"Knuden" Reunion

Hope everyone had a wonderful, fun-filled, Four of July! This year, Patrick and I ventured up to the DFW Metroplex for the first Knudsen Family Reunion and along the way, met up with some friends whom we hadn't seen in awhile.

We drove up from Austin Saturday morning and got to Dallas in time to have very yummy lunch of Cuban food and bottomless mimosas and bellinis with Amy and her boyfriend Glenn (the second 'n' is silent). From there, we drove to our hotel in downtown Fort Worth and then met up with Julie and Matt for drinks at Flying Saucer, where we sampled some new beers and I made faces when sipping Patrick's Double Dead Guy Ale (Brandi, has Chris had this one??) and some incredibly hoppy IPA. We laughed, traded stories (some people might call it gossip) and I think I might have agreed to going to my 10 year reunion somewhere in there. And from the third story of the parking garage, we saw a couple of fireworks go off, but that was about it for our 4th of July celebration.

On Sunday, the entire Knudsen branch of my family (minus Rachael & Hagan) gathered at my cousin Jenny & Curtis' house. I think Jenny was a little sleep deprived, because she wrote "Knuden Reunion" and forgot the 's' in Knudsen on the chalkboard. We got to see people that we hadn't seen in a number of years and even got to meet a few new members. I got to squeeze the neck of some of my favorite cousins, and played with my cousin Lori's rolly-polly of a son, who has the most squeezable cheeks you have ever seen! It was so nice to see everyone in one place since the last time we all got together was almost 9 years ago (not including all the weddings that happened in between.) I have to admit, at first I wasn't to excited about a family reunion when I first heard about it, but we had a bunch of fun and finally got to connect with family that live just around the corner. Can't wait to see the pictures from yesterday!

Birthdays

I have to say that I think I've been pretty spoiled by my past few birthdays. Last year, I spent a week in L.A. hanging out with Courtney in the hills of Hollywood. The year before, I was in NYC, spending time with both Patrick's and my sisters and getting to visit our newborn niece. Three years ago, we actually threw a big Quarter of Century party and made fajitas for about 25 of our friends (learned our lesson with that....order take-out or else your home will smell like fajitas for 3 weeks.) So this year, I think I was a little bummed that I wasn't traveling or planning a party.

It was a nice birthday. Went to lunch with Tracy and our coworker Beth, enjoyed some Mexican Martinis with Patrick and Chris (and almost Susan, but she went to Chuy's instead of Trudy's), watched UT beat up against LSU (and then end up losing the 3rd game of the College World Series), and got a million texts, emails, voice mails, and messages on facebook wishing me a "Happy Birthday." I felt loved. But there was something missing and I'm not sure what that was. Maybe it was just because I've been spoiled before. Maybe it's hitting me that I'm so much closer to 30 than 20.

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Patrick surprised me with the soundtrack to Wicked and the promise of attending the show in August, so I've been addicted to Kristin Chenowith's voice for the past week and can't wait to lock in a date to see it!

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This past weekend, we had planned to go to the Real Ale Anniversary Party down in Blanco for some free beer and music, but with record setting temperatures (106 people!!) and heat warning advisories spreading across Central Texas, we opted for the cold 68 degree water of Barton Springs. Sophie seemed to love spinning in her duckie floatie in the shallow end while we attempted to lay down in order to cover our entire bodies with the water.

And between game night with our small group, Barton Springs, dinner at Guero's, poker with Jake & Jill, and a Goodbye brunch for our friend Steven (who finally gets to be in the same town as his girlfriend Iliana, my college roomie), our weekend was packed. Fun, but packed.

This coming weekend will prove to be no different, I'm sure. Independence Day with a trip up to DFW for the Knudsen family reunion. So excited to see some of these people, some I haven't seen since getting married, and some will be seeing them for the first time (lots of new babies!) I'm just praying for no traffic this weekend.

