Take THIS Word of the Day calandar! (I did not write this, but borrowed from the allmighty interwebs)

1. Defenestrate: I love this verb. It means to throw out a window. With only one more syllable you could just say “thrown out a window”.
2. Agnomen: It’s another name for a nickname. The mind boggles… Personally I just like the way it rolls off my tongue. Plus it sounds like a name for an evil wizard.
3. Crapulous: Describing one who ingests too much food or alcohol. A specific word that has been simplified to have a more general meaning. Here I thought that crap was just slang for fecal matter.
4. Doppelganger: This is another one of those words that is just fun to say. Try it. Now try it again. See? A doppelganger refers someone or something that resembles a person in some way. Also if the word is used in literature the doppelganger is always evil.
5. Ambergris: Such a lovely word. Ambergris is a product used in expensive perfumes. People have described Ambergris’s raw scent as sweet and earthy. It’s so rare that just a gram of it is worth 20$. So now what is this Ambergris you ask? Simply put its whale vomit.
6. Deus Ex Machina: This one gets special mention because for the longest time I pronounced the “Deus” part like “moose”. Turns out you pronounce it like “day us”. Deus Ex Machina refers to an improbable quick solution to a current arduous plot.
7. Frabjous: Random fact about me. I can recite “The Jabberwocky” from memory. Ask me some time. I even have voices and hand gestures for it. Anywho, frabjous means joyful, wonderful, great, or any other positive word. Most commonly uttered as “Oh frabjous day!” while chortling with joy. The word and many more were penned by Lewis Carroll of “Alice in Wonderland” fame.
8. Fop: A fop was the middle ages version of a metrosexual. It describes a vain man who is mainly concerned with his clothing and appearance. The word is even funnier in its adjective form, foppish.
9. Hemidemisemiquaver: A musical note having the time value of a sixty-fourth of a whole note. There is absolutely nothing funny about this whatsoever.

Your daily dose of cute

Baby animals are some of the cutest things ever. I came across this cute little guy and immediately said "Awwwwww!" And now, of course, I want one of these, too. Although, I'm pretty sure it's not all that legal. But if it ever does become legal to own animals of the Sahara, this little guy will be first on my list.

It's just not the same...

This is usually my favorite time of the year. I love Halloween! The costumes, the make up, the CANDY! But this is the first major craft project I have undertaken without the help of my Glitter partner in crime, Carole Ann. The smell of Mod Podge instantly makes me think of her, which in turn will instantly make me sad. It's very difficult, but Kaya wants to be a zombie 1980's bride, and so I am at it once again with my glue gun, my glitter, mod podge, and spray paint. Yes, you heard me, SPRAY PAINT! Turns out you can't dye a polyester dress black. So, it's me and a can of Krylon. Now if I can just stop feeling so sad while I am crafting...

Swimming in the Gulf of Mexico

We got up fairly early, got our gear together, and headed out for the day. Destination? Corpus Christi and the Gulf of Mexico. I'm not a huge fan of the beach, but I thought it would be cool to swim in 80 degree water. It turns out the water was 88 degrees!
We had to pack all of our stuff down the beach a bit, which wasn't fun because we had the EZ Up tent, two coolers, chairs, food, and towels etc. All in all we had fun. Played in the waves. Found some clams and crabs. Ate Nacho Cheese Doritos. And got a bad sunburn. Did I mention that this body of water is by far THE saltiest any of us had ever been in? Much more so than the beaches in Southern AND Northern California. So salty that it stings your eyes, and stung the skin on my face. How fun that was...
After our fun was over, we took showers with a bunch of naked strangers, then headed back to the van for our 3 hour drive home.

Beauty in the Sky

The clouds in Texas are amazing! So fluffy and full and vivid! As a kid, cloud watching was one of my very favorite things to do. I'd go out into a field and lay down and stare at the sky for hours. Here, you really can't do that because it's too hot in Texas to do that...so I take pictures of them. I just LOVE the texture and how many colors and dimensions there are. I love when the bright sun comes shining through them... The photo to the right shows that perfectly. It's simply beautiful!

