My. Life. Goal.

I have always talked about how awesome it would be if a group of arbitrary people broke out in song and dance for no apparent reason. Well, these people have made my dreams come true. Please check out this video. I worship these people.

http://improveverywhere.com/2008/03/09/food-court-musical/#more-221

Sunday Funday!

We got accidentally drunk on Sunday. And it was good.

Tommy and I woke up with a hankering for some food...normally we are veri decisive about our food selection (and by "we", i mean "me"), but this day we couldn't come up with what we wanted. We drove around and finally ended up at KC's Bar and Grill for some crawfish.

We called Janelle who called Francis and Kate. We called Matt and Brandie. And thus, Sunday Funday was born.

The crawfish were very expensive, so we only ate enough for it to be a nice little snack-etizer, and then the rest of the crew started showing up. Tommy and I had been enjoying a rousing game of Rummy (our typical card game) when Janelle showed up and wanted to play Mississippi Hi-Lo. (So, really, the downward spiral of the day can all be blamed on Janelle). Francis and Kate and Matt and Brandie all showed up and the day just got better. Eventually, we decided that Rock Band was in order and we trekked back to the our shack for some musical talent.

Luckily, Brandie ordered pizza...we may not have survived the day without it. We played Rock Band until our fingers were numb. How there are no pictures of this day is totally beyond me.

Eventually, when I discovered that Tommy's khaki shorts were covered in red wine, but he couldn't form a sentence long enough to tell me how this happened, I kicked everyone out. Haha. I have no idea what time everyone left.

After a fit-full night of drunken sleeping, I woke up to find two slices of pizza sitting atop the butter in the refrigerator...they weren't packaged in any way. Just two slices on the butter. Awesome. We ate them for breakfast.

The tornado that destroyed our living room the previous evening was dealt with...the wine was cleaned and with a little vacuuming, all the pizza and beer remnants were taken care of.

I heart Sunday Funday. It was the perfect end to a perfect weekend!!

Tommy and I spent Monday working off our hangover at Cafe Adobe with some margaritas and then went to the movies.

This is the story of the wine spillage, told by Francis:

from Francis
to Christy, Brandie, Matt, Janelle, Kate, Tommy
date Mar 3, 2008 10:39 AM
subject Re: Sunday Funday!!


Ok. Here is the play by play for Tommy's wine spillage... We were rockin out and Tommy really liked how I had just finished a part in the song... so he was being the happy supporter and leaned over and gave me a big "good job" jab to my arm (in a nice way)... and said something like, "that a way Frannie"... (not exactly sure since there was some slurring involved)... then he leaned back to his spot and that is when he took his wine glass with him.... I didn't want him to feel bad while he was in his happy drunk state so I thought I'd wait until today to give the play by play... :)

I did my couch work late last night... catching up on my episodes of Lost and other missed shows... went to bed at 2:30am and was a little tired getting up today...yes I went to work....

Looking forward to our next fun session!

Janelle's Response:

from Janelle
to Francis, Christy, Brandie, Matt, Kate, Tommy
date Mar 3, 2008 5:02 PM
subject RE: Sunday Funday!!


francis' recap of the spilling wine is pretty accurate as i was happily sitting on the couch drinking my beer. the places the wine spilled: carpet/rug, table, and all over tommy's leg- did you feel the stickiness after it all dried???

My Mom's Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

My mom has had a rough couple of weeks - work sucks, she is stressed out and their two dogs are ages 15 and 17 and have lost their minds and all bladder control.

The dogs are very old and very senile. One of them, Fluffy is about 15 years old, completely deaf, blind, and has lost his mind. It's very sad - he has been a part of our family for so long. My parents decided to put him down next weekend - I will be heading home to Dallas to say goodbye and hang out with my family. But yesterday, my mom was sitting around, thinking about how she didn't think she could do it - putting him down would be way to hard...that is, she thought it would be too hard until THIS happened:

Like previously mentioned, Fluffy has lost bladder control - he pees and poops everywhere. Apparently, the feces has gotten bad enough that my parents hate having people over...the carpet looks that bad (I'll make my own judgements when I go home this weekend). So, yesterday, my mom was thinking that she couldn't put Fluffy to sleep and then she went to run some errands. On her way out the door, she noticed a big pile of Fluffy poop, but she was running late, was stressed out and I think it has all just gotten to be too much, so she just left it and was going to clean it up when she got home in about an hour.

