What is Frida?

We adopted Frida from the Humane Society almost two years ago, so we do not know much about the first five years of her life. She did have puppies though and never really got her "girlish figure" back. She was transferred to the Humane Society with some other dogs from a dachshund rescue. We just assumed that she is a chihuahua and dachshund mix, but is she really? We have had a few people tell us that part of her coloring resembles that of a blue heeler. At the vet earlier tonight they nicknamed her a bluehuahua. I did look at some images of blue heelers online, and it is possible. (She was getting a check-up.)

Frida has figured out how to jump up on the grill and table in hopes of getting some hot dogs. It is funny to look out the back door and see the dog on top of the table. Time to move the table...

Robots

I was posting a comment on a Typepad blog and saw this:

This test is used to prevent automated robots from posting comments.

I had to type in the letters and numbers I saw on the screen. It made me laugh. Should I be afraid of automated robots? Robot parts keep appearing in my house...

Momisms

Happy Birthday Mom!

I just finished talking to my mom on the phone. She called after opening the gift John and I sent her. John actaully deserves most of the credit for picking it out.

Mom and I were catching up on some things, and she said something that struck me. "The important thing is not to give up; it just may take longer." You do not even need to take the comment in the context of our conversation. You can apply that advice to so many things in life.

I'll add a couple of other Momisms that I remember from growing up:

"Actions speak louder than words."

"You can have it all but not all at once."

Have a good weekend everyone!

Game Day

A group of John's work friends came over to play video games yesterday and it turned out to be quite a fun day. There was a Nintendo Wii, two XBox 360's and a Play Station 2. Mauricio brought over a smoker and grilled some chicken and sausage. (Yum!) The game playing lasted for hours and hours. I am not usually too interested in video games, but I had fun too. The Sports for the Nintendo Wii are a blast. (John and I did lose at doubles tennis though.) Guitar Hero is also a blast, but it takes concentration. Frida made some new friends when the guys snuck her pieces of the leftover meat.

The top picture is of Dan and Huggins boxing. The next picture is of Mauricio and Chris playing baseball. The last two pictures are of the guys sitting around the XBoxes. (We found out that we can fit 12 people in our family room.)

Numbers

As you may have noticed, there have been less Weight Watchers posts this month. I have missed some meetings this month and am not tracking as much as I should. Since August is such a busy month, I plan to work on some better habits in September. I did at least step on the scale today to check my weight. I wanted to know how I was doing. It turns out that I am doing OK.

Numbers are indicators of so many aspects in our lives. They are just indicators though, not the only measure of who we truly are. It is hard not to focus on the numbers in life. High school students want to go to a public university in Texas are faced with many tests. First there is the SAT and/or ACT, and then there may be a test required for the Texas Success Initiative. At orientation, many students also need placement tests, especially in math. Students often find that their math placement scores do not allow them to take the level of math that they want to take. It is common for a student to take Pre-Calculus as a senior and then place into Developmental Math as a college freshman because they forgot the algebra that was covered on the placement test. This leads to a focus on the numbers. Students constantly ask "What score did I need." The focus is more on the score than the content of the test.

Our society will continue to focus on the numbers, but these are just indicators. Our weight, score on a test, or balance in a savings account, etc. tell us how we are doing in an area of our lives, but numbers should not dictate our lives.

Have a great weekend!

Catching Up

I've spent the last couple of nights on the phone catching up with Jenni, Beth, and My Mom. I also received an email from Meredith this week. Even though I do not get to see many of my friends as often as I used to, we seem to be able to pick up right from where we left off. I love that!

Library

I have rediscovered the library! I loved borrowing books from the library as a kid: Beverly Cleary, Nancy Drew, Agatha Christie, The Baby-sitters Club, Sweet Valley Twins, and Sweet Valley High. Yes, I will admit to reading a lot of Baby-sitters Club and Sweet Valley books!

I am not completely sure what really got me back to the library. Maybe it was to save money. Maybe it was because I realize that I have not read all the books I have bought since college. (There is no guilt if I don't get around to reading a library book; I can just check it out again in the future.) Also, the library is pretty close to our house and has a handy online request system. When I hear about a book I want to read, I now go the the San Antonio Library website instead of Amazon.com or Barnes and Noble. Don't get me wrong, I still love to walk around bookstores. You just can't beat getting it for free at the library!

My local library looks like a regular suburban libarary, but the Downtown Central libarary is pretty cool. It is nicknamed the Big Enchilada for its color.

Weekly updates

I probably will just post weekly in August, since it is a busy month at work. Only one more orientation left! After that we will see lots of walk-in students, answer lots of emails and phone calls, and advise the new international students. John will finish his class on Tuesday. The five weeks did go by pretty quickly. His fall class is two nights a week, so that won't be too bad.

It has gotten hot here in San Antonio and we are not getting as much rain. It feels like a San Antonio summer!

I am working to get my wedding scrapbook done before my parents visit in September. I got five pages done yesterday, which is a lot for me.

Have a good week!

Scrapbooking Mishap Last Night

As I was stapling a picture to my scrapbook layout, I found that I could not reach one of the corners without a long-reach stapler. I had to improvise with my regular stapler. In the process of trying to staple the last corner, I stapled my entire layout to the table! John came to the rescue with some pliers. My plastic table was fine, but my scrapbook page had extra holes and no staple. I covered it with some paper and am calling it "part of the creative process." I think that it is time to buy a long-reach stapler. Happy Sunday!

P.S. Thank you to John Grafton, Grammar Police, for editing this post.

August

I can't believe that it is August already... Where is the summer going? Summer is our busiest time of year at work. Only three orientations left! John has been busy with both work and his class.

It has been a while since I posted. Here are a few updates:

July 31 was out 3rd anniversary. We celebrated on Sunday with a lunch out at the Kona Grill (yummy potstickers) and The Simsons Movie. How romantic!?

I went to the book club last night. I arrived at Katie and Elizabeth's apartment a few minutes after 8 pm to find that I am the first one there. This was the first time I was meeting Katie and Elizabeth, who are sisters. I was expecting a couple of people that I already know to be at the book club, but it turned out to only be just the three of us. We still had a good time and Katie and Elizabeth are both really cool people. I really enjoyed The Alchemist. The book seems to be simple until you stop and think about it a little bit, and then you see lots of deeper meanings. The next book is The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. I am not sure what the book is about, so I am excited to check it out.