Surfside

The weather has been WONDERFUL the last few days. I've actually felt cool breezes!

So in order to take advantage of the remaining sunshiny days, Sean and I took the Pogster to Surfside Beach- a cute little town where the homes are on stilts and the waters perfectly warm.

Pogo, in all her long midwestern life, had never been to the beach. I suppose we could have taken her to the Lake Michigan shore. But it's, shall we say, less than impressive.

This being her first experience with giant bodies of water, how do you think she liked it?


You can lead a dog to shore but you can't make her play in it. (excuse me while I salivate over my hunky hubby)


Perhaps we'll ease into it, walk along the edge for a while.


Contemplating, should I jump in... or...


NO NO GET ME OUT OF HERE!

I guess she didn't like it.

home projects

One thing that I've come to expect whenever visiting with my parents is to participate in a home project. And, wooooah nelly, this trip did not disappoint. This trip, we had a laundry list of projects. I couldn't have been happier!
Our kitchen needed a lot of help, simply because there is very very very very little cabinet space. So mom helped me reorganize, add shelves, buy lockable garbage cans that Pogo can't break into, and install wire baskets on the inside of doors. The most important task at hand was to figure out a place to put the microwave besides the top of the refridgerator (which was getting old fast). We ended up purchasing a table from IKEA that met our needs quite nicely. Plus, we get to put it together! Best part!



Here's the new table in action. I still need to figure out something colorfull to put on one of the shelves. I take donations.



Next victim, the bedroom. It was dull dull dull. We decided it would best be resolved with a headboard and footboard. And we were going to make them. Well, at least most of it.



Sean had a chance to use his circular saw, all cool-like.



...while Pogo cuddled in soft things.



She likes soft things.



Anyway, after all our hard work, behold our new and improved bed:

Ta Da! I've been wanting to make a padded headboard for years. And mom came up with the idea of putting a bench on the end.



With some partical board, batting, superbly priced IKEA fabric (which took at least 3 times too long for me to choose, seriously), staples...

... plus some Pine and stain, we have a much more interesting bedroom.



I love the green. I wasn't sure I would, but I really do!



I wanted to use foam instead of batting, since it would be a more dense padding and hold its shape better. But do you know how much 3/4" foam costs? $17 a yard. No thanks. It's just foam! Plus, they didn't even have foam wide enough. So, batting it was. We spent $17 total for all of it. Better deal.



We cheated a little on the bench. We bought a nice basic bench from IKEA , then stuck on a padded top.



Add some pretty green boxes... works for me!


Thanks mom and dad, this all looks so great! We still have some more improving to do in the bedroom (like put pictures on the wall) but this was a huge step up. If only we could paint the walls.

Kingdom Animalia

Ah, is it ever wonderful to have Pogo with me. So I can make her howl and play with her jowls whenever I please.


I don't even mind it when she whines at me once an hour to go outside. That is, I don't mind it too much.

Except when it's 4 in the morning. Then I mind very much.


Oh Pogo, look at your gray snout. My little puppy's getting old. My Almost 10 Years Old puppy.


New family portrait! (What an awesome background...)

Let's talk about some other animals. Animals we saw at the Houston Museum of Natural Science (is there an unnatural science?) with mom and dad.

I guess I can't call this an animal. It's the bricks and mortar of an animal. Who hasn't lived for a long time. But Sean likes it. My dad, too.


Staring contest. Who do you think will blink first?


Aw, friends!

Mis parentals

Last week my parents drove down to spend a week with Darren and us. Yep, drove. A long 18 hours. To see us. I have awesome parents.

The first night, we had a fun family dinner at Johnny Rockets. Not bad. Good milk shakes. Funny dancing teenage waiters.

Funny faces.


Funny funny faces.

The next day was spent going wild and crazy. By which I mean shopped at IKEA. Wheeee! Then we went to an Astros game.

They played the Phillies, defending World Champs. And let me tell you, it was weird to be in a domed field. No beating sun, no light breezes.


Dad's a very focused baseball watcher.


And mom's a thoughtful baseball watcher.


The Astros got the first runs with a homer. Which, ta da, I caught on film! Or however that expression translates for a digital camera.


Hurl that ball! This was a pitcher that the Astros had when they played the White Sox in the World Series 2005. Those were the days...


I guess the batter thought it was inside. Ump called it a strike. That's okay because Astros won with a nail biting bottom of the 9th two run RBI to come from behind.


Do you see the kid in a read shirt and red hat? I think that's the right kid. He was beaned by a foul ball. He was helped by dozens of emergency medical people instantly after the incident. Looks like he's alright. Beware of sitting outside of the net!

After the Astros game, we raced home to watch the BYU vs. OU game. Man, what a game! Here's how Sean felt about it:


But one of the best parts of the visit was the campanion mom and dad brought a long. A furry companion. Ladies and gentleman...

Pogo's mine again!

White Coat

A few weeks ago, Sean's parents came to visit. We had a fun long weekend with them but it was too short! And I don't know what's with me, but almost all the photos I took were terrible. Bummer.

They primarily came for Sean's White Coat Ceremony, in which we heard too many speeches and waited our turn to watch Sean don his short white coat. It's supposed to be symbolic of him becoming a true medical student. Once you finish medical school, they then can wear a long white coat. Four years of tuition and fees is pretty expensive for a new coat, don't you think?

I have to mention the mix up that happened with the ordering of white coats. Somehow, the school didn't receive any of size 38 and 40 coats so they temporarily gave Sean a size 52! It was so big that I could fit in there with him- even when it was buttoned! So we almost had some ridiculous photos of him drowning in his coat for his ceremony but they got some 38s in the day of. Phew. He didn't get his true size 40 coat until a few days ago.

I wish they had done things individually but they, instead, went up in groups of 10. I don't know why, it didn't save time because of how long it took to get each group on and off. Can you spot Sean? He's next to the insanely tall guy.

We also went to Family Day, in which we again heard too many speeches about the things Sean will do as a student. They also promised us breakfast but ran out of food before we got any. I'm still bitter. But we DID get to see some organs in a little anatomy lab, where Sean and I vollied the names of different parts of the brain.

We all did some shopping together, including a stop at Anthropologie. Could you hear my contented sigh? It was deep and lusterous, I bet you heard it. We tried out Chuy's, quite a tasty Mexican restaurant. We saw The Time Travelers Wife (I'm a fan). We celebrated Old Man Bradley's (did I just write that?) birthday. They broke in our guest room.

All-in-all, a good time all around. Truly, I have the best in-laws a girl could want!