World of the sea critters

Weekend before last, I took my sweet little CASA kiddos to Sea World for the day. I don't think I've been to Sea World in about a decade, so I was honestly interested to check it out, post Blackfish.

The weather was picture perfect. It started out a bit cool in the 50s with all three of us in jackets. But by early afternoon it had warmed up into the low 70s and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. I'm thinking it was convenient we were all wearing pants and lightweight long sleeve shirts or we might have arrived home with some serious sunburn.

The Clyde and Seamore show is an old standby from when my now 23-year-old was in elementary school. I believe it was my CASA 5th grader's highlight of the day. Because that's pretty much all we did was trek from show to show. I would have thought they'd want to stop and ride at least a couple things, but nope. We ate some subpar pasta and pizza because they've got you over a barrel with the incredibly mediocre offerings. Plus chowed on ginormous pretzels for a mid-afternoon snack that we washed down with Icees. Honest to betsy, I can't recall seeing one place that had the kiddie staple of chicken nuggets, and I promise you we walked the length of the entire park. 

In the video above, we're waiting for a show to start. When the song before this 80s classic (I hummed along to) cranked up, the 11-year-old shook his head and said, "Wow, this song is so summer 2017." It dawned on me that I've reached the age where I'm old enough to be an elementary child's grandmother. Back when I first started teaching, I just wanted to be old enough to be thought of as a momma figure and now I've moved on to nanny and maw maw status. If or when I return to the classroom, I'll be the old guard now amongst the whipper snapper recent college grads the same age as our older daughter. 

What is it about the beluga whales that I just want to snuggle them? Maybe sneak one outta there to come live in our backyard pool?

One change since the last time I attended the killer whale show is that the trainers no longer get into the water with these behemoths.

On our march from the last show out to my car around 4:30, the 1st grader chose a stuffed whale for her treat at the gift shop. On the ride back to their house, before they conked out for a little snooze, I could hear her in the backseat calling the whale "baby" and her big brother said she was stroking its fur. Awww, so sweet! 

Junior year on the wane

Everybody says it, but that's because it's true. They DO grow up fast. In the blink of an eye they go from bald and toothless babies to false eyelash wearing 17-year-olds. 

At this point, junior year is beginning to wind down. In about a month she'll take final exams and be a big old senior. 

The pic above was posted on the school's social media page when the whole grade level went to a local exhibition. Our girl is third up from the bottom, obviously staring intently at some art on the wall.

Tonight is junior-senior prom. Since the girls all wear long dresses for military ball every February, they opt for short dresses at prom in April. Our thrifty teen put together this dress and shoe combo for about $80. But let's be real, when you're a healthy little vegan who works out consistently, you could throw on a feed sack and make it look good.

Remodel, Phase 3 and counting

Ye olde money pit needs a big more sprucing and so we're off and running with the third and hopefully final stage with what began fifteen months ago when we purchased this home.

One of the first things the contractors did was replace the defunct water softener with a new two piece model that looks like it belongs behind the scenes at an aquarium. It's very large and in charge of managing the amount of limescale in our home's water now.

Yesterday I had to listen to some sort of vibrating jackhammer thing because they were busy doing this...

The front walkway leading up to the porch had this big ugly crack that had deteriorated to the point where the bricks were chipping apart and falling out. Hence the annoying da-da-da-da-da sound for several hours while they removed the sorry looking stuff to prep it for replacement with slate and some new brick so it kinda goes with the back patio remodel we had done in the late fall.

Other fun things to look forward to include a new overhang for the cabana since the carpenter ants have been chowing down on it for years. Plus, power washing every structure on the property to prep for painting and installing a new mailbox out at the street. I think the current very rusty and hard to open mail receptacle is original to the 1953 construction and looks like it might blow over in a stiff breeze. I gingerly remove the mail every day for fear it will just crumble to the ground.

Needless to say, the dogs are not impressed with all of the contractor folks in the yard and loud noises. We've got about two more weeks of this and then onwards and upwards to a landscaping update. IF I can get the fancy pants, we won't make appointments for large residential orders nursery folks to give me a break with getting some help. I don't like it when I feel like I have to beg companies to spend my (husband's) hard earned money with them.

The boss lady

Pepper is always a pain in Ollie's ass. She can't just get into her bed. That would make too much sense and be too easy. 

I have identical dog beds on either side of my desk chair in the office. Some days Pepper is fine napping in her own bed. Other days she aggravates the crap out of poor Ollie, ignoring her own empty bed, and bedeviling him until he decamps to the master bedroom. He makes the protest noises and bares his teeth to no avail. She's a persistent little cuss.

