tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-84071466713191789002024-03-13T13:35:56.940-07:00Catazonia, Home of CatazonAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06621075389438980874noreply@blogger.comBlogger311125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8407146671319178900.post-86026112545295221312013-10-14T16:33:00.000-07:002013-10-14T16:35:25.616-07:00My GEOG 583 Term ProjectThis is why I don't have time to blog:<br />
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<iframe frameborder="0" height="396" src="http://www.screenr.com/embed/D4uH" width="500"></iframe>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06621075389438980874noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8407146671319178900.post-21864627870092697392012-12-13T13:52:00.000-08:002012-12-13T13:54:53.064-08:00Another One for the BooksI'm glad this year is (almost) over. It seems like it's lasted for two. For a while there, I was actually wishing the whole Mayan calendar thing was true, because this was turning out to be one of the worst years of my life. You'll notice the date and content of my last post and easily figure out why. <br />
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That, and I was stuck in a job I didn't want with a dysfunctional business strategy guiding not only my team but the other teams with which I closely worked. On top of that, I started thinking my particular age might be the magical turning point where everything was downhill from here. Not in a good place at all. <br />
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Good news is it looks like life is on a upswing. I've been in a new job for a little over a month in a great location, with great people, tons of challenges, AND (not that it's important, but...) more money. The challenges aren't all going to be easy and maybe not even winnable, but in the end, it's going to be something I can stick in my back pocket and every now and then pull out and say, "I did that!" Now when I leave work, I don't feel like drinking my life away and I actually try to work out a little bit. My daughter starting up sports has helped too. In fact, her first basketball game ever was this week, and while the gang of fourth graders she runs with didn't score any points against the fifth and sixth grade rivals, they did something even better.<br />
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Yep, that sucker's stuck. Hilarious. And yes, the other team scored 24 and they scored zero. It was still fun (straight from the horse's mouth)!<br />
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Something else that helped put a big smile on my face was spending time with my husband in Nashville earlier this month. We honeymooned there fifteen years ago, and I've always wanted to go back, especially since my sister and a group of our friends go every year to see the Texans beat the Titans. Oh, now you see what the smile is from, you say. Well yeah, how could I help but smile when this was my view?<br />
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Yep, life is good. Now let's hope all that hype about the Mayans really isn't true.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06621075389438980874noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8407146671319178900.post-28574972788799881822012-05-30T12:50:00.000-07:002012-05-30T12:50:07.541-07:00A Tribute to My Cousin<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My cousin died two weeks ago today. I know some people would say big deal, it’s just a cousin or big deal, people die every day, but it is a big deal to me. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My father has a brother and three sisters. My sister and I basically grew up with our cousins from the three sisters like we were siblings, swimming like fish in my grandparents’ pool and climbing trees like monkeys up and down Grape Street. My uncle acted like one of us kids until he left for Florida and never came back (that’s a whole ‘nother story). We are all still close at heart even though we spread out among Arkansas, Texas and Florida back in the 80’s. I’m the oldest of the cousins; my dead cousin was two months younger than me. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I guess my father’s side of the family has been mostly lucky when it comes to death. We really haven’t had to deal with the tragedy of losing our loved ones too soon. My grandparents lived long, full lives; my parents are relatively healthy; my aunts and uncle are still going strong; and the rest of my cousins and their spawn are thriving. There was an incident, almost three years ago now, where one of my younger cousins lost the love of her life to a ranching accident; he was gored in the lung by an exotic deer. This was the husband to the sister of my dead cousin. As I said, we’ve been mostly lucky, but some of us have suffered much, much more than others.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If you ever rented tubes from Rockin’ R on the Comal River, you might have seen my cousin. You really couldn’t miss him. He was a big guy, almost as tall as me (a long-standing joke in the family), and definitely twice as wide; his voice matched his size. While his sense of humor bordered on obnoxious for some of the family, you can be certain a woman like me would think he was funny. He had been many things in his too-short life…a chef who helped start one of the best restaurants in New Braunfels, a real estate agent who drooled over riverfront property, and a teacher whose next big thing was being a principal. He got to dance with his beautiful daughter while celebrating his sister's second chance at love only two short months ago. He didn’t get to do enough.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Although it was his heart that was the most broken, the hearts of his entire family will forever be changed. I love and miss you, Chris.</span></div>
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Overall, it was a stellar year for this rodeo volunteer. I got to park at Pole 21 every night I worked. I drank a lot and ate some tamales. I got in trouble a couple of times for still acting like a captain, but I like getting in trouble (imagine that).</div>
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I did not get to sing with the National Anthem with the choir due to a "marketing decision" the powers-that-be made two weeks before the rodeo started. But I got to wear our pretty vest</div>
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She and The Tomcat got to ride in the Grand Entry too (trust me, that's them).</div>
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Somehow, both The Catmobile and The Tomcat's truck were hit in the rodeo parking lots this year. The Catmobile got it bad, but so what? It's paid for, and I'm getting a sports car in another two years.</div>
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Like I said, no complaints overall. I'm sure my next post will be something along the lines of not keeping the weight lost from Operation Rodeo Jeans off. Until then...YEEHAW!</div>
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<br /></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06621075389438980874noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8407146671319178900.post-38354221589073818672011-12-22T14:35:00.001-08:002011-12-22T14:41:18.111-08:00Merry Christmas!<div style="font-size: 0.8em; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 10px 0; padding: 0;">
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/smopho/6555191995/" title="_ARD0495_1 copy"><img alt="_ARD0495_1 copy by SmoPho" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7034/6555191995_27f1ccd059.jpg" /></a><br />
<span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Photo by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/smopho/">SmoPho</a> on Flickr.</span></div>
That is if your version of a merry Christmas starts with an elbow in your crotch.<br />
