texas yankee

On Texas

2011-06-26T21:57:00.001-05:00

Fifteen years ago today, I left the Northeast to live somewhere strange and exotic: Texas. I liked it immediately, but it did take some time for it feel like home.

It was definitely an adjustment: At one point early on I asked my mentor, "Why do so many people have cow heads on the back of their cars?" and "What's an Aggie?" People called me Sugar and Mr. Rolf (which still bothers me). And people were nice.

I really like Texas, as politically backwards and blinded by religion as it can be, and Houston has grown on me - it truly is what you make of it. I have made some great friends in Texas, and I know so many really good people. Austin, well, I don’t think it is the Mecca everybody else makes it out to be. I hope I never go back there because it is a place of such tragedy for me, where my best friend was murdered.

I may be a Yankee, but so many of my formative experiences have happened here that I call TX home. I really cut loose when I lived in Dallas, finally free from my self-imposed prison of education. To a large degree I found who I am in Houston. I saw some trying times early in my time in Houston, and now again as my parents are spending their last days here due to the cruelty of Alzheimer's. Though she hates the heat, the flying cockroaches, the pizza, and the lack of snow, Mom is glad to be here so I can manage her and Dad. And, of course, I met MC here, without whom my life would be empty.

To quote two of my three favorite bumper stickers:

"I'm not from Texas, but I got here as fast as I could"

and

"Don't mess with Texas"

What's the third, you ask?

Why, "Kill your television", of course.

Astounded

2010-02-21T22:38:00.002-06:00

Tonight I passed the 100 friends mark on FaceBook. I am astounded that I know over 100 people - and out of that I would say only a handful are acquaintances. The remaining 95% percent are all people I have known well in past lives or know well now. But 100 people? Wow. And, there are people I know and I have relatives who do not use FaceBook. So that pushes the number of people I know even higher. I guess I am more social than I thought. But I am still more of a lurker than a power user on FaceBook.

Contrasts

2010-02-18T03:12:00.001-06:00

What I got when I went to SHG's blog just now:

LOL!

Wow, it has been a long time...

2010-02-18T01:13:00.001-06:00

So, as usual, I have left my little blog to vanquish all by itself here in cyberspace. I have found that I am posting little semi-daily tidbits to FaceBook, yet I still cannot bring myself to post "the big stuff" there. I will give you a summary of the last few months.

In November I went up to NJ and cleaned out my parents' home with the amazing help of D, D, D, C, and G. Thank you SO much to you all for your help. In the space of a mere 5 days, we cleared out the house and two out buildings, had the movers in to pack, and got it ready to sell. Truly an amazing feat if you saw how much stuff my parents had, and how much junk my dad had accumulated (he's a packrat, made worse by the Alzheimer's). I even managed to sell it before we listed it! We got a decent price, not the greatest, but a good price considering it would not longer have to sit there vacant. We closed on 12/31. Yay! Big task taken care of! Now most of my folks' affairs up North are taken care of.

We had a quiet Christmas here in Houston. My Mom and I went up to Assisted Living to see my Dad and then made Sauerbraten at my house and opened presents. SHG was in Florida, so Teddy was here and so were my pups, so it was a full house!

In January my Dad had a TIA (Transient Ischemic Attack), aka a mini-stroke. This is a mild stroke whose effects reverse themselves in the space of 24 hours. When he got to the hospital they realized he had mild pneumonia as well. He was in the hospital for a week and we went up there every day. He lost his balance and could not longer walk or sit up straight without help (even with his walker), so now he is in a skilled care facility (aka a nursing home) to recuperate and do extensive physical therapy. He is doing well and should be going back to Assisted Living where was before the TIA next week or so. So things are looking up there.

Mom is still adjusting to living on her own, pretty cranky at times, but if I was her I would be cranky, too. :) Her arthritis is pretty bad with our highly changeable winter weather down here.

Me, I am doing OK. Job hunt still sucks. *sigh*

Palin

2009-11-17T18:44:00.001-06:00

So Sarah Palin wrote a book.

Big Whoop.

I wish she had not. Because I have to listen to my Mother rant about it. "She will make a mint on this book, because people are stupid enough to buy it."

True that Mom, true that.

Wicked

2009-11-17T16:46:00.001-06:00

OK, this is just totally WRONG, but it made me laugh so hard that I have to share it.

Eating lunch out with Mom. MOM says "Let me tell you a secret: Women are secretive, wicked, and dangerous, so just steer clear of them."

I nearly wet myself! How could I respond?

"OK, Thanks Mom."

I'm still alive

2009-11-13T21:29:00.001-06:00

As usual, it has been a long time since I have posted here. Here's what's going on.

Job Hunt: Sucks

Parents: Dad is doing pretty well in Assisted Living. He sleeps a lot. Uses a walker to get around (I bought him a cool one with four wheels), pretty zippy when he wants to be! Mom is slowly adjusting to living alone. She really misses my Dad. She is saying she is boycotting Thanksgiving and Christmas because it will just not be the same without my Dad at home. *sigh* She is also sick of the weather - whereas all the trees in NJ have lost their leaves and it is in the 50's and sometimes rainy in November in NJ, here everything is green, trees have their leaves, and lots of flowers are in bloom. Oh and it's 75 and sunny.

I just got back from NJ a week ago. I was up to clean my parents' house out. Thanks to the help of several great friends, I got everything done - and it was truly a monumental task. The movers are bringing the family china, photo albums, Christmas ornaments, etc. to Texas in mid-December. I also sold the house while there! Yay!

Pets: I get the pups back on Sunday! Yay!

Another war story - A Wag of the Tail

2009-09-26T10:15:00.002-05:00

Via Rich Miller, a two-minute video of a soldier being greeted by his dogs after returning home after 14 months in Iraq.

Another war story A Wag the Tail

Shared via AddThis

Update - late September

2009-09-21T20:26:00.001-05:00

Well, it has been a long long time since I provided an update on what is going on in my world. Here are the essentials:

Job Hunt: Sucks.

Parents: Dad's wandering got really bad. He got in the habit of getting on the bus! The police brought him home a few times, I found him others. A month ago he went into the dementia and Alzheimer's care section of an assisted living in North Houston. It's kinda far away from here - 1/2 hour by car, but it was the best one I could find. He is adjusting slowly, but doing OK. It is a big adjustment for Mom, too, now living by herself in the apartment and being physically separated from my Dad for the first time in 52 years.

