Scuba Dooba Doo!

Scuba is a lot of work!  We are getting PADI Open Water certified and so far we have read two books, taken 5 quizzes, gone to class for about 7 hours and taken a final exam (which we both aced, I must point out). Plus, we just finished our weekend in the pool learing scuba skills.

So far it's been great and I think actually going scuba diving will be really cool. I'm hoping that I don't see any fish that bite or snakes... I might freak out and head straight for the surface! 

Our last step to being certified is to spend a weekend at the lake, doing multiple dives where we have to demonstrate the skills we learned at the pool.

'Are you for scuba?'

I had my pink fins special ordered...they had to match my pink mask!

Learning the 'back-entry roll'

Will does not have a receding hair-line. It's the water.

Out With the Old...In With the New

Imagine a nice Sunday fall afternoon, the air a bit crisp, leaves that have changed to beautiful yellows, oranges and reds.  You are sitting upstairs in a cozy chair, maybe drifting in and out of sleep while reading a book; the windows are open and you feel a slight breeze that blows through the room. 

Doesn't this sound nice?  Well, it's not that kind of weather here yet, nor do our trees ever change colors, but...once it turns cooler I can open the windows upstairs and feel the breeze! Why?  Because we got new windows!  I bet you're thinking why is she so excited about new windows?  A few reasons.
One: ours were single-pane, wooden windows that were probably installed in 1950 and you could literally see the outside air from the inside of the house where the panes were separating from the wood. Two: our last electric bill was $400, partly due to the 100+ degree weather streak we had, and partly due to the terrible state of our windows. Three: they were painted shut and I couldn't open them. And, four: No matter how much the upstairs A/C worked, it never cooled the rooms in the summer, so it was way too hot for our guests.

Before: Original, single-pane, energy-sucking windows that are painted shut.

 After: Beautiful, secure, locking, energy-efficient windows that open and close!

Bring on the fall!

*Guests are now welcome :)

Take Me Out to the Ball Game!

We spent the evening at Ranger Stadium last night, courtesy of Will's boss.  He is a season ticket holder and was nice enough to give us his tickets and parking pass.  I've never parked closer than say, oh a twenty minute walk to the ballpark before, until last night. Front row parking.  And I must say that it made the whole ballpark experience much nicer. Plus we had fabulous seats.

The only thing that could have made it nicer would have been if it wasn't 100 degrees the whole game.  Details...

Rangers won 10-4. 

Don't you hate those people who park in the reserved spots? 
That was finally us!

Adrian Beltre

Josh Hamilton

Ironic thing happened -- we ran into another partner/semi-boss of Will's who was sitting in our section, then when I went to get a drink, I ran into my semi-boss. Kind of funny, guess we were all on the same page yesterday.

Semi Sabbatical

I'm back.  Took a short break from posting to reflect on things going on in my life.  I don't have anything too exciting to post about, unlike Regis and Kelly who are, at the moment, measuring the length of a man's beard for the Guinness Book of Word Records (7 feet, 9 inches if you are wondering).

Let's ease back into posting with a picture of our new flowers on the front porch.  After searching and searching for months for cone-shaped boxwoods (what we used to have in our front porch planters but somehow I managed to kill both shrubs last year, I know, it's a talent), I gave up.  Will and I went to the farmer's market downtown last weekend and found these beauties.  We decided that the colorful zinnias were the way to go for now (and if I kill them both, which is likely, they are less expensive to replace than boxwoods).

Oh wow, this is gross. Now Regis and Kelly are showing the record for the longest finger nails.  Google it and you will be grossed out, too.

Since I last posted, I have read a book or two.  Most recently, I finished The Hunger Games.  It was excellent.  We were supposed to have read it for book club but I didn't like the name of the book, the cover art, or the summary.  However, I kept hearing how great it was from friends and decided to give it a try.  I finished it in about two days. There are two other books in the series, so right after I finish my scuba certification reading, I'll start the next ones.

Highly recommend this book (which they are making into a movie).