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I tried to find a more flattering picture of myself from the San Antonio Roller Derby mashup bout I skated in last Sunday, but the only thing I found was that I need to lose about 30 pounds before March. Boobies!<br />
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So Merry Christmas, indeed!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06621075389438980874noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8407146671319178900.post-13866827563539293502011-09-15T14:47:00.000-07:002011-09-15T14:47:24.605-07:00Summer is Over (in my book)<br />
The Summer of 2011 was hell...absolute, energy-draining, soul-sucking hell. Not only because of the things everyone knows about...record-breaking heat, drought and wildfires in the wonderful state I call home...but also because of a ton of personal burdens. Today, after I completely get the Summer of 2011 off my chest, I'm walking away from it for good. <br />
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This summer started out with The Kitten attending a new daycare...for one whole week. She hated it and cried herself to sleep every single night she knew she had to go back there in the morning. Since she was traumatized and refused to try another daycare, we catered to her spoiled rottenness the rest of the summer by driving her to whatever extended family member she wished to grace with her presence or bribing her cousins to come to us. At least one of us had a great summer! I don't know of anything stronger than your worry for your child(ren) that can drag you down to a dark, dark place. Unless you have a demanding job too...<br />
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So during all that scrambling for babysitters and driving all over the northwest side of Houston, I was also dealing with work. You might recall a while ago <a href="http://www.catazon.com/2011/01/new-year-same-ol-stuff.html">I started talking about this big strategic project</a> to which my very cool boss was reassigned and I would be backfilling for her in the meantime, but then as the project moved through its phases, we discovered the entire company would be reorganized and I started tweeting about how I wasn't going to have the same job (my original Business Analyst job) at the end of the six-month project. No? Well, that's your background, and all you really need to know is all that waiting and worrying over the summer came to a head when the available jobs were posted last week. I've narrowed down my five choices (although I know they will most likely place me in the job that most closely resembles the one I hold now and don't want), and now my fate is in somebody else's hands. Of course, I won't know that fate until the end of October, but like I said, I'm walking away. Letting it go, and hoping my company doesn't let me go.<br />
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Now the summer wasn't all bad. We had an awesome trip to Disney World the beginning of June. I skated in <a href="http://www.catazon.com/2011/06/well-rounded-derby-girl.html">not only one</a> but <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mzmo/6130750117/">two banked track bouts</a>. I spent a weekend with a friend I had not seen since high school. And today...today, I finally found the motivation I need to move to a better place. I start rehearsing with the rodeo choir on September 26th, and our first performance is October 15th. I bet you didn't know that Catazon was a good enough singer to try out for a choir that performs in front of, oh, a few thousand people for three weeks out of the year and actually MAKE IT! Well, you oughta know.<br />
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Summer of 2011...you can kiss my karaoke-ing ass. <br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/tony_sodaro/3878260063/" title="sodaro hrd 8-29-2009 11-15-50 PM by Tony_Sodaro, on Flickr"><img alt="sodaro hrd 8-29-2009 11-15-50 PM" height="500" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2488/3878260063_7ac271e057.jpg" width="335" /></a> </div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06621075389438980874noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8407146671319178900.post-64351788699275272862011-06-30T08:19:00.000-07:002011-06-30T08:19:16.243-07:00A Well-Rounded Derby GirlThis morning, the knot that is still on my lower right leg almost two weeks after my first banked-track bout reminded me that I haven't shared my latest adventure in my derby life with my neglected blog. Today, I have absolutely no work to do and, since I'm losing my current job in the near future, no motivation to make up work to do. So here's the story about how a well-rounded woman became a well-rounded derby girl.<br />
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A couple of weeks ago, <a href="http://www.southsiderollerderby.com/">South Side Roller Derby</a> began looking for skaters, flat-track or banked-track, to participate in an impromptu bout in an effort to keep from losing their venue. Even though I'm extremely out of shape and not getting any younger, I still try to maintain my free agent status by making a showing in any pick-up bout within a 300 mile radius, so naturally I jumped at the chance to try the real thing. I mean, what else put the dream in my heart if it wasn't old-school, no-holds-barred, banked-track roller derby? How could I pass this up?<br />
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South Side welcomed me and one other flat-tracker with open arms. I had made the hour-long drive from my north-side house to the south-side track several months ago for an open practice, and the two of us were there early before the bout to keep from embarrassing ourselves in public. Still I knew this wasn't going to be pretty; I really had no idea how different it was until the first whistle blew. My husband took a couple of pictures on his phone before the game started and I lost any shred of remaining innocence. (If you have half a brain, you can figure out a Catazon literally stands head and shoulders above the rest of the girls.) I haven't been able to find any others, but that might be a good thing, as you will see...</div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-IoWq34WxWGo/TgyFTPwdn1I/AAAAAAAAAVo/WJP9ppCzjEU/s1600/IMAG0021.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" i$="true" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-IoWq34WxWGo/TgyFTPwdn1I/AAAAAAAAAVo/WJP9ppCzjEU/s320/IMAG0021.jpg" width="191" /></a>The first half was pretty much a waste for me. I had one good jam where I was able to impede the jammer for at least half the distance of the track if not more, but other than that, I could not get the hang of the angles and the acceleration factors. They put me the jammer star on me close to the end of the half, and I kept getting swallowed up by the pack every time I thought I was out. Damn those angles.</div>
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The second half, I was in every pack with one of my team's best skaters, Mojo, and she took me under her wing. We lined up next to each other in every jam, and she encouraged me to do the things I wasn't used to doing after playing by stringent flat-track rules for five years, such as swimming through the pack. I was starting to get pretty good at that, until I tried to take out a pole after getting a hip check to the inside. That speed you pick up going to the inside of the track is such a rush! The knot on my leg happened in the second half also, because I ended up on the floor or on top of other skaters much more than in the first half when I was skating too tentatively. Hey, I could get used to this!<br />
