Legally Blonde's Proceedings

So Happy Halloween from Lola & Me! Lola hates her witch hat, so she was moving around too fast to get clearly captured on film (and my battery died before I was able to shoot any better pictures)! This afternoon, Jennifer and I took Little Josh down to the square in McKinney for "Scare at the Square" to celebrate his first Halloween. Scare at the Square is one of the festivals that we have here in downtown McKinney that make me feel like I live in the fictional town of Stars Hollow from Gilmore Girls. All the merchants and restaurants give out candy and there is a train for the kids, etc. Below are some photos from our beautiful square on this fall day. The Old Courthouse anchors our square and is the hub for Halloween events. Below is Jennifer's little guy, Joshua. He was a spider, and was cute cute cute! Below is Lisa's little boy, Tommy and his little (half) brother Matt. Tommy was some character for the Star Wars Clone movie (that I'm unfamiliar with) a...

I went to the mall last night for a Junior League event at Pottery Barn. It was a 45 minute class on "How to Decorate your table for Thanksgiving". By going to this class, I am able to skip a 2 + hour general meeting. Talk about a no-brainer. I found the class pretty useless, and not just because I don't host Thanksgiving, but because I thought I could have done a better job decorating the table than the PB employee (she used some horrible dried sunflowers and a real mish-mash of plates). I'm sure you are wondering how this picture of the acorn fits into the story. Well, I arrived a little early and decided to run through Williams Sonoma. I found this little acorn potholder marked down to $5.99 (from $12). I have a lone pumpkin potholder and thought I could use this little acorn to go along with it for fall. I have included its picture because I think that it is just about the cutest thing I've seen in a while!

No, you didn't sleep for several days and miss Halloween! I was trying to be all Halloweeny with my blog background, but it was just driving me nuts! The way you could see jack-o-lanterns through my pictures... annoying! So this is why I have changed back to pink two days before Halloween.

My Red Raiders finally got their act together this weekend and had a big win against Kansas. Everyone was playing well and I was finally HAPPY with the way the played. They even started that walk on kicker that I blogged about several weeks ago. He hit every single extra point kick (and there were a lot). This coming Saturday is a big game. Tech vs. #1 Longhorns in Lubbock. ESPN has chosen Lubbock as their Game Day location and it will be on ABC at 7:00 for national coverage. The only other "big news" around here worth blogging about is a new computer monitor. Nothing was wrong with the old one except it was GINORMOUS! We got one of the skinny monitors and now have a ton more space for other junk.

I went to answer the phone today beside my chair in the living room and right beside the chair, sitting on one of the curtains, was the lizard. Of course, what was a bright green lizard the other day, was now a brown lizard because he was blending right into the curtain. Learning my lesson the other day with a too large trapping tool (trash can), I got a smaller lizard catcher (cup). It didn't quite work like clockwork, but the lizard eventually made its way to the kitchen and I was able to get him out the door. No more lizard living in my house (at least that I know of)!

I ran by TJ Maxx after class and wondered by the shoes. I saw a nice pair of brown suede dress shoes with a brass chain across the toe. They looked pretty nice, so I pulled them down. They were a size 10...so far so good. Then I saw that they were Coach, so I held my breath as I flipped them over to see the price... $24.99!!!!!!!!! Talk about the mis-marks of all time! Whoever was pricing those shoes totally put the wrong darn tag on there because they said "regular price $50" and you know those suckers were well over $175. What a steal they were AND I didn't have to do anything illegal (but I felt like I was committing a crime as I check out)! It was really my lucky day because they had my favorite Sara Beth jam that I have been out of forever and had been to cheap to order and have shipped from NYC.

I know that smoke detectors are suppose to save your life, but do you think they know their value therefore they do evil things to you just because they know that you can't get rid of them? I have about 10 of the darn things here at the house and every darn one of them starts to loose their battery power in the middle of the night! NEVER the daytime. Of course last night was no different. 2:55 a.m., the one right outside my bedroom started to chirp every 30 seconds to 1 minute. I think they are evil!

