Happy Go Texan Day!

Did y'all wear your boots and spurs today? I did! Well, ok, maybe not my spurs, but I did wear my boots. I really wanted to wear my cowgirl hat, too, but I restrained. I love Texas! Where else can you be driving to work and get caught behind a trail ride? Only in Houston, baby! Yep, that happened to me just the other day on my way to work, and I didn't mind one bit. It's only a few days out of the year, and only in Houston. It means that Cook Off is here and Rodeo is right around the corner. I love it!

On another note... Jay and I had our first date seven years ago today. It was freezing cold that night (something like 18 degrees) and we went to a place called Boondoggles. Jay ate pizza and I drank beer. Coors Light to be exact. A lot of them. Oh, and I ate his pizza crusts, too. I remember him saying to me something along the lines of, "I do make enough money to buy you dinner." Ha! How times have changed. We went back to Boondoggles tonight for old times sake. No, I didn't have any beers, and yes, I did actually eat. It's amazing to think what we've been through in seven years. I won't even begin to go into it because this would be a very long post, but I know that I wouldn't be the woman I am today if it weren't for him. If we can get through everything we've been through in seven years, we can get through anything. I love you, baby!

Y'all have a great weekend. Be careful if you go to cook off, but have fun!

Hole in the wall

My house now brings a whole new meaning to the phrase "Hole in the Wall." Why is that, you ask? Because we literally have a hole in the wall. Actually, we have no wall. The outside wall in the guest bedroom was removed today (yes, we knew this would have to happen). And, some other stuff got done. Lots of new boards in the ceiling. The studs for the pantry wall were put in. All of the electrical and plumbing were pulled out. It's a good feeling to see movement happening at the house. I still drive by every morning on my way in to work and stop by every night, regardless of whether or not anything is happening. But now that stuff is happening every day, it's fun. The slab is going to get poured this weekend.

Here are some pics. Enjoy!

The new pile of debris in the back driveway.

The new boards in the ceiling.

My new pass through window thingie between the kitchen and dining room.

The hole...

...in the wall

House update

Hey there. Because I really don't have anything else to blog about (no rants about stupid athletes today!), I thought I would post some pictures of action at the house this week. They came out to level the house, and what a mess it was! But it's all better now. It was too dark to take pictures tonight, so I'll get the "after" pictures tomorrow. We can definitely see the difference in a couple walls, even though they only had to level it by a couple of inches.

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Big holes!

That's the patented cable lock system.

Big ass holes in the kitchen.

The guys dug all of these holes by hand.

What a mess!

Random Stuff

I have a bunch of random stuff to blog about today, so here goes (in no particular order).

1. Foundation repair on the house begins tomorrow. I'm a bit nervous that the walls next to the fireplace are going to crumble, because they weren't exactly built so great, and when you're raising the slab even just a little, that calls for a disaster. That's just another expense that we're not prepared for, but probably should be. Thank goodness no one one MegaMillions last night. I still have a shot.
   
2. A-Rod. I can't get enough of this train wreck. Yes, he's hot, and he used to be on my future husband list. No, I don't condone what he did / didn't do (depends on who you talk to as to whether or not he did steroids). I just can't get enough of this whole PR mess surrounding him. And that's probably because I'm in the PR business, and a crisis at our college is my worst nightmare, so when it's happening to someone else, I like to watch as much as I can to see the good, bad and the ugly. Here's my thoughts on the A-Rod situation so far. First of all, he should fire the PR firm that he hired. I believe they're called Outside Eyes. They're not very good, if you ask me. The press conference that he held yesterday should have been out in front of the dugout or on the field where A-Rod is most comfortable. Not in a stuffy room full of 200 members of the media. Totally sending the wrong message. Second, TELL THE TRUTH. Don't beat around the bush and change your story. He said one thing to Katie Couric and then another to Peter Gammons and then something similar to both at the presser. Again, I just think this was bad coaching by his PR peeps. Third, be prepared when you come to your presser. I can understand having a prepared statement, but don't read directly from it. At least have some clue as to what it says. Otherwise, you continue to look like an idiot. And if you did steroids, you're an idiot. Fourth, why in the world would you wait an entire week between an interview on ESPN and your presser? That only allows the media time to stew over every word you said and evaluate and over analyze the situation even more. Again, not a good move on the PR folks part. Ok, that's my take on the A-Rod situation. I'm sure as this whole thing progresses, I'll have more to say.
3. The weather in Houston. It was 80 degrees today. It's the middle of February. Enough said.
4. FEMA. Yes, they're on my shit list again. Wait, they've always been on my shit list. They just occupy the first 30 spots on my shit list. Actually, they are the only ones on my shit list. Well, them and HUD. What is it with the federal government??? It really is ridiculous.
5. Girl Scout cookies. It's that time of year again, and they are wonderful, aren't they? We ordered something like a dozen boxes. Not good for the diet, but it's not like I'll get a lot anyway. We're already down two boxes.
6. Tracy McGrady. Who does he think he is? Who in their right mind announces that they're leaving their job to have surgery on their website and doesn't even tell their employer? That makes absolutely no sense to me. I don't understand that thought process! Do you really think you're better than everyone else? The Rockets had to read and hear about it in the news media the next day! If I announced on my website that I was going to be gone for the rest of the year to have surgery, and didn't tell my employer about it, my ass would be fired. I know it's not that easy in the NBA, but seriously?!?! T-Mac needs a reality check. You're not the shining star anymore. You can't just do whatever the heck you want and get away with it. That's not how the real world works.
   

