a big sigh of....

touching a penguin. no big deal.

the parents came to visit! daddy comes on sunday!!!!

my home away from home.

brittany + great white shark

aww tilly! what a big boy!

a sigh of relief? contentment? exhaustion? all of the above. life has certainly kept us busy over the last 10 days.

firstly, because it is most recently, we returned to the vet. I decided last night that the cat was not, in fact, getting better. so the vet trip was inevitable. and today I had a day off. so bright and early we arrived to the loving staff who agreed, she is not better. they re-tested for mange (because I was so CERTAIN that's what it was. thank you cat webmd). negative. the new diagnosis: autoimmune. drop everything. what? skin cancer? hyper-allergies? hyper-sensitivity? all of these things sound like things a cat shouldn't get. I was JUST reading about how cats are still not very domesticated. still WILD. how can they get such a complicated and domestic sickness? and what kind of CAT needs a DERMATOLOGIST? I, as a human, have never visited a dermatologist. so that's where we are. our cat is on Roids, and hopefully we can juice up her immune system so she quits destroying her own body. her poor bloody face just makes me so sad. especially because she so desperately wants love, and I am so willing to just let her wipe her mangled disgusting face all over me. in brighter news...the cat loves to play with the dog's tail. which is hilarious. she also gives him the "you're nuts" look when he chases his ball around. like, "how could that be entertaining you. simple pleasures for simple minds." anyone out there who likes animals...read "animals make us human." (thank you mom). GREAT book. it is also funny to watch the cat realize she has to go to the bathroom and dash off to the litter box mid-stride. and when she falls off of things because she stretches too far. we also have video of her attacking a string cheese wrapper. good thing we bought her toys. I also had a pet dream....about a dog eating a fruit by the foot and then pooping out poop on the 3' fruit by the foot paper.

oh suburban life. we just got a new sign in our subdivision...so we no longer live in "COLON WODS" we now live in "COLONIAL WOODS". awesome. also, you know you have a long commute when you have to switch radio stations halfway to work because it goes out. also, I have put in an application for an animal care job with the education department at a local zoo. it would be 2-3 days a week so I could balance SW at the same time! hopefully I hear from them soon. also, rhett and I celebrated our 4 year dating anniversary. which also means we are 100 days away from our wedding anniversary. it's cool how that worked out. they will always be 100 days apart! we will have to do some creative counting down. last year we did pennies. speaking of countdowns...who's excited about chocolate advent calendars? I AM!

daytime television. watching jeopardy with humans versus a computer. how does that work? watson mysteries. also: an episode of cheaters in which the wife's nurse fell in love with the husband. she quotes "we thought you were going to die." well you were here nurse, moron. lose-lose situation. on a higher note, nighttime television has returned! parenthood and how I met your mother down; big bang theory, the office, parks and rec and House to go! it will be a busy fall.

be sure and visit facebook for a new photo album of delightful goodness!


last but not least: guest quotes.

"what kind of skull is that?"
me: "it's a bottlenose dolphin."
"oh I thought it was a bird."
"a bird?"
"you know, like kevin from Up!"

son: "how do they sleep?"
me: "well dolphins actually sleep one half of their brain at a time, so they can always be a little bit awake."
dad: "like you (son) in school."
son: "no I don't use any of my brain in school. except on spelling tests."

mother: "we did a school project on sea turtles. and I know it was good because I did it. I should save it so my younger son can use it next year. there are just too many projects, they can't expect us to get them all done."
me (thinking): way to go mom. so your children don't do any of their own school work?

also I might have had a minor panic attack when I saw creepy fingers clinging to a little girl, only to realize she had an ET doll holding on around her neck. you know she didn't get that at seaworld either.

ketchup.

or catch up. whichever you prefer. if you prefer ketchup, try your fridge. if you prefer catching up, stay right here.

a lot of these will be pet things. let's start with that...because now we are basically a zoo. more animals live in our house than humans. so the cat uses my hand to groom itself. because she is coned and can't use her own paws. so she licks my hand and then wipes her face on it. sick. but cute. it is also funny to watch her because she can only reach the tips of her toes and the tip of her tail to groom herself. those parts of her body are clean. the cat sleeps on the dog bed and the dog likes the cat bed...and they get along great. they also play together. she swats at his tail and he gives me the 'mom aren't you going to stop her' look. and she has found a place where she can wait and pounce on him when he tears down the hallway. too funny. and a funny rhett quote: "CAT! rule one of begging! don't claw the person that you want something from!" also...I took the dog out last night, and he started to pee, then saw a lizard that he wanted to chase. he continued peeing while chasing the lizard, so proceeding to continue to pee all over himself. moron.

and what have we been up to lately?

well the grimes came to visit! so a lot, actually! we went to seaworld on saturday, and did EVERYTHING. ladies and gentlemen, it is physically possible to see everything at seaworld in one day. (not suggested without a tour guide, of course :) ) then sunday we went to play washers at the doggy park and went to watch the A&M/SMU game with the local A&M club and met some local aggies! btho. then monday we went to downtown disney. and let me tell you, I love downtown disney. it is such a fun date! we visited all the shops, and ate at rainforest cafe, had ghiradelli (MOM YOU HAVE TO TRY THEIR PUMPKIN SPICE CARAMEL FILLED SQUARES OH MY GOSH I HAD 3). we rode the boats to the resort that we stayed on our honeymoon. and then...there was a "dance party" going on. I made rhett promise to dance with me. I had him convinced. LITERALLY, right as we approached the dance party (we said, let's see how good the next song is) the dj came over the mic and said "and now we are going to do some swing dancing!" is that fate or what? so we went down and lindied. lindyed? lindy-ed? lindy hopped. awesome. and tuesday was discovery cove day. we snorkeled with the reef fishes and the southern, spotted eagle and cownose rays (HUGE) and *hopefully* got some good pictures (soon to come). what a great week.

hours are starting to pick back up again (already) with work. which is nice. and it was nice to have a little break after 40 hr. wks most of the summer. hopefully I can start volunteering soon. be praying for possible career moves? my brain is all over the place.

also, kids jeopardy is awesome. because I actually know the answers.

guest quotes:
woman entering arctic: "man it got dark really quickly!"
me: "umm it's a fake sky. you're really inside."

little boy:"do you think I could beat a polar bear?"
me: "probably not, polar bears are twice as big as me, and weigh 5 times as much."
little boy: "what if I had a sword?"
me: "maybe if you had a sword."
boy's dad: "I love it when he talks about killing things to the conservation people."

joke. "what is a killer whale's favorite type of pudding?"
answer: "tapiORCA pudding!"