So, she left the poop where it was. She ran her errands and upon arrival at home, she noticed that Roomba (the robotic vacuum cleaner that lovingly vacuums every inch of the house) had turned on and began to vacuum. Then she noticed that Roomba had vacuumed the poop...and subsequently spread poop all over the house. Poop had gotten in the wheels of the Roomba and had rolled all over the house.

As if you weren't already having a bad day, right? Poor mom.

Well, since things weren't going well to begin with, she just left the poop and went back out to run more errands...in hopes that my dad would come home and clean it up. Hahaha.

Poor Fluff Dog - we will miss you!!

Projectile Soda

My friend Roy is moving to The Sandbox for work....aka Saudi Arabia. A group of us went to lunch with him to say goodbye and the conversation quickly turned perverse (as it is wont to do in Roys presence).

We discussed colonoscopies and how the men in our group feel the need to tell us of their graphic diarrhea associated with thier colonoscopies. We discussed nekkid friends at the gym...why do the old men/women feel the need to talk to me while they are naked? I have no idea. We discussed pooping in general and other things that are generally considered to be in the "Too Much Information" category....it was the perfect Drag Up lunch for Roy.

The highlight of lunch, however, was when for whatever reason, we started discussing Marque dressed in something unpleasant (I can't even remember what now). Marque said, "Now I can't get the idea of me in a thong out of my head." And that was when Troy spit his entire soda all the way across the table and onto Roy. I peed my pants a little. I haven't seen anything like that in years. It was amazing.

Sunday the 17th

Usually it's Friday the 13th that makes people's hair stand on end, but not for our family. Sunday the 17th was the Day of the Devil...I swear it was out to get us.

We awoke to the bedroom that was sweltering because our AC had broken and Conn's sucks and has decided to take their sweet time to fix it. I, having not slept well for the past 3 nights, popped out of bed because I had really just been waiting for an appropriate time to get up...I was bored senseless. I let the dog out to pee. Tommy and I start puttering. We are checking mail and chatting, reading the newspaper, making coffee, etc...typically Sunday morning.

Then the guitar to Rock Band breaks. This is a crisis. Our lives have just got flipped turned upside down. A trip to Best Buy is in order...STAT.

Then we start trying to pay bills when we learn that the bank has charged us an annual fee for something we didn't want, but they convinced us we needed...eff you Wells Fargo. We tried to get it taken off, but to no avail...they are all incompetent. I'll be switching banks as soon as I can.

Then we find a "Customer Fee" on our gas bill for $20. What the hell is a customer fee?? We tried calling, but the "Estimated Wait Time is 9,000,000,023 minutes. We will process your call in the order in which it was recieved." Eff you Centerpoint!!! If I had other gas options, I would take them!!

Finally we decide to take the guitar back...because really, a day without Rock Band is like a day in the burning inferno of hell. It takes awhile to return it because, let's be honest, despite the awesomeness that is Rock Band, it is a very poorly made game and it has broken about 4 times in the last 3 weeks. Luckily, we are still within our one month of returns to Best Buy...we have been back there thrice.

We get home and install the new guitar. It's "overdrive" mode doesn't work as well as the old one and is frankly, kind of retarded. It will likely go back by the end of the week.

After this debacle, Tommy is thouroughly depressed. I decide that it is better for us to stay home - leaving the house doesn't seem safe at this point. So, we try to watch Lord of the Rings - Return of the King (I haven't seen it). Of course, while we own all the other movies in the universe, this one has escaped out collection...so off to Blockbuster I go. But alas, the Blockbuster near our house is out of the movie. BUT in a highlight of my day, the Blockbuster person was not totally imcompetent...she knew what she was doing and she actually attempted to help a customer. Thank you Aisha...you deserve a raise. Sooo, she called another Blockbuster (about 15 minutes away)...and I went to pick up my movie. In typical (Aisha was a-typical) Blcokbuster fashion, renting a movie was a difficult task. My credit card on file expired so they need a new one, my address was wrong, my name was misspelled, blah blah blah...just let me rent a freaking movie...you have one late fee from 1997 at a Blockbuster in Timbuktu. Whatever. Just give me my effing movie!!

Ugh. I can't remember what else happened, but I am glad we stayed inside most of the day...who knows what lurked for us out our front door...