Happy 4th of July! (a week later)

Our 4th of July consisted of Big Love, Californication, lots of walking to Auditorium Shores, throwing some bones with friends, eating fried chicken, lusting after all the puppies in the park, watching fireworks while listening to the Austin Symphony play 1812, and laughing at Patrick returning to the group with a large pink plastic coconut drink. Yay for days off of work!

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday Patrick! Hopefully, I'll be able to surprise you with a real one someday. I love you!

Funny Valentine

Candied Sweet Potatoes, Asparagus, and Strawberry Chipotle Pork Tenderloin

Our Valentine's evening consisted of a beautifully put together dinner, Shiraz-Syrah from Dry Comal Creek Vineyards and deciding to plop down in front of our TV so that we didn't miss Lost. Perfect evening!

Christmas 2007

I have finally uploaded all my pictures from Christmas. I didn't take many this year, and those that I did are mostly of our baby niece.

Patrick and I talked about what a great Christmas we had this year. I was determined to have all our Christmas shopping done early, which was both easier and harder this time around. Harder, since we didn't start till after Thanksgiving. Easier, since we finally set a pretty strict budget instead of like years past where one of us would say "oh, I want to get this other thing for so-and-so...." and the so-called budget kept ballooning. We really wanted this year to be about spending time with our families and that's exactly what it turned out to be instead of the usual running around, crazy, trying to get things done . We wanted to spend time with our New Yorker sisters (et al.) since we only get to see them once or twice a year. And I wanted to squeeze Sophie as much as possible because the next time we see her, she'll have doubled in size.

Trail of Lights

We went to the Zilker Trail of Lights on Sunday with some friends. Patrick made his famous hot chocolate and we froze our butts off.

Enjoy the pictures!

Our First Tree

I was trying to take pictures of our first Christmas Tree, all decorated and lit up, but Calliope wanted some attention and posed for me too.

Calliope stretching for a belly rub

Presents are all wrapped! I think Patrick is excited that he hasn't had to do any wrapping and that all the presents are actually tagged this year - that way he knows which one is his. See the homemade tags?

The Birthday present is for my sister - a Christmas Eve baby.

For our niece!

Chloe decided to help with the ornaments for the tree. She likes playing with the brass bells and loves attacking the soft cloth ornaments. When I come home from work, I usually find them somewhere in the middle of our living room floor.

Chloe "helping"

Eight Days...

Eight days until we leave for Houston for Christmas. Tree is lit and ornaments are hung. Gifts are all purchased, and all there is left to do is wrap them.

Yesterday, I came home to find our answering machine blinking. I press the play button, but all I hear is static. So, I go to adjust the volume and try to get it at that perfect spot where the speaker doesn't crackle and I'm not blown away by the decibels. It keeps cutting in and out and all I can decipher is that an order has been declined because of something having to do with the credit card information, like an incorrect number or date or something. When I try to play it back, I accidentally erase it. I guess I wasn't supposed to hear a message relating to my Christmas gift. Luckily for Patrick, our answering machine is a piece of crap.

After trying to listen to the message, I went down to the gym to go run. And since I sometimes try to time my workouts around Scrubs reruns on Comedy Central, I was able to catch one of my favorite episodes: The Scrubs Musical.

Lately

Things are going well here, it just seem pretty busy. Patrick's working crazy long hours and working on online school work, so he doesn't usually come home till after 9pm every day (and sometimes later.) So, on the weekend we don't do much other than sleep, eat, watch football, and as of late, shop for Christmas. While he's at his office I'm filling up my free time cleaning the apartment and trying to do this Couch to 5K training thing, but not really training for a specific run.

Kitties: Chloe's being much more cuddly as it gets colder and Calliope is just getting fatter - as confirmed by her latest vet visit...She's 13 freaking pounds!!! The Vet wants her at 11 and so I think she should started training with me. We could both stand to lose a couple.

