful day and I was able to wear my new sunglasses most of the time. First thing we did was head over to the baby animal barn. The animals still were kind of sleepy and sloth-like. Check out the photo of the baby camel. It just kept stretching its head back like it was trying curl back on itself. We got to pet a zebra (which later ate its own poop) and an alpaca, which was sooooo soft!
After the barn we went for some fried foods. We started off with "fire and ice." It was supposed to be fried pineapple chunks with liquid-nitrogen-frozen banana whipped cream and strawberry sauce topping. We didn't get the special whipped cream and the strawberries in the red goo sauce were frozen. The pineapple (fried) part was yummy though. The second fried delicacy we tried was fried snickers. It was really fresh --we watched the guy batter and fry it. I liked the ooey-gooey-ess of the chocolate and caramel, but the peanuts detracted from the melty experience. We started to get the gollywobs, so we had some pizza. We went through the arts and crafts exhibit hall and the agricutural hall--mainly to get free ice cream. Oh, our last fried delight was the fried guacamole. It was every bit as good as last year. Creamy mostly-avocado guac ball with a crispy, spicy, fried coating. Mmmmm good. We are going to get that every year from now on!
We heard some bagpipes and drums and checked out the car shows. At the end we stopped to watch a stunt show. It was so lame! We rushed home to get ready for Laura and Jason's wedding. I'll post some photos from that tomorrow.

Music Exchange

I get a lot of compliments on the music that I use for my yoga classes. I'm glad because I spend a lot of time on those music mixes. One student said he liked the Elvis Costello song in one of my mixes. I laughed because I always have an Elvis Costello song in the mix. So I made a sampler CD of Elvis Costello songs and used that for my Yoga Sampler routine. My fellow Elvis fan missed that class, but the next week I gave him the cd. He has agreed to bring me a cd of some cool music. This week one of my students made a comment about the G. Love song in the mix. I told her I love that song so much that it is my ring tone! I've agreed to give her a copy of my G. Love mp3s and she's going to give me some cool music in return. I had no idea teaching yoga would lead me to a music exchange! I love it.

Afternoon Off

We didn't make to the fair yesterday. It was raining, so we ran some errands and then went to the dollar theaters. We saw Babylon AD. It was terrible! It was a cheap, crappy rip off of Children of Men (which was an AWESOME movie). We were so confused! After the movie we went and had dinner with Robert, Tiffany, and Ethan. We had a lot of fun with Ethan. He got a hotweels set that everyone had fun playing with. We also read a Halloween book together. He is so excited that we are going to carve pumpkins. Yesterday was a great day. I have new bling bling sunglasses and Mona was able to straighten out my bling bling glasses. They are wearable, but she isn't sure how long they will last.

Iyengar Yoga Class

Yesterday I drove forty-something miles to Dallas to try an Iyengar yoga class. I enjoyed the class. I learned plenty. With my elbows closer together I was able to do headstand with a lot less strain on my neck. I also learned that I turn my heels in when I do downward facing dog. It is a long drive, so I don't think I'll be going every week, but I would like to go again. At the end of class I took off my glasses and my hair stick. The teacher walked over and squashed my glasses (my bling-bling ones!). This wrecked the end of the class for me. After class the teacher told me I can never put my glasses on the floor in a yoga class. I have never had a problem before. I think she has a personal problem (clumsiness, inattention) and just takes the easy way out by telling people not to put anything on the floor. Believe me, I will be more careful about where I put my glasses, but I think she needs to be more mindful about where she puts her feet! I was so bummed that I drove straight home after the class. I had planned on going to see Tiffany and Ethan, but I just wanted to go home and sulk. Poor Ethan cried when he found out he wasn't going to see me. I am hoping to see him Wednesday night for dinner.

Sunday Night Movie

Sunday night we went to the dollar theaters and saw The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor. I enjoyed it. It wasn't a great movie, but 3.50 for the both of us, and going into it with no expectations made it fun. I think I have seen one of the other Mummy movies, but I don't remember it. I liked this coat in the photo. It didn't seem like it would be that warm though. I also liked some of the dresses that Maria Bello's character wore, but I couldn't find a photo. The Yeti were really cool. Not as much cheese as I was prepared for--another good clean fun movie.

Pepper Harvest

It is October, and I am still harvesting peppers from all my plants. The best ones are coming from the plants I grew from seed!

I should have added some peppers to the keema I made last night. I use the jalapenos mostly to make guacamole. I share a lot of the peppers with Otto. I have no idea what to do with so many peppers! I am just really glad that I had some success growing something this year.

Adding Up

I didn't go for a walk every day this week, but I did do some sort of exercise every day this week. My total minutes this week added up to 450! I did yoga 4 times this week! I'm hoping to be able to keep up the 450 minutes/week for the rest of the month. Hopefully the minutes will add up and my weight will come down.