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In the end, the pink team was victorious, with or without my bumbling assistance. South Side is having another pick-up bout this Saturday, but my family is trying to make a July 4th tradition with friends at a Galveston beach house (two years in a row is not a tradition yet, but we'll go for more if possible). I highly recommend trying the banked track if you are a skilled flat-tracker. I know "I'll be back" if they'll have me.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06621075389438980874noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8407146671319178900.post-8904168750426393502011-04-26T13:47:00.000-07:002011-04-26T13:48:37.251-07:00Sometimes Catazon Pretends She's a CougarThis year's birthday wasn't as exciting as <a href="http://www.catazon.com/2010/04/my-hair-is-weird-and-my-birthday-is-way.html">last year's</a>, but I'm not complaining. I still got a bunch of good stuff...my family pretty much cleared out my wish list; I'll have to replenish it before Christmas, or I'll get the usual gift certificates for Victoria's Secret and black raspberry vanilla toiletries from Bath & Body Works and nothing else...and I still got my favorite home-cooked meal and strawberry cake. Nope, I wouldn't call that exciting.<br />
<br />
What was fun was I got to go out and act like a woman of my advanced age does. I even brought my husband along. One of my favorite country & western singers who I have seen a couple times at small venues when I was living in Austin was playing at the Firehouse Saloon on Friday night. So I got gussied up in my tightest jeans, halter top, and bling-bling belt and mosied on down early to get a front row seat for Ty Herndon. Didn't really need to do that since there were only about 50 people at the show, but what the hey, the vodka sodas went down easy. Ty forgot to sing his world famous rendition of You Can Leave Your Hat On, and I went over after the show to tell him how disappointed I was.<br />
<br />
<blockquote>Ty: Get over here, you big sexy girl!<br />
Me: Ooooh ok, I just wanted to tell you how disappointed I was that you didn't do You Can Leave Your Hat On.<br />
Ty: YOU CAN LEEEAAAVVVE YOUR HAT ON!<br />
Me: Meoooowwww.</blockquote><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-cGaVI3fDmEc/Tbcsl7WmRiI/AAAAAAAAAUo/HT9R7zfkf1c/s1600/210620_1751554305834_1148160972_31572300_1465558_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" i8="true" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-cGaVI3fDmEc/Tbcsl7WmRiI/AAAAAAAAAUo/HT9R7zfkf1c/s400/210620_1751554305834_1148160972_31572300_1465558_o.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><br />
But really, I always look like I'm ready to pounce when I take pictures with hot celebrities. Remember, my husband was watching the whole thing. Escandalo!<br />
<br />
I didn't even notice until yesterday I paid for the whole night...tickets, drinks, everything! Happy birthday to me!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06621075389438980874noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8407146671319178900.post-25811668659330832592011-04-18T13:36:00.000-07:002011-04-18T13:36:00.598-07:00Another Month in the Life...<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">This big cat is pretty busy right now and having a hard time keeping all my balls of yarn in the air, so I thought it might help to write it all down.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Sometime this week, I will celebrate forty-one fun-filled years upon this whirling dervish we call Earth. I shouldn’t say sometime; I really mean most of the time…family dinner Thursday; Ty Herndon concert Friday; a friend’s 40<sup>th</sup> birthday party Saturday. Put that together with Easter weekend, and it’s going to be hard to get out of bed next Monday.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Good thing I dyed those eggs yesterday.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">For years derby ruled my life, but a couple of weeks ago, I squeaked a few hours of derby into real life by playing in the Clutch City mashup bout the same weekend my husband had shoulder surgery. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By the time of the bout, I was ready to get out of the house; I had a great time without have to break too much of a sweat; and he pulled out his pain pump all by himself while I was gone. So a win-win-win for everyone, including my team!</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-z_qJekWAl4U/TayfbmuhuBI/AAAAAAAAAUY/KxvV--m26ok/s1600/202212_202893779741463_178723715491803_615676_611747_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="400" r6="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-z_qJekWAl4U/TayfbmuhuBI/AAAAAAAAAUY/KxvV--m26ok/s400/202212_202893779741463_178723715491803_615676_611747_o.jpg" width="265" /></span></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">When we bought our beautiful new touchscreen all-in-one computer in February, I committed to finally getting rid of all our music CDs so I could have more storage room for our DVDs. (Now I wonder what’s going to replace the DVDs in a few years?) With that project wrapping up, I pulled out a drawer in my bedroom and realized I have about ten of my favorite movies and about twenty more that I bought to make my husband happy still on VHS! It looks like I’m going to move my VCR to the home office and hook it up to the beautiful computer permanently so I can get rid of those useless pieces of plastic before nobody will take them for donations anymore.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m pretty much in a downsizing phase all around, including my body, once again.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Today, I’m committing to Operation Look Good in Shorts at Disneyworld.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While it might have to wait till next Monday to get the full treatment with my busy birthday week looming, today I started counting my calories and walked the downtown tunnels for an afternoon break.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We have forty-three days until the big family vacation. I don’t care if I lose any weight by then; I just don’t want my legs to rub together during all that walking.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">So that’s what part of April and most of May will look like for the big cat.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of course, I didn’t even mention that another year of elementary school for The Kitten is coming to an end, and with that, field days, piano recitals, and all the other fun stuff she is overlooking because she can only think about getting to summer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If I make to summer without hurting myself that is…</span></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06621075389438980874noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8407146671319178900.post-11779176229418655982011-03-30T09:24:00.000-07:002011-03-30T09:24:56.483-07:00Rodeo Wrap-upOne of my favorite things about volunteering for the rodeo is when it's finally over. And I don't mean that in a negative way; I get to read all about another wonderful year at the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo in the <a href="http://hlsr.com/about/downloads/news/R322_2011Show%20Wrap.pdf">wrap-up press release</a>. Granted the numbers are rumored to be padded, but I'm pretty good at exaggerating myself. Here's my own version:<br />
<br />
<strong>Marie (aka Catazon) Finishes Up Her Third and Final Year as Club East Captain - March 21, 2011 - For Immediate Release</strong> - On the morning of March 21, 2011, Marie made her final trip to Reliant Stadium as a Captain on the Corral Club - Club East A Team to help her committee push all the beer boxes, margarita machines, and portable bars downstairs to Equipment and finish cleaning out the leftover alcohol and other sundries. She took home a buttload of limes to make fresh margaritas later in the evening, because we all know you have to wean yourself slowly from twenty straight days of rodeo excess. <br />
<br />
Following are the highlights of Marie's own personal 2011 March Madness:<br />
<br />
ATTENDANCE<br />
<ul><li><strong>Officially worked six nights:</strong> Sugarland, Selena Gomez, Martina McBride, Gary Allan, KISS, and Alan Jackson.</li>
<li><strong>Helped out the other teams for two nights:</strong> Clay Walker and Jason Aldean.</li>
<li><strong>"Played" on seven additional nights: </strong>Janet Jackson, Billy Currington, Lady Antebellum, Kid Rock, Miranda Lambert, Zac Brown Band, and Brad Paisley.</li>
