Ready for a visit from Mom!

So Monday football was excellent last night! Great Cowboys victory! We were in good moods here! Back on Friday I saw all the buses for the Monday Night Football crew driving into town. Which was fun to see!

I think we are about ready here in Big D for my mom's visit. I spent some time today tidying up a bit. I've been thinking about things to do while my mom is here and my boyfriend has mentioned some stuff too. So I think we will have plenty to do while she visits.

Since she's coming for my bday I've been of course thinking a lot about my cake. That is the best part of a birthday after all. Yummy cake!

As for dinner on my bday....I can't decide where I want to go. I'm always pretty focused on exposing my mom to restaurants she can't frequent in Phoenix. Boston's and Cheddar's sound good! And we've already discussed that we must take her to Texadelphia this time around! However, I must admit I've got a hankering for On The Border and Chili's! Does Phoenix have On The Border? I think certain parts do but I don't think it's widespread. Unsure though!

So my mom arrives on Thursday and to my mom I say this....Welcome to Big D and I'll meet you in baggage claim!

Purses On My Mind! part 2

Okay, here's something slightly interesting. Since I'm in the market for a new purse. And since us ladies like looking at purses and such things I've been glancing at a few web sites to see if there's anything that truly excites me. So far nothing as truly excited me! Now remember my purses really get used. This is a 365 day purse not an occasional purse! That being said my new purse needs to make me smile!

So there I was a little while ago sitting at my computer typing my previous purse post and at the conclusion I figured I would go browse at one of my fave purse sites to see if anything new has popped up. Sure enough what do my eyes spot as soon as I click on "new arrivals"...they spot what will be my new purse. A ruby shaded crocodile textured purse. Reminiscent of my old purse I loved so much. Sweet!

Purses On My Mind!

I'm ready for the weekend! Just one more day to go! It's been a long week! Not sure what we will do for the weekend I'm just looking forward to it no matter what we decide to do.

Since my mom's visit is just days away I'm continuing to think of things we can do while she's here. We certainly have to have a mall day! That's a must! I want a new purse! I get a new purse every year for my birthday. It might not sound that exciting but it is to me.

I'm not like a lot of women that have a purse for every occasion. I get one purse and I use it for a full year no matter where I go. As a youngster I grew up around a mom and grandmother that always changed purses before going to church. To get me in on the act my grandmother gave me one of her old purses it was truly fancy in my opinion. A black all beaded purse with a clasp closure at the top, the purse was carefully formed into a perfect circle. The purse held my little tiny Bible and a pencil. I felt so grown-up carrying that purse into church each week. Now as an adult if my grandmother knew I never change purses before attending church she would likely roll her eyes and give a slight sigh! Oh and a certain look would definitely come my way!

This time around with my new purse though I am searching for one that isn't quite as casual looking as my current purse that way it will be a little more appropriate at all functions. I'm not that into animal print but I've noticed animal print and animal textures are popular this year. Despite not being that into animal print/textures I must say my favorite purse in recent years was a crocodile textured purse that had a glossy sheen to it. The color was unique too, it was a very workable color with a hint of a wine color. Man, I loved that purse it felt classy and casual all at the same time! That's my style! I loved that purse so much I kept it for 2 years instead of just 1.

Where's Grammie?

I've been meaning to capture the response the boys(mainly Cody) have when I tell them their Grammie is coming. At about 35 seconds into the video he's likely thinking he's getting tricked again and soon lays down. But as I keep mentioning Grammie he keeps looking back out the window to check. He's funny! And easy to trick!

Storm's Adventure!

Two weeks ago my boyfriend's cat, Storm had an abscessed tooth and had to have it removed. It was quite the ordeal. I've never seen such a loopy animal after such a procedure. This week I took her to the vet for her post tooth issue check-up. After getting done at the vet's office I decided to drop by my place with her so she could see the boys. I thought she would enjoy a change of scenery before heading back to her place. When I brought her into the house and sat her down on the floor in her cage. Both boys came up to greet her. Each taking turns to say hi to her. She then emerged from her cage and went on an exploratory tour of the house. The boys have been over to my boyfriend's place numerous times but this was the first time Storm has ever seen the boy's pad! They were all happy to see each other and the boys didn't mind her exploring their castle all she wanted.

