Saturday

Good morning.  Just farting around this morning - got coffee, went to the store, syncing the phone, doing laundry, saying good morning to you, that sort of thing.

Plates

Got my new license plates today and to celebrate had dinner at Sonny Bryan's.  Horrible day at work; but at least it's been a good evening.

Say Hello To My Little Friend

My 2013 Hyundai Veloster

Very excited to have a new car.  Now, what to name it?

Thursday Night

The auto show then IHOP - what could be better?

Clown. It's what's for dinner.

There's a small, upscale market by where I work that has a rotating variety of entrees and side dishes you can get to go as a hot dinner plate.  I called Todd as I was leaving work one day this week to ask him if he wanted a plate for dinner.  He said he just wanted all veggies unless they had a "fun meat".  I jokingly asked "A fun meat?  What, you mean like clown meat?"  We had a little laugh over that.

I got the dinners and as I was waiting in line to check out I pulled out my phone thinking I would see if there were any funny photos I could send to him to continue the joke.  Little did I know that if you search the web for "clown meat", here is what you will find:

Amazing. Truly amazing.

The larger black sunspot is approximately the size of 6 planet Earths
Just under one million planet Earths could fit inside the sun

Valentine's Day

I love (get it? nyuk, nyuk) the Valentine's Day card I received this year.  It really picked me up when I was feeling low.

The octopus of love

I Think I'm Ready

On February 4th my grandmother Ila Mae passed away.  She was a couple of weeks shy of her 84th birthday.  I won't dwell on it here other than to say that she was a great lady and I miss her very much.
I love you Grandma.

1929 - 2013

Ila Mae

Labelmaker

Up at 4:18am this morning.  Couldn't go back to sleep.  Spent the morning adding labels to all my old posts.  It's almost 8:00am now and I've finally finished.  Think I'll reward myself for a job that didn't need doing with a little Starbucks.

Get Ready For a Bunch of Cat Photos

We had our cat Dot put to sleep this week after it was decided neither we nor the vet could do anything more for her.  She kept losing weight and wasn't able to put it back on, no matter how much she ate or what we fed her.  She was a good cat and is missed.

The first day home from the animal shelter

More photos on the next page.

And For Dessert

A macaron sampler from Mozart Bakery

Get in my belly

Yum!

Lunch at Bo Bo China. Sizzling rice soup, egg roll, crab Rangoon, and Mongolian beef. Simply the best.

Crab Rangoon, sizzling rice soup, egg roll

Mongolian beef - so good

All done - with plenty of leftovers to take home

You Can't Unwatch Things

Unfortunately.
Just got back from seeing Les Miserables. Did not enjoy the film.

Les Miserables? I'm Mor Miserables than I was before I saw it. ba-dum ching

Two Things

Two new things I've discovered that are fantastic on their own, but amazing together:

1.  Absolut Orient Apple vodka + ginger ale
2.  Bob's Burgers

Tasty booze

Hilarious

Lunch With Todd At Red Lobster

Gettin' his seafood on

Well, what the...?

New Year's Day Birthday lunch at Mimi's Cafe for my niece Tori.

I don't think this is how this is supposed to work.

It's That Time Again

Happy New Year!

I'm going to bed now.

The Gaggle

Christmas Day at the In-Laws. I don't think these geese are aware of what day it is.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas everyone! Hopefully Santa Claus made it to your house before the thunderstorms and hail started.

Salmon Chowder

Made salmon chowder tonight for a pot luck at work tomorrow.  It's really good.  I put more dill in it than I meant to, but after tasting it I think it made for a better flavor.  Here's a picture of the finished pot:

Mmmm...

The recipe from allrecipes.com couldn't have been simpler.  Maybe that's why it's called Simple Salmon Chowder II.  I doubled the recipe to make the full pot in the picture.

Possum Surprise

Went to put the faucet covers on and found a couple of toothy new friends in the backyard:

I'll call this one Bitey...

...and this one A Series of Painful Shots In The Stomach, or Cuddles, for short. 

Feline Finds Peculiar Position

Dangerously comfortable

Dot must lay on the clean sheets

Norma's Cafe

Lunch today at Norma's Cafe. So hot, so homemade, so good. The portions were way too big, but thanks to the miracle of to-go containers, I have dinner tonight and lunch tomorrow taken care of.

Or, if I don't want to end my sentence in a preposition:  I have taken care of dinner tonight and lunch tomorrow.

I feel better now.

Norma's Cafe

Walking up to Norma's Cafe (accidental shot, but shows off my favorite sandals by Born)

Like the sign says...

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving everyone. I don't know about you, but I'm content.

Lamp Cat

KT scheming to get under the covers because it's cold.

Chicago Trip 2012 - Day 7

Well, I never said I was Speedy Gonzbloges.  Here, finally, is the account of the end of our Chicago Trip from April.

Happy Birthday Mom

Happy Birthday Mom - you are loved!

Mom and my brother - chillaxin at Rock'n'Roller Coaster

Mom and I on the teacups - slightly overstimulated  :)

Blue Skies Smiling At Me

I'm amazed how much a good wind and rain will clean the air.  The sky this morning was beautiful.  It was almost like waking up in the mountains - bright blue and clear, even at the horizon line; not tinted the usual brownish-yellow.

That's right, the sky here in the DFW area is hazy and bruised around the edges.  It's like someone had rinsed a dirty window and let the residue settle at the bottom and dry.

Dream A Little Dream

Up at 2:47 this morning, then back to sleep at a little after 6am.  Up again at 9am.  Between 6am and 9am I had an excellent dream about Las Vegas, seduction, revenge, and a really confusing and much more difficult than it needed to be metro train ticket purchasing experience.  Not to mention starring in my own real-life video game and battling giant insects by shooting exploding boxes hiding behind styrofoam walls painted to look like iron-plated walls with my invisible motion-controlled bow and arrow.

A Sunday Afternoon At The State Fair Of Texas

Had a great time with our friends, despite the chilly weather. Started out by riding the giant slide with one of the kids.

Didn't go too hog wild on the food - just had a Fletcher's corn dog (so hot and fresh), fried green tomatoes, which I had never had before and were garlicky and delicious, and a Dole pineapple whip, without which no trip to the fair would be complete.

The two cars that stuck with me from the auto show this year were the Hyundai Veloster turbo and the Hyundai Genesis coupe. Hyundai has never really been on my radar before, but both of these cars had style that stood out, even if the gas mileage didn't. I can't mention the auto show without mentioning the Scion XB. It's not something I would ever drive, but it has my favorite body color - a unique metallic blue/purple.

Elusive Blue Metallic - you had me at hello

We ended the day by treating everyone to a ride on the Texas Star ferris wheel, where it was really, really cold at the top.

XAS RATS