November 28, 2011

Thanksgiving leftovers:  one of the best aspects of the Thanksgiving celebrations.  Unfortunately, because I am a vegetarian, I can't take advantage of this part of Thanksgiving as I was once able.  However, leftovers remain and they must be taken advantage of.  So, what is a vegetarian to do with a leftover turkey leg?  Give it to her cat, who will relish it in place of stale, likely cardboard-like kibble.  Olivia doesn't take much interest in people food, save for an ice cold beer; Elliot, on the other hand, will inhale any meat anywhere in the apartment.  Pepperoni, sausage, chicken, turkey, he'll eat it all.  Perhaps he is making up for all of the meat I refuse to eat.  In any event, Elliot feasted on a leftover turkey leg for dinner this evening.  I'm hoping his appetite persists until the turkey leg is eaten in its entirety as Elliot could use some fattening up.  

November 27, 2011

Louisiana is a weird state.  On our way through earlier this week, we concluded all the state has to offer are casinos, strip clubs, and Waffle Houses.  On our way out, the strangeness was amplified.  Perhaps we were road weary or even hallucinating from hunger, considering we'd ran long and foolishly had decided to wait until we were on the other side of Baton Rouge to stop for breakfast.  Hallucinations aside, we were unsure how to handle this intersection.  Is the right lane ambivalent to the intentions of its users?  Are drivers at risk if they choose to turn left from the right lane?  Perhaps another lane deems it "OK" to turn right from the left lane and these left-turn drivers are at risk for their casual decision.  We made it through the intersection with little difficulty, but the fact remains: Louisiana is a weird state. 

November 26, 2011

What do runners do when it's raining too much for a long run?  They go to a running store or two and buy new shoes, an IT band strap, and new running threads.  Well, at least that's what we did today.  With a long run planned for this morning, another jaunt around the lakes of Baton Rouge, we were disappointed to wake to a cold drizzle, which quickly turned into downpours throughout the day.  We first visited Varsity Sports, a local running shop.  After hemming and hawing over whether I should buy some new road running shoes, I finally caved and got a new pair of Brooks PureFlow for my 3M half marathon training and more frequent road runs.  After a stop at the Louisiana Science Museum, we made our way to the outlets for a spin around the Nike Factory Store, where I bought a new pair of long running pants for the upcoming cold.  While all of the new gear made the lack of running today just that much more irritating, it also upped the excitement for a long Sunday run. 

November 25, 2011

In an effort to avoid the Black Friday madness, we opted to explore the city of Baton Rouge today.  Our first stop was the Louisiana State Capitol building, which happens to be the tallest capitol building in the country, much to my dismay.  Although tall, the small building houses both the House and Senate chambers, as well as senator, representative, and staff offices.  After a few minutes of exploring, we made our way to the top of the tour for a breathtaking view of the city, the Mississippi River, and the nearby refineries.  After a failed attempt to visit the former state capitol building and a relaxing lunch at an open air cafe, we made out way to the Houmas Planation about half an hour outside of Baton Rouge.  After an admittedly disappointing tour of the plantation, we made our way back for dinner, a friendly game or two of euchre, and a movie.  A perfectly relaxing Friday in my book.

November 24, 2011

Nearly everyone has a Thanksgiving tradition, whether it be traveling to a new part of the world, splitting into teams for a family game of touch football post-feast, or sleeping off the tryptophan with the chatter of football commentators in the background.  For me, the only real tradition that has survived over the past six or seven years is the annual UT-A&M football game, which conveniently has a kick-off shortly after everyone's Thanksgiving indulgence.  This year's game was bittersweet.  These two fantastic football programs have met for the past 119 years on Thanksgiving for a storied and sharp rivalry game.  A great deal of lore, superstition, and tradition surrounds the entire game, including the Aggie's yell practice and the Longhorn's hex rally.  This year, however, was the last of all of this for the foreseeable future as Texas A&M will be joining the Southeastern Conference starting the 2012 season.  With a winning record for this game under its belt, the Longhorns still wanted to send off the Aggies with a stinging defeat, but the capacity to do so was dubious with inexperienced quarterbacks, an inconsistent offensive line, and the loss of Fozzy Whittaker.  Somehow, however, the Longhorns closed on the Aggies early lead and, with three seconds left in the game, kicked a game-winning field goal to settle the score between the schools.  With a 76-37-5 record, the Texas Longhorns left the rivarly behind in College Station with a defeated Aggie team in its dust:  enjoy the SEC Ags.