I was at the Japanese Tea Gardens, and I looked up, and staring back at me was a creature with it's mouth open ready to eat the other clouds! And then then I saw a cute little fluffy elephant! So very fun!

The sky is just full of big, billowing clouds. Even when you are right in the middle of the freeway, and there is nothing but concrete and cars around you, just look up, or out the window, and the sky is just overflowing with beauty. It's such a dramatic contrast, and quite pleasant.

Comfortable?

So I walked into the living room, and this is what I saw...Kaya was watching a move...sitting in a box! She had chewed out a little spot for her nose to sit in...
Keep in mind there was a couch right behind her, and a very comfy chair right next to her.
But she decided that she wanted to watch a movie with her nose stuck in cardboard.
That's my girl!

New hair color

I have now declared war on these pesky gray hairs! Seriously! Why do you guys torture me so! Off to Walgreens I went, and this is the end result. No more grays for me! At least not for about 6 weeks or so....

Blue Star Brewing Company- A Review

Yesterday my Mother-in-Law and I went to the 'artsy' district and wandered around for a bit. After going through a couple of galleries, and an awesome folk art shop, we headed to the Blue Star Brewing Company for lunch. It doesn't look like much from the outside, but I was pleasantly surprised when we walked in. Outside there is a small wooden patio area that had been beaten up by the sun, wind and rain. It was quite charming, although I can't imagine sitting out there this time of year for lunch...the ice in your drink would melt too quickly, and your food would NEVER cool down! But there were a couple of brave souls trying it out. (They gave me a funny look as I squated down to take a picture of the sign...)
We went in the front door and were greeted by giant shiny tanks of beer, and a sign that instructed us to seat our selves. So we grabbed two paper menus that were sitting on a table, and out own silverware that was neatly wrapped in a napkin, and stacked high in a galvanized tub. The "Blue Plate Special" that was advertised on the menu board looked to tempting to pass up, so we each ordered that, with a nice tall glass of ice tea.
The food was brought out to us one plate at a time. It was a very high class feeling. I very rarely go to places where you get a three course meal...especially not one where American Chopper is playing on a flat screen TV in the background.... Course #1 was a side salad. Just your basic salad, nothing fancy, but it was very fresh. Course #2 was a colorful dish of BBQ pork ribs (which I have never ordered from a restaurant because my Mom makes the best ribs on the planet), potato salad, and some sort of warm cabbage/carrot dish that at first I was a bit afraid to try. The entire plate was delicious! If ribs taste like this all the time, I might have to start ordering them more often! Juicy, tender, fall off the bone, smothered in a thick, rich, tomato BBQ sauce...mmmmm.... The Potato salad didn't taste like the stuff that most places get in a giant bucket. The potatoes were cooked properly, and it wasn't 'fake' tasting like some. And while it was a tad scary to look at, the cabbage dish was actually really good! So good, that I now have to figure out exactly what it was, and how to make it! Course #3 was bread pudding with a lovely maple sauce. Now, I'll let you know that I LOVE bread pudding! Even if it's bad, it's still pretty good....like pizza. For some I think it may have been a little mushy, but I still loved it. There were blueberries in it, although there was some debate about that because they didn't have a lot of flavor. We ended up asking our server, who said they were raisins. He then went back and asked the chef, and walked back out to correct himself because they were, in fact, blueberries.
After two giant glasses of iced tea, three plates of amazing food (which I ate every single bit of, despite the fact that my shorts were growing too tight for me and I knew we'd be spending the next two hours walking around), we decided it was time to move on.
The entire experience was great. Our server was right on top of things, and was excellent...very friendly, and chipper, and he got a big fat tip because of it. And did I mention that all that food only cost $6.95! I will definitely be going back.

The best way to quit your job...

Her name is Jenny (not confirmed) - Yesterday morning, Jenny quit her job with a (flash)bang by emailing these photos to the entire office, about 20 employees. Awesome doesn't begin to describe this office heroine.
1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

29

30

31

32

33