We bought our first Christmas tree over the weekend and that's been a fun experience. I've never had a real tree before and the kitties have never been around one either. As Patrick brought it in our apartment, Calliope hissed at it. I'm not exactly sure what she thought it was, just that it was a foreign object occupying her space. Now, they both just like to eat the needles and drink the tree's water. I'm just glad that they haven't tried climbing it....yet.

Right now, we have white lights and about 7 ornaments on the tree, and a topper in waiting. So, it looks kind of sad unless you look at it really up close. Just waiting for the box to arrive with the rest of my ornaments, then I'll post pictures. It's nice to finally have a tree, it really makes it feel more like the Christmas season. In the past, Patrick and I would be gone for such a long time around Christmas, that it would have been just a hassle. But with a shorter trip this year, I had to have one.

Trick or Treat!

Every year, I hope and wish that at least the kids in our building will come by for some candy (good candy, too, if I might add: Snickers, Reese's PB Cups, Mounds, Kit Kats.) But, alas, we had no trick or treaters last night. I mean, I can't really blame them. I would do the same thing they do: leave the apartment complex and drive over to the nice, rich neighborhood to get loads of candy. But still, I miss seeing little kids all dressed up in their cute costumes.

And now, back when Calliope was all little and cute....

Calliope & Kitty

Jack & Kitty

A Soggy Fourth

This is tame compared to how Mansfield Dam looks now with four flood gates open.

I'm glad we hadn't planned on eating on this picnic table.

While we were inspecting the flooding, we heard some high pitched screeches and finally a couple of honks. I think the geese might have been a little confused as to why there were trees in the middle of Lake Austin.

A Kitty Christmas Adventure

I stayed up until about 12:30 am last night folding clothes and packing my suitcase. And today, after I leave work and do about a million errands, Patrick and I are going to pack up the truck and head to Houston, then a few days later, to Arlington. I can't wait to see family and friends, especially ones that I haven't seen in over a year.

It will be interesting travelling this much with two cats. We've done it with one a couple of times, but riding in a vehicle with two cats can be a little much. They feed off each other. One will meow, then the other, it almost sounds like they're talking (or yelling) to each other. I guess it's just another thing to prepare us for having kids, kind of like what happened last night...

To get them all pretty for Christmas, we gave the cats a bath last night. Well, I helped with Calliope, who didn't complain too much, and then while the bathtub was filling up for Chloe, I started dinner. Then, a good friend who I hadn't talked to in awhile called, so I was a little distracted. Even though the bathroom door was closed and I had closed the door to the bedroom, where I was on the phone, I could hear Chloe meowing pretty loudly and even Amy could hear it over the phone. Finally, Patrick walked out with a swaddled up Chloe and I eventually hung up with Amy. A little while later, he told me that Chloe had done something she had never done before while giving her a bath. She peed on him. I guess she wasn't too happy about getting in the water, or maybe she was just that excited.

A Gift from Me to You

We only have three more small presents to buy, two of which Patrick is taking care of this afternoon. Patrick's goal was to be done with Christmas shopping in September, which was a little more lofty than my goal, which was to have them all bought by Thanksgiving. So, we didn't meet our goals this year, but we seriously did better than any year before. Thank goodness for Amazon and other websites that have free shipping and even better, no taxes!

Also, I have been loving all the wish lists out there, especially the thethingsiwant.com ones. I love being able to hit the "Reserve" button and go find the exact thing that person wants, it makes me happy!

I think this has also been the Christmas that I have been the most organized. Creating an automatically updated spreadsheet on Google to track gifts to purchase, ones already purchased and our spending budget has made things so much easier. I don't have to worry about using a jump drive or emailing myself the latest version and it's accessible on any computer that has an internet connection. I wish they had had this when I was doing spreadsheets for our wedding because then I could have even added viewers and collaborators, hmm... actually, maybe that's a good thing. What's the saying? Something about too many cooks in the kitchen...

For next Christmas, we're going to try to get a major jump on things and start right after the New Year. I hope no one minds getting a 2007 The 365 Puppies a Year Calendar and 1 year old Christmas candy - how long do m&m's last anyway?