That's all I have to say. Have a great rest of the week!

Happy Valentine's Day

I don't really have anything new to report on the house (sorry SB!), as we're on hold until we can fix the foundation (next Monday, Feb. 23). So, Happy Valentine's Day!! I don't usually make a big deal out of this day, as it's kind of a Hallmark Holiday, but Jay did get me some flowers and a sweet card (which made me cry, and yes, I at least got him a card). We'll probably just stay in tonight (who wants to fight the masses?!?!). He's actually at the house doing a little work and I'm going to the Rice women's hoops game this afternoon, so you can see how we both feel about this day.

So, here are a few more pictures that I took this week. They did get most of the first and second roofs out of the house. Looks like I'll end up with vaulted ceilings in the kitchen as well! Can't complain about that. And, we did have to get another dumpster. Like I said, not a lot of action around the house this week.

Weekend

No construction on the house this weekend, but Jay did get the primer on the storage building. (Exciting stuff, I know. Please try to contain yourself.) That was about the extent of the action at the house, so I thought I'd share a couple pictures of him in the action. It's too windy today to do anymore painting, so that will have to wait until next weekend!

Hope you all had a great weekend!

Demo Day 2

More demo today. Actually, a lot more demo. As you can see from the photo below, the dumpster is now full, and we don't even have the roof off yet. It's weird seeing your house down to the bare studs. I thought it was bad before. It's just really weird now. No bathtub. No toilet. No backsplash in the kitchen. No closets in the office. No floor in the back room! Just a big hole full of dirt. But I knew it was going to get a little worse before it got better (I also thought I was prepared for what I saw in my house after Ike hit...)

This is the dumpster. Full.

Jay trying to find out what exactly is behind that darn attic fan! Turns out, there's two roofs there. Yep, you heard me correctly. Two roofs. Plus the existing roof. That makes three roofs on the house. One metal. One that has gravel. And the existing with shingles.

Kitchen with no walls whatsoever.

The kitchen looking into the pantry and into the guest bedroom.

Standing in the middle of the living room looking into the bathroom, kitchen, pantry and guest room.

This is the view of the guest room from the office. No, that's not the door to the garage. That's the second bathroom. Yes, you will have to step up to the bathroom.

The guest room.

Pictures from Demo Day 1

Today was a day I'll never forget. The first day of demo at the house. Yippee!

No more kitchen cabinets!

Check out the awesome wallpaper that was on the wall underneath the door trim. And, it was still sticky on the back. Gross!

There used to be some really ugly cabinets up top. They are no more. Wahoo!

The ceiling is going to be very cool when they're done!

Dumpster! I've never been so excited to have one of these in my life!

D-Day!!!

We just got the phone call at 7:30 this morning that they're going to start working on our house today. Our contractor's demo guys are going to start this afternoon. D-Day! YIPPEE!!!!!!!!

RIP Baby Grace

Those of you who aren't from around here may not have heard about this story, but it's been on the news in this area for about the last two weeks. A little over a year ago, a blue plastic tub (Rubbermaid style) washed up on a little island out in Galveston Bay. A fisherman found it. Inside was the remains of a toddler, roughly two to three years old. This story was all over the news for weeks after it happened. Police were able to derive a sketch of what they thought the toddler looked like, and she was affectionately known as Baby Grace. Several weeks (or maybe months, I can't remember) passed, and the identity of the little girl was finally revealed. Her name is Riley Ann Sawyers. Here is her pic next to the sketch.

Her mom and stepfather beat her to death (and I use the word "beat" lightly... the things they did to her are so incredibly horrible and unimaginable). Her mom was finally put on trial last week, and a jury found her guilty (thank God) of capital murder on Monday. The only bad thing about this, is that the mom will spend the rest of her life in prison, and is apparently going to be segregated from other inmates and put on suicide watch.

And here's were I get really mad. I was already plenty pissed off at the fact that they beat this poor defenseless girl to death for no reason. If you don't want your child, there are people out there who do (like, maybe, her father who lived in Ohio). But now we, the taxpayers, get to pay for her dumbass to sit in a cell for the rest of her life. She needs to be put in prison with the rest of the inmates who don't look upon these types of crimes favorably, and let them beat her to death like she did her daughter. Why should we have to pay for scum like her to have three meals a day, a hot shower, clothes on her back and a place to sleep? HELL NO! Let me beat her and stuff her in a box so she knows what it feels like. Jay wants to beat her (and her no good husband) with a hammer from the toes up. That would work, too.

I'm sure there is relief on the part of the Sawyer family (her father's side). I know there is relief on the part of the detectives and citizens who put in countless hours of work in putting her mother away for life (the stepfather goes on trial in about a month). Many people took this personal, and it was heart-wrenching to watch unfold on the news. So hopefully once the stepfather's trial is over, many people will be able to find an inner peace knowing that the people who did this to her can't do it again to anyone else.

After the box and body were found, the island where the box washed up was renamed Riley's Island. A permanent marker was placed on the island, and it got washed away during Hurricane Ike. However, from what I hear, plans are in the works to have another marker made and installed on the island. It's the least we could do for a little girl who didn't deserve to die so early. RIP, Riley Ann.