<li>Yes, that's a total of <strong>15 out of 20 nights </strong>that Marie was on the grounds of RodeoHouston.</li>
</ul>SCHOLARSHIP SUPPORT<br />
<ul><li><strong>Drink tickets purchased</strong>: $240 worth (not counting the tickets sweet-talked off the husband)</li>
<li><strong>Wine tickets purchased</strong>: ~$30 worth (those were hair of the dog days; more money will be spent on wine next year)</li>
<li><strong>Carnival tickets purchased</strong>: $100 worth (half-price, of course)</li>
<li><strong>Carnival tickets donated</strong>: $50 worth</li>
<li><strong>Alamo tamales eaten</strong>: $12 worth (3 half-dozens, usually on the hair of the dog days)</li>
<li><strong>Gifts bought for the Assistant Club Chairman's last year</strong>: $315 worth (money collected from the Club)</li>
</ul>OTHER HIGHLIGHTS AND NOTABLE NUMBERS<br />
<ul><li><strong>Steps walked</strong>: ~503,000 over the past six weeks; the majority of those on the 15 days at rodeo.</li>
<li><strong>Number of times riding the </strong><a href="http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/story?section=news/local&id=8024489"><strong>rollercoaster of death</strong></a>: 2</li>
<li><strong>Number of times riding the rollercoaster of death in the front seat</strong>: 1 (just happened to be the day before and you know it was with The Kitten)</li>
<li><strong>Number of days Pole 21, the same place I've been parking since I started volunteering seven years ago, was unreachable</strong>: 12 (don't even get me started; it's pretty much documented via Facebook and Twitter)</li>
<li><strong>Number of gifts my team bought me for my last year as Captain</strong>: 4</li>
<ul><li>HLSR pink and black windbreaker</li>
<li>HLSR pink and black rhinestone belt buckle</li>
<li>HLSR sterling silver bracelet</li>
<li style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">And my favorite, HLSR Corral Club key fob<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-9oTQQswDESA/TZNJUcvtedI/AAAAAAAAATc/Z3Vml_mG4eo/s1600/IMG_20110330_100934.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" r6="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-9oTQQswDESA/TZNJUcvtedI/AAAAAAAAATc/Z3Vml_mG4eo/s320/IMG_20110330_100934.jpg" width="320" /></a></li>
</ul></ul><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Another great year of giving back to my community and also getting something in return; not only material things but pride, respect, love...too many positive emotions and feelings to list. As I mentioned, there's an Assistant Club Chairman position open on my Club, and I'm up for it. 2012 may be even better than 2011, if we aren't killed walking to our car a mile away or being flung out of a carnival ride!</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06621075389438980874noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8407146671319178900.post-37408065083429021952011-03-08T14:08:00.001-08:002011-03-08T14:11:48.841-08:00Blood & Thunder<div style="font-size: 0.8em; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/zeeev/5506151333/" title="photo sharing"><img alt="Blood&ThunderFeb2011ZK005 by Zeeev" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5012/5506151333_2bc7c30d29.jpg" /></a><br />
<span style="margin: 0px;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/zeeev/5506151333/">Blood&ThunderFeb2011ZK005</a> a photo by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/zeeev/">Zeeev</a> on Flickr.</span></div>My current league, Crude City Roller Derby, hosted a Blood & Thunder Training Camp the last weekend of February. Tryouts for a Roller Derby World Cup team that will compete in December 2011 were held during the camp. This shot was taken during tryouts.<br />
<br />
After the hour and a half tryout, when we were offered the chance to verbally promote ourselves on video, all I could say was, "I wish you would have done this when I was 35."Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06621075389438980874noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8407146671319178900.post-55939664174680830582011-01-24T09:32:00.000-08:002011-01-24T09:33:08.891-08:00I Knew I Missed My CallingThis weekend, I reached another one of my four life goals. I've played tackle football, I've played (and continue to play) roller derby, and now I've driven a stock car.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_RdUCywUXCLk/TT2qgk2PteI/AAAAAAAAATE/GRiMU7FIZQQ/s1600/IMG_6093.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" s5="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_RdUCywUXCLk/TT2qgk2PteI/AAAAAAAAATE/GRiMU7FIZQQ/s400/IMG_6093.JPG" width="300" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">On Saturday, my husband and I each drove twenty laps at Texas Motor Speedway with the help of <a href="http://www.teamtexas.com/">Team Texas Driving School</a>. You may recall <a href="http://www.catazon.com/2010/04/my-hair-is-weird-and-my-birthday-is-way.html">this was my 40th birthday present from him</a>? Like I said before, BEST BIRTHDAY PRESENT EVER! The only way he can top this is by giving me the 40, 60, or 80 lap courses, so I can learn drafting and all those other things "a natural" should be able to do on a racetrack. Yes, my instructor called me a natural, and I, of course, responded with "I bet you say that to all the girls". No, what I really said was "Well, I play roller derby, so I know about timing on the track." I could tell he thought I was crazy. Whatever, dude.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">There is no way I can describe the feeling of taking those 25° turns at 140+ MPH. When the video comes in, we will see how many times my YEEHAWs tried to capture the moment. Also how I would get really mad when the pros driving the people who just wanted to ride would pass me up. None of the other people who paid to drive passed me, although I did pass quite a few of them. It was an amazing experience, even better than skydiving to me. I don't know what it is about going fast and turning left that gets to me, but sometimes I have to keep from quoting my favorite movie, <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0099371/">Days of Thunder</a>, when I think about it. "You want to control something that's out of control? Control is an illusion, you infantile egomaniac."</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">So what's my final life goal? Let's see if I ever get around to paying for flying lessons, now that I've discovered I really should have been a race car driver.</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06621075389438980874noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8407146671319178900.post-75851365458989270272011-01-13T11:39:00.000-08:002011-01-13T11:39:36.323-08:00FMBWe all know what FML stands for on the interwebs, but in this case, switch "blog" for "life". <br />
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Today I realized that since <a href="http://www.houstonrollerderby.com">Houston Roller Derby</a> went live with their new site, all my links to the old site are toast. Love the new site, ladies, but boohoohoo for me. <br />
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Anybody have a stash of all the 2006 to 2008 bout posters? Elle McFierce, I'm talking to you.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06621075389438980874noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8407146671319178900.post-91383340513112036982011-01-05T14:47:00.000-08:002011-01-05T14:47:47.491-08:00New Year, Same Ol' StuffIn my last post, I mentioned I had a new job title. When I heard the news about filling in for my boss, I knew the only thing that would come with the new title was work that would hurt my head. Three days into the new work year, and my fears are confirmed. My head hurts.<br />
<br />
So something's gotta give...<br />
