Here Fishy Fishy...

I'll admit...it is somewhat an obsession...here are some new pictures of our aquarium.
This is our newest fish. It is a Flameback Angelfish. I think my favorite part (which of course you can't really see in this picture) is the vibrant blue stripe along the bottom.
This is also a newish fish...a Pinstriped Wrasse.
Our Flame Hawkfish

Niger Trigger
Gold Spot Rabbitfish
Our sweet little True Percula Clownfish. (Our anemone split into two...again).
You can see our Clownfish at the top and our Purple Tang on the right.
And this is my favorite...our Mandarin Dragonet...she is such a cutie.

Football Time is Here...

...and regardless of the ungodly, unnatural time of day...we are up and energized! Geaux Tigers!
Here we are...bright eyed and bushy tailed (sort of). Notice the sheet and pillow on the couch behind me. We slept on the couch to make sure we didn't miss kick-off (we have been accused of thinking we're still college students...not that I find that insulting...wish I still was!)
Even Oreo got into the mood...

We even had our tailgating spread...just a little different than it might have been for a night game but yummy none the less...

BTW...As I'm posting this My Boys just stopped App. State on their 4th down (and popped the QB pretty good) and then ran the ball back to inside the 10 yard line and scored on the next play! I say again...GEAUX TIGERS!!!

Random Almost Asleep Thought

Since Momma likes my random thoughts...I've got another one for you...

Last night as I was trying to force myself to fall asleep I had a slightly delirious, somewhat inappropriate, but completely funny thought...wouldn't it be ironic if Michael Phelps couldn't conceive because he has "poor swimmers". I laughed at myself about that until I fell asleep.

I hope you are all having a wonderful Wednesday!

Halloween is a comin'

I'm watching L.A. make his Halloween costume (picture below). It made me think of a Halloween of the past. (If you've heard this one bear with me...I still laugh about it.) A few years back we were in Houston at a costume shop. They had tables and tables, racks and racks of costumes to look through. L.A. and I were looking through a table of costumes. I found one that seemed to fit what he was looking for. I put my arm around his waist and patted his hiney to get his attention. After standing in this position for a few moments, I noticed that (1.) L.A. wasn't wearing a silky shirt and (2.) L.A. was, in fact, staring at me from across the table. At this point, I realized that I'm standing in the middle of a costume shop in Houston with my hand on a sales guy's ass...a completely unknown sales guy who wears tacky nylon shirts. I had two questions: why did L.A. just stand across the table and laugh at me and why did the guy let me pat his ass for a good 30 seconds...but I guess I really know the answer to that.
I post more pictures of the costume project as it progresses. Get ready Vegas...here we come!

Random Friday afternoon observation...

I had an afternoon meeting at the Pentagon and finished up/headed out the door around 4:30. Now I understand...it's late on a Friday afternoon and everyone was ready to get home (just like me). I also know that everyone who works in the Pentagon is under the belief that they are more important than the next person. If you don't know, the Pentagon is undergoing renovations and the entrance/exit is a narrow hallway. This isn't new information and everyone was moving at an appropriate speed...but there was this one guy (but then again there's always this one guy) who insisted on running passed the crowd where the oncoming people (however few) are trying to get into the building. Needless to say...his bag clips the back of one guy and a water bottle falls out. Much to my surprise the guy actually turns around to pick it up. But he is still moving at super-speed and is moving for the door before he even turns around. By this time there are actually oncoming people. The speed demon literally pins the oncoming guy to the wall as he shoves past him. He never did slow down...never did apologize. It made me wonder what was so important that he was willing to run over people in his rush to get home...I came up with a few options...although none worth (or appropriate) for publishing.

Regardless...WE made it home safely and are settling down for the final few days of Olympics coverage. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

TGIF!!!

I don't really have anything that exciting to report. I just wanted to say TGIF. This has been a crazy week. Although I am exhausted it seems to have passed by pretty quickly (I'm beginning to wonder if I'm mastered the art of sleeping with my eyes open). I think my Olympic escapades have finally caught up with me and are about to take me under. I guess it's a good thing that they will be over this weekend.

