PB and J

This weekend, Kevin and I went with my cousins to Minute Maid Park to take the walking tour. My little cousin, Baylie, rode with Kevin and me to the park, and along the way we discussed how she would hold my hand the whole time to make sure she didn't get lost.

"You're peanut butter and I'm jelly," I said. "You're M and I'm M; you're cheese and I'm crackers. Got it?"
"Yep," she replied. "I'm peanut butter and you're jelly. I'm cheese and you're crackers."

I thought we had an understanding, until we got to the park and Baylie immediately ran away from me so that she could latch on to our 12-year-old cousin, Brianne.

"Baylie - I thought we agreed that you were peanut butter?" I asked her. And without missing a single beat, Baylie replied, "I am peanut butter...but Brianne's jelly now."

Ditched by a 5-year-old. Can't get much lower than that!

Marvin Zindler

Anyone who has ever lived in or been to the Houston area for an extended period of time is probably familiar with the phrase, "MAAAAAARRRVIN ZINDLER, EYEWITNESS NEWS!" Marvin used these words to end each piece that he did: ones where he helped those with less money get the health care they needed, those with softer voices get the services they deserved.
And when he wasn't out there directly helping the little people, he was constantly getting on to restaurants about sanitary issues. So much in fact, that he had his own dirty restaurant jingle: "And now, and now, and now, and now for the big big big big big big S - He said slime in the ice machine!"
Marvin Zindler was one of those guys who, although in his 80's, you never thought could die. He was bigger than life, bigger than death. But he passed away yesterday, 7/29/07, after losing the battle to pancreatic cancer. They say he worked until his very last day, trying to help others with every ounce of fight he had in him.
Marvin Zindler was one of my heroes. He was a daily reminder that there are still people out there, willing to fight for those in need, willing to take on corporate giants to make sure the little guy doesn't get trampled.
I'll miss those words that I heard nightly for as long as I can remember. The ones that meant another person had been helped. The ones that had become so familiar to me and so many other Houstonians: "MAAAAAAARRRVIN ZINDLER, EYEWITNESS NEWS!"

My Kev

My husband amazes me. We were just kiddo's when we met, and we've had some ups and downs along the way, but I could not be more proud of the wonderful, amazing man that he is.
Yesterday, we found out that Kev got the promotion that he's been wanting. He finally has the job that he's been trying for and it will be a straight day job, so he'll get to keep the same schedule that he's had for the past 3 years. I'm so proud of my Kevbo!!

Girls Just Wanna Have Fuh-un

These are two of my best buds in the world, Lisa (left) and Allison (right)

This weekend, we had girls' weekend in Dallas...

And this is always how girls weekend ends up:

With us laughing until our cheeks hurt.
And we always throw in a pool day, just for good measure.
Man, I'm lucky to have friends like these.

And I have to send out a special thanks to Lisa's parents for putting up with us all weekend and for being so great and so much fun. Mama Shib, if you're reading this - you and Ned are officially inducted into the "Ladies!!"

Disclaimer: pictures were stolen directly from Shibbie's blog. Copyright Lisa Sharp 2007

P to the Iz-Otter!!!

I did it!
Ordered my Harry Potter book.
Now I don't have to wait in the lines with all the other crazies to get my book!
I'm a freak, I know...

Got this from Drywall Mom

In 1980 (the year you were born)

Jimmy Carter is president of the US President Carter announces punitive measures and embargos against the USSR in retaliation for the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan Mount St. Helens in Washington state erupts in a violent blast estimated to be 500 times as powerful as the Hiroshima atomic bomb Ronald Reagan is elected the 40th US president in a sweeping victory US Representative Michael O. Myers is expelled from the House for his role in the Abscam scandal Hewlett-Packard announces release of its first personal computer Microsoft announces their version of UNIX, Xenix Christina Ricci, Chelsea Clinton, Venus Williams, Jessica Simpson, Macaulay Culkin, and Jake Gyllenhaal are born Philadelphia Phllies win the World Series Pittsburgh Steelers win Superbowl XIV New York Islanders win the Stanley Cup The Empire Strikes Back is the top grossing film "Lady" by Kenny Rogers spends the most time at the top of the US charts U.S. viewers get caught up in the "Who Shot J.R.?" cliff hanger on the soap opera series, Dallas, which is solved on a November 21 episode, drawing a record numbers of viewers

What Happened the Year You Were Born?

Big Weekend

Wow - this weekend was jam packed! I started off Friday with a softball game, got up at 4:45 (yes, 4:45) on Saturday and did my first official marathon training group run, and bought a new car on Saturday afternoon. Talk about a busy 12 hours!
Buying a new car is always horrendous. The dealership tries to take advantage of you in every way possible, until they wear you down and make you delirious enough to make you think you've gotten an awesome deal. I hate that.
At one point in the haggling process, the salesman asked me in a condescending tone, "What is it that you want?" And without missing a beat, I heatedly replied, "I WANT you to bring down the the price of the car, bring up the amount that you're giving me for my car, and don't come back unless you're ready to offer me the BEST deal that you can."
I think that says it all, yes?

Look Into It.

www.mulletsgalore.com
Hint: check out the classification tab. My personal fave is the permmullet. It's SWEET!

The Puppy-Donna

I've come to realize that my puppy is a prima donna. In fact, she shall henceforth be known as the puppy-donna.
Here in Texas, we've seen our share of rain recently. I think it's rained for two weeks straight now. And frankly, it's affecting my mood - I'm so sick of this freaking rain, I could scream!
But it's also affecting the puppy-donna, who is evidently opposed to wet paws. We battle every morning. I insist that she potty outside. She insists on not getting wet. I yell at her to go outside. She goes and then sits at the door, screech-barking because she's getting wet and she doesn't like it.
Just a second ago, I took her outside. Physically went with her and put her on the grass. And she immediately tensed up, went onto her puppy tip-toes, and gently made her way back to the concrete.
Pansy.

Here We Go...

In 8 short hours, I'll be doing my first half-marathon training session.
Wish me luck...

Vacay

So I've been on "vacation" this past week. I put quotations around the word vacation, because I didn't actually go anywhere. I actually just took a week off of work and sat my happy self at home, doing nothing and being ever so happy about it.
The only problem I see with vacation is that I always tend to do the "countdown to work" throughout the entire time I'm off.
On Monday, I was already thinking, "back to work in 7 days..."
By Wednesday, I was thinking, "Oh man, halfway there..."
By Friday, I was already bummed out about going back to work, and that mood has stuck with me throughout the entire weekend. I feel like I used to when I was a kid and summer break was over. Because as much as I loved summer, I always had a feeling of dread in thinking about going back to school. Is that weird? Maybe I'm obsessive-compulsive or something - who knows?!?

Anyway, on to some exciting things that happened this week:
My friend, Rita got married on Saturday. And she had a beautiful wedding with one of the best receptions I've ever attended. Everything was amazing, the food was awesome and the party was rockin'!! You can't really ask for more than that, I guess...

And after nine long months, my Shibbie is home from Japan!!! Welcome back to the US of A!! Just in time for July 4th celebrations, too. Great timing!!