Blah, blah, blah, blogcakes

Goodbye, Ann Richards

2006-09-14T06:39:00.000-05:00

Ann Richards has died.

Since we moved to Texas and I learned more about her, she's fascinated me. I wish that I had half the nerve and courage she had. She was a remarkable woman.

Here's hoping some more women like her come from this school.

Ann, please try not to give God too hard a time.

It's just about that time. . .

2006-08-25T07:40:00.000-05:00

It's almost September, which up here, means that it's almost time for hunting season. Llano is the "deer capital of Texas", so hunting is big here.

Now, honestly. I'm not sure how they can claim "deer capital of Texas", because I've seen, at most six deer in the 5 weeks we've been here. If that's what it takes to be the "deer capital of Texas", then the rest of Texas must not have many deer.

Seriously, though. What it does mean is signs everywhere for a Hunter's Appreciation dinner, which sort of boggles my mind. I'm guessing the deer aren't throwing it.

The festivities are being held Labor Day weekend, but, sadly, we won't be here to enjoy them.

What we have been able to enjoy recently is the Harvest Trail, a two-weekend thing that the local wineries do each August. Last weekend, we visited two area wineries. Although it's a bit o a stretch to call one of them an "area winery", since it took us nearly an hour to get to it and it's practically in Austin. It was well worth the trip, though, as the wine at Flat Creek is quite good. They had quite a crowd, none of whom, I hope, was there to hear the musical entertainment. If Michael Stipe was dead, he'd have been spinning in his grave over the guy's version of "Losing My Religion".

It never ceases to take my breath away when we come up over the crest of a particularly good hill and get a really nice view of the area. A lot of people think Texas isn't pretty and, before I came to the Hill Country, I was one of them. But this area is really magnificent. There are times you think you can see clear into Oklahoma, the views are so good. It's hard to put it into words. One of these days, I'll remember the camera, so I can actually get some pictures of it.

Of course, it'd be my luck it'd rain if I did that.

It's the eleventh plague!

2006-08-05T07:52:00.000-05:00

There are butterflies EVERYWHERE right now.

Seriously. You can't go anywhere in this area now without seeing them.

Apparently, lots of rain followed by dry weather and lots of heat combined to create conditions favorable for major amounts of a particular species of butterfly. And they are nearly impossible to avoid.

We drove to Fredericksburg last weekend and there were times we'd see mini-swarms of them along the road. We kept wondering why there weren't any birds there, picking them off. I think the birds are scared of that many butterflies. Like the butterflies could join forces and take out a bird, so the birds are being extra careful.

It's a good thing we filled the windshield washer fluid before we moved, because we probably went through half of it just on that drive. Those little butterflies (they're not very big, but they far make up for that in the fact that there's something like 47 billion of them, it seems) make a reasonably icky mess on the windshield when they smack into it.

I did see a bird swoop down to pick one off yesterday, but it was a slow bird. I nearly hit it. That would have been bad.

Fifty minus 17 equals a whole lot of reading to be done

2006-07-29T07:25:00.000-05:00

My New Year's Resolution this year was to read fifty books. I thought it was reasonable. If I spent a half an hour to an hour a day reading, plus time spent on airplanes and in airports, I could do it.

But then we decided to move.

That means I've finished just 17 books so far, the latest being John Updike's latest, The Terrorist, which I definitely recommend. It may not be his best work ever, but it's a fine insight into the mind of a young Muslim who decides it's time to meet Allah.

So it's almost August and I still need to read 33 books to reach my goal. I knew it was ambitious to begin with, since that's practically a book a week and I don't tend to read short books. That said, I'm currently reading Gabriel Garcia Marquez's latest, the barely-over-100-pages Memories of My Melancholy Whores.

I still think I can do this, even though it means I have just 22 weeks left to do it. We're going on a cruise soon, so there's some airport/airplane time, plus maybe some time on a deck chair. And I've been better lately about taking time during the day to read, instead of just trying to read at night. Reading at night inevitably leads to dozing off while reading, which doesn't help matters. And I'm going to make a big effort to go to the local used bookstore, sit in one of the comfy chairs there for an hour or so, and read, once a week.