It's sweet to see the interactions between the 3 of them! They are all comfortable around each other. I'm sure Storm was thinking, "So this is where you two knuckleheads go home to after you come visit me."

NFL Schedule!

I have looked ahead at the NFL schedule and I couldn't help but notice my Cardinals have no nationally televised game!!!! Irritating! Who should I shake my fist at? ;) I understand since they had no decent QB back when the season schedule was made, however it's still disappointing to me. So I just have to hope each week that the Cards are randomly chosen to be shown during the day on FOX or CBS.

For the first time in a VERY long time the local TV stations will carry another game opposite of the Cowboys! Believe me we were shocked by this! Normally when the Cowboys are playing that's the only game offered but not this week. San Diego vs. New England will be doing battle on another station opposite the Cowboys game....Shocker! When I first looked at the guide on my TV I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me! I checked twice to make sure something weird didn't happen and it was showing me the correct day.

I did pretty decent with my pick sheet last week. Hopefully I can improve on it this week! Week one is always interesting to pick almost as hard to pick as the last week of the season. Last week when I was doing my picks I had about 3 teams that I couldn't name the quarterback of. Which is odd for me! I normally know that stuff right away. There was so much team shifting in just a few days this season due to the lockout that it's impossible to know where everyone ended up. Surprise, surprise....Hasselback is now the quarterback of Tennessee no longer in Seattle.

2 Years!

So for our 2 year anniversary we went to the same restaurant as last year. It's the same establishment that we went to for our first date but a different location than the one we went to on our first date. Great food! We shared fajitas. Can you believe before moving to Texas I had fajitas maybe twice in my life? Well I've certainly made up for a lack of fajitas in my previous years! LOL! As was discussed between us at dinner AZ doesn't have nearly as good of fajitas as TX does. And yes, my boyfriend has had both so we are both able to compare.

It was a lovely evening. I was very excited all day for the evening. My excitement was definitely reminiscent of the same excitement I felt for our first date. Safe to say my boyfriend over spent! I am now the proud recipient of a beautiful bracelet which I have worn each day since he gave it to me. And the red tulip bouquet in a vase on my dining table continues to blossom and brighten up the place. I love how we each got a box of candy for each other and it's the same kind we got for each other last year. Lol! What's an anniversary without a box of chocolates for your sweetie?

Before we went out to dinner earlier in the day I drove to the nearest Cheesecake Factory, which believe me isn't near! I got us 2 slices of cheesecake for a surprise dessert after we got back from dinner. Only problem was we were both too stuffed for the cheesecake so we had part of it last night and will finish up the rest tonight. I got a slice of caramel pecan turtle and a slice of the 30th anniversary cheesecake. The caramel pecan turtle is out of this world! I must say it's nice that we have such a decadent dessert that is allowing us to spread out our anniversary a little! Yum!

To my boyfriend, thanks for a wonderful evening out! I had an amazing time celebrating with you! You always make me feel so special! You are my sweetness! Oh and you receive brownie points for remembering what I wore on our first date! :)

Hey, I know you!

Later this week we will be celebrating 2 years of dating. So I got my lovely boyfriend a little something last week. As of this afternoon I had yet to get a card and a gift bag to put the gift in. I decided to head to Target to look for both. So after reading through many cards, nearly every one in the section. I pick up yet another card to read. It has some cute lovey-dovey giraffes on the front of it, as I'm in the middle of reading the card I suddenly hear a voice over my shoulder that says, "that looks like a good one." I instantly pause thinking to myself that the voice I heard sounds familiar. I look up to see my wonderful smiling boyfriend standing next to me. I cracked up at the sight of him. After being pleasantly surprised maybe even slightly startled I ask him what he's doing there, he responds, "the same thing you're doing". As we chatted briefly I couldn't help but notice he was hiding something behind his back! Hmm, I wonder what it is? I didn't end up getting the card since I didn't want him getting a glimpse like that. It was a funny encounter!