So my parents were nice enough to come down today for my birthday and take me to dinner. We went to Uncle Julio's and it was very yummy. My grandmother made me an Italian Cream Cake that is super fabulous too! But to back up to all the drama, I was driving us to dinner (in my Dad's big truck) and while stopped at the stop sign to get onto the frontage road up at Eldorado and 75 we were rear-ended (or ass holed as my Dad so eloquently put it!). It did some damage to the bumper and fender of Dad's truck. The old folks that hit us were in a Civic and it did some damage to the front of their car. Luckily nobody was hurt. Maddie and Gracie called to sing me Happy Birthday and bless their little hearts...they are under the impression that I'm 28 (Gracie) and 25 (Maddie)! I'll have to throw a little something extra in their Halloween cards! Of course, my Mom told me the same story that she always tells... how she went to the hospital in the early morning hours of October 2...

Okay, bear in mind that I'm crap with the scanner when viewing these images (which is why there are huge white spaces around the photos). The mere fact that you can view them should get me much more than a pat on the back! It was my 6th birthday party...I remember it like it was yesterday, not the 26 years ago that it actually was. My theme was Halloween that year. Here is me with my grandma opening up a present from my great-grandparents. As you can see in photo 1 here, I'm very perplexed by these brown hands that I have unwrapped! Then in Photo 2 (below), I have figured out that it is an ET costume that my great-grandmother made for me and I'm excited! Then in Photo 3 (below), I am standing with my cat Benji and modeling the full ET costume. Notice that super big pumpkin that my Great-granddad brought me that year!

The flush handle broke on one of the toilets today, so after a trip to Lowes, I replaced it. I had no real idea what I was doing, but managed to figure it out...so now I'm adding plumbing to my list of things I have tackled around the house. The lizard is still loose in the house, at least as far as I know. I haven't seen any evidence of a lizard murder laying around, so I assume Lola hasn't found him either!

I noticed a lizard was stuck between my fan blinds and the semi-circle window in the living room this afternoon. I went outside to look in and verify that yes, there was a big green lizard stuck there. I had to get out two different ladders, a trash can, a little broom and a dust pan to get the guy loose from behind the shades. Problem was, he fell into the trough at the top of the miniblinds. I finally got him out of there and he fell onto the floor. He was running back and forth and I finally lost him. I have no idea where he as gone, so at this point, I guess I'm going to have to call him a new Halloween decoration! P.S. Lola the great white hunter who usually loves to kill lizards couldn't be bothered to get out from underneath the dining room table to help me...guess she was still acting a diva from her photo shoot!

Lola went for her photo shoot today. We won't get the proofs back until Thursday, so I don't know whether she will be America's Next Top Doggy Model or not. The photographer said that she was the best dog that she had ever shot, but then she has only done three. She didn't really quite live up to my expectations, but then I haven't seen the photos yet. She didn't like the background or the way that it was pullout out to cover the floor (she wanted no part of walking on it). We took her outside for some shots and she peed and pooped (I told her that I didn't think supermodels did that kind of thing in the middle of the photo shoot!). I was very nervous for my friend Abby who will be at the photographer on Saturday with her kids and dog... I was worried that Lola would act up and the photographer would outlaw dogs from her studio! Abby- I think she will still let you bring Bailey (at least I hope!).

Lisa took me to dinner tonight at a new Italian restaurant in Allen called "Brio". It was very good. Their bellinis were fantastic. I had lobster risotto and she had the chicken & butternut squash risotto. Both were really good. They came by with the dessert tray. Like many restaurants now, they have the small desserts that will give you a bite of sweet but not large proportions. Theirs were served in little espresso cups. I convinced Lisa that we could share one little caramel creme brulee. Just a little background...Lisa hates to share (and will full well own up to it and is completely unashamed by it, that is why I know she won't mind me writing about it). She has improved greatly over the years. She will now let me sample a bite of what she ordered (she used to not allow this, as she put it "I think that I've ordered the best thing on the menu, so I don't need to have a bite of yours or want to share mine.") But tonight, neither of us w...