Pets: All doing well except that I had to put Frik to sleep because he was paralyzed. Very sad about that. Pups come back from Austin on October 4, Yay!

SHG: Good, my rock.

Frik, Rest in Peace

2009-09-17T10:05:00.001-05:00

I had to put my cat Frik to sleep last night. Around 6:30 he was suddenly dragging his back legs and looked paralyzed. SHG came with me to the emergency vet, where they told me he was paralyzed from the waist down, and could not go to the bathroom in addition to not being able to walk. It was one of two things, either a pulmonary embolism or a spinal cord injury. There was really nothing that could be done for him.

Frik was a great cat, and was 12. He lived a good long life of cuddling and hissing at SHG's dog Teddy. He got along with my dogs great. He was always trying to cuddle with you and was great to curl up with for a nap.

Rest in Peace, Frik, you will be missed.

Update

2009-06-18T11:31:00.001-05:00

Well it certainly has been a very long time since I posted here. Life got kind of crazy.

Parents are successfully installed in their apartment and are slowly adjusting. The heat wave we are experiencing right now is not helping, and my dad is antsy. I think his Alzheimer's is getting worse. He insisted on going to Germany to see my uncle in May, so we booked him on a two week trip, with wheelchair assistance all along the way to help him through immigration/customs and making connections. He got there just fine. After a couple of days he wanted to come home, so it was a whirlwind trip. On the day we were to pick him up at the airport, we waited for five hours, but he was nowhere to be found. A very nice immigration officer helped us out and told us he missed his connection in Frankfurt do to, of all things, a lack of wheelchairs! Damned Lufthansa! They would up routing him through Philadelphia and he arrived that night, weary and confused. Disaster averted.

Two weeks ago he took a fall and had to go to the hospital because he could not speak and I was afraid he had a stroke. Turns out it was just a fall, no explanation as to why he could not speak. Again, disaster avoided.

Not really much new here other than that. My parents have put doing anything with house in NJ on hold. The job hunt is going slowly for me.

Birthday

2009-04-28T12:39:00.001-05:00

So yesterday was my birthday. I turned 39. One more year to the dreaded 4-0.

It was a quiet day. We went to go get passport pictures taken for my Mom and me. My Dad has this crazy idea that they are going to Germany, and we cannot find my mother's passport, so she needs a new one. Mine just expired, so I need to get a new one too. My mom was not into getting her picture taken, "I look awful!"

On the way back, my parents wanted to take me out to lunch. First we went to Onion Creek, since my Dad had liked it, but the power was out. So we waited a while but got impatient and we went to Dry Creek instead, just up the street. They had power. The meal was a disaster. My Mom would not eat her tuna salad sandwich because it was on a round roll, not "normal" bread. *sigh*

My Dad did not like his tuna salad sandwich either, probably because he put ketchup all over it. His eating habits are getting stranger as the Alzheimer's progresses, like maple syrup on eggs.

We stopped at Kroger on the way home to get makings for a cake. Yellow cake with chocolate frosting like my Mom used to make for me. She helped me make the cake. It's kind of depressing to make your own birthday cake. SHG came over for cake around 6, which was nice. I got a nice new ball cap from him for my birthday, my old one did not survive the washer.

Something possessed me to put "It's my Birthday!" as my status on Facebook. I got 26 Birthday messages out of that! I am amazed at how many people log on and use Facebook regularly.

The gang is taking me out to Feast on Friday, which will be really nice.

Status update

2009-04-28T12:24:00.001-05:00

Well, things here are going OK. After the trip to Galveston, the cabin fever abated for a short time. The other day I took my Dad to Onion Creek for lunch. We sat outside and he really liked it. We both had their specialty pizzas, which my Dad found a little hard to eat because of his false teeth, but he made it through half of it. We brought the other half home for my Mom, who did not want it because it was not shaped like a "normal" pizza. *sigh*

The thunder and rain storms we have here just amaze my parents. Last night we had a big one that lasted all night, with a lot of thunder and lightning. One big BOOM sounded like a cannon going off outside the front door.

Our excitement over the last few days has been the repairmen coming to the house to service the sprinkler system and the hot tub. They are both fixed, yay! Although the sprinkler system is not at 100% due to water pressure. So I called the city about that and they sent somebody right out. He pronounced that it was not the city's fault and must be something in the lines to the house from the meter. Classic "not our problem." Grrr.

The tech had been out and serviced the hot tub and warned me that it could be the heating element, but we would try a quick rewire first. Well, it kept tripping the breaker. It turns out it needed a new heater, the old one was rusted and shorting the whole system out, causing the main breaker to trip. That set me back a chunk of change, but now I have my relaxation machine back.

That's about it from here. Things are pretty quiet, even if they are still driving me nuts. Only a week until they can move into their apartment!

Trip to Galveston

2009-04-23T11:24:00.001-05:00

I could tell my father was going nuts with boredom, so I suggested we take a little road trip to Galveston, to the beach. We three headed off in the truck for the hour long trip down. About halfway there my Dad began to complain in an adult version of "Are we there yet? Are we there yet?"

As we headed further southeast to the coast, you could see more and more hurricane damage from Ike, like blown out store signs and the like. When we actually got to Galveston, there was still damage from the hurricane evident by closed stores and rubble piles along the thoroughfares we were on - 61st Street and then Sea Wall Blvd. But for the most part it looked like the recovery is coming along more and more. This was the first time I have been to Galveston since the storm.

We were driving along Sea Wall Blvd with the beach to our right, and there were (pasty white!) people out on the beach, more than I had expected, which made me happy for Galveston. I asked my folks if they wanted to get out and go for a walk along the beach or sea wall, and nobody wanted to get out of the car! I drove an hour for this?

We drove down to the point where Sea Wall Blvd hits another big street (I forget the name) and turned around. I asked if anybody wanted to try to get some seafood. This at least elicited a positive response. We stopped at Fish Tales. The meal was disappointing and the table sticky. It was 3 PM and we pretty much had the place to ourselves. When they brought my mother her lobster tails she threw a fit because they had put some cayenne pepper or paprika on them. She finally settled down and just ate the baked potato. I ate some of her lobster tails, which were tough. Overall a disappointing meal and a waste of money. Oh well.

The drive back was peaceful and uneventful except for the rush hour traffic around 610 and downtown. We got home and I collapsed for a much needed mental and physical rest.

It's just not the same...

