No Cell Reception + No Internet = Bliss

Three Reasons Why Today is a GOOD DAY…

1. Miley Cyrus was on the TODAY SHOW this morning!
   (Not that I like her music or anything. Really. Shut up!).



2. The X-Files Movie starts today. Weeeeeeeee!



3. My TWO WEEK LONG vacation starts at 5 PM. Colorado here I come!!!

Stay cool, my babies! More from me in two weeks...maybe!

Poor Lucy...

From: Melissa
Sent: Thursday, July 24, 2008 4:04 PM
To: Deals
Subject: Lucy!

Here’s a cute pic of your favorite cow.

Hope the day is going okay!

________________________________________

From: Deals
Sent: Thursday, July 24, 2008 5:06 PM
To: Melissa
Subject: RE: Lucy!

OMG! She’s so hungry that she’s ACTUALLY interested in that SINGLE blade of grass that kid is offering her! Poor thing! :P

________________________________________

From: Melissa
Sent: Thursday, July 24, 2008 5:20 PM
To: Deals
Subject: RE: Lucy!


No. She’s a pig. She’ll eat anything. Not hungry at all, just greedy.

Watch Me!

I first heard about this video on the Today Show. It is about Christian the lion, and - wow - what a beautiful and uplifting story.

Watch me and you will understand:

Sniff! Sniff!
(I'm totally crying because I'm happy...)

Hello, Dolly!

It's wrong, but every time I hear anything about this Dolly:



I totally think of this Dolly:




It got worse this morning when one of the local news anchors said something to the effect of, "Dolly is poised and ready to pounce on Texas." In my mind, all I saw was Dolly-the-dog frog hunting at the ranch.

Sigh...

Why I love Deep Ellum...

I'm not even completely sure I know what a leather hood and head harness IS (much less why I would ever need one). That said, they are 20% off...

If I were RR, and the leather hood and head harness were grapefruit, I'd totally be sold. They are, after all, on sale.

Spring Ho!

The theme of this year's event was “The Fabulous Spring Ho!” And boy was it ever.

Where else but Texas can you have a Spring Ho festival? An event, might I add, that involves neither springtime nor hoes. Although, to be fair, I think the “spring” in Spring Ho has something to do with the sulfur springs in the area, not the season. As for the “Ho” part, though…yeah, I have no idea. The festival started in the early 1970s. I wasn’t alive then, but I’m pretty sure the word “Ho” meant the same thing as it does today.

The whole weekend seems to center around the presentation of Miss Spring Ho and Little Miss Spring Ho. Girls in the running for either position are nominated and elected by popular vote by the citizens of Lampasas, and get to ride on a float in a parade in their honor. Miss Spring Ho is always a local, high school-age girl, whereas Little Miss Spring Ho is five or six. Both young ladies are gussied up very early in the morning and escorted around town like celebrities. It really is a BIG deal.

Just incase you can't read the sign, it says:
"Congratulations Spring Ho Queens Kasi and Kristen"

My question: Does Miss Spring Ho put her newly bestowed title on her college application? How about her professional resume? It is – as far as Lampasas is concerned – a great honor. Father’s are ecstatic if their daughter is in the running to become a Ho. Seriously. It’s amazing. You can’t make this stuff up.

The festivities always seem to take place the second weekend of July – just in time for the mercury in Texas to rise above the centennial mark. And the aforementioned parade? Yeah, it lasts a minimum of two hours and doesn’t start until 11 AM. Can you say “heat stroke”?!

Good times.

The 2008 Spring Ho was especially exciting because my father was also in the Spring Ho parade. It was his 50th High School reunion. Dad - along with the rest of the class of 1958 - was stuck on a float and literately paraded through town so that everyone could stare and marvel at the advanced age of the individuals on board. It was awesome. They even gave the class an award.

Amy, TOC, Trevor and I rode behind the class of 1958 in my dad’s camouflaged VW Thing. Our job? To pick up any of the old timers that fell off the "CLASSIC" CLASS OF '58 float, and transport them to safety. It might sound like I am kidding, but about halfway through the parade someone on the reunion float started a twist contest. Surprisingly, no one slipped or passed out from heat exhaustion. I consider that to be a small miracle.

Anyway, here are some of my pictures:

The "Classic" Class of '58 was supposed to dress in jeans and a white shirt for the parade. My father has never been known to conform...

Posing for pictures before the parade began...

The award...

Not Spring Hoes, but as close as we got...

The "young" alumni of the class of 1963...

Every SWAT Team vehicle should qualify as a float in a parade and advertise for Sander's Plumbing and ice...

The Calvary from Ft. Hood...

...and their mule-driven wagon

Class of '58 under attack by a kid with a water cannon...

Following behind the float...

Waving at the kiddoes...

More mule-driven wagons...

