Monday, February 28, 2005

It's Just That Sharing Popsicles is Yucky

Dominic: "You need to learn to share."
Kate: "I share."
Dominic: "You share? If this were kindergarten you'd be getting notes sent home all the time."

Saturday, February 26, 2005

First I Want to Finish Graduate School

Friday night, Dominic and I packed up the Z and headed out to Austin to see the Cirque du Soleil and also singlehandedly support the city's local economy for the night by way of eating and then drinking our way up and down historic 6th Street.

Those crazy French Canadian uber-clowns and gymnasts were spectacularly weird and beautiful, just as I remembered from Alegria.



The show was set up in an abandoned airport, blue and yellow striped tents rising up like giant conical candies. Once inside we found ourselves wedged into seats that did not take into consideration the average American's growing needs. I spent my time before the show admiring a charming family in front of us. The couple was young and attractive and they were communicating in sign language. They had an impeccably well-behaved, dangerously cute little girl of, maybe, three. At some point I caught Dominic smiling and raising his eyebrows at her like some kind of newly smitten uncle, and I yelled out,

"You can't have one of those right now!"

Some of you who know us well as a couple might appreciate the significance of my saying such a thing. For the rest of you, Dominic has basically been trying to convince me to have his babies even before we even thought about getting married. I blame it on his fast approaching thirtieth birthday, and his mother who once, in a phone conversation, tried to convince him to procure some grandchildren for her.

"You should have some babies," she said.
"But, Ma, we're not even married," he said.
"So?"

Even now sometimes we have to have talks that go something like this:

"You know we don't need any children right now, right?" I say.
"Yeah, I know."
"Whew, good. Why are you smiling?"
"Dude, I'm totally going to knock you up one day."

Wednesday, February 23, 2005

Dodged Another One, But...

Well after working myself into a tizzy about my checksim and whether or not I'd pass. I finally passed. I even did fairly well. So I am now out of the primary navigation phase and begin Intermediate Navigation Academics tomorrow. Academics isn't so bad as it's something I can easily control. I study, and that way things aren't so difficult. The sims and flights however are beyond my control and really make me nervous. Anyways, I dodged the bullet that would get me kicked out of Nav school. However...

Kate and I did not miss the bullet of adulthood this week. We purchased furniture together. No longer are we sleeping on headboardless beds andhand-me-down sheets from my parents. We have a full fledged bedroom set, complete with 400 thread count sheets, down comforter, and curtains. That's right people, curtains! And they even match! I know it sounds like nothing, or something I should already have but we didn't. We looked at some cool lamps and decided on a cool wicker thing and the shade has beads. Kate is also going to try and paint a design on canvas to help tie the room all together. I'm excited about that because I'm going to play with the paint too. I have no artistic skills though, it's so sad.

Kate and I also went to an awesome museum called the McNay here in San Antone. They had paintings by Monet, Picasso, O'Keefe, Chagall, and all the big names. It was amazing. I saw Monet's Water Lillies. The building itself was also fantastic, a Spanish hacienda with wonderful wood and tile work. I'm sure Kate will talk more about that.

Unfortunately, I have to go to work early, early so I'm out! Later!

Wednesday, February 16, 2005

I asked him, "So how many other girls have you wined and dined with this basket?" He said, "You're the first one."

Last Sunday, it was so perfect outside--75 degrees and cloudless, sky so blue it'd make you want to slap your mama--so Dominic and I broke in ye olde picnic basket at a park downtown.

It was sickeningly wonderful. Here's a picture of the heartthrob eating.



Teenage girls everywhere will be copying and pasting this picture and then blowing it up and hanging it on their bedrooms walls next to their Tiger Beat centerfolds of Aaron Carter.



These were our desserts: fruit tart, key lime tart, and fancy chocolate cupcake with decorative icing flower.



Guess which dessert I ate?

I know this is a quick post. I'll try to do better in the future, but I'm busy being a Responsible Adult right now, what with my night classes and not doing the laundry for a week and then doing it all at once because the ginormous piles of dirty clothes almost smothered us in our sleep. I just wanted to spread some love, real quick like.

Later y'all.

Wednesday, February 09, 2005

A Few Things

What sound does a cat make?

First of all, thanks to all our "lap cat" practices, wherein I forced the Monkey Butt to sit still on my lap for graduated amounts of time, Mia has finally taken the initiative to crawl into my lap herself. Of course, she was after my sandwich, but once I swatted her away, she just collapsed defeated into my lap, where she stayed for almost a half an hour, purring and meowing at me pointedly, like she wanted to make sure I noticed she was sitting in my lap ON HER OWN ACCORD, THANK YOU.