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Unfortunately, that something will be all the fun I have online. Don't expect regular updates for the next six months, my four faithful blog followers. Try not to miss my wittiness on <a href="http://www.twitter.com/Catazon">Twitter</a> and my facetiousness on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/Catazon">Facebook</a> either. What really hurts is I religiously read everything (blogs, tweets, status updates) from the people I follow, and I might miss something important in their lives while I'm trying to keep up with mine.<br />
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And as we all know, I work to live, not live to work, so I'm also keeping up with...The Kitten trying to get through second grade, my last year as captain on my rodeo committee with a possible option to move up to Assistant Club Chairman next year, another year of derby four hours away, losing twenty pounds before the season starts...<br />
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If I don't see you until July...Happy Valentine's Day, GO TEXAN!, Drink a Green Beer for Me, He is Risen!, Give Your Mother a Kiss, Thanks to our Troops!, and Give Your Father a Hug. Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06621075389438980874noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8407146671319178900.post-71443304203883178062010-12-17T11:49:00.000-08:002010-12-18T06:06:08.917-08:00Who Needs Christmas?Big things are already happening in December with Christmas still a week away.<br /><br />First, the Wii that I was excited to get online on Black Thanksgiving Night was stolen off our front porch as soon as UPS delivered. I know this because my husband heard the doorbell ring, ignored it, and then got mad at me when I got mad at him as he explained this to me. He immediately went and bought one full price. Sucks to be him. Sucks to be me, too, but relatively speaking, sucks more to be him.<br /><br />Second, my husband somewhat redeemed himself by doing something fun with his wife on a school night. Here we are tailgating at our first ever Monday Night Football game!<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="CLEAR: both; BORDER-RIGHT: medium none; BORDER-TOP: medium none; BORDER-LEFT: medium none; BORDER-BOTTOM: medium none; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a style="MARGIN-LEFT: 1em; MARGIN-RIGHT: 1em" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_RdUCywUXCLk/TQu4NHRdq_I/AAAAAAAAARo/fIT530LDM0w/s1600/148223_478787821099_833316099_5632159_864831_n.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_RdUCywUXCLk/TQu4NHRdq_I/AAAAAAAAARo/fIT530LDM0w/s400/148223_478787821099_833316099_5632159_864831_n.jpg" width="400" border="0" n4="true" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="CLEAR: both; BORDER-RIGHT: medium none; BORDER-TOP: medium none; BORDER-LEFT: medium none; BORDER-BOTTOM: medium none; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="CLEAR: both; BORDER-RIGHT: medium none; BORDER-TOP: medium none; BORDER-LEFT: medium none; BORDER-BOTTOM: medium none; TEXT-ALIGN: left">We really didn't drink enough to be leaning like that...he just tries to distance himself from the crazy in public. I know he's very proud of me, inside.</div><div class="separator" style="CLEAR: both; BORDER-RIGHT: medium none; BORDER-TOP: medium none; BORDER-LEFT: medium none; BORDER-BOTTOM: medium none; TEXT-ALIGN: left"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="CLEAR: both; BORDER-RIGHT: medium none; BORDER-TOP: medium none; BORDER-LEFT: medium none; BORDER-BOTTOM: medium none; TEXT-ALIGN: left">Lastly, I was officially named Knowledge Manager of my company this week while my supervisor works on a six-month strategic project. Not as important as it sounds and I was actually already doing most of the work anyway, so I'm way more stressed about everyone's eyes on me as I am about doing the job. I'm not going to let in ruin my holidays, even though I'll be working through my two weeks of vacation.</div><div class="separator" style="CLEAR: both; BORDER-RIGHT: medium none; BORDER-TOP: medium none; BORDER-LEFT: medium none; BORDER-BOTTOM: medium none; TEXT-ALIGN: left"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="CLEAR: both; BORDER-RIGHT: medium none; BORDER-TOP: medium none; BORDER-LEFT: medium none; BORDER-BOTTOM: medium none; TEXT-ALIGN: left">So really, who does need Christmas when life can be a curse or a treasure every single day?</div><div class="separator" style="CLEAR: both; BORDER-RIGHT: medium none; BORDER-TOP: medium none; BORDER-LEFT: medium none; BORDER-BOTTOM: medium none; TEXT-ALIGN: left"></div><div class="separator" style="CLEAR: both; BORDER-RIGHT: medium none; BORDER-TOP: medium none; BORDER-LEFT: medium none; BORDER-BOTTOM: medium none; TEXT-ALIGN: left"></div><div class="separator" style="CLEAR: both; BORDER-RIGHT: medium none; BORDER-TOP: medium none; BORDER-LEFT: medium none; BORDER-BOTTOM: medium none; TEXT-ALIGN: left"></div><div class="separator" style="CLEAR: both; BORDER-RIGHT: medium none; BORDER-TOP: medium none; BORDER-LEFT: medium none; BORDER-BOTTOM: medium none; TEXT-ALIGN: left"><BR><BR>UPDATE: My summation of this post might be construed as my ignorance of the true meaning of Christmas. As a Christian, I do know the true meaning of Christmas. I was commenting on the secular view of the season and how we, as a society, put so much energy into what Christmas now represents, when we should be living our whole lives with a reverence for the balance of give and take. Thanks for understanding.</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06621075389438980874noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8407146671319178900.post-64048329707475109962010-12-02T15:16:00.000-08:002010-12-02T15:16:41.470-08:00More Dead PetsQuite a while ago, I wrote about <a href="http://www.catazon.com/2009/03/pets-plants-and-parenting.html">how good my family was at killing off pets</a>. What I've neglected to tell you is that hasn't deterred us from buying more. This summer, we brought home a Betta for The Kitten's birthday. <br /><div class="separator" style="CLEAR: both; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a style="MARGIN-LEFT: 1em; MARGIN-RIGHT: 1em" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_RdUCywUXCLk/TPglYm-EDmI/AAAAAAAAARA/dz9kPYOYPbs/s1600/untitled.bmp" imageanchor="1"><img height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_RdUCywUXCLk/TPglYm-EDmI/AAAAAAAAARA/dz9kPYOYPbs/s320/untitled.bmp" width="268" border="0" ox="true" /></a></div><br />Poor little thing died within two months. Being a bit older, The Kitten understood this a lot better than she did with the turtle or the hamsters. There's a memorial in the backyard. So did we stop there?<br /><br />Of course not. I came home from <a href="http://www.catazon.com/2010/10/yet-another-weekend-full-of-wine.html">my wonderful weekend of wine and music</a> to find two guppies and a frog in the tiny Betta bowl. The frog jumped ship within a few days, but the guppies, they held on until the brilliant man I married put them in untreated tap water for too long last night. I hope The Kitten meant it when she was wailing about "No more pets!" She seemed genuinely happy when I told her Santa would bring her a <a href="http://www.wowwee.com/en/products/toys/plush/alive/fin-fin-friends-playsets">Fin Fin Friend</a> instead.<br /><br />We are now accepting contracts on any pets you might want to meet an untimely death. Satisfaction guaranteed.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06621075389438980874noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8407146671319178900.post-49317006918395512662010-11-26T07:37:00.000-08:002010-11-26T16:36:04.386-08:00Christmas Before Thanksgiving?!?!?I usually take the tradition of not recognizing the impending joy of the Christmas season until the day after the day after Thanksgiving. (Yes, there are intentionally two day afters in there.) However, it looks like my short-lived day after Thanksgiving tradition of visiting the <a href="http://www.texrenfest.com/">Texas Renaissance Festival</a> without The Kitten is most definitely short-lived, because the only companions I can find to visit with me today are my parents who are supposed to be watching The Kitten. And...I've already started shopping. Gasp!<br />