Finally. A Good Day.

Yesterday was my first good day (well, good weekday) in a looooong time. I had a decent day at work, I planned 2 trips to visit Paige in Portland this year, I had the most AMAZING run, I cuddled with my man on the couch while watching American Idol, I ate sushi, I went to bed early and I slept like a baby. Seriously. Best. Day. EVER.

In better news, I am moving to a new desk tomorrow - which means I don't have to sit next to crazy people anymore...or if I do end up next to crazy people, at least they will be NEW crazy people, and it will take awhile for their crazy to come out. I get to start a new project, which will hopefully not make me crazy and I am taking on some new/different responsibilities...next week is the first week of the rest of my life!! Hahaha. But seriously, I can't wait. I need my job to not hate me right now.

Funny things that happened this week: Nothing.

Sorry for the lame-o-ness of this entry. We really haven't left the house much since Rock Band was acquired..because, I mean, why would you leave when you could play Rock Band? I don't know.

Notes from the Bathroom Stall

My husband, Tommy, started a new job a couple of weeks ago. So far, things have been going well...

We were having a quick little conversation via texting earlier today. I sent, "I love you", and he sent, "No, I love you". And then I sent, "Well, I love you more". And he sent, ... just kidding. But really, we were texting. He asked about my job, which currently hates me, and I asked about his day (he was supposed to be really busy). This was his response:

Tommy: Blah on your job. I'm sorry. I got enough done to stay afloat, still lots to do but should be okay with the deadline. I did get locked in the bathroom stall a few minutes ago though! Haha.

Christy: Hahahahahaha. How does that happen? How did you make your escape??

Tommy: The door broke while I was in there. Couldn't unlock it. I climbed over the top into the next stall. Luckily nobody was in there. Haha. Could have sucked though!

Christy: Hahaha. You crack me up. That's ridiculous. Hahahaha.

Tommy: Your day could be worse. You could be stuck in the can.

And you know what? It COULD be worse. I could be stuck in the men's bathroom in my office - where there is apparently a Mad Shatter on the loose. You're right. My job isn't so bad.

You Know You're a Redneck When...

From the Houston Chronicle:

Police: Beer was strapped in, but not 16-month-old
Associated Press

ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. — Police have arrested a motorist they say had a 24-pack of beer strapped in with a seat belt but had a 16-month-old girl unrestrained in the back seat with the toddler's mother.

Tina D. Williams was pulled over in St. Augustine on Sunday for allegedly running a red light.

A 24-pack of Busch beer was strapped in with the passenger-side seat belt, according to an arrest report. The girl was in the back seat with 20-year-old Amber Tedrick, who is the toddler's mother.

Destination Pregnancy

My pal Val is expecting two bundles of joy this summer, currently named Baby A and Baby B. In trying to let her family and friends (myself included) plan baby showers for her, she was surprised to find out that having a baby(ies) is just like planning a wedding...it's all about you, except well, when it's all about me (which is all of the time). Ha.

This morning Val asked me if she could have a destination pregnancy. I told her that, yes, of course you can - they are called convents. Her response was, "It'll be like a womb with a view".

A womb with a view. Ha! And that my friends, is reason 9,000,001 why we heart Val.

BEER DRINKERS UNITE!

Beer Consumption Falls 15% in Germany
By KIRSTEN GRIESHABERAssociated Press

BERLIN — Germany and beer go together like Porsches and the autobahn, but health-conscious residents are turning from the country's traditional beverage in favor of juices and bottled water, sending suds sales down to the lowest levels in 15 years.

According to a government report released today, the amount of beer sold in Germany fell to the lowest sales figure since 1993 — dropping by 2.7 percent in 2007 to 22 billion pints, down 612 million pints from 2006.

The Federal Statistics Office said the drop in beer sales came as the demand for beer mixed with fruit juices, soft drinks and other nonalcoholic beverages rose 18.1 percent from 2006 to 2007, with some 887 million pints consumed by thirsty buyers.

Beer consumption in Germany has been falling steadily for more than a decade, a trend that experts have attributed to an increasingly health-conscious public and an aging population that is less likely to binge.

For last year's decline, the German Brewers Association blamed a rainy summer, noting that foul weather dampens the mood for lifting a stein on a summer evening.
But the group also pointed to shifting tastes.

