This year Bill and I decided to make advent calendars for each other. A simple calendar with drawers just wasn't fancy enough, so we are making individual boxes from paper. Its getting to be a bit competitive and lots of fun. Instead of little presents, Bill suggested that we write fun memories and things we like about each other on paper and place them in the boxes. So far my favorite box that Bill has been a reindeer and you pull the note out of his butt. My second favorite was the Gingerbread man with the loin cloth. Ha ha ha. I am also loving the special notes and memories and laughing and crying as we read them to each other.

Getting rid of all of your crap!

I was reading an old post about how I was getting rid of stuff so we would have less. Ha ha. Five or so years later, an auction and lots and lots of trips to donate to the women's shelter thrift store, we have managed to reduce our boxes of stuff to a 4x12 space hidden behind a curtain in our bedroom. In my defense, I had a 3500 square foot house and two storage sheds in Texas. As I was packing and getting rid of stuff I kind of reached a point where I just couldn't get rid of anything else, so I put it in boxes and stored it. I peeked in each box, made a note of what is in it and put it behind the curtain. We are almost finished remodeling the upstairs and when we are done, i can pull out a box, one at a time and deal with its contents by scanning to a computer, selling on ebay or donating.

Now Bill wants to move to 40 foot sailboat...

Adventure Mondays

     Bill has signed up for this awesome new program at work. He works 9 hour days now and gets a day off every two weeks. So every other Monday we have a holiday!  We chose Monday to be his holiday because that way there won't be any crowds and I hate crowds. The first Monday off in January, we went to the Smithsonian Gallery in Chinatown. We didn't look at the portraits, just the art side. It took a whole day just to see half of the giant museum.  Later we went to a tapas place for dinner and had a seafood paella it was great. Since we were in Chinatown, we took the crazy 70 bus home. The 70 never disappoints if you want a real DC experience. There was this street preacher actually preaching on the bus and there was this really drunk guy heckling him and every woman on the bus. The drunk guy was sitting in front of me and reached over his seat so he could talk to me and grope my leftover dinner. (I thought it was hilarious) He moved to the back of the bus and the preacher told all of us that we would end up like him if we drank and used drugs. Later the 70 pulled over because the drunk had gotten more obscene and we got off to get on a different 70 bus. I glanced back at the first bus and the sign on the front was flashing "EMERGENCY CALL POLICE". Nothing like public transportation!
     Our second free Monday in January we went to Ikea. It was empty and wonderful.
    I have set up my studio again in this little bitty room in the house. I have a little butane torch and an anvil and a pickle pot. If my camera batter would ever charge, I would take some pictures and make listings for my Etsy shop. Bill was wonderful and helped me put up this crazy fan and painted the room and added an extra plug and hung pictures. I love my studio. Its the best room in the house!
     Bill is slowly remodeling our rental house in exchange for discounts on rent. It's a great trade because Bill has lots of experience and it saves money cuz rent is expensive here. I just hope they don't raise the rent when we are done.
    Bill has also become quite the trapper. He has trapped 13 mice since we moved here and Fresca has only gotten 1 (unless she has eaten the others).

Sakuramen

This week has been hot! Highs in the 90s and lows in the 80s. Bill somehow convinced me to leave the house and head over to 18th st for dinner. We started to walk to the bus stop, but the sun was beating down on us and I was getting nauseous even with a hat so we turned around and got the car.

18th Street in Adams Morgan reminds me of 6th street in Austin with a few more restaurants and a few less bars. It has a fun vibe and a huge variety of restaurants. Bill dropped me off and went to park the car. For our first dinner in this area, we went to Sakuramen. I had cold ramen with pork and a sweet sesame sauce. It was really yummy and refreshing. After dinner we had a long hike back to the car. Bill had parked next to Meridian park on 16th St. I was intrigued by the high walls surrounding the park every time I drove past and I told Bill we were going in. There was a lovely reflecting pool and these tiered pools where water flowed from basin to basin. It looked like there were irises that had just finished blooming and it is probably beautiful in the spring.

We stopped by the McDonald's near our house on Georgia and got ice cream and drinks and then went home and sat on the porch to watch the lightning storm.

I am officially diseased!

Yesterday the AMA voted that obesity is a disease. I'm not sure which is worse people asking if your pregnant or people asking if you have a disease. There have been the requisite headless fatty pictures above every article as well. Why isn't the headless fatty banned by the AP? It is dehumanizing and stigmatizing. Look me in the eye if you are going to call me fat! They never show an overweight person in a nice outfit doing something productive, they always show someone in ugly, ill fitting clothing walking around, sitting or eating.

I have also noticed, now that I live in DC, that there are almost no fat people here. Only 8% of white people in DC are obese. Its not just the white people, all the ethnic groups are skinny here. Seeing people who are like me is one of the things I miss about East Texas. At least I could pretend to be normal there.

Anyway, now that it is officially a disease, maybe they will find a cure that works for more than one day and we can all be just alike. Hmm, when do I get to start collecting disability...

Gardens are so much work

I am planting a garden in the tiny backyard of our row house. We will have lots of tomatoes, green beans, peppers, squash, cucumbers and herbs. I had to weed and remove lots of grass before I could plant anything and now I have to build a fence to keep the dogs out. Fresca dug up the carrot seeds as soon as I planted them so carrots will be coming up where ever they landed now.

I planted seeds and I bought plants at the uppity farmers market in Takoma Park. Bill said it was funny to see people dressed up in their hipster little house on the prairie outfits shopping for expensive local organic produce. There is a pretty good selection, eggs are just $5 a dozen (ha!) and you can get buffalo meat for heart stopping prices as well. There is a great cheese stand and bread stand. I will definitely be shopping here occasionally.