Today is the closing day of the State Fair of Texas, so I made my yearly trip down to Dallas to see Big Tex. Jennifer and little Joshua came with me. We were only there 2 hours, but that is plenty of time to do the stuff I wanted to do. Of course, we visited the Dallas Children's Medical Center Petting Zoo (my favorite part). We also looked at all the new cars (I picked out several I would like to have!). But most important, we ate some fair food including (of course) a Fletcher's Corny Dog. They were great as always!

Lots of turnovers today, and I'm not talking the fruity pastry kind... fumbles, blocked kicks, and interceptions, oh my! Despite the poor showing, the Red Raiders still managed to beat A&M down in College Station today 42-25 and go 7-0 for the season. Hopefully the play will improve because the next month is TOUGH... Kansas, Texas, OSU, and OU.

I just realized that 3 months from Today, Lisa and I will be in Nawlins. My mouth starts to water just thinking about it!

I noticed on my drive home from school today that the sun was high in the sky, but so was the moon. I was chatting with Jennifer on the phone and mentioned this oddity. I said that if I were a person from ancient times, this probably would have concerned me. Now, I can tell you that I should have listened to my inner ancient instincts! Next time I see such a sight I will know that sun + moon = lookout, your day is going to be a cluster! We had a really relaxed day planned with not much to do. We had planned to not do too much work and hit up some of the newly opened shops in Allen. Suffice it to say that hardly anything went as planned. At least something did go as planned though... I really treated myself today and had a massage. I went to this great spa in Allen called Eaton Court. They were participating in this promotion called Spa Week. Twice a year, spas across the country offer a few services for the discounted rate of only $50. I went for Spa Week in April too. Today ...

Well my black cloud that seems to follow me and cause everything to break has struck again. This week it is the electrical wiring in my house. For some reason several of the plugs in my office work, then don't work, then work again, etc. I had the electrician come out today and apparently if one of the wires in one plug gets loose, then it can cause several to stop working. Who knew? The plug that was loose is one that is behind a bookcase and has never been used the whole three years that I've lived here. So my question is, how did it get loose and if it has been loose for three years, why is it NOW causing a problem. Weird. Jennifer was at my house dealing with the electrician because I had one of my scheduled 16 weeks in advance hair appointments today. If you know anything about my continuing hair dresser saga, then you know that usually I'm too embarrassed to leave the salon and go anywhere but home to re-wash and re-dry my hair. Most of the time though, I can at least...

Well, I always find shoes when I'm not looking for them (or have the money to buy them!). I was in the Neiman's Last Call at lunch today. I ran across a pair of Bruno Magli black pumps. I tried them on and they fit like a glove, plus they had a good heal that I could actually stand to wear all day if necessary. They normally were $250, then they were marked down to the outlet price, then I got 20% off for a Columbus Day sale, and finally, I got another 20% off for using my Neiman's card. So, the grand total was $99! This is a photo of them that I got off of Nordstrom's website (at least I think this is the same shoe...at least it is close to the same shoe).

Growing up, if there was one thing that made me not want to be a teacher, it was the thought of grading papers. It seemed like my Mom cleaned up the supper mess and did nothing but grade papers until bedtime every single night. Now, I have found myself grading papers for about 3 hours this afternoon and I still have one class to go! Of course now that I have all this lawyerly reasoning (that I spent so much time and money acquiring), I know that the answer is not to not be a teacher, but not to give so many assignments! Maybe my syllabus will reflect this next semester!