A Sports Filled Weekend!

Well it's back to some hot temps for us. Good news is the latest heat wave will be short. By Thursday the temps will go back down to a more pleasing degree.

We of course watched plenty of football this weekend. We even got to see some of the ASU game. I hope they have a decent season. I was happy to see the Cardinals came from behind to win! Yay! I'm sure everyone saw how horrible the Cowboys loss was on Sunday night. I was walking through a store earlier today when I spotted some Romo jerseys on display. I couldn't help but wonder how many they've sold in the last 2 days? Likely none! I can only imagine the conversations concerning Romo on talk radio this week. This city isn't exactly that high on Romo anyway. He definitely faces tons of criticism which truly surprised me when I first moved here.

We also watched the women's final at the US Open on Sunday afternoon. Now I've never been much of a fan of the Williams sisters. I've had times when I've tolerated them but it's been awhile. I could not believe the scene that Serena Williams caused at the US Open. I don't care that she is from America I will not root for her. I was embarrassed to see an American athlete act like that. She was only fined $2000 for her non-stop tirade which in my opinion is NOT nearly enough. A fine of a measly $2000 is embarrassing as well! I guess Miss Williams should be glad she's a woman and in the sport of tennis because if she was a man in the sport of football, basketball, or even baseball the fine would have been more substantial. Can you imagine David Stern tolerating a player berating a ref during the NBA Finals? Hmm, NO! I could see him issuing a fine and possibly a one game suspension.

Just a little side note...this is somewhat unbelievable to me. I went to Petsmart a few days back. I saw these cute rawhides made in the shape of pretzels. They are new to the market, part of a line of "ballpark" themed rawhides. They looked good to me! Perfect size for the boys in a somewhat challenging shape too. The other night I decided it was pretzel time for the boys for their evening snack. Cody worked on his for about 5 minutes then decided it wasn't worth it to him. Then astonishingly 5 minutes later Simon decided it wasn't worth it to him either. I have no clue what is wrong with these brand new pretzel rawhides but neither of my boys wanted them. Simon is my hungry hungry hippo so when he turns it down there's certainly something wrong with the rawhides. The pretzels continue to sit around here but neither dog has changed his mind about them. I struck out with both dogs! That's a first!

My Stubborn Mule!

Did you know I have a stubborn mule? Well I do. Oddly enough he is in the form of a pug yet he's a mule! Cody has a little mind of his own. So does Simon but he doesn't have as many requirements when on a walk. Cody hates wet grass and puddles. He will do anything possible to avoid both.

This morning I'm walking the boys as always. We are on our typical route. Apparently our complex has changed the times that the sprinklers come on. The grass and sidewalks were both wet. Cody was none to happy about it. To avoid a large puddle I chose to walk the boys through the grass. Simon was game, Cody dug his heels into the ground and refused to budge. I gave a gentle tug to his leash to get him moving. Which didn't work. He's a rather sturdy 16 lbs. and there's no moving him when he doesn't want to move. Cody and I then have a short chat. He decides his plan of action is to step in the street to avoid the puddle and the wet grass. There was no car coming...I wasn't completely thrilled with his choice but at least he knows not to jump in front of a car. A little while later upon our return we came across the same puddle and wet grass area. This time I didn't take the boys close enough to the street for that to be Cody's option. He had to climb a hill....a wet grassy hill! He was not pleased. He dug his heels in the ground at the bottom of the hill. Simon and I stopped to look back at him. He wasn't about to move. So here I am essentially playing tug-of-war with a 16 lbs pug on the edge of the walking path as cars and kids walking to school go by. Slightly embarrassing! After receiving a stern look and noticing that I had a convincing tone to my voice Cody soon decided to move his little rear up the hill.