"Our regular customers are getting older and don't drink as much anymore, and generally Germans prefer milder tastes today, and are more health conscious," spokesman Marc-Oliver Huhnholz said.

For the country's remaining beer drinkers, there's more scary news: Their beloved beverage — often called 'liquid bread' because it is a basic ingredient of many Germans' daily diet — is getting more expensive.

Some breweries have already raised prices, and many others say they will follow later this year.
The director of the famous Hofbraeuhaus beer hall in Munich said the brewery would increase its prices by about 74 cents per case in April.

"This is not about profit, it's about cost increase," Michael Moeller said, adding that the raw materials for the national beverage — barley malt and hops — have been getting more expensive.

Moeller said that per case of beer, the price of malt had increased by 30 cents and hops by 7 cents, and that energy costs to brew beer had risen by 10 percent.

On top of all the bad news, the southwestern state of Baden-Wuerttemberg has said it is considering a ban on selling beer from midnight to 6 a.m.

It's no wonder the Germans lost the title of biggest per capita beer drinkers to the Czechs a few years ago.

But, Huhnholz said, they still drink more than the Irish, who closely follow Germans.

You've Got To Be Kidding.

There is a word in the english dictionary to specifically describe the act of eating ones poop.

Coprophagia. Yup, that is a fancy way of saying "poop-eating".

Just the other day, I was trying to think of the word, it was on the tip of my tongue, but it wouldn't come to me...but alas, it was coprophagia. Duh.

The 35 Cent Check

I found this article today and was amused...

How Far Would You Go to Cash a $0.35 Check?

Would you cash a 35-cent check? Two days ago I wouldn't have known the answer to that question. Now I do, and, I'm sorry to say, the answer for me is yes. Yesterday I spent 30 minutes traveling to my bank and back to cash a 35-cent check.
Here's the story and what I plan to do with my spoils.

Two weeks ago I received a letter from my health insurance carrier. Excited to be receiving an unexpected check, I tore into the envelope and retrieved a check written out to me for the grand sum of $0.35. I went to chuck the check into the trash bin, but some unknown and unseen force held me back.

Staring at the check, I laid it next to my computer, where it sat for two weeks, buried by the usual clutter that seems to follow me like grunge follows Pigpen of Charlie Brown fame. Two days ago while I sifted through the grunge, the check resurfaced. Convinced it had taken on a life of its own, I started to tear it up, but again something held me back. So I relented and took the check to work with me yesterday.

My bank, Citibank, is just across the street from where I work, so at midday I set out on a 35-cent adventure.

As I neared the bank, though, something didn't look quite right. As I got closer I noticed a large chain wrapped around and through the bank's door handles and held together by a padlock. At first I thought, "Wow, the credit meltdown took out Citibank! This is worse than I thought." Looking around I soon realized, however, that all the shops were closed because the office building had just begun renovations.

Racking my brain to remember where the next closest Citibank branch was, I reversed course and headed back the other way for five blocks. Entering the Citibank branch, I marched up to the teller and triumphantly tendered my 35-cent check.

"I'd like to cash this check, please. I'd prefer quarters and dimes." The teller looked at the check and without missing a beat said, "Are you sure you're comfortable walking around with this much money?" Nice.

Now get this: I actually had to sign for the cash. She just smiled and said it was bank policy. Now I'm thinking the insurance company and the bank are owned by the same company. Anyway, with cash in hand, I left the financial institution with my head held high and change a-jiggling in my pocket.

So what am I going to do with my newfound wealth? I'm putting it toward my savings goal. With that $0.35, I've already achieved .000875% of my goal. Giddy up.

Hangin' Tough

Being the owner of a worn out New Kids on the Block GREATEST HITS CD, I'm as excited as a 10 year-old girl in 1990 in my acid wash jean jacket with an "I heart Joey" button displayed proudly over my heart at the following news. Maybe the lyrics were true...they really are loving me forever.

From PEOPLE website:
After months of speculation and rumor, the Kids are coming back. A well-placed source tells PEOPLE exclusively that New Kids On The Block are indeed getting back together.The band's Web site, www.nkotb.com, which had been dormant, is now back up and running in anticipation of the official announcement, which the source says will be made in the next few weeks.