November 23, 2011

After about an hour of driving today, we arrived in the heart of New Orleans: the French Quarter.  Considering I had expected ceaseless parades and music through the streets thanks to my overactive imagination, I wasn't too surprised to find an incredible amount of activity, music, and dancing on nearly every corner in the more well-traveled parts of the French Quarter.  We walked Bourbon Street, witnessing the best New Orleans has to offer, it seems, explored the St. Louis Cathedral, and relaxed over beignets and cafe aut lait at the historic and famous Cafe du Monde.  After filling up on the powdered sugar-dusted French donuts, we made our way to Magazine Street, a charming neighborhood with shops of the variety akin to South Congress' in Austin.  We strolled up and down the street, stopping in at the few shops that had yet to close for the Thanksgiving holiday.  To cap off the trip, we stopped at Theo's Neighborhood Pizza for wine, chicken pesto pizza, and, for me, the most incredible pesto veggie sandwich I've ever had.  With the aid of a lazy Wednesday at our disposal, New Orleans made for a wonderful day trip with wonderful company!  

November 22, 2011

After my afternoon classes and a not-so-quick stop at Whole Foods for lunch and road snacks, we were off for our Thanksgiving vacation.  We made our way to Highway 290 and started on our way to Houston for a turn at Interstate 10, headed east toward Baton Rouge.  The drive was fairly uneventful, save for a lovely bit of traffic through Houston, but that was to be expected.  A few stops along the way in Winnie (for gas), in Beaumont (for dinner), and somewhere on the other side of the Texas-Louisiana state line (for drinks).  Probably the most exciting stop, however, was at the Texas-Louisiana state line for a harrowing mid-road trip photo shoot to commemorate my first driving across state lines.  Perhaps less than mature, but I was genuinely and unexpectedly excited for my first trip across state lines as the driver.  It's the little things in life, right?  

November 21, 2011

With at least sixteen hours of driving ahead of us, I figured it might be good to get my oil changed and have Brutus checked out.  Further, my "Check Brake" light was still pinging on every few miles.  I hadn't the chance to have it re-rechecked since my last visit with Midas, so I rolled the two visits into one.  My estimated hour wait, however, turned into somewhere between five and six hours, as I was told they hadn't done their job the first time around and now were waiting on parts delivery from their storage.  Although the mechanic had told me Midas would cover the cost of a replacement sensor the last time I popped in on the shop, he attempted to charge me for the replacement sensor this time around.  Not one for shenanigans of this sort, I explained to him what he had promised me a few weeks earlier.  With some finagling, he agreed to not charge for labor and take a percentage off the cost of the sensor.  I still think I shouldn't have been charged at all, but at least I won't be driving to Louisiana with the incessant pinging!  

November 20, 2011

I'm a very lucky person.  While I don't take advantage of all of them being in the same city often enough, I am blessed to continue to have my core group of friends from high school still be a significant part of my life.  We have added a few more friends in the years since graduation, which makes the group just that much more incredible.  Today we got together for a pre-Thanksgiving feast at Alice and Dustin's house.  Loving each of our previous "family" pictures from gatherings past, we decided to continue the tradition yet again.  Unfortunately, not everyone was able to come and thus, the picture is a bit incomplete, but the heart of the moment remains. 

