The sixth sense

Mark has a sixth sense - he has a really awesome ability to pick a perfect avocado. The ones that are perfectly ripe and one more day and they'd be all brown. There are several times when he's come back from the store, and I feel it and think, "Oooh...this one's going to be gross inside" only to cut into it and it's immaculate. And they always taste amazing - absolutely perfect. Today was no exception. I decided now was the time to blog about his gift. Delicioso! The funny thing is, Mark doesn't eat avocados. The only time he buys them is for me - it's so sad, he doesn't know what he's missing!
We ventured out to Mt Bonnell today because it was the most gorgeous day, and I can't believe I've never been before - it's gorgeous. Ahhh, I love Austin :)

Pizza Hut has been added to "the list"

Yesterday our class went to the Montessori school so we could administer the Peabody test on some of these lovely children. They were all really cute, but there were some very strange kids, too. Anyway, for the most part everything was good, except our teacher asked us to stay an hour later because the kiddos were all napping while we were there so we couldn't test them. Nornally I wouldn't mind, but since I was heading to Austin I was a little irked. And that's pretty much it. Then Jenn and I hopped on the road as fast as we could and headed South to Austin. Unfortunately, the traffic was awful - in fact, the HOV lane (HOV lane of death - it's very narrow with concrete on both sides) was at a standstill because you can't get around! I will never, ever take that HOV lane! Luckily we got to crawl along as we were not in the HOV. By 7 we were getting hungry, so we discussed how good pizza would be - Hey! Pizza Hut buffet? Awesome! So in Temple we stopped - and anyone who has taken exit 301 to get to everything in Temple knows - the roads there suck and make absolutely no sense. So finally, yay pizza hut! and we get inside and it's NOT a buffet. Whatever, we decide to stay. It took almost an hour for a personal pizza (these take 7 min to make - I know this from eating at the Lair nearly everyday in college!). Plus, the restaurant was like 50 degrees. It was warmer outside! So, Pizza Hut, I am adding you to "the list". It'll take a lot to redeem yourself. Jenn and I finally got to Austin at 9, when I realized I had not told Mark about our plans for the evening (Jenn called me the worst wife ever). Luckily Mark is so easygoing it didn't really bother him. So the three of us met up with Mere, Dale, Ben and Andrew on 6th to see Phoenix Down, a band that Ben knows (They were really good, too!). While we were waiting, Jenn and I were approached by some tanked guy from PA (who I thought said VA, as in veteran's affairs) who kept asking us what certain Texas beers tasted like - uh, beer? Anyway, at this bar we got all kinds of free stuff - American Honey (new liquor & I got a tiny tank top!) and free Coors Light, which I have never had before. It tasted like crackers to me. I really loved the fact that the mountains turned blue when it was cold, though. It was a really fun night, as usual! I love these guys :)

Note in the picture the awesome way Meredith is holding 2 drinks in 1 hand

Really? Already? (bonus blog)

I can't believe this has already happened. So soon, too! Less than a month out! I have lost my mojo. The last week's blogs SUCKED! I'm sorry - there was really nothing funny about those - perhaps I should have mentioned things like slyly trying to take a picture of the guy at trivia I have dubbed "sea captain", or how I almost fell down in the parking lot scraping off my car. Or of course there was yesterday when I knocked over a half full glass of tea in the middle of class and started giggling uncontrollably because Anna had knocked 2 things over earlier that lecture. Also, the fact that I am completely incapable of being on time. There was once a time when I had to leave my house at 7:10 - 7:10!!!! - to get to my 7:45 physio class on time - and sometimes I would leave a few minutes early and have time to stop at Starbucks! Anyway...yeah. Sorry - I hope February will be better!

Why I love Austin

If you didn't hear about this, check it out - particularly watch the first video clip!

http://www.kxan.com/dpp/news/Road_signs_warn_of_zombies

This morning started off with watching 3 hours of videos assessing the functioning level of people from 1988. I can't believe I managed to stay awake for the whole thing. Then I went to an interview at Gold's Gym, and I ended up getting a job offer to work part time in the Kid's Club! I'm hoping I won't be overwhelmed, but I really think having a job will keep me more focused because I'll have to make better use of my time. So anyway, the plan is to work about 10 hours a week, playing with the kiddos while mom and dad work out. Hopefully things will work out!

Then I was going to drive Anna to Lovefield, but we were going to have dinner first. I kept going on Lover's, and somehow ended up waaay far away from the airport. We made it back way before her flight, but we didn't end up eating dinner. Oops!

we ended up getting 2nd at trivia - it was finals (although Dallas finals are kind of screwy) so the grand prize was a Superbowl party, which none of us were too excited about. So we got 2nd - which is the same prize as 1st normally is ($50). Pretty good! The picture above is a good ol' typo. Help me find a manger, quick!

The inner dome of heaven has fallen!

Today was the real ice day - everything was covered! I left for school around 12:45 and spent about 20 minutes scraping my car - particularly the back windshield. It didn't feel that cold, though, because the sun was shining. And luckily the roads weren't too bad by the time I got out. The picture entitled stairs of death are the stairs I walk down everytime I need to leave my apartment. I call the one of my side mirror Katie should not be driving. Because, well, look at my mirror!

That's all, folks - I'm going to bed! I have to wake up extra early to get the car scraped and going...booooooo.

How are you this evening, Mrs. Darcy?

So I woke up this morning to find that classes had been cancelled due to the weather, so I pretty much did nothing today. In fact, I barely (if it counts) got dressed. The only time I left the apartment was around 8AM to go to the store before it started icing. You'd think I would have used this time to get caught up (or even ahead!) in school, but not so much. I did cook some stuff though: 1) I made a pizza for lunch with extra extra bell peppers (yummy) 2) Amish friendship...muffins? I have 2 small loaf pans and forgot that my sister hasn't returned them yet, so I used what I had - muffin tins! and 3) Spaghetti with zucchini. So, that's it - a rather dull ice day. The world should be melted tomorrow, so it will be back to school for me!

It's beginning to look a lot like last year!

I'm starting to think that when the Grad I's next year ask, "Which semester was worse, first or second?" It's sort of going to be like asking someone "Which is worse: Projectile vomiting or diarrhea?" Well, I dunno - they're both pretty awful. You don't want either of them. So far I've managed to stay on top of things (except that I read next week's chapters for Peds instead of this week's), but I can already see how this is going to become a problem. The good news is, they have given us guidelines for the majority of our projects for the semester. The bad news is that, once again, they all kind of land on top of each other in a pile of dead trees, b.s., random OT words and hair (pulled from the frustrated students, of course). Also, they've decided to play musical chairs with our schedule, so I never really know when I have class and when we're supposed to be somewhere else. Fridays I'm supposed to be off, but I know at least 7 Friday's I have stuff for school already. It's getting confusing - and I've only been in school for a week.