Expensive Tastes

I went shopping today for material for the dress I want to make. Of course the silk I like is 16.99-29.99/yard! I think with the Columbus Day sale and a 20 percent off coupon I might be able to get some nice material for less than 6 bucks a yard. I'm always attracted to the expensive stuff. Anything I'm on a quest for...I am attracted to the expensive one. It isn't that I see the price and then like it (ahem, I do know someone like that), I just have refined (and expensive) tastes. At the eye doc yesterday I liked the most expensive frames. The thing is, everyone agreed that they looked the best on me. I am so glad we have (partial) eye glass coverage. I guess it isn't so bad that I have refined tastes. I don't always indulge them and when I do, I shop around. Some things are worth the extra money. I don't skimp when it comes to shoes, toilet paper, haircuts, and milk.

I Love You Honey

In Italy last year I bought a small, 40g jar of chestnut honey for 1 euro. Oh, it is so scrumptious. Yesterday I had some on challah for break the fast. The little sample size jar is almost empty, so today I started looking online for some chestnut honey. I found a few varieties and then tonight we went to Central Market. I found one I wanted (Italian), but the jars were all expired. I ended up buying a French chestnut honey (the one pictured). I will try it out tomorrow with butter on some challah.

I have also recently become interested in bee keeping. I happened to see a bee keeper on the show of the woman whose name shall not be spoken. The beekeeper showed how the honey is extracted from the honeycomb. It was fascinating. I definitely want a bee hive some day. It costs a bit to get started, so I don't think I'll be doing it any time soon. I'm not sure what kind of honey I'd get, but it sure would be cool to have my own bees and honey supply. In the meantime I think I'll be sampling different kinds of honey from CM.

Brain Freeze

I have been pretty much brain dead for the last two years. It has been completely by choice. I think the most brain engaging book I've read in the last two years was the one about gin (and that was a year ago). I read children's books, comic strip anthologies, and graphic novels. I am months behind in my magazines (Bon Apetit and Men's Health.) Even so, I don't really read Bon Apetit so much as flip through it. I am finally starting to miss using my brain.
This week I started reading Light on Life by BKS Iyengar. I like it so far. It is pretty heavy. I guess this will be more of a weight lifting exercise for my brain than an aerobic exercise like solving calculus problems might be. I think the book is 4 chapters. I haven't made it through the first one yet. It got a little heavy and I had to put it down. Ha! Maybe by the time I get to the fourth chapter I'll be able to get through it without feeling overwhelmed.

Natural Encounters

I am enjoying going for walks in the evenings. There is no way I could walk like that on a treadmill and not be totally bored out of my mind. This week we have seen lots of pancake squirrels, plenty of birds, ducks, and a snake (in the creek). One night a raccoon ran across someone's front yard and I jumped back because I thought it was a possum. Ross laughed at me. A couple of minutes later he saw a squirrel curled up in the gutter. He shouted at it to wake up and when it moved he freaked out (he thought it was dead). Then I laughed at him.
Well, I forgot what else I was going to write.
I want to say easy fast to my fellow tribesmen.

Hundreds of Q-tips

Well, I haven't been up to too much lately. I have been pretty lazy. I am trying to lose weight this month, and as part of the plan I am going to walk every day. That didn't work out so well at first, but Ross and I have gone on a walk every day since Saturday. I managed to do 75 minutes of yoga yesterday and still walk for an hour. Now if I can only keep the snacking under control. I'm really hungry at the moment. I was really starting to miss working out, so this week I'm going to do yoga and a couple of weights classes. That will help me feel better and help me lose weight (hopefully).
Tiffany, Robert, and Ethan came over for lunch on Sunday. Ross grilled some veggies and some steaks. Man, those fillets were good! Ethan was super excited to see his uncle Ross. Tiffany and I went estate sale shopping and she found some fancy collector plates at a great price.
My piercing is really healing up. I am going through a lot of tape and hundreds of Q-tips. The trash can in the bathroom is just full of them! Funny thing--I think the piercing is healing up slightly pointing to the right. I guess that's better than not healing up at all.
Oh, Saturday night I made banana bread and oatmeal cookies. I was having a craving for cookies. I used dried cherries instead of raisins. Mmmmm. I think tomorrow I'm going to experiment with making the pumpkin brownies in cupcake shape. I so have the munchies right now. Grrr.

Surprise Zen

Last night Ross asked me if I want to move to India for a 18 months. I said "Okay." That's it. No hesitation. No questions. Just "Okay." My only thought after that was "I wonder if I could study with the Iyengars..." This morning I had a much more sobering thought--I bet we couldn't take Bailey. At this point everything is "if," so there's no point getting riled up in any way. I'm surprised by my own zen. Truly.

It's All Good

I am feeling so much better.
Last night I used my soundtrack music mix. A bunch of people said they liked it. I wanted to use my covers mix today, but I couldn't find it. I need to reburn my Elvis mix and the cover mix. Last night I gave away my Elvis mix to one of my students who really likes Elvis Costello. He said he'll bring me a cd with some of his other favorite music. I'm excited about that.
My piercing is slowly healing up. I'm looking forward to the day when I don't have to walk around with tape on it.
I remembered to pick up my paychecks (with my name misspelled). The money is starting to add up. I'm happy I'm getting paid to do something I like doing.
It's a new month. I did my weights and measures this am. It isn't going to be easy, but I am aiming for 140 lbs by Halloween (I am starting at 145.5). This month I am going to focus on working out and saving money. Tonight I'll start with a good walk or a pilates reformer class.