<br />
On Wednesday, I bought my in-laws a GPS after checking out the online Black Friday deals, and last night, I bought The Kitten a Wii as soon as Best Buy opened up their online Black Friday deals. Of course, I added Wii Fit to <a href="http://amzn.com/w/3OMU3KT4XH1E4">my wish list</a> shortly thereafter. Have I ever mentioned how much my agoraphobia loves the interwebs? As if it wasn't obvious.<br />
<br />
Now, with my plans dashed thanks to stupid Houston weather and my wonderful cable internet connection that never goes out, Christmas has come early to Catazonia. I may even start decorating the house today. Yaaaaay...<br />
<br />
UPDATED: Yep, I'm done...<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_RdUCywUXCLk/TPBSOSS6Y7I/AAAAAAAAAQ4/pns0XsV8Msg/s1600/154213_469752536099_833316099_5494940_7319732_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" ox="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_RdUCywUXCLk/TPBSOSS6Y7I/AAAAAAAAAQ4/pns0XsV8Msg/s320/154213_469752536099_833316099_5494940_7319732_n.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06621075389438980874noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8407146671319178900.post-8569422175131814022010-11-11T15:24:00.000-08:002010-11-11T15:24:29.848-08:00The Mystery of the FollowersI don't have much to say, but this has been driving me crazy for a while.<br />
<br />
I only have three followers, and not a one of them wants to be recognized.<br />
<br />
I'm sure the reason why I only have three followers goes back to the first six words of the post, but why do they all have to go incognito?<br />
<br />
Seriously, thanks for following. I'll try to be more interesting so you're not ashamed to show your face. Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06621075389438980874noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8407146671319178900.post-78170965332360372732010-10-19T11:22:00.000-07:002010-10-19T11:22:56.237-07:00Have Job, Will TravelToday begins a month of extraordinary travel for my job. Really, once I put it out there, most people, including me, would say, "Oh, that's not so bad." Then I put it in the context of "I love the organized schedule of my usual life and so does my daughter", and it makes me a little stressed. Thank goodness I will have time to throw in some personal fun (although I should probably take it easier on that since I recently had the good luck to strand myself an hour away from home with a dead battery just because I wanted to be a badass on the banked track too).<br />
<br />
Today, I leave for California at 6:45 p.m. CDT. Tomorrow, I work for at least twelve and a half hours, which includes a presentation on a subject that gives me indigestion and an evening meeting with Asia Pac that makes my eyes feel very droopy. I return home at 10:00 p.m. CDT on Thursday. Friday, we <a href="http://www.lonestarcamping.com/">camp</a>; Saturday, we <a href="http://www.skydivehouston.com/">jump out of a plane</a>; and Sunday, we return home for <a href="http://www.shrp.com/ZiegenBock10.html">Zeigfest</a>! Woohoo!<br />
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Halloween plans are shaping up nicely, including a <a href="http://www.ghostlandobservatory.net/">Ghostland Observatory</a> show that I have been looking forward to since July. A long-lost friend from Austin will be joining me and my sister, but no word on whether I can get everyone to dress up yet. The Friday after Halloween, I'm finally going to a University of Houston football game, almost twenty years after I received my bachelor's degree. Good times!<br />
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The next trip to California will be November 7-9. This one is extra special because the family will also be dealing with the opening weekend of deer season and the only flight I could take back gets me home at 12:30 a.m. CST on November 10. Why is this the only flight? I have to give the October 20th presentation on a subject that gives me indigestion to a Houston audience at noon CST on November 10th, after giving a presentation on my wonderful Community of Practice at 2:00 p.m. PST on November 9th. Loving my job right about now! May try to throw in a visit to the <a href="http://www.texrenfest.com/">Renfest</a> the weekend of the 13th, or The Kitten will hate me forever.<br />
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Don't worry; I'm not finished yet. I'm getting the 36 hours of professional development I need to complete my annual goals at a conference in Washington, DC, November 16-18. At least I get to see The Yankee on that trip and hopefully come home in one piece. Last time we partied in DC, I danced on a bar. Shocking, I know. I think I lost those pictures when my computer died this summer; well, it was either those or the videos from Key West. It's a good thing the proof of either is hard to find.<br />
<br />
And that, my friends, is my upcoming month of extraordinary travel for my job. When I get home on November 19th or 20th (haven't decided yet), I'll have already started on ten extraordinary days of no work at all. Could be worse, y'all, could be worse.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06621075389438980874noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8407146671319178900.post-32381809163185612232010-10-13T12:44:00.000-07:002010-10-13T12:44:14.546-07:00Yet Another Weekend Full of WineThis past weekend, I attended the <a href="http://gruenemusicandwinefest.org/">Gruene Music & Wine Fest</a>. Although I've been to Gruene, a quaint little town on the Guadalupe River snuggled up next to New Braunfels, many times, this was the first time I had the opportunity to attend the wine fest. I highly recommend a visit to Gruene any time of the year, but this was an especially enjoyable weekend, as you will see.<br />
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My sister and I took off about 10 a.m. on Friday with her family's pop-up trailer in tow. I, of course, made her stop at <a href="http://www.bucees.com/">Buc-ee's</a> in Luling even though she was very nervous pulling the pop-up around. Thankfully, they expanded the parking lot recently, and she had no problem getting in and out of there. Things were not as easy when we arrived at the campground about an hour later.<br />
<br />
A sign at the campground informed us that we could pick any site except for those marked reserved. My sister was looking for one in particular. When we got to 100, a reserved sign was sitting on the table so we continued driving and quickly noticed that there were no more campsites with hook-ups past 100. Trying to turn a camper around with a cliff on one side and the river on the other is not easy, and about halfway through the task, someone starts screaming about how they are going to pee on themselves from laughing about it. No, it wasn't me, but when my sister brought it up, well yeah, then I started laughing so hard I almost peed too. It took us a while to turn back around and stake a claim on campsite 99, but luckily, there was a guy who witnessed us doubled over in holding back pee mode and helped us back the damn trailer into the site. And who cares?<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_RdUCywUXCLk/TLYFucvxJRI/AAAAAAAAAP4/Fcd-l7mOIkg/s1600/71506_1641271393508_1288521640_1771157_858068_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ex="true" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_RdUCywUXCLk/TLYFucvxJRI/AAAAAAAAAP4/Fcd-l7mOIkg/s320/71506_1641271393508_1288521640_1771157_858068_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div>We were at the river! Later that night, my sister got really trashed and tried to climb through a fence when a gate was two feet to her left, but you really had to be there to appreciate that.<br />
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You might have noticed that I started this post in a very mature tone, but it has quickly gone south. Ok, at least I tried.<br />
<br />