One more thing...I have to report that we were held hostage for about 30 minutes last night by an enormous hornet. The weather has been beautiful in the evenings so we've been leaving the back door open. The babies love to run in and out of the house...sunning themselves on the porch. I noticed Kahlua skipping in excitedly after something...something rather large. The rather large something then darted up to the light fixture and repeatedly hit it (no kidding it was so large that I thought it was going to break the thick flood light bulb). When I realized what it was...I jumped up and ran from the room...turning off lights as I went (hoping it would just find it's way back outside). No such luck...it followed me. While I'm running around the house like a crazed woman, L.A. has found the fly swatter and is chasing after both of us. He finally swats it down and adds a couple more licks for good measure. Because I can't let him get all the credit for taking this monster down, I mosey off to get a paper towel to dispose of it. I don't know if hornets are good at 'playing opossum' or Kahlua has a magic kiss but by the time I get back to the hornet she's licking it and it's trying to fly again. Not wanting to spend another 30 minutes running around the house I promptly step on it, scoop it up and flush it before it has another Lazarus moment. I'm just hoping that it didn't swim back up the pipe and is waiting to ambush me the next time I sit on the toilet...

More pictures from the concert

These are the pictures from our camera (as opposed to my cell phone). In the first few pictures my friend Janelle was trying out our camera. She wanted to see the shutter speed. I thought that ya'll would find them amusing...
Hi everyone!
I miss ya'll!
Whispering sweet nothings into his ear...I was probably telling him not to eat all of the cherries.
Did ya'll notice that I have food in my mouth in every picture?
He can be sweet and look like he's having a good time...apparently just not when I'm taking the pictures...

Sara Bareilles
L.A.'s coworker (Marisa) also works a lot of the area concerts. This is Marisa on the catwalk. She worked the spotlight.
This is Maroon 5. You can see Marisa on the catwalk (right).
Waiting for Counting Crows to come on...
This is a good representation of how I felt watching this performance.

Just another Manic Monday!

My day...hum...let's see...it has been a major wardrobe malfunction day! I am wearing some new Ann Taylor pants that have a cuff. Well apparently only one cuff was actually sewn down. By the time I got into work this morning my left foot was completely covered by my pant leg and before I realized it I tripped. So I spent the morning hemming my pants. Then the back of the sole of my shoe started to come off. I didn't have any super glue so I used just regular old glue. (I should have left it alone). When L.A. called for lunch I asked him to bring some super glue (you know the boyscout that he is...always prepared). Well he unstuck the sole to glue it down with the super glue...but the super glue was glued shut. So I hobble over to Safeway to get lunch and head to the park to eat. As I'm crossing the street, I trip again...good thing L.A. was there to catch me. Not only did my hem fall again...the front of the other sole had come off. So I high stepped across the street and once I was on the other side I took my shoes off. Today isn't the hottest day...but you couldn't tell that to the sidewalks. By the time we got to the park my feet were literally burned. Well we sit down and L.A. breaks open the super glue and glues the soles down again. I make it back to work with out incidence but the first time I stood up the shoe was flapping again. I ripped the soles off both shoes and hope that I can make it to the car safely...did I mention that this is the first time I've worn these.

Maroon 5 Concert

Pictures from the Maroon 5 Concert on Aug 16. We really enjoyed the Maroon 5 portion of the concert! Sara Bareilles opened. She was good but I only recognized one of her songs (Love Song). Counting Crows was the closing act. Adam Duritz (from Counting Crows) was so stoned that you couldn't understand anything he was saying. We ended up leaving early to catch the Olympics.
L.A. driving to the concert.
Natalie heading to the concert.
We met up with my friend Janelle and some of her friends. This is Janelle and Julie as we head into the concert.

Janelle and Natalie chillin' on the lawn waiting for the concert to start.
Natalie and L.A. (It's a good thing the girl over his shoulder had her legs closed...you would have been able to see all her goodies).
Kristen, Julie and Nicole.
Happy girls with alcohol! (Check out the guy chowing down over Janelle's shoulder)
He does smile!!!

Hakuna Matata

Last night L.A. and I went to see The Lion King. It was fantastic! Even better than I thought it would be. My favorite part was the beginning...the parade of animals to welcome Baby Simba at Pride Rock. It was larger than life, surreal, chilling. It was so easy to lose yourself in the pageantry...I forgot where I was, transported to Africa. I wish I could have taken pictures of the show. But here are some shots from the day.
The show was at the Kennedy Center. This is a view from the uppermost terrace. If you look out into the distance in the center of the shot you can see the new AF Memorial.
There is the Lincoln Memorial (center).
Washington Memorial (left) and Lincoln Memorial again (right).
Zazu: The actor wore dark navy blue clothes and had his face painted navy to blend in. He was fabulous (a tight race for my favorite with Scar). It was easy to forget that there was a man playing the part and only focus on the Hornbill.