The site currently features a television graphic with a fuzzy, flickering photos of NKOTB in their heyday, and a link inviting fans to sign up for info.The boy band, which made legions of tweens swoon in the early '90s, selling more than 50 million albums, became a worldwide phenomenon before calling it quits in 1994.

Eighteen years later, they're still "Hangin' Tough." The oldest "Kid," Jonathan Knight, now a real estate developer, will turn 40 later this year. Since the band's demise, former members Donnie Wahlberg, 38, and Joey McIntyre, 35, have seen acting success, while Danny Wood, 38, has worked as a music producer and Knight's brother, Jordan, 37, has continued to record.

In other news: Here is a video of Elizabeth Hasselbeck "Hangin' Tough" - http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20174612,00.html

ROCK BAND

On Saturdays, this very fun icehouse has Secret Saturday Concerts - http://www.myspace.com/secretsaturdayshows. Tommy, and I walked the dog to the bar where we planned to hang out for awhile and then walk back home. One of the many marvelous things about our neighborhood (and neighboring neighborhoods) is that we can walk just about anywhere. It was a gorgeous day and perfect for a nice walk and a good band. Unfortunately, the good band part of the day did not happen. The bands were terrible, but the people watching was fun and the beer was cheap. All in all, a succesful afternoon. Don had a great time too.

In the evening, we went to dinner for my friend Leslie's birthday. Now, luckily, I don't think she reads my blog, or at least doesn't yet, because I am about to bash her birthday dinner restaurant of choice. Hugo's on Westheimer - it's upscale mexican - and it's nasty. Everything on the menu sounded gross and it was at least $25 an entree. I ended up getting taquitos, which I don't even normally like, just because I knew what they were...and lo and behold, I did not like them.

Now, I understand that there is a difference between Tex-Mex and Mexican. And yes, i understand that Hugo's is mexican and not tex-mex. But I am here to tell you that I've been to Mexico and eaten their food and loved every bit of it...ain't nobody in Mexico that eats that shit. The menu highlight was Quail Quesadillas with peanut mole. Um, no thanks.

Do not eat at Hugo's. Taqueria Arandas is authentic mexican, it's 0.03% of the price, it's AWESOME and there is always a location near you.

Hanging out with Leslie and Adam was fun though! Food doesn't have to taste good to enjoy the company of friends!

After dinner, we met over at Zach's place to play a new video game his roomate got that day. I was tired and only planned to stay for an hour-ish. 4 hours later, we left (but I didn't even want to go then!). The game is called Rock Band for Playstation - it is also known as The Greatest Game Known To Man to people on the inner circle. It's like karaoke meets Guitar Hero. You have a guitar, a drum set and a mic and everyone sings/plays along to the song. Seriously, it was so fun. After 4 hours of playing, Tommy and I came home and began researching the potential purchase of Rock Band for our house. We had some rewards points slated for the purchase of a Wii, but those points were quickly moved to the Playstation fund...and now one resides in our living room. We played Rock Band from 1PM until I made Tommy turn it off at 9PM...and we only stopped then because I needed to come down off my adrenaline high. Seriously. It's the greatest game EVER. We started a band...we are called "Deadly Don". Tommy is on the guitar and I am on the drums. We got $25 for our first gig.

GEAUX TIGAHS!

We went to New Orleans to celebrate Christmas and Jackson's birthday with Tommy's sisters family and it just so happened to coincide with the National Championship. We figured that since we were already in town, we might as well stay to play downtown during the game. This was a very good call.

Sunday was spent at a 3 year olds birthday party, which was also one of the more elaborate birthday parties I have ever been to. There was a moon bounce for goodness sake. A moon bounce for a 3 year old. He doesn't even reach the minimum height requirements yet!! Jackson was exhausted about 2 hours in and proceeded to pass out on the couch mid party...

On Monday, Tommy and I woke up early and drove across the lake to meet Brandie at her parents house, who were also gracious enough to take us in for the night. Her Paw-Paw drove us to the French Quarter at about 11 am so we could get our tailgate on. The first stop was at a hotel so Brandie could get a Bloody Mary and then to a daiquiri stand so I could begin my morning in smoother way.

We met Gary and D here later, but I don't remember what it was called...

TB and me in Jefferson Square? I think that's what it was called. Mmm...daiquiris...