Saturday at the wine fest was kick-ass. A good friend had joined us by now, and we quickly turned into the trio of women who caused a stir. That's my sister in the headdress.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_RdUCywUXCLk/TLYG2BKIk6I/AAAAAAAAAQU/GgK0DY1ovMA/s1600/69014_1641806166877_1288521640_1772753_3666293_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ex="true" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_RdUCywUXCLk/TLYG2BKIk6I/AAAAAAAAAQU/GgK0DY1ovMA/s320/69014_1641806166877_1288521640_1772753_3666293_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
And that's our friend in the Groucho Marx getup.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_RdUCywUXCLk/TLYJkB86T1I/AAAAAAAAAQo/-rOfx7v6PZY/s1600/72573_1641814887095_1288521640_1772764_5770146_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ex="true" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_RdUCywUXCLk/TLYJkB86T1I/AAAAAAAAAQo/-rOfx7v6PZY/s320/72573_1641814887095_1288521640_1772764_5770146_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
I have no idea how I became the normal one this weekend.<br />
<br />
The tastings included wine from none other than <a href="http://www.red55winery.com/">Miranda Lambert's own line</a> and an <a href="http://georgetownwinery.com/">award-winner from the podunk town I couldn't wait to leave</a>. The picture directly above was taken in Gruene Hall where we saw the <a href="http://www.warrenhood.com/">cutest little fiddle-player who we all wanted to sample</a>. Meow...<br />
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One thing I realized from this weekend was that I should be the normal one more often and take amazing pictures to remember everything. I'm sure I'll feel more like myself by next weekend.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06621075389438980874noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8407146671319178900.post-25426941001338563882010-10-04T15:38:00.000-07:002010-10-04T15:38:45.196-07:0030 Days of TruthI heard about <a href="http://www.peggysuebrister.com/2010/10/30-days-of-truth.html">this meme</a> from <a href="http://www.peggysuebrister.com/">a blog I recently added to my Reader</a> after <a href="http://twitter.com/PeggySueCusses">a random follow on Twitter</a> (if this isn't a web, then I don't know what is). I found it highly intriguing. Since I like to think of myself as an honest person and my blog tends to bog down so much nowadays, I thought it might be something fun to do.<br />
<br />
Then I read through all the days, <br />
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Day 01 → Something you hate about yourself.<br />
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Day 02 → Something you love about yourself.<br />
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Day 03 → Something you have to forgive yourself for.<br />
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Day 04 → Something you have to forgive someone for.<br />
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Day 05 → Something you hope to do in your life.<br />
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Day 06 → Something you hope you never have to do.<br />
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Day 07 → Someone who has made your life worth living for.<br />
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Day 08 → Someone who made your life hell, or treated you like shit.<br />
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Day 09 → Someone you didn’t want to let go, but just drifted.<br />
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Day 10 → Someone you need to let go, or wish you didn’t know.<br />
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Day 11 → Something people seem to compliment you the most on.<br />
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Day 12 → Something you never get compliments on.<br />
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Day 13 → A band or artist that has gotten you through some tough ass days. (write a letter.)<br />
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Day 14 → A hero that has let you down. (letter)<br />
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Day 15 → Something or someone you couldn’t live without, because you’ve tried living without it.<br />
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Day 16 → Someone or something you definitely could live without.<br />
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Day 17 → A book you’ve read that changed your views on something.<br />
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Day 18 → Your views on gay marriage.<br />
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Day 19 → What do you think of religion? Or what do you think of politics?<br />
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Day 20 → Your views on drugs and alcohol.<br />
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Day 21 → (scenario) Your best friend is in a car accident and you two got into a fight an hour before. What do you do?<br />
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Day 22 → Something you wish you hadn’t done in your life.<br />
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Day 23 → Something you wish you had done in your life.<br />
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Day 24 → Make a playlist to someone, and explain why you chose all the songs. (Just post the titles and artists and letter)<br />
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Day 25 → The reason you believe you’re still alive today.<br />
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Day 26 → Have you ever thought about giving up on life? If so, when and why?<br />
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Day 27 → What’s the best thing going for you right now?<br />
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Day 28 → What if you were pregnant or got someone pregnant, what would you do?<br />
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Day 29 → Something you hope to change about yourself. And why.<br />
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Day 30 → A letter to yourself, tell yourself EVERYTHING you love about yourself <br />
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And I thought, AWWW HELL NO! The only and only day of truth I need is Day 2...<br />
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I am NOT a honest person. ;)Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06621075389438980874noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8407146671319178900.post-61200484237456189952010-09-20T06:51:00.000-07:002010-09-20T07:01:31.883-07:00Bad IdeaSo maybe it wasn't a very good idea to start saving money on my blog. <br /><br />WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO MY TITLE BACKGROUND IMAGE?<br /><br /><em>Update:</em> I think I fixed it by copying the link from Picasa over again, so did Blogger just decide to automatically change the link with me telling it? Somebody tell me if it looks too small again, because I don't check this very often. Oh, that's right, I only have 3 followers...never mind.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06621075389438980874noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8407146671319178900.post-77298170651278078452010-09-16T14:28:00.000-07:002010-09-16T14:29:41.804-07:00Diversionary TacticsLast night, my family shared a very strange dinner. Since I had a meeting with Asia Pac at 8:30 p.m. and I usually don't get home until after 6:30 p.m., we had to find something quick to eat, especially after The Kitten threw a 15-minute fit because we weren't going to "Old Mcdonald's" or Willie's. We had decided on Mexican, and even though I don't like it, we went to the closest establishment of this type to our house.