Human: one. Monkey Butt: zero.

Like what a spelunker wears, except no hard hat

Also, right now I just want to give a shout out to my husband, who after much badgering finally relented and bought me one of those flashlights attached to an elastic band, which is for wearing around my head. I've always thought these particular devices were really cool and have wanted one for as long as I can remember. My argument for the head lamp always went something like this:

Hey, I could totally use it to read in bed while you're asleep.

And then when I finally used it for the first time last night, I kept Dominic up LIKE ALL NIGHT because the headlamp is actually very bright. And then when he said, at midnight,

Can't you just go to sleep?

I actually got insulted and left the room in a huff. When I came back to bed an hour later, my angelic husband rolled over and put his arms around me and said he was sorry.

I was shamed, people, shamed. But, alas, no more headlamp in bed. UNLESS I USE THE SPECIAL NIGHT VISION RED LIGHT ATTACHMENT. Yesss.

Because all black people love collard greens

And finally, when we were in Wal-Mart a few days ago, I noticed some thoughtful person had set up a special Black History table, with books about Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks and DVD's and CD's of important black artists and--wait for it--

Glory canned collard greens.

I'm not one for political correctness. I think the world is too filled with it as it is, but canned collard greens? I mean, at least give the people fresh greens.

Disclaimer: actually, by the way Dominic, my half-black husband, and I, sometimes a little black by association, actually love Glory canned collard greens. They're delicious.


Sunday, February 06, 2005

They Still Aren't On To ME!!!

Somehow, by sheer luck and bluffing, I haven't been kicked out of flight school yet. After an incredibly difficult two weeks of preparation, two cancelled flights for weather, and a lot of time spent at the squadron I passed my check flight with an excellent. This was pretty amazing to me seeing as how halfway through the flight I was ready to quit because I thought I had failed already! I decided to stick with it though and luckily I was able to pull it out. Unfortunately, we now have to begin preparation for our check sim which is no fun at all!
I am now one-third of the way through basic CSO school and I can't wait to finish. Hopefully soon Kate and I will find out what aircraft I'll be assigned and that will give us a good idea of where we're going. I know wherever we go we'll have a great time, but it would be great knowing so we can begin to plan. That's the best part of a PCS(permanant change of station), planning and thinking about all the new things you'll be able to do.
Well, I'm off to go and pick up a large number of buffalo wings for the game and then head over to my neighbor/classmate's apt to watch the Super Bowl and have a few/seven or eight beers. I am excited about it! Also, I get to sleep in tomorrow! Yes!!!

Thursday, February 03, 2005

Monkey Butt



Right about now, I think we should all take some time to appreciate the cuteness of this kitty. Her name is Mia. But let's just call her Monkey Butt.



We should take time to appreciate Monkey Butt's great aptitude for cuteness because right now that's about all she's got going for herself.

Why, you ask?

Because Monkey Butt is host once again to an evil parasite that I imagine looks a lot like the monster from Alien, after it's burst from the dude's stomach and then rears it's little worm head up, screaming with those nasty worm teeth, and then BAM! it makes a beeline for the air ducts in front of all the horrified astronauts. Later it mutates and grows and EATS EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM one by one and they all die horrifically slow deaths, except for Sigourney Weaver, but she totally gets hers in Ghostbusters anyway when she becomes possessed by Zuul and turns into a crazy dog.



I don't expect a human eating alien monster will burst forth from the furry haunches of Monkey Butt any time soon, but the threat thereof--no matter how improbable--is not why Monkey Butt's only remaining endearing quality is her happenstance cuteness. No, Monkey Butt's dilemma lies in the fact that SHE SPIT OUT HER TAPEWORM PILL SO MANY TIMES THIS AFTERNOON THAT IT DISINTEGRATED INTO A THOUSAND PIECES.

Which means that tomorrow I will have to pack Monkey Butt up in her carrier, travel into the heart of the Traffic Nightmare wherein lives her veterinarian, and beg the assistants to give my cat a pill for the worm that lives in her butt.



No doubt there will be much protest from Monkey Butt, but this time she can just SUCK IT.

She's also exiled from the bedroom until further notice, or until I wake up and find that I have suddenly become Ripley and am dashingly good looking and capable of kicking alien butt at the same time and can therefore take on the monster who has taken up residence in our clueless little kitty, Monkey Butt, who better be glad she's so cute.

Or else we would have taken her back to kitty jail long ago and traded her in for an animal who DOESN'T so gleefully house parasitic worms.