2009-04-21T20:36:00.001-05:00

So I got my hot tub fixed the other day, yay! The water chemistry and the temperature were finally ready tonight. I decided to venture in.

Since my parents are here I could not go in naked like I normally do. I had to put on my board shorts and a T-shirt. T-shirt because I do not feel like them seeing all my tattoos should they come outside while I am in the water. They know about the kangaroo on my ankle and that is "bad enough".

Anyway, I felt pretty stupid venturing into the water, especially because some of the vegetation that served as a privacy screen from the neighboring garage apartment was swept away by Hurricane Ike. But it was nice to sit the the main seat, getting my back and shoulders massaged by the jets. I sat there for a while, just enjoying myself. Being clothed was not the same as enjoying the water naked, but oh well. Nobody came out to bother me.

Getting out with a sopping wet T-shirt was a mild adventure but I got myself fixed up so that I did not drip massively when I went into the house. A quick shower and a shave (I HATE shaving so it's been many days since I have shaved) and I feel like new. Yay!

My inflatable friend...

2009-04-20T21:45:00.001-05:00

Since my parents have come to stay with me for a few weeks, I have had to get an inflatable friend!

No silly, not that kind of inflatable friend, an air mattress!

I am really impressed with it. I bought the middle of the road one, and it is pretty comfy. I sleep fairly well on it, if fitfully. And the best thing is in that it fits neatly in the corner of my home office, so I can just leave it there.

And Yes, that is my bear waiting for me. I took the picture with my phone since my camera battery is dead, I like the eerie green glow from the weirdo flash!

Extended Stays...

2009-04-20T21:37:00.001-05:00

OK, my folks are going to be here for over three weeks, so I think that makes them extended stay guests. Here are a few things I think indicate you have extended stay pests, err, guests:

You feel like all you do is cook and empty the dishwasher. Very Hausfrau.
You go from hardly cooking at all because you are single, to cooking, or at least preparing, three meals a day.
Your OCD goes into overdrive because you keep finding things rearranged here and there.
You begin to go nuts because one of your guests is a slob and you are not. More OCD.
You go to the grocery store three times a week rather than once every two weeks. Grocery bill skyrockets. Thankfully guests are paying it.
You pray that the hundreds of National Geographics you have keeps at least one of them busy.
The TV is on (at least in my house!).
You play Parcheesi.

Mad.

2009-04-20T16:16:00.001-05:00

Yesterday was kinda quiet around here, which is just fine with me. Not today, though.

Today I was sitting out back with my Dad, and we were having yet another conversation about what I have to do with their house up North. Which somehow devolved into talking about he should not drive any more, which got kind of heated and into a "No you can't", "Yes I can!" match. He's all mad at me now. It's understandable, of course. He feels like his freedom is being taken away and is upset about it. He does not fully comprehend why he cannot drive. Him behind the wheel anywhere is a scary thought anymore, let alone here where he does not know his way around and will promptly get lost.

Sigh.

It's raining here...

2009-04-18T13:15:00.001-05:00

It is raining cats and dogs here. My street and yard are flooding:

I am glad my house is up on piers and safe from rising water. I still have flood insurance though, since sometimes it rains so hard and long here that the street and lawn floods. One of those times was during Hurricane Ike.

I wonder if I should quickly build an ark and load the cats and parental units into it. My Dad is especially concerned at the rising water, even though I assured him it is temporary and the street will drain soon enough.

Naw, we'll just all get into the Land Rover and ford the water like they do in the commercials! :)

Living with...

2009-04-18T11:54:00.001-05:00

You know you are living with the elderly when...

You answer the same questions over and over.
You find odd things done to the coffee pot.
You are playing medication manager.
You encounter random puddles of pee from incontinence.
You do a lot of laundry due to said incontinence.
You find yourself cooking and cutting food up to accommodate dentures.
Nap time occurs several times a day.
Sitting on the front porch watching the world go by is an exciting activity.
There is much yelling at CNN on TV.
The stereo and TV are turned up way too loud.
You have Polident in the house.

Driving me crazy

2009-04-17T18:14:00.001-05:00

OK. So they are driving me crazy. Without going into details, they are making me feel like tearing my hair out. I am going to go pick up SHG and we are going to meet some friends out for a drinkie or 10. I need to get out of the house and not with my parents.

Worked on my resume today, what a drag that was.

It rained like Hell here today.

That's about it from here.

Sleepless

2009-04-16T00:08:00.001-05:00

I cannot sleep for some reason. Probably because my parents are stressing me out. I am leafing through some pictures on my hard drive, and came across this:

It's of my best friend Matthew, from a contact sheet he helped me make when he was teaching me how to bracket exposures on my camera in college. Most of you know that Matthew was murdered in cold blood some 5 odd years ago. I have been missing him a lot lately, as I could use him to lean on during these tough times with my parents. He is gone but not forgotten.

Special belt.

2009-04-15T08:11:00.001-05:00

So I have a leather harness. (Don't click the link if you are at work!)

I keep it hanging with my belts in my walk-in closet. My Dad came wandering out with it this morning.

Dad: I cannot figure out how to put this belt on.

Me: That's a special belt Papa, let me find your belt for you.

Dad: OK

Phew! I almost wet myself trying not to laugh!

Check. Check. Check. Check. Check.

2009-04-15T08:02:00.001-05:00

I know how to play chess, meaning I know the rules but I am not very good. My Dad and I used to play chess when I was younger. I found it frustrating because he was so much better than me, always beating the pants off me. He played a strategic, offensive game, where I am always in reaction mode it seems.

Anyway, we broke out the nice big chess board my parents gave me years ago yesterday to play a game. Wow, it really showed how the Alzheimer's has taken it's toll on my Dad. At first he was doing well, but it quickly became apparent that we are now evenly matched, which is sad. It was a long, drawn out game that got tedious in the end when we both only had a few pieces left (and only a couple of powerful pieces at that). That is when things fell apart for my Dad: he kept trying to do things with my pieces or make moves he could not. We kept putting each other in check - in the past it was a personal victory for me if I managed this only once in a game. In the end it was a draw. :(

Interpreting

2009-04-14T11:26:00.001-05:00

So part of Alzheimer's is losing your language skills, and that has hit my Dad. He sticks the wrong words into sentences at an alarming rate, or just uses "thing" for nouns. My Mom has not yet learned how to interpret what he is saying into legible English, but I have gotten pretty good at it, I would say that I can figure out what he means about 90% of the time.