<br /><br />First, we had to make somebody come take our order, and then he came back five minutes later and took it again. Not a good sign, but everything came out ok. I was almost done with my enchiladas when I saw something move in the corner of my eye, and before I could get my camera out to take a picture of the roach walking across the wall, the waiter came up and squashed it with a napkin. Okaaaay. You would have thought he could have comped our food for that, but no. While we were waiting an eternity for the check, I started hearing something that sounded like a real kitten. I kept looking around, but nobody else seemed to notice, and although my husband admitted to hearing the sound, he thought I was crazy for caring. Hello, I just shared dinner with a roach, and there is a kitten somewhere in this restaurant! Yeah, I'm crazy.<br /><br />So, we never figured out where the kitten was, and we paid way too much for nausea from the unwanted dinner guests, but really I just told this story to take some of the spotlight off <a href="http://sunnieflower.blogspot.com/2010/09/catazon-interview.html">this interview I gave to a derby fan who posted today</a>. Man, I'm good.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06621075389438980874noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8407146671319178900.post-24291537763955240382010-09-09T15:32:00.000-07:002010-09-09T15:32:06.156-07:00My Very Own Derby Revolution<a href="http://www.ccrollerderby.com/">Crude City Roller Derby</a>'s last home bout of the 2010 season has been cancelled. The team we were scheduled to play is having issues, reorganizing, or something of the like that befalls most fledging derby leagues, and we couldn't scrounge up enough girls to get a mixed scrimmage going. Bummer.<br />
<br />
So that brings me around to some thoughts I've had since My Day One in derby...why can't derby actually be a sport? When I say sport, I mean a game that has been organized, specifically with a defined season and predetermined competitors. (I'm not even going to get into rules here; that is a can of worms I will never open.) Yes, <a href="http://www.wftda.com/">WFTDA</a> has done a fine job of organizing and defining on a very high level with regional tournaments leading up to a national tournament and the member leagues that have the opportunity to compete at these tournaments, but something is missing. The ranking system that precedes these tournaments is completely arbitrary (with not all the teams ever having played each other, or even half of the teams ahead of them in the rankings). You might be a team in the Eastern Region that can kick everybody's ass in the South Central, but for some reason, you don't even make it to the national tournament. (And I know that can happen in any sport, but it's more apt to happen when there is no cross-regional competition outside of a tournament.) I can ramble on and on and never make any sense about this, and hell, maybe nobody will ever make any sense about derby as a sport, but I've got to get my idea out of my head.<br />
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There are many, many derby leagues that will never be able to compete in WFTDA as it now stands, my current league being one of them. I really don't want to have to worry if I'm actually going to get to skate in a bout once a month; hell, I would love to bout every freaking weekend (believe me, it is much easier on your body than putting it through four grueling practices a week). What I want is a set schedule that comes out at the beginning of the season and sets my team and any other team on the schedule up for having a win-loss record that will determine standings going into playoffs. To make this happen, maybe we need to start thinking small. Maybe all these Texas teams that either aren't in WFTDA or will never make it to a regional tournament can organize a season? Crude (Corpus) has played teams from Central Texas, Amarillo, East Texas, even one from Louisiana, this year. Why not get all these teams and anybody we missed and say, "Hey, could we all decide to play each other twice this year, one home and one away, and then have a playoff tournament in October/November where we all get together and compete for FLAT-TRACK ROLLER DERBY CHAMPION OF TEXAS/LOUISIANA."? Sounds like a great idea to me. Would anybody else out there want to get behind an idea like that, where you could actually identify as a fan to your city's roller derby team and want them to knock the socks off that other city you hate?<br />
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Well, I could certainly relate to that and feel like I'm actually playing a sport again, just like I did when I played basketball in college or women's professional football or even when I went down to the sand volleyball courts for some co-ed action and we beat every other team in our league over a six-week period to win a shirt and some free beer. Maybe I should just quit there, keep living in the glory days, and just be thankful I have the opportunities I do. Nah, I'm going to keep thinking about how to make the flat-track revolution actually happen.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06621075389438980874noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8407146671319178900.post-15562113617062312692010-08-26T10:31:00.000-07:002010-08-26T10:31:59.070-07:00My #1 FreebieFrom the moment I first saw Billy Idol, I've had the biggest crush on him. I don't even remember the first glimpse, but I know it was on MTV and I must have been about 12 (that's when White Wedding was released). I bought all his music; I even have every Generation X release I could get in the states in the 80's on vinyl. His VH1 Behind the Music episode is on a VHS tape somewhere in this house. The picture below is my 6-inch stack of article clippings that I used to keep in a binder in my school locker but now fills up a magazine box. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_RdUCywUXCLk/THaanVGmrRI/AAAAAAAAAPY/bpUKa6iike0/s1600/2010-08-26+11.44.56.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" ox="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_RdUCywUXCLk/THaanVGmrRI/AAAAAAAAAPY/bpUKa6iike0/s320/2010-08-26+11.44.56.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
I actually don't think crush is the right word.<br />
<br />
Last night, I was front row at his Houston House of Blues show; the first time I've seen him in almost 20 years. (I'll never forgive my husband for not letting me go to his Houston show in July 2001 when we got off our return flight from Norway about an hour before it started and we still had to drive home to Austin...never.) I was "the one wearing the shirt of the band I'm going to see"; the shirt I bought in 1984 at an Astroworld concert, put away for safekeeping, and now have only worn once. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_RdUCywUXCLk/THah7OIbEqI/AAAAAAAAAPg/dFSKzHXFuhY/s1600/2010-08-26+12.17.49.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" ox="true" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_RdUCywUXCLk/THah7OIbEqI/AAAAAAAAAPg/dFSKzHXFuhY/s320/2010-08-26+12.17.49.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div>The only disappointing thing about last night's show was that he never came to the side of the stage where I was standing. This is the best pic I could get. Would it have killed him to just come sweat on me? <a href="http://www.catazon.com/2008/10/day-of-dead-can-come-soon-enough.html"> Like my #2 freebie did in 2008</a>?<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_RdUCywUXCLk/THaeziDF8YI/AAAAAAAAAPc/gTPiPlf5nDg/s1600/2010-08-25+21.57.03.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" ox="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_RdUCywUXCLk/THaeziDF8YI/AAAAAAAAAPc/gTPiPlf5nDg/s320/2010-08-25+21.57.03.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div>Oh, and he kept his shirt on way too much.<br />
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But the show rocked! And I'm glad somebody in line had an extra ticket for my sister, since I bought the last one from the box office three weeks before the show. Except maybe I shouldn't have tried so hard to get her in because she took home a drum stick and a guitar pick. Hooker. <br />
<br />
I hope I don't have to wait till I'm 50 to see him again. I don't think he will look this good at 64.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06621075389438980874noreply@blogger.com0