Awesome Weekend

Valerie came to visit this past weekend. When I picked her up at the airport on Friday it was 29 degrees and I was sporting my fur coat. This photo was taken on Saturday. It was at least 70 degrees, and I got really warm sitting in the sun. We shopped and ate our way around the city. We had a great time. Sunday's weather was awesome and we ran around with the top down. Thanks Valerie for coming to visit!

Farewell My Feline Friend

When my friend Emily told me she had 20-something kittens at home, I told her I'd take one for my parents.  I picked out a tabby cat and we agreed I could pick him up in a few weeks after he was weaned.  When I went to pick up the kitten there was a bit of a misunderstanding on my part, and I took home a different cat--the ankle biter.  I named him Napoleon.  I think his tiny, sharp claws sprung a leak in my aunt's waterbed.  He was small and his eyes were huge and alien-like.

When I took him home the name Napoleon just didn't stick.  My mom started calling him Nopalito, and then it was shorted to Nopi or No-no.  In the beginning he was allowed outside, but on a leash...dragging a milk jug around.  It was laughable.  My mom put sand in the jug to keep him from jumping over the wall, and he just bit holes in it and dragged it around the back yard to empty it.  The leash and milk jug were abandoned for fear of him choking or hanging himself from the wall.  He roamed the neighborhood as he pleased.

Nopi became my dad's best bud.  Nopi would always curl up in my dad's lap.  My dad is the one who would get up at 4 in the morning to let him out or let him in.  He was always going in and out.  Ma called him Salientra (sale y entra, which means goes out and comes in.)  Funny how if my dad wasn't home Nopi knew not to bother my mom in the middle of the night to be let out.  When my dad returned from his trip Nopi would jump up on the back of the chair closest to the door and tell my dad how awful it had been without him.

A few years ago, after one too many fights and infections my mom stopped letting Nopi out.  If he ever did go out it was just to roll around in the dirt and then he'd come back in all filthy.  He mellowed out so much he would let my mom bathe him without much protest. He would cry in the middle of the night.  Ross swore it sounded like a doll saying "I love you." He would cry until you got up, then he'd lay down in the bed and go to sleep.  Little stinker! Lately, I took to calling him Old Man.  He was walking funny, with his back feet pointing outward.

This past week Nopi passed away.  He was 19 years old. He had all his teeth.  He was in good shape.  My dad is pretty sure he had a stroke.

I start crying every time I think about it.  I keep squeezing Bailey and pointing at her and telling her she can't go anywhere.

Farewell my feline friend.  We will more than miss you. The house will be so eerily quiet without you.

Friends: 25 Years!

Valerie and I have been friends since the 7th grade. We met at Mission Junior High in Bellevue, Nebraska. We have kept in contact through the years--and different states: Nebraska, Texas, Maryland. When Valerie told me that we had been friends for 25 years I could hardly believe it. Now I'm moving, but I'm sure we will remain friends.  And we might some day find ourselves living in the same state again.

Terrific Tejal

We got to spend some time with Tejal this past weekend. We ate (at Hut's) and ate (ice cream at Amy's), and ate (at Magnolia Cafe). We also hung out a little bit. 

Ross with his two wives. Twice the nagging, none of the love.

High Heat Trapeze

Ross, Ainsmar, and I went to an outdoor trapeze class at 10:45 this morning. The predicted high in DC for today was 95, but I'm fairly certain it reached 102 (the car said 106 when we got in it.) The class kinda sucked. It was really hot and the class had 7 newbies.  I think the heat distracted everyone and people were moving slowly--which meant we didn't get as many turns as we normally do. 

I warmed up with the set split, then Donovan set me to work on the set hocks off. I was springing out of my hold, which caused me to rotate. By the end of class I finally got the trick--but I didn't get the chance to try and catch. Joelle, who is in my IFW class, was there and we got to chat some. We are trying to think of a theme for our show in August.

Ross worked on his set straddle, and caught it twice. Oh, and he also started working on the set whip. Next time he needs to try the one handed take-off.

Ainsmar did pretty well. He was able to do all the steps of the knee hang on his first try. It took him several swings, but he did them all. I hope he had fun--despite the heat.

Me after take off--on my last turn (that I had greedily snuck in.)  I tweaked my back just after that. I'm hoping some muscle relaxers and pain killers will help me sleep it off tonight.

 Donovan catching Ross. A pro took this photo.

A pro also took this really awesome photo of Ross just before he hit the net.

Ainsmar's last turn with a great backflip dismount.

Me practicing my set hocks off.

Ross's set straddle catch.

Luster Birthdays

The Luster girls have both recently had birthdays and we got to celebrate with them both. Julia is now 4 and Evelyn is now 8.  They both got great presents, and great cake that they each helped make.

 Julia with her new scooter.

 Julia's castle cake--Valerie decorated it all herself!

 Julia had had enough of the photo taking.

 Evelyn was excited to open every single present.

 Evelyn blowing out the candles.

Super awesome rainbow cake!

Movie Review: Raid Redemption

I saw Nicole's review (but didn't watch the trailer) and I instantly wanted to see this movie. I was really disappointed to learn that the movie wasn't playing anywhere in the Bmore area.  Nicole suggested that we add the movie to our already planned dinner in DC, so last night after a great dinner with Nicole and Ryan at Rasika we all went to see The Raid Redemption.