An example conversation... We were standing out front of Kroger in the Heights looking at the retirement home at Heights and 20th, a high rise.

Dad: That must be the building where the small people live.

Me: Yes, that is the retirement home.

Dad: Retirement home, what is that?
Me: It is where old people live.

Dad: Oh, they must use a square box to get up there.

Me: Yes, they use an elevator.

That was an easy one!

Coffee Fire

2009-04-13T06:39:00.001-05:00

My coffee maker is too advanced for my dad. It is one of those nice ones with a timer, water filter and a metal mesh filter that swings out at the push of a button. A gift from G-hopp. I just found the water reservoir full of coffee. Thankfully the filter caught it all.

For some reason, when confused by the coffee maker, my father turns the gas stove on. So far he has lit it but I am afraid of the open flame and even worse if he just lets the gas go unlit.

So, at SHG's suggestion I have pulled all the fucking knobs off the stove.

Dog Movies

2009-04-12T21:14:00.001-05:00

On the flight up to NJ the movie was Marley and Me. I read the book and enjoyed it. The movie strays from the book here and there, but they had to make it into a movie with no dragging points. Good movie. Read the book and see the movie if you are a dog person.

On the way back to TX it was Bolt. Animated. Cute movie. Funny. Very Disney. If you have kids or little ones in your life, a good movie that will not not drive you nuts.

Give me strength

2009-04-12T20:33:00.001-05:00

I don't think I have ever said that phrase more in one day than today. My parents are staying with me in my little bitty house until their apartment is ready on May 1. They are already driving me nuts. Watch this space for regular venting.

First I will vent about the blinds. I have plantation shutters throughout the house. And I keep them adjusted just so, in a way that lets light in but also so that people cannot look into the house easily. So I never have to adjust them. Well my dad is all about closing them, opening them, closing them, etc. I am one of those people that has everything in my house just so and I do not like things to be fucked with. So he is driving me nuts with the blinds. I feel like crazy gluing the damned things in place, but now that would be tedious.

We made it.

2009-04-12T13:30:00.001-05:00

Well, I am back in TX with my parents. Traveling with them was not as bad as I thought, due mainly to a stream of really nice people in the airports and on the plane, with the notable exception of a bitch at the gate, who really worked my nerves. Having two people in wheelchairs makes you bypass the entire line at security, which was really good considering the mile-long line.

My Dad barely made it through security. He was wearing a money pouch around his neck, and it kept setting the thingy off. He had to wait in the Plexiglas booth to be patted down and he kept trying to get out, poor thing. It turns out he had the money in the pouch was clipped together with metal binder clips, so it had to run through the X-ray by itself. A serious source of consternation for him. But it came back OK, and thank God for my President's Club membership, so we could go sit in peace for two hours. When we went to the gate it was chaos.

Traveling with somebody with Alzheimer's is interesting. While they are completely lost the whole time, you can easily lead them around, with occasional corrections. The plane ride was completely uneventful and my Dad sat next to a very helpful nice man who helped him with his tray table. We were in first class where the attendants are really nice and that helped too.

One interesting moment when we were wheeling my folks to the gate: this woman just strode right out of a store and got hit by my Mom's wheelchair. The woman nearly shrieked "Excuse Me!!" in an indignant manner, to which my mother replied "Get out of my way you bitch, I'm old!!". I nearly pissed myself!

SHG picked us up at the airport and ferried us home with a food stop at Burger King. We all had burgers back at the house. He got his first glimpse of me dealing with my parents, and I think the pity quotient just went up considerably.

Today being Easter we went to All Saints Church here in the Heights. My Mom being diehard Catholic was less than impressed with the church, but I cannot go around previewing all the Catholic churches for her. I thought it was a cool church, a century old and beautifully restored or kept up (I dunno which). My Dad napped afterwards and my Mom and I enjoyed the thunder and torrential rain from the front porch for a while. Then sandwiches for lunch and they are napping now.

So far so good.

status report

2009-04-07T08:18:00.001-05:00

As part of my efforts to keep my blog more up to date, here is a status report!

Up in NJ. So far so good. Found my Mother's Drivers License so we can fly back to TX, phew! I was not looking forward to another 2 1/2 days in the car with my parents. This also gives an excuse to not have their car there in TX, so my father cannot drive. Another phew!

Tomorrow is moving day from Assisted Living back to their house. Then have to round up what additional items we want to bring to TX with us, get more stuff packed, and have the movers come pick it up. Then fly to TX.

So, things are going good and looking up so far.

Well here I am

2009-04-05T18:54:00.001-05:00

In NJ. Tommorrow I start on the logistics of the moving of my folks to
TX. Wish me luck. Right now I am sitting in their house with no TV, no
stereo, and no desk in the computer room, so the computer is not set
up. I guess I will read my book.

Things that work my nerves

2009-04-05T03:00:00.001-05:00

People who do not use their turn signals. Even when just changing lanes.

People who do not turn their lights on in the fog or rain.

(I guess those first two thing should have gone onto my driving is hard blog, huh?)

Commercials on TV. Lately I have been watching TV a little more than I normally do (IOW, like a few hours a week) in order to escape reality on the SciFi channel for a little bit. And all the mind-numbing commercials really remind me why I don't watch TV in general. When I have my parents here the damned TV will be on most of the day with CNN. Grrr. At least Anderson Cooper is cute. :)

Whiners.

Complainers. Of course this post is all complaining and whining, so you might think I am being a hypocrite here. But I am honestly not one of those people. Usually. :)

Bobos.

My new neighbors. They bought the million-dollar neo-contemporary Dutch Colonial next door, and have a habit now of blasting music in their back yard. Makes me not feel so bad when my dogs bark outside.

Not being able to sleep.

Change is afoot

2009-04-05T02:42:00.001-05:00

Hi Everybody! Well... Once again is has been forever since I posted here. I am sorry for that. I am going to endeavor to post more regularly from now on.

It sure has been a roller coaster around here since I last posted. I made the difficult decision to leave my job at Halliburton (Landmark) in order to focus on taking care of my parents. Not the best time to do this, with the economy as it is, but assisted living is just not working out for my parents. I have to go up North and get them to bring them down here. I am leaving on a 6 AM flight this morning to do that, and for some reason I cannot sleep anymore tonight. I will put them in an apartment with a home health aid to come in every day to keep and eye on them. I want to find something close to my house for them so it is easy for me to run over there and check on them. Please cross your fingers for success for me for this second attempt to get them down here. I need all the help I can get. They have agreed to come down here more whole-heartedly this time. Again, fingers crossed!

