Sick of 35

It's my last day to be 35 years old an I am spending it sick and in bed. That's just great. I have tickets to see Doug Stanhope at Red 7 tonight and I am going to try go but I am already having doubts.

This stinks.

I wanted to go see the roller derby on saturday.

I wanted to eat at Pearla's or Uchi, or Uchiko.

I wanted to buy some earrings at Kendra Scott with my 50% off birthday coupon.

Pffffffffft. Not going to happen unless this cold (or whatever it is) decides to leave my body in a few short hours. Instead of packing up to leave, the symptoms are getting worse and settling in for a long stay. Stupid sickness.


Tomorrow I will be 36 and I have a really good feeling about this year of my life. I like to say "thirty six." It sounds so nice. "Thirty five" sounded harsh and unbalanced. I never enjoyed saying that number. Nope. But "thirty six" is something fun to say. I like to raise the intonation on the second half of the number. I raise my eyebrows when I say "six".

I dare you to tell me 36 is anything but fabulous.

Dale says I can re-do my birthday weekend when I am feeling better. I think I may take him up on that.

Bullheaded Bedrest

Oh, Cooper. On March 10th we noticed his left leg was wobbly when he walked. This was a sign of back problems on the near horizon. Fortunately, we caught it early. He was put on a round of steroids and bedrest to try to avoid a third surgery. We are in week two of bedrest and so far, so good. Cooper is not super happy with not being able to chase squirrels, but he is getting extra kisses and cuddles to make up for that. Oh, and he was introduced to apples (honeycrisp). I caught that moment on camera for you:


This dog loves apples.

I'm going to document how we actually accomplish bed rest with a bullheaded dachshund. That post will hopefully happen soon.

See you then.

Keep Austin Weird

I bought these at a gas station in Austin.
Gas stations be keeping it weird up in here!

Bath Time

1. My favorite thing is Cooper's expression in the third photo.
2. My bra is hanging from the door knob, but I blurred it out. I have some standards.
3. How adorable is my husband?

Flat Stanley part II: The Adventure Continues

After our visit to the Cathedral of Junk, Dale and I decided to get a Drink at the G&S Lounge.


We did not take any Flat Stanley pictures during our time at the bar. You understand. Instead, we had a few brews and listened to some tunes. Other than the bartender, we were the only people in the bar. In fact,the bar hours on Sunday are 6:00pm- 2:00am. We were there around 12:30pm but they let us in anyway. The G&S lives by no rules.....not even their own!

After we wet our whistles, we decided to go to Waterloo to look through the vinyl. We specifically wanted to buy some Reverend Horton Heat.


No luck on finding The Reverend but we did walk away with Elton John (Goodbye Yellow Brick Road), Some Beatles, A Stevie Wonder Album, and U2 (Joshua Tree)...all on vinyl. Niiiiiiice.

Next stop, Mt. Bonnell.

The top of Mt. Bonnell offers one of the best views of Austin. You can see downtown, Lake Austin, and the surrounding hills.


From Wikipedia: "Legend has it that Mount Bonnell was once acalled Antoinette's Leap, after a young woman who leaped to her death to avoid being captured by Native Americans who had killed her fiance."---Hmmm...that sounds like some Last of the Mohicans business if you ask me.




While we were up there, we ran into some contestants from the 7th Annual Beard and Moustache Competition. The competition was held the night before. Dale and I have been the last two years but did not make it out this year. I was happy to run into these guys, because I originally wanted to bring Flat Stanley to the competition. Instead, the competition came to us. 

They were nice guys and were thrilled to have their picture take. Dude in the center exclaimed, "we're rockstars!" Aww.

While we're up here, let's take a few profile pics for the Facebook...mmmmkay?





The next day, I brought Flat Stanley to my work at Texas School for the Deaf. TSD was founded in 1856 and is the oldest continuously operating public school in Texas. We have our very own audiologist on site and she agreed to give Flat Stanley a hearing test.

The headphones were too big...

So she used the insert headphones instead.


Raise your hand when you hear the beep.



Flat Stanley has normal hearing in both ears.

This concludes the Flat Stanley post.

WAIT!!! BONUS FLAT STANLEY!! My friend Tirzah is a volunteer at the Harry Ransom Center on the UT Campus. She had to do a Flat Stanley project a few weeks ago and was kind enough to send me her pictures for my viewing pleasure.
The most interesting thing Flat Stanley got to see while at the Harry Ransom Center (in my opinion) was the Gutenburg Bible. This bible was printed in 1454 using moveable type.

The cutest picture Tirza took was this one:

Stanley with Gill, the Museum Security Guard.

Flat Stanley: The Adventure Begins

Flat Stanley was recently our guest.

Who is Flat Stanley? Typically, a child is assigned Flat Stanley as a school project. He/she sends Stanley out to family and friends that live in different places. The host family takes Flat Stanley out to experience the town he is visiting. Then, the host family sends FS back to the kid along with pictures and a letter describing Flat Stanley's experience.

I was pretty excited about participating in the Flat Stanley project. I knew it would mean that Dale and I would have to do some fun things in Austin. I decided against visiting the obvious Austin landmarks (the capital building, The UT Tower, ets) and go with a more unique experience. 

The first place we took FS was The Noble Pig for breakfast. 

John Bates (co-owner/co-chef) was kind enough to hold FL up on the menu board. What a nice fella. He and Brandon Martinez opened the Noble Pig in 2010. Since then,it has built up a loyal following of very satisfied customers.  It has also been featured on a couple of Food Network shows. Dale and I love this place. If you have never been, you really should go. Call Dale and I first and we will go with you. 

After breakfast, we traveled to South Austin to visit The Cathedral of Junk. 

The owner and creator of The Cathedral is Vince Hannemann. Here he is holding FS:

 Vince began building the Cathedral in 1998. You can read all about his creation in the book Weird Texas, or just by searching The Cathedral of Junk online. Many articles have been written about Vince and his creation. 

Dale and I have lived in Austin for 13 years now and this was the first time we visited the Cathedral. I can't wait to go back when I have my nieces this summer. 

There is so much to look at and discover! He has areas dedicated to color, areas dedicated to old technology, areas dedicated to toys, and on and on and on. 

If you visit Vince and his Cathedral, remember to bring a little cash for his donation box. He is really cool to allow anybody and their grandmother into his back yard. Be cool back and slip him a little cash for his kindess. 

I'll post part two of Flat Stanley's Austin Adventure soon. Mmmm-kay?