In the end I can laugh it off! It's funny to me how dogs have little things that they must be convinced to do. The funniest part is that Cody isn't terribly scared of water. He's always been tolerate of his bath time. So why on earth he puts up such a fuss when walking through water or wet grass or walking in rainy weather I'm not sure? He's a mystery wrapped in a riddle!

Labor Day Weekend!

Well it's been a nice long and relaxing weekend. The main focus of the weekend has been Storm and tennis. We've watched plenty of the U.S. Open. They don't feature all the matches that we want to watch on TV so we've been watching some matches online at the US Open website.

My boyfriend's cat, Storm, hasn't had a good weekend. She's dealing with an abscess tooth. We called a few animal hospitals yesterday trying to get her seen but was unsuccessful. Her face has been swollen all weekend and yesterday it was so puffy her eye was starting to close. We got her to a vet this morning. She is currently at the animal hospital either in surgery or waiting for surgery. Poor little thing! Storm is a little up there in age so I'm concerned about the risks of the anaesthetic. Hopefully, she'll be good as new very quickly but for the next couple of days she'll definitely be taking it easy.


This weekend has also been the start of the college football season. LSU played Oregon at Cowboys Stadium. There were lots of LSU fans around. It doesn't seem quite fair to have Oregon come all the way to Texas for a game with LSU. Louisiana is a neighboring state so it was very easy for their fans to get here for the big game. Actually I must admit I didn't realize at first that LSU was playing Oregon. On Saturday I had seen some Arkansas fans dressed head to toe in their razorback gear so I assumed it was LSU versus Arkansas. Then my boyfriend informed me it's Oregon that's in town not Arkansas. How was I supposed to know? I still have yet to see an Oregon duck fan and the game was 2 days ago!


In other college football news we were heartbroken that TCU lost to Baylor. It was a seriously intense game. Not as intense as a ASU/U of A rivalry but close. Baylor built a huge lead then simply fell apart. I was thinking to myself I've never seen a team fall so far apart so fast in any game. TCU came raging back. In the end Baylor got it together with only a minute to go to take the lead back with a field goal. By the time TCU got the ball back they just couldn't get close enough to their goal to give their kicker a reasonable shot at a field goal. If TCU had pulled of that victory it would have been a classic for years to come.

Various Thoughts as September Begins!

Finally it's September! Yay! I'm happy to report that the temps in big D will be in the 80's by Monday and stay in the 80's all week. Sweet! I can certainly handle that! This summer was a scorcher. It appears though we've turned the corner and for the foreseeable future the scorching heat is behind us. Whew!

Remember how I mentioned a few month ago that a In-N-Out Burgers is being built near me? Well it's getting closer and closer to being completed. Don't worry I'll definitely be in line at some point during it's first few days when it opens. I happened to go by there the other day and I must admit I was shocked at how it looks. It doesn't look like the traditional In-N-Out that I grew up seeing. It's been made to fit in with the rest of the businesses in the area. Complete with the right shade of taupe and faux brick. Now back in May the new Petco suddenly changed the look of it's main entrance just weeks after opening. So it's rather apparent that I live in an area that has some pretty stiff building codes. When I first moved here to TX one of the first things I noticed was BRICK! Real brick and faux brick on houses, on businesses, even on the roads(crosswalks). There's a serious obsession with brick here! Kind of odd to see a In-N-Out with brick work.

I've noticed Halloween stuff popping up in stores. The boys won't be dressing up but I still look through the Halloween costumes for dogs each time I go into a store that features them. I look because it's funny to see what they've come up with each year for dogs. If I tried to dress the boys up in a silly costume they would both be certain I had gone nuts! Truly flipped my lid this time! I can only imagine the glances they would give me and each other as I struggled to put them in a hot dog costume or a dinosaur costume! Lol!!! Although, Simon would surely love the idea of trick-or-treating. He would hope for bones galore!