I am so burned out. My job was a seriously high-stress position, and I have to admit that I was not 110% happy there. I need a few months time to sort out what I want to do when I grow up while I deal with emptying and selling my parents' house up in NJ. My good friend Dena has been kind enough to be keeping an eye on the house and gathering whatever mail the P.O. has managed not to forward. Now that is a bizarre one: Some of the mail is getting forwarded to me and some of it is not. What a whip.

So major changes afoot in my life. The pups have been transferred to Austin to my ex's so they don't have to be with a sitter while I am gone. Also, my folks will be staying with me (eek!) until their apartment is ready (wherever it is) on May 1 and I do not want two big dogs around to be knocking them over!

Major changes afoot elsewhere: Grasshopper has moved to OH with a great new job to be closer to her parents. Sparklepony is evolving his blog, and it is as interesting as ever. One thing that has not changed is SHG being my rock that I can rely on for support, and for that I am grateful.

Blah

2009-02-23T10:11:00.001-06:00

Well, it has been a long time since I have posted here. I have been in NJ for the last two weeks getting my parents ready to move to assisted living, and moving them in. It was really hard. Ever try to pack the belongings of somebody with Alzheimer's? More fun than gouging my eyes out, at least. They are not happy to be in assisted living, but it is the best thing for them. Without going into the gory details, it had to happen. At this point I have probably toured like 20 facilities, and they are not all the same. I picked the one I did based on the amenities, and the schedule they could work with us on. It is nice and the food is good (though my parents complain that it is awful, of course it is not going to be like home cooking).

My dad is bored to death, he is used to having places to putter around all day, like the basement, doing laundry, and such. It is a tough adjustment for him with the Alzheimer's. My mom is doing what she normally does, which is sit around or sleep. At least they were not in bad mood when I left yesterday morning. I have to call them tonight after their phone is hooked up. We'll see what kind of mood they are in then.

cold!

2009-01-12T11:17:00.000-06:00

Well my furnace died. Rotted out heat exchanger, which is actually dangerous. All rusted from a leak around the chimney. It's actually colder in here than outside!! So I need a whole new furnace. There goes a chunk of my savings. Phooey.

The Internet saves Christmas dinner

2008-12-25T10:23:00.001-06:00

So I am in charge of making Christmas dinner. I bought a nice Krakus Polish canned ham. Which came without directions on how to make (though admittedly kit is already cooked). And my mother forgets how to make it. And the Joy of Cooking cookbook we have is so old that ham recipes start with "go to the butcher"...

So I surfed the Internet for about 10 minutes and found what I needed on how long to cook this puppy! Yay! The Internet saves Christmas Dinner!!

Fill 'Er Up With Human Fat

2008-12-22T07:34:00.001-06:00

Ewww. This is disgusting.

For a time, Beverly Hills doctor Craig Alan Bittner turned the fat he removed from patients into biodiesel that fueled his Ford SUV and his girlfriend's Lincoln Navigator.

I just want a new bluetooth headset for my phone...

2008-12-17T09:50:00.001-06:00

not this... sheesh!!

Blue M&M's

2008-11-10T17:09:00.001-06:00

are creepy.

momentary distraction

2008-11-10T14:34:00.001-06:00

Want to twist your brain up for a moment? Look at your email using the "Message Timeline" view in Microsoft Outlook 2003.

Yay!

2008-11-04T22:41:00.001-06:00

That was all this post was going to say. "Yay!"

Until I just watched McCain's concession speech, which was gracious, not contentious, and unifying. It was his supporters, with their booing, chanting, and raising their fists in the Socialist salute that worked my nerves. How child-like and dim. What a bunch of fuckwits.

Grrr...

2008-11-02T14:40:00.001-06:00

We went to the TX Renaissance Festival yesterday! It was a great time, though the traffic on 45 getting there SUCKED!

Here's me waiting for our friends, with a Grrr... look on my face.

And here are SHG and I at the fair, me with chocolate ice cream on my white shirt, of course.

Guess what? It's that time already!

2008-10-31T19:18:00.001-05:00

Thanks SHG!

hunkering down

2008-10-31T19:15:00.001-05:00

I live on a street that gets hoards of trick-or-treaters, hoards. People drive here to have their kids get good candy I suppose. And most of the houses are decorated festively for Halloween, to welcome kids of all ages.

Not mine.

I am hunkered down in a dark house with all the blinds drawn. I just got home from a long day at work, and a quick McDonald's dinner with SHG. I am too tired to face the masses out there. I can hear them out on the street. Away, spawn, away!

of interest

2008-10-31T11:24:00.001-05:00

The slump in oil prices has spread relief among consumers and fuel-reliant industries, but also is squeezing the companies who could invest in new sources of oil -- spurring concerns that prices will prompt them to shelve investments.

Industry executives warn that could mean the world will face a dramatic ramping up of prices as soon as the global economy, and demand, begins to rebound.

IT departments are bad communicators.

2008-10-30T14:06:00.001-05:00

Survey says!!

Go figure. I could have told ya that. Interesting.

Pet peeve #455

2008-10-29T19:47:00.001-05:00

I love shoes. I am a shoe queen. I have too many pairs of shoes for one person to reasonably wear.

I am pretty lenient when judging other people's footwear. However, shit like this drives me nuts:

I mean, really. Tassels? WTF? How plain ole' ugly!

LOL, this is great!

2008-10-29T19:41:00.001-05:00

Courtesy of Princess Sparkle Pony, comes Margaret and Helen! OMG, ROTFLMAO!!!

AND, she is from TEXAS!! Woo hoo!

One more week! Yay!

2008-10-28T12:38:00.001-05:00

Yay! Just one more week of the presidential campaign to go! Yay! I am actually looking forward to watching the returns a week from now, it will be interesting if nothing else. Then there will be a week of post-analysis and voter fraud to put up with, which won't be so bad. And then we will be free of the election and can get back to life as we know it. Oh wait, the economy will still be tanking, I bet.

Well, what do you expect?

2008-10-27T07:23:00.001-05:00

The TV networks will be pulling out all the stops next week, as what seems like the longest election season in years comes to a close.

Can't say I am surprised, but I do have to say I am not looking forward to all that advertising while watching the returns next Tuesday. I think I will have the laptop out to look at what is online at the same time, just out of curiosity. A multimedia night!

