i want to go home

here's me right now...on my way home from san diego. i'm at the airport in albuquerque waiting for my flight home. what is it that makes it so stinky to wait around when you're going back? my flight is slightly delayed which makes the layover slightly more annoying. thankfully i don't have to be at work or anything tomorrow, so i'm trying to be as patient as possible. being by myself makes me antsier though. i've finished my people's, not in the mood for my book, and i'm missing the olympics! i want to see michael phelps swim (even though i keep accidentally finding out the results beforehand.) that's why i started taking pictures of myself with my computer in the airport and blogging. thank you albuquerque airport for the free wi-fi. all airports should have it. by the way, i learned on the plane today that southwest is going to start having wi-fi on airplanes in september. it's going to be $10. i wonder how many people will actually use it. so, when buying the ticket for this flight i had some factors to consider. first of all, it was about $100 more than when i went in march. dang gas. i could have had a non-stop flight on american for only $3 more-pro. would have had to pay $15 to check my bag-con. would have had to have someone take me to and pick me up from dfw-con. were i to get thirsty and want a little something to drink in flight e.g. water, would have had to pay for it-con. therefore, i wait.

the last hoorah

i'm currently on my big trip for the summer. chillin' with the fam in san diegs. i go back to work pretty much as soon as i get back. boo. the weather here is such a refreshing break from the hundreds in dallas. it's so pleasant to just sit outside and read or eat or whatever your heart desires...you can do it without getting the sweats.

when i got here i was so excited to see my niece. she was napping when i was being picked up from the airport, so when i arrived at the house she and jonathan met me at the door. she saw me, squenched up her face, and started bawling. i think she was just so excited to see me that she got overwhelmed and couldn't take it anymore. she got better quickly, and we are getting along quite well. here's us playing on my computer.

so today we went to the beach.  my only requirement for things to do here. i love the ocean so much. i really could be there all day and be fine. apparently the only person more excited about the beach and the ocean was anna. she loved it. she went straight for the sand, so of course the sand hand went straight for her mouth. we thought that she would figure out that it was nasty and stop, but apparently it was a good snack. she also loved the ocean and the waves. she was so cute and excited about everything. this is turning into a mom (aunt) blog now, but oh well. i don't get much time with her, so i'm enjoying every second.

there's a zoo trip in the works for tomorrow, so i'm sure there will be more updates to come. i know i have come out against zoos in a previous post, but it was more about one specific zoo. we'll see if the sdz is all it's cracked up to be...really i'm kind of excited.

burnt poo

so tonight i decided i would cook. i don't cook a lot, and i started feeling a little badly that i've had so much free time this summer and still haven't cooked much. last weekend i actually went and bought a cookbook. my first such purchase. i guess a lot of people get them as gifts as well, but i'm not a person they think to give them to for some reason.  anyway, i got the sandra lee semi-homemade cookbook. sounds easy. i've been perusing the recipes for a few days and thought i'd try one out before i head out to cali. i went by the store to get the ingredients. first thing i learned was that not all stores have the things you need for semi-homemade cooking. i had to improvise. second thing i learned was that contrary to what people say to make you feel guilty about not cooking, it's cheaper to eat out. we could have gone to two semi-decent meals for the price i paid for the ingredients of this one. maybe cookbooks are supposed to be used only for guests? i don't know.

for my first attempt with this particular book, i chose the recipe entitled "steak pinwheels with sun-dried tomato stuffing and rosemary mashed potatoes." it sounds daunting, but how can it be when it's semi-homemade? prep time 12 minutes. simple. i got everything put together and in the oven and went out to my yard to water while it cooked. so easy i can multi-task. jon got to my place, i finished the potatoes with his help, the dinger went off, and i opened the oven to pull out the main course...burnt poo. here is what dinner was supposed to look like:

this was my version of the dish...

not even close. i couldn't believe it when i saw it...my stomach sank. we laughed and ate it anyway and will be eating it tomorrow for dinner as well. i decided that i'm going to have my own cooking show where i try people's recipes from cooking shows and cookbooks and show viewers what it's really going to turn out like. or maybe others can make it look like the beautiful photograph, and i'm just cooking impaired. i don't know. next time i'm trying something from the "cocktails" chapter. that could be a little harder to mess up.

happy birthday!

yesterday was big jc's birthday, so yes this post is a bit late. he's the big 2-9...such a youngster. we had a weekend full of out of control heat and sweets, and don't forget the baseball.  jc is off sweets, but he made an exception for birthday weekend; therefore, i made an exception for his birthday weekend (not that i'm usually off sugar, but i was extremely on sugar this weekend.)  i think i've only eaten sugar since friday topped off with a late night real dr. pepper last night. we had a texas rangers party on saturday.  jon loves the rangers (esp. josh h.) so what better way to celebrate?  it was only about 150 degrees on saturday, but no worries...it got down to about 130 by the time the game started and 129 by the time it ended.  i brought my camera to take pictures, but i don't think anyone would have appreciated them being taken or posted with sweat pouring down our faces.  all i could think of the whole game was a cold swimming pool and how i would just jump in it clothes and all if i saw one.  maybe i should always go to rangers games in extreme heat because i ate about a tenth of what i usually do there.  i got the usual garlic fries, but only ate a few before i completely lost my appetite. we were all a little lethargic and dehydrated on the drive home.

yesterday the moose (the church softball team) were supposed to play at 5.  brutal. yesterday was the most intense heat day of the summer. jon said it was ok if i didn't go since he knew i was completely dreading it, but i had decided that i should since it was his b-day.  thankfully coach casey had mercy on us all, and they forfeited the game.  seriously, that's got to be on some kind of top list of best decisions ever made. it was a special birthday treat for jc because the softball game was replaced by intense sunday napping.  we finished the weekend off with the deluxe 57 at mi cocina (aka a lot o food) and some cookie cake. such a fun weekend!  i hope it was for him as well. happy birthday jon!