Yeah, the movie is so good that Nicole and Ryan wanted to see it a second time, and they are now contemplating seeing it a third time. The movie is so intense that I'm not sure Ross could handle seeing it in the theater a second time--he would stop breathing during the fight scenes, and there were many, many, excellently choreographed fight scenes.

I don't know how to describe this movie. It is the most awesome movie I've seen in years. Best fight scenes ever! I think originally this movie was only showing in DC, LA, and NYC. Ross checked last night, and it is now showing more widely. This move is very violent. If you don't mind violence and like martial arts movies then this is a movie for you. If you are looking for a complicated story line and character build up, then you will be disappointed (this movie does not have, or need them).

I give this movie 2 thumbs, and two freakishly large big toes up. Go see it!

Pumpkin Carving 2011

Last night we had our annual pumpkin carving gathering. I made some butternut squash soup and Texas garlic toast. We (mainly me) also munched on jalapeno poppers. Monica and Ainsmar joined us. We missed  having Richard. Everyone's pumpkins turned out nicely. Ainsmar carved the Mummy. Monica carved the Great Pumpkin. I carved the Bats, and Ross carved Mike. After pumpkin carving and photos Ainsmar, Ross and I went to the Dairy for ice cream. They had pumpkin ice cream. Perfect! Ross and Ainsmar had the pumpkin sundaes (with a snickerdoodle, pumpkin ice cream, pumpkin butter, caramel, and cinammon crunchies) and I had plain pumpkin ice cream. I think a good time was had by all.

Fun Fun Fun!

My day didn't start out fun because I sat in traffic for an hour (and still had to drive half an hour), but it sure turned out to be a great day. After lunch, Valerie and I shopped the Columbia Mall until we were totally worn out. I ended up spending money (oops) on a pair of linen blend capris. I got to drive the car with the top down today! Yeah, sun! To top off such a fun day Ross and I went to the dairy for ice cream. They didn't have cake batter, but they did have free samples of avocado--and I like it!

Up for tomorrow: cherry blossoms in DC.

Annapolis Outing

We drove down to Annapolis today to have lunch with Otto. It only took us an hour to get there, and we stopped for gas! It was good to see Otto--who is here on a 4 day whirlwind tour of the area (Spring break field trip). After lunch we walked around a little--saw a bunch of cute shops. There were a ton of ice cream shops, but I'm on the no C diet for the next week--so we didn't get any ice cream.
After our walk we went to Trader Joe's and Whole Foods--picked up a few things. Annapolis is so close by, I'm sure we will be down there again soon. I'd like to see the Naval Academy campus. I'm sure it will be a lot nicer in Spring or Summer. It isn't very nice out today.

Dinner and a Movie

The movie was first. We went and saw The Watchmen yesterday. Ross and I both really liked it. It had all four elements of a good movie. We had both read the book (graphic novel), and we both thought they did a really good job making it into a movie.

After the movie we headed to Germantown to see Valerie, Troy, Evelyn, and Julia. I'm so thankful that she invited us over. It was nice to have a home cooked meal after a couple weeks of sandwiches and eating out. Tomorrow I'm going to unpack the kitchen so we can have our own home cooked meals. Anyway, we had a great meal (and cocktails) with Valerie and the gang. Ross played with Evelyn a whole bunch and I read her a couple of books.

It got late and Troy put Evelyn to bed. To save Val a trip up the stairs (she's 2 weeks out from foot surgery) I put Julia to bed. Easy breezy. I've never seen a baby go down that easy. I just laid her down, rubbed her belly, then sat in the glider for a couple of minutes to she make sure she was okay. I once put Evelyn down for a nap, and it was also super easy (but she tried to stall and Julia isn't old enough for that). I had to confess my love for Valerie when she calmly explained to Evelyn that she couldn't have a snack because we were about to eat dinner. Evelyn got over it, and ate dinner when it was ready. Ah, reasonable people. We had a great time with them.

Today we just relaxed. I'll start unpacking tomorrow. It will be strange trying to find a new place for everything. The carpet is strange. I already miss our wood floors.

Tomorrow is Ross's first day of work. I'm hoping that tomorrow our moving units are taken away. They are taking up three parking spaces. We are going to have to get into a new routine (not that we had a really good one the last few months).

Laura's Wedding Shower

Yesterday I wandered up to the Denton area for Laura's wedding shower. It was nice to see everyone. I was in a bad mood from the moment I woke up. After dinner Ross had had enough of my bad mood and took me out for cake. A gin and tonic and a slice of lemon cake at Del Frisco's got rid of my grumpies. Here are a couple of photos. The first one is of the Ladies Mercado, and the second is me with the bride-to-be.

Piercings

Here are photos of our piercings. Lisa Diane had both traguses pierced. I got a vertical Madison piercing.

Rock Climbing

Joey and I were awake before everyone else this morning, so we went rock climbing at Main Event. I didn't even know that they had rock climbing there. We signed up for 30 minutes because I didn't want to push it. I'm so glad that we didn't do a full hour. We really enjoyed it, but we will definitely be having some sore forearms tomorrow.

Then and Now

I'm not sure when the first photo was taken. 1999 possibly. The second photo was taken 8/16/2008. I really wish we had Aaron Camp in the second photo.