Brandie's dads company had a fabulous tailgate near the Superdome - they had a whole parking lot tented off. It was amazing. They had crawfish, bread pudding, free booze and huge tvs. It was fabulous. I would venture to say that we walked back and forth from downtown to the French Quarter at least 4 times. I lost a toenail. Yup, that's how much we walked. I did ballet en pointe for 10 years, have completed 2 marathons, a dozen half marathons and never lost a toenail. But I go to one LSU tailgate and the little sucker just popped off. Are you freaking kidding me?

Brandie and I traded chinese yo-yos for these foam tiger paws. And then we did the sprinkler with them.

Drinking with both tiger paws on is always a good call.

LSU won shortly after this last picture was taken. We were unable to see the actually win because the tailgate we were ate had rented their huge flat screen tvs, and the rental company picked them up 5 minutes before the game was over. But that just meant we were on the streets early to play with the Buckeyes. The loss of my toenail did not diminish my ability to have fun at all...although, I seriously considered walking around Bourbon St. barefoot...

Santa Pub Crawl

Tommy and I made a game time decision to drive to Dallas at the last minute to celebrate Tiffany's 27th Birthday. Her husband had lovelingly organized a Santa Pub Crawl through downtown bars. Brock wanted us to all wear Santa costumes, but upon shopping for ours, we determined that Santa costumes do not come cheap. In fact, the cheapest ones were about $50. Ouch. Being the creative cheapskates that we are, we decided that we could do better than a Santa costume for significantly cheaper. Enter the UHaul box...which was easily transformed into a present that was made for us!!

We joined the party at the Gingerman wearing our fabulous costumes. Other than the fact that i couldn't put my arms down all the way, the box was surprisingly comfy. It was also a magnet for the opposite sex. If you don't believe me, try it. Cut the arms out of a box and wear it around all night...I bet you get at least 5 phone numbers. I fully recommend this to all my single friends out there. I'm telling you, it works. Tommy's box was stolen (that's how popular they were) and I had to ditch mine in the shrubberies so I could fit in Katey's car for the trip home.

Nonetheless, this is what our Christmas card will look like next year...

At least it's not me this time...

Tommy is an idiot. Hahahaha. Someone else is on my wagon now!

Tommy got a new job (which are very excited about!) and spent a good deal of time last week trying to transfer files off his work computer and get all the essential documents together for his departure. On Monday, when I, the ever dedicated employee, came to work, he worked on this file transfer for most of the morning. Well, he worked until his computer crashed.

Normally when computers crash, you just get the scary blue screen and then everytime you try to reboot, it lets you try to start it in safe mode, but of course that feature never works. Well, when Tommy tried to reboot, all that came up on the screen was "Operating System Not Found". Um, that CAN'T be good.

What does "Operating System Not Found" mean?? I mean, the computer is still there, so where did the operating systerm go? Nonetheless, it seemed very tragic for TB's computer.

BUT, when he took it to the IT guru's this morning, they found that a screw had just loosened a little and disconnected the hard drive. So, with the help of a phillips head screwdriver, the operating system was found.

Way to go TB. Way to go!

2007

On the last day of this year, and in an effort to appear to be busy at work, I will take a few moments to review 2007, The Year of Yayyy!!

On December 25, 2006, Tommy asked my dad for permission to marry me. Dad said yes. I then spent the next 60 days waiting for a proposal. He is an exasperating man.

The first weekend in January, we went to New Orleans (well, Covington), for Tommy's nephew, Jacob's baptism, and the other nephew, Jackson's birthday. It was a big family event and my first attempt at fitting in...

On Jan 14, Tommy and I ran the Houston Marathon. I set a PR, albeit a poor one, but a PR nonetheless, of 4:43:09. Tommy beat his goal time of 4 hours, by finishing in 3:59:59. Quite impressive. Afterwards, we had our annual Post-Marathon Keg Party, where I, in traditional form, was unable to have fun, and Tommy proceeded to sprain his ankle. We spent the next day groaning in bed.

Since we bought far too much beer for the After Marathon Party, we had a Drink The Other Keg Party the next weekend. The highlight was Tommy dunking his ring...he didn't dunk it well, but he dunked it with gusto. In February, we spent a lot of time at St. Arnolds, drinking free beer, and FINALLY on February 23, Tommy proposed. Of course I said yes. Who could refuse this guy?? The next night, we went to the Starbucks Party at the Museum (which sounds lame, but is totally fun), and then met our friends out at The Marquee to say goodbye to TTiiffaannee. We miss her.

