She's taking over!

I was recently made aware of the blogger app...so I'm using it for the first time!

Marcie has completely taken over the furniture!  She thinks the pillows are for her.  I think she's right!

Plants

I have always liked having plants around the house...but I'm notorious for killing them.  Quickly.  Since the climate in Texas is totally different than what I'm used to I decided to try again.  I got a really beautiful plant at the Farmer's Market.  I think it is called a Texas Buttercup?  I have it in a pot on my porch and it is doing really well!  New buds are sprouting and one of the smaller ones even has a flower!



If you love The Mentalist and you know it....

The Mentalist has been a favorite of ours since the very first episode.  Patrick Jane, played by Aussie Simon Baker, is a quirky ex-Con Artist who works as a consultant to the CBI (California Bureau of Investigation - a ficitious agency).  Over the course of the show's 3 seasons, Jane has been helping the CBI for one reason: to find Red John.  Red John is a serial killer who murdered Jane's wife and child.  The Red John case is always in the background of the show, popping back into focus periodically throughout each season.  (If you aren't up to date on the show and don't want to know what happens, stop reading now!)

The 2 hour season finally aired this past Thursday and it was awesome!  Jane finally came face to face with Red John, played by Bradley Whitford (a favorite of mine since his time on The West Wing).  The entire episode was genious...twists and turns so you never really knew what was going on until the last second!  The plan to catch Red John's mole in the CBI was so creative.  Anyway...now for the real reason for this post.

Shawn and I both HATE Agent LaRoche (played by Priutt Taylor Vince), as I am sure you are supposed to when you watch the show.  For most of this season we both thought that LaRoche was the mole.  During the first half of the finale something happened that seemed to confirm it to us.  When they catch the bomber at the gas station, LaRoche and his men are placing him in the squad car and one cop discreetly releases his handcuffs then LaRoche kills him in the squad car.  He claims that he was trying to escape, but the whole thing looks fishy.  It is later revealed that the bomber was connected to Red John and so it seems that LaRoche is the mole because he kills him...and anyone who is brought into police custody that seems to be connected to Red John is killed.  That is how LaRoche was brought into the show in the first place.  When Todd Johnson was captured and seemed to be linked to Red John he was killed in aCBI holding cell!  Presumably by the mole...the mole that LaRoche is supposed to be trying to find.  But what if it is LaRoche?  When the episode ends we discover that the mole is someone else entirely...so does that mean LaRoche is not the mole?  Is he a second mole?  What is going on!!!  I can't believe we have to wait until the fall to find out what is going on.

So I pose these questions to you...Loyal Mentalist Fans.

On a side note.  Shawn called very early in the season that Grace VanPelt (played by Amanda Righetti) and Craig O'Laughlin (played by Eric Winter) were not going to get married.  We couldn't figure out how the show was going to do it, but we were pretty sure there wasn't going to be a wedding.  Of course, because Grace is meant to be with Wayne Rigsby (Owain Yeoman).  Grace and Wayne will be again.  I'm so happy about that!

Explosion!

The last few days I have seen sick...sicker than I have been in a long time!  High fever sick.  The doctor was afraid I had the flu since my temperature got so high so quickly!  Don't worry though, no flu, but sick enough not to go to work.  So I've been stuck at home, laying around sleeping and watching movies and old episodes of Bones (I know...sounds terrible, right?)

Yesterday, I was on the couch with the patio door open so Marcie could chill on her bed in the sun.  She loves to do that.  All of the sudden, we heard a loud pop and Marcie comes tearing ass in the house with her tail between her legs.  We rush out to look and there is water pouring out of the utility room.  It looked like a waterfall off of our patio!  I opened the door and basically a spout of some sort had just popped off the water heater, so high pressure water was pouring out of it!  We called maintenance right away (thank goodness for apartment living) and in the meantime I tried to figure out which of the 5 different knobs would turn off the water.  What a day!  Anyway, it is all fixed now but there is some major water damage to the under-side of our porch.  The drywall is all over the ground in front of the garage and there are still pieces of drywall hanging off!  The support beams look fine (Mom was worried) but the particle board is pretty wet.



Sick :(

Most of my life, particularly my adult life, I have been known to get sick very easily.  During nursing school and my first year as a nurse I was sick a TON!  Sinus infections and strep throat plagued my life.   I thought moving to Texas would be great for my health...and it has proven true!  We have been here almost a year and I haven't been sick.  Until now.