I've read more than 50 books in a year bunches of times, but never since I was a kid and my books were way shorter than they are now. And it's not like I don't have the unread books to do it. I just have to stop trying to read 300-500 page books all the time.

Life in a small town

2006-07-25T16:33:00.000-05:00

We have survived our move.

I'd guess about two-thirds of the boxes have either been unpacked or stored. The rest still sit in the office or living room, reminders of what I ought to be doing instead of what I am doing, namely writing this entry and reading.

I'm in my second day of being alone. Not completely alone; the dog is here and the cats are around somewhere. Each week, I get to live on my own for three days, something I've never really done. To be truthful, it's a bit liberating; I can set whatever hours I want and do nearly whatever I want. It'll be more liberating when I actually have a car.

Right now, I'm basically stuck here. We're right in town, so I can do as I did this morning: walk to the post office. Walking in Texas in July or August? Not high on my list of things I enjoy.

Haven't really had much in the way of interaction with anybody yet. The neighbors have been leaving us alone. We live on a short street, with only a few houses near us. We've met most of our neighbors, but that's about it.

With the exception of my trip to the post office and the visits yesterday from the guys delivering my new washer and dryer and the DirecTV installation guy, I've been relatively isolated. It's not so bad. I'm kind of enjoying it. I've been reading, writing, chatting with friends online. I talk to the dog a lot, which is a little scary. But at least she doesn't answer.

I get to get out of the house tomorrow and be sociable. The library is having a lunch with speaker thing and I figured I'd go. Gotta meet some people sometime. Plus, it saves me having to figure out what to make for lunch.

Would you look at all that stuff...

2006-07-21T22:10:00.000-05:00

I think the movers must have brought somebody else's stuff with them, because I can't believe it's all ours. I don't know where it's all going to go.

We're such geeks. First thing we did when we got here, after hauling all the stuff in the car into the house, was set up our computers and hook up the network.

The movers, despite being over an hour late, have really worked hard in very hot weather. They're getting a BIG tip.

Saying goodbye

2006-07-21T06:56:00.000-05:00

There are boxes all around me. It's moving day.

It's been a roller coaster ride this week -- freaking out over not beign able to get everythign packed, crying over leaving good friends behind, laughing over fun memories.

We're moving from a metro area of 4 million to a town of about 3500. No malls, no Target, no Costco, no Borders. No longer will we have nearly every type of cuisine imaginable available to us on a daily basis.

Obviously, we want to make this move. And I know it's the right thing for us, no matter how much I'm going to miss being able to see my wonderful friends pretty much any time. The new town is not without amenities; there's a movie theater, bookstore, fabulous barbecue places. Everything we need on a daily basis is there. Plus, we'll have goats for neighbors, which, well, here it's against the deed restrictions.

I'm excited by the prospect of moving to this town and I can't wait to be in our lovely little house. I really can't wait for this house to sell, so we have disposable income again. Mostly, I can't wait for my fabulous friends to come visit us.

Lists

2006-07-16T19:43:00.000-05:00

Things I'm loving right now:

Firefly

VH-1's World Series of Pop Culture

The fact that I'm within days of moving to a cute house in a cute town.

The incredibly cute kittens that a neighbor's cat had two weeks ago.

The liberation of getting rid of a lot of things we had but didn't need.

New shoes I just got from Zappo's.

All the possibilites that come from moving to a new place.

Things I'm not loving right now:

The general suckiness that is summer in Houston.

Packing.

Not having sold our house.

Mosquitoes. Well, bugs of any kind in general.

Having to say goodbye to my wonderful friends and neighbors.

Look out, Houston

2006-07-04T15:38:00.000-05:00

It's finally happened.

I passed my road test and I now have my driver's license.

This allows me to do all sorts of fun things, like actually drive to the doctor's office tomorrow to see my neurologist, rather than have to make complicated bus plans.

