The Amazing Race

We just watched last night's episode and it happened... the teams went somewhere we went last year. The pit stop for this week's episode was in Salzburg at Hellbrunn's Palace.

Now their experience was a little different because none of their spouses were running a fever and no one got a sinus infection and everyone had a camera with them at all time. But still, same location and that made us smile.

The previews say they are heading to Romania which was not on our trip but we have high hopes for a couple of other overlaps over the next few weeks.

Happy Monday!

Why We Don't Have Kids

So I was bathing the dog last night and Joshua and I were talking about a weird ear thing she has going on. Although she is the chronically ill dog this ear thing is new and different so we were talking about whether to take her to the vet. We came to the consensus that if it hadn't eaten into her brain at this point we could probably wait and see what happens until Monday. Then this thought popped into my head.

We need to make sure we have it figured out before we leave for New York.  

You want to know what I thought next?

Oh Crap!  We haven't even thought about finding someone to keep her while we are gone. 

 Yeah we forgot totally about having to find a place for her to stay. I am so glad we are having this realization a week out instead of 2 days from our trip so that I have more time to craft the craigslist ad.  Free dog rental for one week. 

I mean, seriously, who can say no to this face?

Silver Lining

While we were keeping Austin (the boy) Joshua asked him how old he thought I was going to be. His first guess was 47.

I think it is all the new gray hair I got this year. On the train in Europe Joshua discovered a few and this weekend he announced to the whole parking lot of Publix that my gray hairs had gotten (and I quote) "out of control."

Well, at least that means my hair is getting thicker.

9 years into an Era

The last year of my 20's starts tomorrow. Its been a pretty big decade.

Since I was 20 I ...

graduated with a "worthless" film degree. got married. became a professional. got an amazing opportunity to make videos I believed in. returned to the entrepreneurial roots I began at 15. discovered a love for house renovation. re-discovered my love of teaching.

had my heart broken a couple of times. have friends i've loved for the entire decade. fell in love with New York City.

began an almost daily log of life. embraced being weird (something I'm certain my children will hate). lost a grandfather. took up his art of stained glass. been through a small bout with cancer with my mom. been through my own benign mass (and all the drama that goes with that).

died my hair pink. dropped my "adult" life for 6 weeks and backpacked through Europe. found the most amazing church. discovered you can be good with numbers and creative at the same time. ran end zone to end zone on the field of Darrell K Royal Stadium (I AM small enough to squeeze under that fence).

became an aunt. learned to knit. learned to sew. read the whole Harry Potter series. worked on a feature film. discovered Joshua and I can stand each other 24 hours a day and actually prefer life that way.

Even if nothing at all happens this year I will still say my 20's were amazing. I'm glad Joshua and I got to spend them together before having kids. Here's to a strong finish and looking forward to what the next decades hold.

But I Looked Good Doing It

While we began to prepare for our New York City trip I was faced with the reality that my shoe selection had degenerated into things mostly of the canvas variety. I have a few dress shoes but those sure aren't going to help me in the possibly freezing weather of the city. Armed with the Christmas money from my grandmother I decided to rectify that situation.

These are my new boots.

I have tested out the warmth and they get an A+ rating on that. I also wore them to my shoot last night to test their longevity and I'm going to have to go with a solid B rating there. They were fine at the beginning but I'd say about 6 hours in I was beginning to dread having to walk somewhere to move a cable or give notes to an actor. My logical brain said to pack something of the canvas variety for the early morning hours but I chose to live like a girl and not pack a "sensible" option.

My feet are still a little sore almost 12 hours after I have taken them off but I don't really know many shoes with a heel that can stand up to a 10 hour production day. I am looking forward to my Rocket Dogs for tomorrow's shoot but the purchase does makes me feel a little more "grown up" and with the boots over my skinny jeans I can totally pass as a fashionable person.

Good Morning!

While you guys are peacefully finishing up your sleep, I'm about to head to bed and by the time you get to work I'll be midway through my first REM cycle of the "night."

I love night shoots.

5AM feels so much more logical when you see it after 4 and 3 rather than just being jarred awake to experience it. So to all of you I say good morning good night.

As far as I can tell you Friday goes pretty smoothly.

Homework! Oh Homework!

Last night was the first roll out of the new tutoring plan I have been working on for YES. I was super nervous because the folders weren't finished and I only had flash cards adding up to 10. But I would have to say it went very well considering. The kids threw fits just where I expected them but they also immediately forgot that they were supposed to hate what they were doing once they got started.

Without the folders we really only had the poem they were supposed to memorize so that is what we did. I had kids telling me up and down why they couldn't do this, why they didn't want to, and how they were never going to come back. I told them no one was making them but that they should probably read it through before they gave up on the pizza party the first week out. By the end of the night kids were running up to me telling me the part they had learned and asking if they could take the poem home with them to work on it.

One week in: Kids are loving it even though I was totally unprepared.