We started planning our wedding, which is very likely the most intimidating thing I have done thus far in life. But we planned it nonetheless.

March in Houston = RODEO, so we scored tickets to Rebe McIntire. We took the day off and played at the Rodeo...always big fun.

On April 15 we competed in our first Olympic Distance Triathlon - it is about a quarter of a full length Ironman. We swam 0.92 miles, biked 26 miles and ran 6.2 miles - it was a blast. Seriously, way better than a marathon. However, it was so cold at the start that I was crying hysterically. Hysterically. The temperature outside was about 42 degrees, and of course we were the only two who didn't have wetsuits. It was so cold outside that it was warmer in the water, so they had us start in the water so as to preempt any shock. Are you effing kidding me??

April 28th was the Celebration of Amanda's 25th birthday. In traditional Amanda style, she organized a fabulous theme party. Everyone dressed in high school attire - there were cheerleaders, nerds, football players, and I wore my cap and gown. I even passed out graduation announcements. We voted on Prom Queen and King and then headed out to the bars. We were the American Pie.

The first week in May, Tommy and I went to Scottsdale, AZ for a vacation. Lots of laying around and being vegetables (oh, and drinking). On day one, I got too drunk to play golf and/or even ride in the cart, so I passed out on the balcony of our hotel room while TB enjoyed his outing alone. Ooops. There were a bunch of girls at the pool that I really wanted to be friends with (i heart making vacation friends). Well, we ended up swapping magazines (some mailed catalogs, etc...). The next day at the pool, one of my girl crushes asks me if my name is Christy. I say, "Why yes, creepy girl crush. How do you know my name?" Apparently, my name and address were on the J Crew catalog I gave them the day before. And even more strange, Girl Crush Number 1 lives 2 houses down. Bizarre. Even more strange was when we got back to Houston, I ran into her at the grocery store. She was on the phone (apparently to one of my other Girl Crushes) and was said, "Oh my, it's Scottsdale girl". Hahaha.

We met our friends Gary and D in Austin for a race called the Muddy Buddy. You have a buddy, and the two of you alternate between biking and running - the highlight being the 200 foot mud it at the end. Well, the highlight could the mass shower at the end, but I guess it depends on your opnions. The day before the race, the four of us accidentally got wasted at the Gingerman in Austin and proceeded to have a food fight at Gatti's. To this day, I do not know how we didn't get kicked out.

Other things in May: I got 3 moles removed and apparently I am allergic to Latex because my entire back turned into one big terrible rash. We went on a double date with Kate and Keith to an Astros game. We got to start cake tastings. I found the most amazing wedding dress EVER. My lease finally ended with Raphael Perez aka The World's Most Creepiest Landlord. We went to NOLA for a friends wedding (most extravagant wedding I've ever seen) and while there went on a swamp tour.

In June, we went to a work Crawfish Boil in Sargent, Texas. The land of beautiful women and even more beautiful men. Catherine had a couple's shower and Hilary stayed with us and we got to catch up. Tommy's birthday and fathers day were spent in Dallas with the fam and went to dinner with Gary and D.

In July, the highlight was the fact that we were robbed, but other joyful events were Catherine and Nate's wedding in new Orleans. All of our girlfriends were there and we had a fabulous time on Boubon Street. After we got our security system in place, I went and met Tommy in Toronto and then the two of us made the trek to Niagara Falls.

August was a big month. My mom's friends threw me a bridal shower and I had my bachelorette party. The shower was fabulous and my bach party EVEN BETTER. We floated the river and gossiped that good girls do. All my ladies were there and we had a fabulous time - nice job Cathy!! Ed's birthday took us to Stages Theater to see a one-man play called Late Nite Catechism which was HYSTERICAL, and I'm not even Catholic.

September started recruiting at work, big long training runs, Aggie Football, and my wedding dress arrived!! Kristin and Eric got hitched - their wedding was a blast, despite the lack of AC. My friends built an Aggie Tailgating Machine, called Bus 42, and we made the trek to CS several times to enjoy it. The end of September brought us to Wehner Weekend and a couple's shower for us. My parents came in and we did lots of drinking...ow.

In October, I sprained my ankle, which basically means I hated life, but that can be observed more in these few blogs. I didn't eat, I didn't drink and the wedding was one month away. I think I was very pleasant to be around. Ha.