I'm not sure how much I'll want to drive by myself in Houston, but I think I'll be OK when we move. In fact, I drove almost an hour of the trip home today, proving to myself that I can drive 70 and pass somebody, plus get to the nearest town that has more than just a small Home Depot.

After being dependent on others (be they my husband, friends, or the bus) for so long, it's kind of strange to actually know I can get in the car whenever I want and go do something. I'm still trying to wrap my brain around it.

Book drive update

2006-06-24T07:44:00.000-05:00

As of right now, the Dewey Donation System has reports of 1137 books and $1500 in cash donations for the Harrison County, Mississippi library system! That's fabulous news.

Even better news: The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has given a grant of $12.2 million to help rebuild libraries in Louisiana and Mississippi. And the Bush-Clinton Fund is giving $5 million, too.

I've done my part. A copy of Nora Roberts' next book will be shipped to the Pass Christian library. When we're not juggling two mortgages and tight on cash, they'll get more. Please consider sending a book or some money. All the libraries have an Amazon.com wish list and books can be sent directly to the library with just a couple clicks.

Goats!

2006-06-17T20:03:00.000-05:00

We're at the new house this weekend and I took a brief break from painting to go visit our neighbors, the goats.

I'm continually surprised by how friendly the goats are. When we walk up to the fence between our property and the neighbors, they'll kind of look at us, then, eventually, one or two start trotting over. Eventually, the whole crew starts heading our way. It's rather cute, really.

We noticed tonight that there's a stretch of our yard, a few inches wide, that's nearly as barren as the land the goats are kept on. The smaller ones can stick their heads through the welded wire fence and nibble at whatever grows there, so they do. Fine with us, frankly. I'd be happy to let 'em all come over in the back half of the yard and chow down, if it'd keep the area under control.

Book drive time again

2006-06-15T07:59:00.000-05:00

I know that very few people will see this right now, but on the off-chance you do see it, please go visit Pamie.com's new book drive, Dewey Donation System. Currently, the drive benefits libraries in Mississippi that were devastated by Hurricane Katrina. (Yeah. Remember Mississippi? They got hit by the hurricane, too.)

Last count I saw, over 450 books were donated. It's super-easy, too. The libraries all have Amazon.com wish lists and all you have to do is take a few seconds to pick a book and it's on the way. Don't forget: free shipping if you send $25 worth of books!

Moving suck-diddly-ucks

2006-06-14T08:31:00.000-05:00

Buying the new house was the easy part, of course. It pretty much always is, in my experience. It's the selling the old one and moving into the new one that's a problem.

Right now, I'm sitting on the sofa in the den, surrounded by piles of boxes. We're getting new carpet in the bedrooms today. All is quiet right now, but it won't be for long. I'm sure the cats are going to spontaneously combust when they realize they can't hide under the bed all day. Reemy will be either outside or in her crate till The Sweetie comes home and helps me figure out how to put up the baby gate so I can keep her in the kitchen. She likes being there, chilling on the cool tile (she's there now, in fact), so it's not like that's a hardship.

I boxed up all my books yesterday. I'd forgotten that I primarily used book boxes last time, ones that I'd picked up from the bookstore I worked at in California. Which meant that I just started filling boxes with books, then couldn't move them. Which meant that I had to open them, move some of the books out of those boxes and into new ones, then find lightweight stuff to fill the rest of the box. Pillows work well for that, incidentally.

As I look around, I'm not entirely sure how we're going to fit all the stuff in the new house. It's way smaller than this house, but I feel like I've already thrown out, donated, or sold off a lot of stuff already and can't really wrap my brain around the idea that I might need to get rid of more stuff. I think it looks like a lot of stuff because so much of it is all in one room. The rest of the rooms are almost empty, so maybe if I was in there, I'd feel better.

Except that I'd have to look at the ugly carpet we're having taken out today.

Here we go again

2006-06-14T08:18:00.000-05:00

I started keeping an online journal through Blogger, then decided to switch to Moveable Type. That hasn't worked out so well for me, so here I am again. When things settle down a bit, I'm going to move this over to my domain. For now, it's here.