I have done my duty

2008-10-25T17:33:00.001-05:00

SHG and I went and voted this morning in early voting here in TX, and it went amazingly quick! Yay! There were a fair number of people there, but the line moved along nicely.

Pet Peeve #418

2008-10-24T15:43:00.001-05:00

I work in an office tower. I go to a lot of meetings. I am lazy and don't hike the stairwells, and I have bad knees to boot.

Enough background.

So what drives me nuts is when you get to your floor, and somebody bowls you over by rushing in past you before you have a chance to get off. Elevator etiquette: Let people off before you get on, you friggin' moron.

Sheesh.

Oil prices and production stuff

2008-10-24T11:14:00.001-05:00

Seeing as how I work for one of the companies mentioned in this article, I found it pretty interesting. This is interesting too.

why is that arrow on my dashboard flashing?

2008-10-23T12:47:00.000-05:00

People who don't use their turn signals drive me nuts. Absolutely crazy. It was drilled into me when I learned to drive to use the turn signals, and now, 20+ years later, I feel like I am doing something dangerous if I turn or change lanes without using them.

People, that stalk on the left side of the steering wheel moves up and down for a reason.

A night with David Sedaris

2008-10-22T19:46:00.001-05:00

My friend I got tickets to go see David Sedaris through work and invited SHG and I to go. It was last night, and a blast. I had a really good time and laughed for the first time in a while. He read from all new works, which was great, rather than going through his latest book, When you are engulfed in flames. I am really grateful for the opportunity to go, especially for free! It was at Jones Hall, which is a nice venue, and the $9 sandwich I had was pretty good too. The $5 scotch was better. :)

Look! I smiled!

If you ever have the chance to go see Sedaris, you should. He's a really good speaker and funny as shit.

Looking sad

2008-10-22T19:35:00.001-05:00

I know I have been down in the dumps and in a rut for several months now. But I guess you can see it in my face, because people at work keep commenting on how down I look. I fucking know I look down, and every time somebody comments on it, I want to scream. I have a lot on my mind between being buried at work and my parents.

That's all I have to say on the matter. Just a little venting.

2.0

2008-10-22T16:53:00.001-05:00

Web 2.0 drives me nuts. Now there is Enterprise 2.0, from the Oracle website:

Enterprise 2.0 is what happens when Web 2.0 gets down to business. Learn how to transform the enterprise with powerful, user-friendly social computing tools that change how people relate to information technology.

Oh, and what was the goal of Web 2.0? From uncov.com:

The goal of Web 2.0 was to get users first, then figure out how to make money off of them. Well, at least that's what you tell your investors. In reality, the goal is more like "get users, and hope to get acquired and become somebody else's problem". For Silicon Valley, this really is self-destructive behavior, with Yahoo being the enabling friend who brings us clean needles from his job as an orderly.

LOL! Whee!!

Woof!

2008-10-21T17:55:00.000-05:00

Since when...

2008-10-19T13:13:00.002-05:00

Since when is an English Pub Romper Room? It seems so at The Black Labrador.

SHG and I went there last night to have a pint of beer and some English food last night. Well, there were at least 20 children there. Loud, misbehaving children. I have no problem with people taking their well-behaved children anywhere. But when you are sitting outside and there is a passel of brats throwing the oversized pieces from the outdoor chessboard around, it does not make for a nice dining experience. It reflects really poorly on the parents, actually. And the management of the establishment, too, who don't have the balls to get parents to reign-in their shrieking whelplings.

It really was a goat rodeo. Especially when the families all got ready to leave, clearly lost in Montrose. People, Katy is that way. Watching them try to round up their hyper children (some of whom where taking hits off of sugar-packets) and not having them hit in the small, busy parking lot was moderately entertaining, I must say. What ever happened to well-behaved children. If I had acted like these kids at that age (like 7-10) I would have received the beating of a lifetime.

So, The Black Labrador won't be getting my vote for dinner and a pint again anytime soon.

Catching up

2008-10-18T17:31:00.001-05:00

Hi everyone! Well it has been ages since I last posted here. Lots going on: Post Ike I was offline forever due to having no power for two weeks and no Internet for three. Then I was up North at my parents since my Mom was in the hospital. Satchel came back for a few weeks but now he is back in Austin :( . Busy with work and catching up on work and sleep after being away so long. I actually had to miss a business trip to go to my parents.

Let me see, what else is new. The builder next door replaced the fence than blew down in Hurricane Ike. The city finally took the mountain of fence and tree debris away from in front of my house, so all I had left to do was sweep up some leaves from the street.

Otherwise, all is fine, puppies are good, kitties are good, I am good. I am going to try to post more often on here, I promise.

BTW, the presidential race: I am over it. I am so tired of it, I cannot wait the two and half weeks until it is over. Palin makes me want to puke: She is not stupid, but she sure comes off that way. What kills me is that nobody talks about how she and her husband run around with a bunch of Alaskan secessionist brigands. If Obama did that we would never hear the end of it.

Day 14 update, a little late

2008-09-29T10:11:00.001-05:00

Day 14: Power returned! Yay!

Posting a little late because I still do not have internet, my phone is cranky to post from, and I am just now online at work.

Very very happy that power has returned. Two weeks is a long time, even if I was away for part of it. It sucked to come home to no power and a warm stuffy house. But at least the power was back on two days later, Yay! Spent the weekend cleaning (amazing how dirty it got), putting hurricane things away (not done with that in the garage yet), and restocking the fridge.

Day 10

2008-09-22T16:58:00.001-05:00

Still no power. I am actually up in NJ on a visit to my parents that I planned before the hurricane, but I have a friend staying with Bucky at the house, and he is stuck without power there. Of course, he does not have power at his house either. But still, this sucks.

Friday update

2008-09-19T12:38:00.001-05:00

Still no power. This is really vexing. My house is on the "estimated power restoration after Monday 22 Sept." zip code list. Argh!! Overall, hanging in there though.

Thursday update

2008-09-18T09:49:00.001-05:00

ARGH! Still no power! I am really over this.

Power Outage Map

2008-09-17T14:01:00.001-05:00

Here is the link to the current power outage map. Pretty striking. I live in one of the red blotches NW of downtown. Pretty descriptive, huh?

Wednesday Update

2008-09-17T08:55:00.001-05:00

WELL. It's been a few days since technology has been cooperative. My cell phone is not working well at home and the data connection is flaky at best, so I have been unable to send posts to the blog. I am writing this from work. Anyway, here is the poop:

Bucky is fine. Oblivious. Enjoying the nice weather we have been having.