...and girls in bathing suits riding horseback

Spring Ho Keepsakes:

My Spring Ho Brochure

My Spring Ho T-Shirt

Dinner with RR…

Put bread in mouth.

RR promptly asked me a question.

Realizing that my mouth was full, RR quickly responded with:

“Oh, sorry! No rush. I’ll just think about my thesis while you finish chewing.”

RR then proceeded to look thoughtfully up and to her left, as if in deep concentration.

(It is moments like these that I miss the most. Move back to Dallas soon, okay?!)

That’s right: He’s a Senator from TEXAS…

Wow. Where to start?

…?!

Yeah, no words. I had heard about this video from THE ONLY CHILD (TOC), who had first learned about it from one of her nine billion summer interns. Somehow I didn’t believe TOC when she told me about how bad it was. At least not completely. I mean, really: He’s a U.S. Senator. How bad can it be?

Apparently, bad. VERY bad.

Sweet Jesus.

A message to the universe:

UNCLE!

(I totally stole this post from Bert. I just couldn't think of a better way to sum up my week month year. Thanks, Bertie!)

Remembering Palomo and Mr. Ed...

Mom went and picked up Palomo Friday afternoon. His ashes were returned to us in a little, pine box with his name engraved on the top. Additionally, the vet pressed Palomo's foot into clay before cremating him so we will always have a way to remember him.



Once home, Grammy Pammy set up a little memorial for Palomo and invited me over for a birdie wake. He really was a good bird. It is so sad to see his empty three-story birdie condo next to the window. The living room is so quiet without his cooing.

********

I also visited the place where Mr. Ed is buried over the weekend. It was beautiful - right next to the grove of trees at the base of Edward's Plateau. This fall, I'm planning on making something to mark the site. Until then, this will have to do:

A note on my current mental state...

Psychologically, I am somewhere between:

"For a list of all the ways technology has failed to improve the quality of life, please press three."

- Alice Kahn

- AND -

"Every time I think I've touched bottom as far as boredom is concerned, new vistas of ennui open up."

- Margaret Halsey

Any Questions?
(AP data entry sucks)

All Eights...

I stole this picture from my good friend "Quetty-Poo",
who was in China this past spring:

One month and counting until my 28th birthday the Olympics...
(grumble, grumble)

The sign of a good manicure/pedicure...

Good job, Grammy Pammy. Good job.

Fourth of July recap...

My 4th of July was filled with parades, candy, baseball and fireworks – just as it should be.

We started the day with the Highland Park parade. Amy was driving my father’s new, camouflaged VW Thing in the procession with a couple of her debutante friends. They were armed with several giant bags of candy, water guns, lays and water balloons. Luckily, by the time they got to us, they were mostly out of their water-based ammo.



My father, with staples still in his lower shin, also watched the parade with us. True to form, he was dressed in an outfit only he could pull off.





Very early on in the parade, someone came up to my dad, handed him a plastic police badge and declared him to be an honorary Highland Park Sheriff for the day. This made my father’s morning, and the white star remained over his right nipple for the rest of the holiday.



My favorite part of the parade, however, was the very beginning when the fire engines turned onto Preston and started blaring their horns and sirens. In unison, Gypsy Kitty and Haskell tilted their noses up towards the sky and started to howl. I had never heard Haskell howl before – if you had asked me on July 3rd, I would have said that he didn’t know how. It was just about the cutest thing I have ever seen. Next year, I’ll be prepared and will do my best to capture it on video.



Here are some of the parade float highlights:

















After the parade, my dad, Trevor and I briefly met up with Amy at Gore Park (the end of the parade route). It was VERY hot, though (Gore Park isn’t known for its overabundance of shade), and we didn’t stay long.

We had lunch at Whole Foods Market (yum…sushi), before heading to Sharper Image to partake in their going-out-of-business-4th-of-July sale. Dad and I are both proud, new owners of filter-less Ionic Breeze Air Purifiers. Awesome. I’ve wanted one for years, and my allergist recommended I buy one last fall. But it is hard to drop a couple hundred dollars on a machine when you work for a nonprofit. It’s easier, however, when they are 70% off. Weeeeee!

The evening was spent up in Frisco at the Roughrider’s game. Apparently, the Roughriders are good this year, because it suddenly dawned on me during the game that they have won every single game I have been to this season. The forth was no exception. We even had a rainbow to boot!





Unlike last year, I did not video tape the fireworks display. I DID, however, make the following film starring the CUTEST, old man I have ever seen. Enjoy:

Hope everyone had a safe and HAPPY 4th of July!

Life with Haskell...

For anyone wondering what it is like living with Haskell from day to day. Or not - the videos are less than two minutes long COMBINED. You TOTALLY have the time to take a gander.

Just remember: Time wasted with Haskell is time lost forever. Isn't that just GRREEEAAAAT?!

Weeeeeeeeeeeee!

Anyway, here you go:

ENJOY!