Scar: This actor did a great job as well. His costume was really neat. The mask was hooked to this arm contraption that could raise and lower it in front of his face.
Mufasa: I was amazed how much the actor who play Mufasa sounded like James Earl Jones (who did the voice for the cartoon). He was very impressive. It was easy to imagine him as a king...regal.
Nala and Simba
Natalie and L.A. No, he isn't sleeping...it's his silent protest against me taking his picture...he should be used to it after more than 12 years.
The Kennedy Center stage as seen from our seats. We were on the front row of the first tier and had a good view (except when the actors were on the far stage right). You can see the ledge at the bottom of the picture. If you were short it would have been difficult to see over it.

This is the beautiful chandelier.
The lobby during intermission.
My playbill. This is the guy who played Mufasa.
Of course I had to buy souvenirs and I love to get ornaments from special places (and reminisce as we hang them on our tree) so this worked out well. I bought this one before the show.
And I bought the Scar ornament after the show because I loved the character so much...and now we will both have an ornament to enjoy. We would highly recommend this play if you ever had the chance to see it!!

On a related but separate note: Do ya'll remember when this movie came out and Abbie (about 4 years old) would walk around ALL DAY singing Hakuna Matata (dats Abbie song)...aaahhh memories...so cute!

My Life: The Olympics

Things here have been pretty routine but there are a few bright spots on the horizon. We are going to see the Broadway (in DC) performance of the Lion King tomorrow and to a Counting Crows/Maroon 5 concert on Saturday. And of course the Olympics have been dominating my non-work time since Friday. It's like an addiction...I know I should turn them off and go to sleep but I don't. And every time I turn around they are getting me hooked on a new event. It started off for many Olympics I would only watch gymnastics. Then Athens got me hooked on Swimming (of course) and beach volleyball too. Now they've added diving and rowing (of all things) to the mix. They have been ending around 1 am but it's worth the pain...of course my co-workers may have a different opinion. I must admit...I haven't been that productive but I've amazingly kept my delirium under control. I really should have taken these two weeks off of work. I could have hooked up a feeding tube and a catheter and I wouldn't have to get off of the couch. I figure it only happens every 4 years...I can make it through it. Besides I'll have plenty of time to sleep when I'm dead right. :-)



I've really been trying to figure out how I can make it to the olympics...Dara Torres has inspired me but I guess one "Intro to Swimming" class my senior year at LSU doesn't make me a contender. L.A. suggested a shooting event but I've never really been comfortable shooting...I barely limped through getting qualified (go figure). But I came up with the PERFECT way to get me to the Olympics...buy tickets!



On a side note: L.A. has finally booked a hotel in Vegas. He decided to go with the Venetian...if anyone is interested.

Breaking Dawn Concert Series

As I'm sure you've figured out by now...I'm a bit obsessed with Twilight. Although it shouldn't be a surprise as I've always loved the supernatural. If you remember I didn't have human imaginary friends I had werewolfules...I guess that explains my attraction to Jacob (from the books). Anyway...these are pictures from the Breaking Dawn Concert Series last Friday (Aug 1).
The concert was with Justen Furstenfeld from Blue October.

We got great seats...well it was actually standing room only but you know what I mean. The line wrapped around and down an entire block. We decided that we didn't want to stand in line so we would wait by the door and once everyone got inside we would go in. Well when we got to the door we noticed that there was a break in the line...and figured that no one would be looking for 3 women (only teenage girls) so we got in line at that point. We made it in without MUCH notice.

Here's a self portrait of the girls (Kathy, me and Charmaine)
Justin Furstenfeld...from Blue October (I particularly liked Hate Me, My Never, Balance Beam and Blue Skies)
Stephenie Meyer (the author)
My signed Breaking Dawn book. The concert was really cool but getting the autograph was madness. There was a mad rush for the door that we got caught up in. We stood in line for about an hour and a half. It was so packed I couldn't raise my arms. It felt like Mardi Gras without the drunk guys groping you.