Still no power. No Internet (been trying it using the UPS from the computer). Cell phone very flaky at the house. Otherwise, doing OK. Lost the fence along the driveway (like 50 feet of it), which trapped the truck in the garage until yesterday when the neighbor and I finally got enough guys together to bust it up. Lost about four small (<20 ft) trees. Couple of trees leaning over so far they will have to be staked. Branches and leaves everywhere. Yard pretty much cleaned up, the lawn guys will have to finish it to make it perfect again. House undamaged as far as I can tell. Refrigerator emptied, freezer will probably have to be tonight's exercise in fun.

I am over having no power. Really over it.

Thank you everybody who has called, texted, emailed or left comments on the blog! Text messages are best! (Second only to the crank-up radio SHG lent me in terms of keeping me company when I am home alone)

5:30 pm sunday update

2008-09-14T22:03:00.001-05:00

Still no power. Cleaned up much of yard. Hanging in there.

5:30 pm sunday update

2008-09-14T21:08:00.001-05:00

Still no power. Cleaned up much of yard. Hanging in there.

6:30 pm saturday update

2008-09-14T10:13:00.001-05:00

It's over. Still no power. Many many trees down. Boiling water. Lost my fence into the driveway and so cannot get out. Not having fun.

6:30 pm saturday update

2008-09-14T09:56:00.001-05:00

It's over. Still no power. Many many trees down. Boiling water. Lost my fence into the driveway and so cannot get out. Not having fun.

7:30 am saturday update

2008-09-13T07:44:00.001-05:00

No power. Really strong winds last night took out my fence (well, the neighbors fence took out mine). Lots of rain, street is flooded, driveway too. Still very windy, leaves and some branches all over.

9:00 Friday Update

2008-09-12T21:10:00.001-05:00

Windy. No rain yet. Time for bed.

4:00 Friday Update

2008-09-12T16:09:00.001-05:00

No change.

2:30 Friday Update

2008-09-12T14:35:00.001-05:00

Cloudy. Breezier. No rain yet.

10 AM Update

2008-09-12T10:13:00.001-05:00

It's sultry and breezy outside. Sunny, but high, streaks of clouds.

ooo Ike is Ugly

2008-09-12T09:57:00.001-05:00

Uh oh, Ike. Ick.

2008-09-11T15:48:00.001-05:00

Well, Hurricane Ike is coming almost right at us. Whoops.

People have been evacuating the coast all day and now it seems like the inlanders are too. The roads are already jammed up.

SHG and I are staying put. Watch here for more as the storm proceeds.

Gustov

2008-08-27T12:15:00.001-05:00

So, Gustov is coming. At the moment, projected at New Orleans. Let's hope it veers in a different direction, NOLA does not need another one...

Facebook

2008-08-26T18:46:00.001-05:00

OK. Let's start off by saying I am not a big fan of Facebook. I do not spend time in there. I get friend requests, mostly from people I know now, and a few from way way back that I was not even really friends with (I write these off to people who are junkies and just want a big friend network). Anyway, I just got a request from somebody I would actually like to catch up with! I have not talked to her in 8 years (Hi E!). Anyway, what a treat. I hope we can keep in better touch.

This is awful

2008-08-23T17:19:00.001-05:00

If you have this ball in your house for your dogs, remove it from their access immediately. This toy resulted in several dogs having to have their tongues amputated!

Item #20227-001
UPC Code: 0 4566320227 9
Manufactured by: Four Paws, Inc.

http://www.thechaistory.blogspot.com/

What Your Frosh Know (and Don't)

2008-08-20T19:12:00.001-05:00

Got this from a friend... a fun read!!

What Your Frosh Know (and Don't)

It can be depressing or humorous to realize that new students never experienced key moments in the history or culture that you experienced. Beloit College has a tradition of promoting better generational communication by releasing an annual "mindset list" to remind academics about what freshmen have experienced — and what they have never experienced.

The list — a sure sign that the fall semester is upon us — was created by Tom McBride, a professor of humanities at Beloit, and Ron Nief, the director of public affairs. This year's freshmen were generally born in 1990, meaning they completely missed all kinds of events formative to their professors. More information about the list, and complete lists from this year and the past may be found here. And for those seeking a different mindset, New Zealand's Massey University offers a version for its part of the world.

Here are some of the highlights from this year's list of freshman perspectives from Beloit:

GPS satellite navigation systems have always been available.
Coke and Pepsi have always used recycled plastic bottles.
Harry Potter could be a classmate, playing on their Quidditch team.
Electronic filing of tax returns has always been an option.
As a precursor to "whatever," they have recognized that some people "just don't get it."
Club Med resorts have always been places to take the whole family.
WWW has never stood for World Wide Wrestling.
Films have never been X rated, only NC-17.
The Warsaw Pact is as hazy for them as the League of Nations was for their parents.
Students have always been "Rocking the Vote."
Clarence Thomas has always sat on the Supreme Court.
Schools have always been concerned about multiculturalism.
We have always known that "All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten."
There have always been gay rabbis..
IBM has never made typewriters.
There has always been Pearl Jam.
The Tonight Show has always been hosted by Jay Leno and started at 11:35 EST.
Pee-Wee has never been in his playhouse during the day.
Lenin's name has never been on a major city in Russia.
Employers have always been able to do credit checks on employees.
Personal privacy has always been threatened.
Caller ID has always been available on phones.
They never heard an attendant ask "Want me to check under the hood?"
Iced tea has always come in cans and bottles.
They have never known life without Seinfeld references from a show about "nothing."
The Hubble Space Telescope has always been eavesdropping on the heavens.
98.6 F or otherwise has always been confirmed in the ear.
Radio stations have never been required to present both sides of public issues.
There have always been charter schools.

Tropical Storm Coming

2008-08-04T15:39:00.001-05:00

Well here we go, Tropical Storm Eduard is coming. But the Galleria is staying open while much of Houston makes plans to close. Phew. We can all still shop. Even my office has a delayed opening as of now.

How stupid am I

2008-07-24T10:15:00.001-05:00

I thought for a moment it was Hurricane Dalí coming to visit my state of Texas. I had fabulous visions of flying melted clocks and elephants on spindly legs.

DUH DUH DUH.

Yelch.