I was feeling fine yesterday morning when I woke up...just a little sore throat (from the ceiling fan I thought).  I still felt fine for the first couple of hours of work.  Then it hit.  The throat goobers (for lack of a better word), the chills, the body aches.  I don't typically get fevers, but being a nurse and being in a hospital, I checked my temp.  99.8.  Not too bad.  Elevated but not a fever.  Then I just kept feeling worse.  After lunch my voice started sounding bad...people were noticing.  I was wearing a mask to protect my patients and their families, but I still felt ok.  I was starting to feel more weak and tired and was still really cold, but I was sure I could stick it out to finish my shift.  My head was hurting pretty bad, so I took some ibuprofen after lunch (around 1:30pm) and continued working.  Then around 4pm, it got really bad.  The cold went away and I started sweating, hard core.  I took my temp again...101!  That is not normal for me.  So I went to talk to the charge nurse.  Basically to tell her I would not be at work the next day and that I was going to stop on the way home at an Urgent Care type clinic.  My manager was nearby and when she heard she told me to "get out!"  So I did.  Packed up my things and headed to the clinic, where I was literally radiating heat from my body!  My temperature was not 102!  The NP thought I might have the flu...so they ran the test and thank goodness it was negative!  But looks like it is strep throat or some other bacterial bug.  So I am now on antibiotics and stuck in bed.  Boo!  So my longest run without being sick is over.  Oh well...with Logan in daycare now it was bound to happen.  Logan has been sick the entire time since he started daycare (he is currently on antibiotics for an ear infection) and Mimi has strep throat too.  What a healthy bunch we are!

Austin City Limits Music Festival

I have obviously heard about ACL before...who hasn't?  But, I never really considered going...until today.  They released the lineup this morning for the 2011 ACL Music Festival (which in in mid-September) and I decided that Shawn and I HAD to go.  Not to all 3 days...that is too expensive and the 3 day passes sold out months ago.  So I figured I would check out the full lineups online and then decided which day would be best.  Before I could even do that though, I saw in my facebook newsfeed that Sara Bareilles (who I LOVE) is going to be at ACL.  So my decision was made.  I would go to whichever day she would be there...turns out it is Friday.

There are actually 42 acts scheduled for the Friday of the festival.  That is too many, but the highlights for me will be:

Sara Bareilles

She's amazing and I have loved her music since the first moment I heard it.  I have both of her albums and they are great.  Even Eric has made positive comments about her and a musician and songwriter.  That's impressive!

Ray LaMontagne

I discovered his music through its uses on different movies and tv shows.  Check him out!

Coldplay

Although they aren't my favorite group and I am not obsessive like some of their fans are, I do like Coldplay.  I have quite a collection of their music and I do think it would be a great show.

Kanye West

I am not going to lie...I am really excited for this!  As much as this guy is crazy and acts like a fool most of the time, I love his music!  I think it will really be a great show!

The rest of the lineup I will have to check out and see what sounds good.  I am so excited for ACL now!

My favorite things...

Last night, Shawn and I went out to dinner to celebrate his promotion at work.  He is now the Assitant Operations Manager!  Yay!  It is basically the job he had in Chicago before we moved down here, but the store he is at here is much larger and busier.  So we thought a dinner out together was a good idea!

At dinner, Shawn was telling me about a co-worker who had been asking about our wedding.  So, we started remembering our wedding.  We were talking about what a great day it was, even when things went awry in the morning (which he had no idea about...) the day was perfect.  Shawn said that up to this point, it was the best day of his life.  Goodness...I love this man :)

This converstion got me thinking about the simple things in life that make me so happy.  Luckily for Shawn, it isn't hard to make me happy :)  So we were talking about our favorite random things.  I decided my top 5 favorite random things are (in no particular order)...

Bacon

Seriously...is there any food that smells better and is more delicious?

My Blackhawks T-Shirt

OK...this picture is of my Blackhawks jersey (which I love as well) but I don't have any pictures of my favorite shirt.  I sleep in it mostly (because it is too big) but I love it.  It makes me think of my first Blackhawks game at the United Center with Shawn.  We had a blast!

My Wedding Ring Set

Again, this picture is not exactly right.  This is my wedding band and Shawn's wedding band on the ring pillow (that I made for our wedding...aren't I crafty!)  What I love about my ring is that Shawn chose it.  Even though he took my best friend with him, he decided which ring was the right one for me.  And he chose right!  I love it!  It is perfect for me :)

Dogs

I love dogs.  I think they are truly our best friends.  My Marcie thinks I am the greatest thing in the world.  I have had some wonderful dogs during my life and I hate when I don't have a dog.  They are so truly happy to see you when you get home.  What a welcome I get everday!  My dogs always make me feel loved.

Flowers

I love flowers.  They are so pretty and they smell good.  If I'm having a crummy day, seeing pretty flowers will make me feel better.  My favorite flower has been the Daisy for most of my life...but since my wedding I have really loved Lilies and Tulips.  They are such beautiful flowers.  Really, I'm not picky, but I am not a huge fan of roses.  I just think the colors of flowers are great...flowers seem happy!

Anyway, I am sure that there are many things in my life that I am leaving out (like coffee...) but the point is that my life is full and love and happines.  I am truly happy.  I have a fantastic husband, a terrific family, an amazing best friend, the most beautiful nephew in the world, a nice apartment, and a job that I love!  I can't complain!