In November, Tommy and I finally got married. I feel so lucky to have married my best friend and that he is willing to put with me. It's not a small feat. Afterwards, we went to the Carribbean for our honeymoon, which was equally fabulous. So You Think You Can Dance came through on tour and Tommy, being the fabulous man that he is to, took me. We were the oldest people in the audience without kids. Then of course, it was Thanksgiving.

November 30-Dec 1, was the greatest weekend EVER. On Friday night, we played in a Flip Cup Tournament hosted by Shady Tavern and organized by my dear pal FraFra. Our team was Dude, Where's My Bike? and we dressed as mormons. Unfortunately, as mormons are wont to do, we lost the tournament. Tragic. On Saturday, we went to Dallas for Tiffany's birthday aka Santa Pub Crawl. Brock wanted us all to wear SAnta costumes, but those were too expensive for TB and I, so we wrapped ourselves in Christmas paper and went as presents. If you are single (or taken) and want to get laid, wrap yourself in Christmas paper - seriously, it was th ebest man magnet I have ever had.

And that brings us to December...Cathy graduated from tu, we had a Bad Santa Christmas Party, my parents celebrated their 30th wedding anniversary, and then we went to Dallas for the holidays. In Dallas, I got to see my friend Ben, who I never get to see and hopefully I convinved him to move to the Greater Texas Area. We hung out with Gilmore and Sara, Paige and Zach, Emily and her family, Gary and D, The Elliots, Amanda, and then rounded out the week with a trip to San Antionio to watch the Aggies lose at the Alamo Bowl with my Wehner pals.

Now, on the last day of the year, I am at work, wishing I had slept later, nursing a somewhat painful hangover, about to leave to prepare for a night of fun and games with Edwardo.

Thanks to all my friends and family - you guys have loved me and supported me through a lot this year. You are all appreciated more than you know. I heart you all.

The Wedding.

I still haven't posted anything about our wedding, but in short, it was fantastic. The reception hall looked fantastic, the music was fantastic, the dancing was fantastic, the booze was fantastic and most all my new husband was/is fantastic. I'd like to do it again, but Tommy says no. I don't know why.

Here are a few pictures for your viewing pleasure:

My dad walking me down the aisle.

The Ceremony. Performed by a family friend, Doug.

Newlyweds Dance Dance Dance.

Aggie War Hymn!!

Zach is CRAZY!!

Kate and Janelley.

Ma and Pa.

Amanda and I.

SECOND LINE!! Parade down Main St.

Dancing on the bar in Slainte. Who woulda thunk? They say they can't get my dress totally clean...

Hilary and Amanda with the best second line band EVER!!

And that's all folks. These of course, were not the professional pictures, but damm, we had a great time!!

Bad Santa

We finally had our Bad Santa Christmas Party, and luckily Leslie Gonzales did not come.

A couple of highlights:


1. Tommy bought cups with nametags on them. Awesome.
2. Jamey wrote "Germs" on his cup...not surprising.
3. Katy opened the vibrator...but then stole my movie. Jerk.
4. Tommy became so intoxicated that he was unable to get out of bed until 2PM the following day. When he finally emerged he walked hunched over like a Cro-Magnon Man.
5. Kate snorted at least 9000 times.
6. Tamer brough a vinbrator that says mean things like, "I have a headache" and "Not tonight sugar"

7. Sagar did not take home his presents...I think it is because he lives with his parents.
8. Brandie was too much of a wussie to get the present she really wanted.
9. And the ultimate point of the story is that Roy took home a butt plug.

Roy took home the butt plug. He won it and, lo and behold, no one stole it from him. I can't imagine why. Our story begins...

Roy gets home and throw the butt plug (still packaged and in the gift bag) on the floor of his apartment. At a later time, he went to the office of his complex to pick up a delivery. The girl in the office who is "smokin' hot" asked if she could have the boxes that were delivered to Roy once he got his gifts out of them. Roy, being the nice guy that he is, said, yes of course. Said girl, we will call her Ashley, ends up moving earlier than expected and needs the boxes earlier. She calls Roy earlier today - Roy ends up telling her to just go in his apartment to get the boxes that he has stacked up next to the door...next to the butt plug. Smokin' Hot Ashley is gonna have a nice surprise when she pops into Roys house today...