2008-07-15T12:16:00.001-05:00

Something, what I do not know, possessed me to get a chef's salad for lunch today. I thought I would eat healthier for a change, since I have been doing so well at losing weight. I have done this by eating less fast food, junk food, and less in general. But not by eating salads. Well, my lunch today cured me of salad (other than the occasional one with dinner out) again for another couple of years. Yelch. What was I thinking?

199 to go

2008-07-05T10:56:00.001-05:00

Just in case you care... just 199 days of W to go! Yay!

Days of nothingness

2008-07-04T09:25:00.001-05:00

Been on vacation this week. And I have, essentially, not done a damned thing. Which I suppose is good. I did manage to have lunch with my good friend R., and I have cleaned most of the house. I have kept an eye on work email for emergencies. But otherwise I have done nothing but laze around and nap. Oh, and take Bucky to the vet on Monday, and get my truck cleaned, along with a haircut and a doctor appointment. So I guess I have done a few things. But really, I feel like I have done nothing and wasted four perfectly good vacation days. There was so much more I wanted to get done, like out in the yard. But I think I just needed a break from everything.

update

2008-07-04T09:16:00.001-05:00

Well, the cone is back on. Bucky keeps licking his wound, so the cone has to keep going back on. Grrr. Nobody is pleased.

What is worse, however, is that he has determined how to escape from his crate. He claws at the latch and then pulls the door INWARD until it is open and then forces himself through. WITH the cone on. He first did this during two thunderstorms, but now did it yesterday w/o a storm because he is smart and wants out of the box. I am worried about what I am going to do when I go back to work next week (been on vacation this week). Argh!!

No wonder...

2008-06-30T11:47:00.001-05:00

I heard this interesting bit of "trivia" on the radio the other day. It was a survey of people asking about if they play the little games on their cell phones. Of the people that did, more than half like to play them WHILE DRIVING! OMG, I nearly swerved and hit somebody when I heard THAT. How can you possibly play one of those games and drive at the same time? I STILL find it hard to talk on the phone while driving without a headset, and even then I don't really like doing unless there is really no traffic. Argh.

Cone off!

2008-06-30T11:43:00.001-05:00

We had our two week follow-up with the surgeon today for Bucky. He is doing great! Yay! And we got to take the cone off when we got home! Double Yay!!

Now, if he licks the incision (bandage is off, staples are out), then the cone goes back on. I really hope he does not lick it.

Life with the cone

2008-06-21T17:54:00.001-05:00

Bucky hates the cone. I hate the cone. We all hate the cone.

Poor thing keeps running into stuff with it. It catches on the grass in the yard when he sniffs around to do his business. It hits trees and shrubs.

It gets wet when he drinks, a little dirty when he eats. It makes it hard for him to turn around in his crate.

It's just a pain in the ass. But better than what would happen if he starts licking his bandages and all.

But we all hate the cone. Only 8 days to go.

Convenience of the cone

2008-06-21T08:40:00.001-05:00

Poor Bucky has one of those cones (E-Collar) around his head to keep him from licking at his wound from the surgery. One of the conveniences of it is that he can carry a toy in it!

Seriously though, he is doing very good with it. Even if it is a weapon: He does not know how big his head is now and just runs into everything with it.

Bucky's home!

2008-06-18T18:33:00.002-05:00

Well, Bucky is home after his successful TPLO surgery. Yay! Poor thing has to wear one of those cones and be confined to his crate for the next two weeks! Ugh! Then another 8 weeks of confinement and progressively longer walks. Poor Dog! He is going to go nuts. But he has an all fixed-up knee! And I am broke.

(pre-surgery shot)

The boys are back

2008-06-07T17:18:00.001-05:00

The pups are back with me in Houston! Yay! The reason is not so good, though: Bucky has torn his ACL in his left back knee. We wanted a second opinion on the diagnosis, and he is supposed to stay away from stairs, so it made the most sense for him to come here. Alas, the ACL is indeed completely torn and he will need surgery. So, the vet will call the specialist on Monday and we will go from there. Boo.

Harvest Time!

2008-06-07T17:14:00.001-05:00

The first tomato from the garden that SHG and I planted at my house!

Alas, the birds have since harvested some others on their own... :(

Funny

2008-06-07T17:12:00.001-05:00

Weekends

2008-06-01T10:49:00.001-05:00

What do you do with your weekends? I find that over the last few months, I do nothing. I sleep and then do some work for work. I pay bills. Every couple of weekends I hang out with friends. I think it is because I have become so overwhelmed with Life in general, and go go go during the week, that I just shut down for a couple of days. Not much fun, huh? Need to get out of this rut. There would appear to be light at the end of the tunnel at work in July, and I hope to take a week off then to do, well, nothing. Or I don't know what.

I used to post to my blog regularly, but as you know I have fallen out of that habit. I think it is because I used to spend a lot of time surfing the web and stuff in the evenings, but now I really don't feel like spending more time in front of the computer than I have to. Maybe that is it.

Anyway, I am going to try to post more often than every couple of weeks! Maybe even a few times a week. Maybe.

Do you crap in your yard?

2008-06-01T10:41:00.001-05:00

Then don't let your dog crap in other people's yards. Or clean up after it. Sheesh that ticks me off.

Overwhelmed

2008-05-27T17:25:00.001-05:00

This is how I feel:

This is what I need:

Frak Attack

2008-05-10T17:32:00.001-05:00

As SHG wrote in his blog a few days ago, my cat Frak died on Monday. I went and picked his ashes up today. I really don't know what to write, other than I miss him a lot. He was a good cat, friendly in his own way, distinct personality, my little buddy.

He was really good with my dogs when they were puppies and as adults. Bucky used to lick him on the head. I wish I had managed a picture of that but never did.

He died in the night and suddenly, so it seems like he did not suffer. I'll miss you, Frak Attack, my buddy.

Look what I made

2008-04-13T09:34:00.001-05:00

So, I have a pool table. I have been talking about getting or making a top for it so it converts to a dining table. Well, SHG and I finally did it. It involved much Home Depot and power tools, but here it is!

Now I have a MASSIVE dining table for 10. It's too cool in my opinion. Not the most professional job, but also much cheaper than a professional. My friend I's sister and he have been working on making the required custom tablecloths too! The first one is done (no, it's not the one shown up there) and it looks great! SHG came with me to buy chairs, too.

So all that is left... is to iron the table cloth... and cook and have a dinner party! SHG and I and few guests eat at it, but hiding in one little corner. Now that I have a proper tablecloth (thanks!) I must have a little dinner party. :)