Do you have a pen? Of course!

Someday soon, I may grace the blog with a post about my fledgling lilac bush, and other plants, most of which are probably on death's doorstep. (As my plants tend to be.) But first, inspired by Mausi, the purse meme. I wrote it a looong time ago (as evidenced by the fact that these photos were taken in my apartment, which I vacated in March). But my digital camera photo-downloader-cord-thingie got lost in the moving shuffle, only to be unearthed a few days ago. What's a (quasi-)blogger to do?

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I tend to change purses to match my mood/outfit/the weather. I have too many (but not enough) in many colors, shapes and sizes. But I've been stuck on this lovely purse since Christmas, when I received it as a gift from my future in-laws. (Can you tell red is my favorite color?) So deceptively simple and compact on the outside:

But on the inside -- It's like Mary Poppins' carpet bag in here!

• 2 packages of Kleenex (cold season)


• Antibacterial lotion


• Palm Pilot


• Cheap sunglasses in cheap vinyl case, because I constantly lose or break them


• Pill box, which only contains daily multivitamin and birth control pills, but otherwise with me, it's constantly "Did I take my pill and vitamin today?"


• 2 cell phones, which no one should be saddled with, but one's for work


• Lots of keys


• 2 lip balms, 3 lip glosses (so WHY do I never have it when I need it?)


• Ticket stub to Hugh Grant's latest film, which we saw last weekend (I give it 2.5 stars, because Hugh Grant is cute)


• 3 mint lifesavers


• 2 Peptol Bismol tablets


• Some sinus medicine that I rarely take


• A notebook (for play, not for work)


• 4 pens (again, that mysteriously disappear in my time of need)


• A big fat red wallet (fat with receipts, not cash)


• Business card case (it's Coach, also a gift from the future-in-laws -- Future mother-in-law has great taste!)


• Work ID


• Teeth cleaner thingie


• Eye drops, for when my contact lenses get dry


• Saline nasal gel, for when my nose gets dry


• Nivea Creme, for when my skin gets dry


• Face powder


• 2 hair bands, 2 hair barettes


• The cute earrings I got in Spain (that's where those went!)

...I guess I can't really say I'm low-maintenance, can I? Although I think the multiple purses already gave me away.

Things that make you go "@$#*!"

[Alternate titles: "The Week of my Blondness," or "Happy Valentine's Day to me!"]

As I mentioned a couple posts down, we had a bit of a blizzard last week. (A questionable "blizzard" by historical standards, but enough to cause a big mess.) Since I was of the minority whose job does not stop for blowing and drifting snow, I had to go to work on Tuesday and Wednesday during the worst of it. No big deal -- I'm used to that.

At my apartment complex ("Senior Towers" as my friend and neighbor Tim calls it), I don't have a parking spot. Tim shares a two-car garage with another tenant who was gone for a couple days, so he offered to let me park in her spot in the garage Tuesday night. I gladly took him up on his offer.

Later Tuesday night, I was baking chocolate chip cookies for my Valentine and set off the smoke detector in my apartment. (Gotta remember to set that time!) I should have taken it as an omen...

Wednesday morning, I trudged through the snow and gratefully hopped into my snow-free car, and carefully backed out of the garage. That's when everything went terribly wrong (cue horror-film music)... My back tires got stuck in a drift in the alley, and (in the process of un-sticking them), I somehow jerked the wheel or hit the gas, or... really, I don't know. All I know is I heard a terrible crunch and a ripping sound... and I got out of my car and saw this:














(Well, the duct tape was a later addition, but you get the idea.)

I have never been the driver in an accident before and I wasn't really sure what to do, so I called Shane and told him I "banged the hell out of my pretty car." (And cried, because I'm a girl and it's allowed.)

I think the edge of the bumper (down by the tire) got caught on the metal track of the garage door and just RIPPED my bumper, but I'm still not sure how the giant dent got there. The garage, miraculously, was barely scratched. Gotta pay my $500 deductible, and won't have my car back until Friday. Ouch. In a way, I'm glad my first "crash" was in the garage and not on the roads, because it could have been much worse... but how embarrassing, even if it was the snow's fault.

Anyway -- I can't believe anyone just sat through that drawn-out story, but thanks for listening if you did.

The good news is that life moves along, even when your car is in the shop. Shane and I decided that I would move into his house at the end of next month (so soon!) so I can save some rent money, which is especially important now that I'm crashing into things. He's going to live at his parents until we get married in September, because we're good Catholic kids like that, and his parents' basement is bigger and nicer than my entire apartment.

Two weekends ago (as my two readers may already know), we painted two rooms in the house. A lovely tan with crisp white trim. Not our first choice, but we're trying to go neutral because we don't expect to be there long and don't want to repaint before we sell. The lovely tan replaced dingy gray with dingy gray trim in one room, and bright blue (like the Internet Explorer bar) and dingy gray trim in the second. Ahh... at last, I have peace and pretty walls!

Last weekend, my mom and I cleaned out my childhood closet. It was a big closet. With many, many boxes inside. I'm not going to lie, Mom and I got a little sappy a couple times. :) About 3/4 of the boxes got cleaned out, and the rest are in Shane's basement, waiting for me to go through them. Many giant bags of trash went out... papers to recycle... out-of-fashion clothes to be donated. It's a good feeling to get it done! I think I'm finally overcoming the packrat tendencies that I inherited from both my parents and that Shane completely lacks. (I like to think we balance each other out, in many ways.)