Once Ollie gives up and leaves, she proudly brings her toy into the bed he just vacated to claim her space. She's such a stinker. 

Elvis got back into the building

It was a typical weekend for us. The husband went to the office to work part of the day on Saturday and Sunday. He and I also hit one of the local home improvement stores Friday evening for the last necessary bits to put up a new volleyball net for the sand pit on the farthest reaches of our property. The teen seems jazzed about sand volleyball with friends this summer.

Our very independent minded 17-yr-old made a run to the grocery store for more vegan munchies and got a spray tan. She likes some sun kissed legs - what can I say. I cleaned the pool... thanks windy cool front for blowing more crap out of the trees for me to skim with the net for almost an hour. Saturday was downright cold with highs only in the upper 50s, so the dogs snuggled up with me for a nap Saturday afternoon.

Later that evening, we went to the school's annual fundraiser. The theme was Las Vegas, so of course Elvis made an appearance.

The husband and I are not extroverted folks looking for any old excuse to get out of the house and socialize, so fundraisers aren't exactly our scene. We'd take delivery pizza and Netflix over wearing heels, a tie and making small talk any day of the week. However, we do think it's important to support the causes behind fundraisers, so on with the heels and pearls and off we went. Fortunately, I had the winning bid on a portrait session with our favorite local photographer. Planner that I am, already thinking ahead to senior year photos, I was happy to help out the school with our donation AND commit ourselves to what should be some fabulous pics for our walls.

A beautiful day in the neighborhood

I'm enjoying the last of them, those late season cooler air fronts that blow through Texas. We'll hit the triple digits all too soon and be sweating in the stands at football games through October until the cooler winds arrive once more.

Thanks to the little spring tassel thingies in our oak trees, this is what our pool looked like this morning. After working on it for a total of about an hour, with the dogs keeping me company, it was back to looking presentable once again.

Late yesterday afternoon, we discovered the wildebeest mount that was hung about two weeks ago in the cabana trophy room took a tumble off the wall and broke a horn. So now we need to send it back to the taxidermist to get this boo-boo fixed.

Since mother was at my senior nephew's last high school golf tourney with my sister all day, I was in charge of her pugzillas. At one point, Max wandered over to the poolside to see what Pepper was checking out. Monkey see, monkey do.

In between potty business and munching on mulch around the trees, the pugs wandered over and so I petted them. Then immediately regretted it since they shed like cheap fur coats.

This pic I took of Ruby cracks me up because she looks like some sort of alien creature. I think maybe it's the ears because they stick straight out from her head.

Saying it with socks

The local car wash where I can pay someone else to get my Sherman tank clean so I don't get dirty has some odds and ends for sale in the office. These socks crack me up every time I visit. I always stop and take the time to read them. 

College touring, part 2

We got permission for the junior to miss classes on Thursday so we could fly to Atlanta for a bit more college touring over the three day Easter weekend. The grad student drove in from Wake Forest and the husband flew in from a business meeting in Kansas so we could all check out a few other universities on the teen's look-see list.

Let me begin by saying the Atlanta traffic IS as awful as they say.

Our first stop was the University of Georgia in Athens on Friday for an official tour with admissions. The campus and vibe reminded me of the University of Texas in Austin, southern but with a bit of a funky alt twist. I gotta admit I was sad to learn that the bulldog mascot UGA doesn't even live on campus or even in Athens. 

Above is a family selfie taken by the older daughter at a coffee shop we visited before the GA tour kicked off. The bulldog below was in the Terrell admissions building - super cute!

The  junior and I read about this building below, the Snelling dining hall where students "Snellibrate" things.

You gotta love a campus where the food trucks pull right up to buildings for you to grab a bite to eat.

Best thing about southern college architecture... the columns.

The next day, we had a personal tour at the University of Alabama. A friend of the older daughter's, a Bama alum, connected us with a sorority sister of hers who is a senior this year. She kindly met us for a walking tour of campus and the teen was sold. The grounds and buildings are just gorgeous. Beautiful sorority row. And best of all, a great out-of-state scholarship program PLUS admissions to the honors college that should be in the cards for our junior. 

Football is kind of a big deal here.

It didn't hurt that the weather was picture perfect and the azaleas were in full bloom everywhere.

Last stop on this final out-of-state college tour was Auburn University. It was pretty, with the obligatory old red brick buildings. The teen seemed to like it. But it's definitely a different vibe than the GA and AL flagship campuses we visited.

It was Easter weekend and so of course the dogwoods were in bloom, too. Honestly, Alabama reminded me a lot of the eastern part of Texas with the red dirt and pine trees.