Well my #7 ranked Red Raiders were able to hang on today and win, but barely! We won by 6 in overtime. If you missed the game here is a recap: We were up most the game. Hardly ever had the ball. Nebraska had the ball 40 minutes to our 20 minutes. In the 4th quarter, Nebraska tied it up. We got the ball back, and accidentally went for it on a 4th down. A LONG pass to Crabtree was successful for a first down, and then we were able to score. (I say accidentally, because after the game Harrell said that Coach Leach was only trying to get him to draw Nebraska off sides, but then we "accidentally" snapped it for a miracle play). Then Nebraska, the time suckers that they were, took the ball back down and tied it up, but with less than a minute left. Overtime: Nebraska won the toss and opted for defense. We scored. Our crappy kicker got the extra point blocked. So, we're up 6. All Nebraska has to do is score and make their extra point and game over. Nebraska gets t...

Jennifer brought over Joshua's Halloween costume for me to look at. He is going to be a spider. It is such a cute costume! She asked Lola if she would dress up like Little Miss Muffett to go along with Josh, but I think she is going to pass. This got me thinking about Halloween and costumes in general... One of my earliest memories about a costume was Casper the Friendly Ghost. It was one of those horrible plastic things that has the plastic mask that you can't breathe or see through. When I was attending Stepping Stones Pre-school, we dressed up like Nursery Rhyme Characters and went to the nursing home to sing songs and such (but I don't think it was Halloween). I was Old Mother Hubbard. I remember coming home and telling my mom that we had to dress up like a character and her asking me which one I chose. She was not happy with my choice because she said she had no idea how to dress me up like Old Mother Hubbard. I explained my choice very simply... she is the cha...

Tonight I was the Judge at Teen Court. Teen Court is where teens get Class C misdemeanors (like shoplifting, assault, speeding, etc.) and decide to put their fate in the hands of their peers. They come to court and plead guilty. They either reach a plea bargain for community service hours, or they have a trial and let a jury of their peers determine their sentence. If they have a trial, then there is a prosecuting teen attorneys and a defense teen attorneys. So tonight I ran the trials and accepted the pleas and read off the punishments. It was pretty fun.

Well, Tech managed to win up at Kansas State on Saturday for the Big 12 opener. After being close at the start, we managed to win by 30 points. My grandparents (Nunneleys) came down and took me to lunch at Pappadeaux and we watched the game. They left at the half. It was funny to watch with my grandfather because I guess he doesn't regularly pay close attention to the Tech games (He is a Texas fan...boo!) and he was so perplexed by calls that Coach Leach was making. I had to explain to him that he is like a crazy scientist...sometimes the experiments work, sometimes they don't!

I was just thinking that I could remember when Friday nights spelled FUN. What am I doing on my Friday night? Well I'm swapping a zillion phone calls with the mom of one of my juvenile clients and that juvenile's guardian ad litem. The ad litem and I are trying to figure out how to keep this juvenile alive through the weekend. You see, she tried to kill herself last weekend (30 minutes after she got off the phone with me). Now, the mental hospital is ready to release her and we have been unable to find a secure placement for her. What a way to start your weekend.

I just wanted to send out a reminder of the vice presidential debates. They are Thursday night. I will be tied up in a CLE all day tomorrow and then I have class, so I know that I won't have time to send out a reminder tomorrow. I've been waiting on this debate since John McCain lost his darn mind and chose Sarah Palin. I'm predicting a bloodbath based on the recent stammering in the Katie Couric interviews (as well as the fact that she cannot name 1 supreme court decision besides roe v. wade, AND she thinks she is a federalist because she is for state's rights--wrong, federalists were and are for strong a strong central federal government--yes that was Alexander Hamilton & Thomas Jefferson you heard rolling over in their graves at the thought of a VP candidate not grasping the difference between a federalist and an anit-federalist!). Is it possible to have a knockout in debates or maybe like a 7 run rule that can end it if it gets too horrible? I've been tryin...

I was going to change the background of my blog today to a Halloween theme, but I think I will wait until later in October. I'm going to leave the pink because October is Breast Cancer Awareness month, and like me and Shelby on "Steel Magnolia's", pink is it's signature color. Don't forget to shop pink...I picked up some great pink things today and all give a portion of the proceeds to Breast Cancer research.