I may have mentioned before that I'm a packrat, but REALLY, you have no idea. I mean, NO. IDEA. I saved almost every letter, every scrap of paper anyone ever passed to me in class since elementary school... school projects... toys... drawings... books... magazines... photos, oh God, the photos... and random, random stuff. In one box from elementary school, I found an eraser shaped like a cow. Its head had broken off, and years ago, I had lovingly taped the cow's head back on, wrapped a gold ribbon around its neck, folded it up in a paper towel, and tucked it in a little box. WHY, I ask you?!! The mind reels. (I threw the cow away.)

A new blog

I have many photos of artwork I have created over the years (usually as gifts for family and friends), and I decided to post some of them on a new blog for fun. I only have a few posts so far, but it will be updated sporadically in true OTR tradition. ;) Here it is!

Spain, Part I

Well, we're having a blizzard here, so what better time to blog about Spain, at last. (Honestly, the TV says "blizzard warning," everything's closed, etc. Too bad reporters don't get snow days!)

I can't believe it has already been a few months since we were in Spain. The trip was, in an overused word, amazing. The few snafus we encountered were either humorous in the end -- the best kind -- or forgettable with the help of a little sangria. The biggest obstacle occurred when I was packing three days before we were scheduled to leave... and I couldn't find my passport. I mean, COULD. NOT. FIND. IT. ANYWHERE. All I could remember is that I put it "in a safe place." (Yes, it's a strange, scary place inside my head.) We tore my apartment up and Shane finally found it tucked away in some wedding planning stuff, where I had looked three times before. Not before I hyperventilated for the first time in my life.

We hopped a local flight into Atlanta, and had what felt like the world's longest layover. When we finally boarded the plane, I was SO ready to get going, but of course the pilot came over the intercom to say that we would be delayed about 15 minutes while the crew fixed a "fuel problem" -- just what you want to hear! I absolutely love to fly, so I wasn't too worried.

I have a stash of "fun reading" at home that consists of used paperback novels, and I had thrown one in my carry-on bag without really looking at it. I pulled it out as we were sitting on the plane. It was a spy novel by Jack Higgins -- and the front cover showed a plane crashed into the water. The opening pages described the crash. I could not decide at the time if it was a very, very bad sign or just incredibly funny.

When the plane landed safely in Madrid many long hours later, I decided it was incredibly funny, and also decided to read something lighter on the way home.


Ah, Madrid, home at last!

I had the same completely impatient feeling I'd had on the plane in Atlanta while we waited for our bags. (Not to mention deja vu, but it was much nicer this time to have a travel buddy!) And I was so excited knowing that my Spanish mama was waiting in the next room!

Sure enough, when we finally got our passports stamped there was Concha, just as sweet as I remembered. She got choked up and said in English, "We are so glad you are here." I knew then that my Spanish family and my American fiance would be just fine -- Concha doesn't like speaking English, but she made an effort for Shane!

The ride from Barajas airport to home in Concha's little blue Toyota was the same death-defying joyride I remembered. :) Concha and I chattered in Spanish as I tried to pick up my Madrid accent again, after a few years of speaking Spanish with the mostly Mexican population around here. Shane sat in the backseat and smiled, nodded, and looked slightly scared by the Spanish disregard for traffic law and order. Concha and Victor opened their home up to us, which was nice because it meant Shane could see how the typical Spanish family lives, and we saved on a hotel!

When we had settled in, cleaned up, and had a snack, jet lag finally set in and we took a nap -- Shane slept the sleep of babes, but my jet lag was competing with adrenaline and excitement, so I didn't sleep as much. Finally the kids got home from school, Victor came home from work and we were all together! We went out in Madrid that night (a Friday) for traditional tapas. We arrived at the restaurant at 8:15, and it did not open for dinner until 8:30. This was Shane's first introduction to the Spanish timetable!

The next few days were kind of a blur, as we fit in as much sightseeing (and shopping, for me!) and reconnecting with old friends as we could! Some pictures:


Parque de Buen Retiro, Madrid (The warm weather was a nice change from rainy, cold home!)

We arrived just in time to celebrate my hermanos' birthdays with extended family. 13 for Elena, and 11 for Ignacio. (I know, I said 12 and 10 here -- what have we learned today, class? There are three kinds of journalists -- those who can do math, and those who can't.) Are they not the cutest kids you've ever seen? I miss them so much!




We met up with my favorite Texan, Laura, and her boyfriend Antonio for some late-night tapas and drinks near Puerta del Sol one night. It was so good to catch up with Laura, who made frequent appearances on this blog in the summer of 2004 and was a great partner in crime. :) Laura has returned to Madrid a few times since our summer there and now calls it home. We found a great friend in Antonio, also. He would not even let us take a cab home the two nights we went out and generously gave us a ride.

Many more pictures and stories still to come, sooner, rather than later, if this snow keeps falling: More Madrid sightseeing (including meeting everyone's favorite ukulele player/smoker/hasher!), Toledo, Segovia, and the one thing I made sure to enjoy on this trip that I wasn't able on the first trip -- FLAMENCO!