Well sign me up...

We were searching for an electives class for Hubby at UNT, and came across this one-

Survey of Beverages - SMHM 4300
A study of social beverages commonly used in the hospitality
industry. Primary emphasis is on history, language, product identification and production and merchandising techniques for wines, beers, distilled spirits and non-alcoholic beverages.
Prerequisite(s): student must be 21 years of age or older.

From what I read from other students on the Web, they have representatives from several beer and wine distributors providing samples for "taste tests" and teach brewing techniques.

Again I'm asking myself, "Why didn't I go to college sooner?"

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Our town...

Taken from the City of Keller website:

D Magazine placed Keller in its Top 10 of Best Suburbs, one of only three Tarrant County cities on the list. The full story is published in the magazine’s July 2008 issue and was released on the magazine’s Web site this week.

Cities were ranked based on four factors: safety, education, housing values and ambiance. The magazine citied Keller’s affordability compared to neighboring cities, its network of bike trails, the Arthouse at Keller Town Center development as well as new single-family home construction. The article also mentions the rural charm that remains amid the city’s many amenities, as a sign proclaimed that goats were for sale just down the street from an upscale housing development.

Keller’s low rate of violent crimes, TAKS and SAT scores of Keller ISD students and per-student expenditures, increases in home values, ambiance and air quality combined to put the city on the list.

Keller rated No. 9 on the list. University Park in Dallas County was No. 1, followed by Tarrant County cities Southlake and Colleyville.

In 2007, Money magazine rated Keller in the top 50 places to live in the United States.

Well I like our town... as long as you ignore the "old town Keller" vs. "new money suburban transplants" politics, and don't mind voting down multi-million dollar bonds for a Taj Mahal library every two years. Yep, I still like it here.

My garden's more healthy than me...

I'm feeling better at least. I'm not 100% yet, but better. If you remember last summer I said I was pretty sure I had West Nile... well I seem to be having some rebounding effects from it. Symptoms I'm having match viral encephalitis perfectly. A constant headache that last a week, stiff sore neck, dizziness, fatigue, feverish, and what's been the biggest indicator in me, a sensitivity to light. Sunlight, house lights, it doesn't matter, they all bother me and make my head hurt worse. And this is the second time in 2 months that it's happened. Poor Hubby is stressed out worrying about me. But I'm signing up for student health insurance at UNT so that I can get this checked out sometime soon. I'm just toughing it out until then.

Other symptoms that occur in some people is confusion, lack of concentration, and memory loss... but with me who the hell could tell? haha

On the brighter side, at least I have healthy tomatoes! I guess I picked a good year to grow them. I have no shortage here at my house...

I also have a zillion jalepeno peppers. Literally a zillion. Between them and the tomatoes I can make a mean salsa soon.

My zucchini plants have been doing better too. I've been watering twice a day lately and seems to have made the difference.

Plus I have carrots, watermelons, and pumpkins that still have a lot of growing to do. They're Big Max jumbo pumpkins, so they have a long time to go yet. Anyway, hopefully all these home grown veggies will be good for me!

Ugh...


Sorry not to be posting anything, but I've been sick. Still am.


So in the meantime, here's some pet pics for your amusement.

Don't you wish we could all sleep like dogs...
anywhere, anytime, and in any position:

If you look real closely, you can see Camouflage Cat in our front tree.

It's no wonder she catches so many birds. It must be like Predator creeping up on them.

Over WHAT hill? I don't remember a hill...

Today happens to be my husband's 50th birthday. He's officially "over the hill." Or is that not 'til 60?

He wouldn't let any of us throw him a party. So, he and I are celebrating by driving across town to take a US Government exam, and then he has History class tonight. I could make a joke about him BEING a part of history, but then that would just be mean...

Anyway, maybe I'll have to bake a cake or something. Although he teases me about one I made one time, cake and frosting both from scratch. Over the next few days the frosting kept disappearing. It turns out, the cake was absorbing the frosting! Hubby jokes that only I could manage to make a cake that eats itself. But it was damn moist though!

Maybe I should buy a cake.

Anyway, HAPPY BIRTHDAY old man. :)

Not this time...

Alas, another disappointment. The way Big Brown stopped at the second turn I would say either A) his lungs bled or B) he couldn't handle the heat. Or both. When Kent couldn't rouse him I knew it was over. Too bad, another Crown lost.

May the horse be with you...

It's Belmont Day, and I'm glued to the tv. I have a list of other things I need to be doing like catching up on World Literature homework, trim the bushes, mow the lawn, change the layout on a print advertisement for Leapin' Lizards, work on painting... but, they can wait!

Alright, I'll stick my neck out and call it- BIG BROWN should win the Triple Crown... that is, providing:

• His quarter-crack doesn't bother him
• His glue-on shoes don't fall off
• He isn't too frazzled in the stakes barn
• He doesn't step on a safety pin (like one excuse we know of...)
• He isn't too frazzled by the crowd in the paddock
• He comes out of the gate cleanly
• He doesn't get pinched on the rail
• Nobody clips his heels
• His saddle doesn't slip
• Kent doesn't lose a rein
• Kent doesn't drop his stick
• Kent doesn't move him too soon (think Smarty Jones, grrrr)
• The field doesn't set rabbit fractions
• He doesn't run away with Kent (again)
• A flock of seagulls doesn't land on the track (happened before)
• A drunk doesn't run out onto the track throwing punches (happened before)
• He doesn't jump shadows on the track
• He doesn't take a misstep
• He has a perfect trip
• He doesn't get heatstroke
• His lungs don't bleed too much
• His tongue tie doesn't come off
• They didn't seal the track TOO MUCH (ahem...)
• He (ahem...) doesn't break both his front ankles
• Nobody throws an inquiry

Oh yeah... and if he runs the fastest!

Yep, then BIG BROWN should win. Piece of cake, right? As long as all the planets and the stars are in line, and there are no catastrophic forces of fate working against him. As the saying goes, there's a million ways to lose a race, and one way to win.

By the way, I really think he will. Part of my faith is in the fact that he doesn't really have any real competition, and the other part is in the experience of Kent Desormeaux. Kent won't be making any stupid mistakes in this race. I hope.

Waiting to see...........

Harvest bounty...




Ain't these the prettiest beans you've ever seen?

Yes, I know you can buy them for 50-cents a can at the store... but to me they were worth the trouble! They're crisp, no brown spots, and you can't beat the taste. And there's more still growing in the garden.

What I can't figure out is the zucchini and yellow squash this year. In my garden a couple years ago I had zucchini coming out my ears, and because I was slow to pick them they were growing to the size of baseball bats. But this year, they start to grow small zucchinis but then after growing a few inches long they develop blossom end rot and the fruit shrivels up and dies. I'm watering enough, so that's not it. The only difference (that I know of) between last time and this time is I have them planted in a different place in the garden. Where I had them planted last time I have the tomato and bean plants now, and they're growing like gangbusters. Hmmm. And Hubby suspects we may have a broken sewer line running underneath the yard... that could be the culprit?

I've also picked some jalapenos, and a couple cherry tomatoes, and now I'm starting the second batch of radishes. I also planted some spinach last week, but they're an early variety so hopefully it'll be okay that I started them late.