$5 a dozen! I didn't know I was getting golden eggs from my chickens. I would walk to the garden and collect four or five eggs every day. I used to eat beautiful eggs that were cream, brown, blue and green. I even had tiny banty eggs for when you cut a recipe in half and then needed only half an egg. I also miss my compost pile. It is so strange to put egg shells and coffee grounds into the trash.

We don't live in Texas anymore.

Bill and I ran off to Vegas at Christmas and got married at the Bellagio hotel on a balcony overlooking the lake and fountain show. It was perfect. Its kind of funny we were engaged for about 7 years and I couldn't plan a wedding so my parents and I went online and planned the ultimate Vegas wedding in about 72 hours.

The reason for the rush had something to do with taxes and Bill's new job!

We moved to Washington, DC in February with our two dogs and live in a row house near a park and a bus stop.

So far we have seen Cherry Blossoms and several monuments...

Etsy Shop Owner!

I have an Etsy store now. It was actually kind of a pain to set up. You have to write store policies and figure out all kinds of crap. I don't have a banner cuz I can't figure out how to make one. Oh well, who needs one anyway! (I think Ebay might be a little easier.) I also have to make beautiful photographs of my stuff, this takes so long, my hourly wage is probably 50 cents. I am trying to make enough stuff so that I can have a "Grand Opening" and make a facebook event about it.

The chickens are laying eggs regularly and I don't even notice when the rooster crows anymore. All of my original chickens are still alive. Their names are Lucille, Gumbo (Alma), Bessie, Leila Belle, Roberta, Anna (the Rooster), and Anton (a hen that was supposed to be the Rooster). I never got around to changing names when Anna crowed and Anton laid eggs. They are named after my great-grandmothers, one of my great grandfathers and a few grandmothers that I can't claim.

I am actually very attached to my chickens. I love to feed them grubs out of the compost pile. I can't believe I actually pick up those nasty grey grubs with my fingers until I have a handful and then I give them to my chickens. The chickens also love grapes. They think I am a giant snack machine and wait for me to come feed them in the morning.

Still Living in Texas

It has been years since I have blogged! Time flies when you are working on never-ending projects. We finally finished the studio a few months ago. It is beautiful. Kayla and I painted and made jewelry. I make stuff and fix stuff and I even use one corner for an office for my private contracting business.

Last year Bill and I lived in a swanky high rise in Houston called the Rice Hotel. We were in downtown on the corner of Texas and Main Street. It was so much fun. I miss the shopping, big grocery stores and tons of money we made working there. I don't miss the bums! When our contracts ended we decided to head to Nacogdoches for some R&R and to get the house finished so we could rent or sell it. Still working on that project.

I am raising chickens for eggs and thinking about getting a goat. I built an adorable chicken coop for $40 out of reclaimed stuff. My garden has three levels and I am building raised beds out of cedar to grow veggies in. Life is good.

Hoo Doggie

Bill has moved to a mansion in Houston. He got a great job in Spring and then found a room to rent in a gorgeous house leaving me in the shack in the woods. He will probably stop coming home on the weekends to visit and will meet some skinny rich houston girl who likes to clean house and do his laundry. Wait, there is no such woman, I guess I get to keep him for a little while.

Fresca and Pepsi are learning to walk very nicely on their leashes. We go walk every morning and I am dripping with sweat by the time we get home. If I keep my eyes closed, Fresca can take me from the mail box to the front door of my house (where I keep her water dish). I think she will make a great dog guide. The only pitbull dog guide in the USA.

We survived the hurricane just fine. Only two trees fell and we had power back withing 3 days. Bill was out of work for two weeks though and we don't get paid if he doesn't work. The direct depost was also delayed and we had to go to the change jar to get cash for milk and gas. It was pretty funny watching Bill pay at Walmart with thirty dollars in quarters. I wouldn't wait in line with him because I was too embarrassed.

Life is pretty good, I guess I will start looking for a job this month and sign up to take my ACVREP exam.

Wow, its been almost a year since my last entry

I spent a marvelous summer in Milwaukee doing my internship. I am almost certified. I just have to pass a 4 hour test. I am taking classes to finish a master's degree in Education.

I guess I will be getting a job soon.

There have been two hurricanes since I got back to Texas 3 weeks ago. I have seen 3 tarantulas and I have 9 fireant bites. I am covered with bruises since I fell trying to escape a falling tree during hurricane Ike. It is about 80% humidity every day and I have been wondering why I came back to Texas.

Oh yeah, Bill, Pepsi, and Fresca.

I am cheating on Jenny Craig

My intership took me to NYC

Bill came to Chicago too

My internship took me to Chicago

The Renn Fest was also part of my intership

Summer in Milwuakee

Brewers Game with the Family

Do Not Eat at Luby's for Thanksgiving

I can't believe Luby's served processed turkey for Thanksgiving. I think for $10 I could have had a slice of turkey breast instead of lunchmeat. I swear every year that I am not going to go anywhere I have to eat a lousy restaurant meal, but every year something comes up and it's Luby's, Cracker Barrel or some other horrible place that tastes OK the rest of the year.

Bill thinks I am faking

I have been happy for over a month now. Bill thinks it is an act and he wants to know when I will be normal again. He actually accused me of pretending to be happy for him, since we only see each other on weekends.

I am at Java Jacks right now. I was slaving away upstairs working on my homework for school (there are plugs upstairs) and these two women and their two pre-school brats come upstairs and sit at the table next to me. I am a damn baby magnet. It doesn't matter where we go, I get stuck next to these snotty, nasty kids and their stupid parents. Did they not notice that it was quiet up here and we were all working on laptops and homework or reading? Selfish mothers. Coffee shops are not kid friendly.