November 19, 2011

I was never a fan of beer until my time in Moscow.  In fact, I took pride in my defiance of the concept of drinking a beer.  Recognizing the potential of a delicious beer upon drinking Russia's version of a Bud Light, I instantly changed my tune.  Eventually, I developed a preference for particular beers, opting for less-hop fused brews like Shiner Bock, Ziegenbock, and Live Oak Hefewiesen.  Conveniently, the Live Oak Brewery, my absolute favor brew, is just outside of downtown Austin.  After trying to plan a weekend trip for months now, I finally found the perfect brewery tour weekend:  the weekend of my birthday.  So, at noon today, half a dozen or so of my closest and dearest joined me at the Live Oak Brewery in East Austin to taste some delicious brews and listen to the brewery's German brew master talk about each beer we were tasting.  The best part?  Being reminded that Live Oak soon will be bottling their beer so I don't have to find one of the few bars in Austin that continually offers their Hefe on tap!  Happy birthday to me!

November 18, 2011

Birthdays have evolved into an interesting event for me.  Ten years ago, I was jealous of others' birthdays and wouldn't shut up about my own; these days, I am more excited about someone else's birthday, and would rather skip my own entirely.  Rather than elaborate plans and parties for my birthday, I looked forward to a relaxing evening over dinner and a trip to the Long Center to see what the Austin Symphony has to offer.  We had an incredible meal of calamari, crab cakes, trout, mac 'n cheese, and martinis at Truluck's, followed by a sleep-inducing, yet beautiful, concert by Anton Nel and the Austin Symphony.  The evening made for a perfectly relaxing birthday, if I do say so and a perfect way to ring in my twenty fourth year.

November 17, 2011

Over the past two years I always expected this particular moment to be more full of pomp and circumstance, I suppose.  Then again, from what I've learned in this short lifetime of mine, life is more ordinary and blunt than the movies and popular culture may lead you to believe.  Rather than a well planned and carefully chosen moment, I accepted my first job over a burrito bowl at Chipotle on Congress today, amidst chattering about the Texas football program and running shoes.  With six months ahead of me before I finally graduate from law school, I'm looking forward to getting to work once and for all. 

November 16, 2011

If it is not in my planner, it is not happening.  It's a terrible personality flaw to have, but it is what it is.  For as long as I can remember, I've maintained at least two calendars at a time, but anywhere up to four or five.  At the moment, I have three calendars:  one on my iPhone, which is synced with iCal, and then my Moleskin planner for the day-to-day tasks.  My iPhone and iCal calendars keep track of work and Journal deadlines and upcoming projects.  Unfortunately, my reliance on three separate calendars also means I trust they include everything I have on my agenda at any given moment throughout the day.  Thus, I was surprised to receive a text message letting me know I was expected at the Journal office negative two hours ago as I was doing my hair and watching Dr. Phil this afternoon.  For someone who is a stickler for deadlines and being on time, these moments when my litany of calendars fails to keep me apprised of my responsibilities are especially embarrassing.

November 15, 2011

You never know what to expect with pets.  One day you may come home to a de-stuffed couch at the paws of a teething, or otherwise insane, puppy.  Similarly, Olivia loves to tear up rolls of toilet paper if I happen to leave the bathroom door open all day.  Today, however, I had an especially unexpected find.  I woke up to find sweet Elliot with a scratched nose this morning.  I'm assuming he and Olivia got into another vicious fight, as they're wont to do, and his nose took a beating.  Over the course of a few hours it has gone from an open wound to a bright red scab, so I'm assuming it is healing well.  Elliot is such the trooper though, and has let me clean it, even though I know it stings.  Hopefully his strange wound continues to heal well so he doesn't need to go see his favorite veterinarian!

November 14, 2011

I don't understand why a doctor will schedule me for one time, yet not show up to the appointment until nearly an hour after the agreed upon time.  Perhaps they are doing important doctor things, but then why schedule an appointment you won't be able to make?  Or why not tell me, "We're scheduled for 2:40 p.m., but I won't be there until 3:20 p.m., just for your information."  I plan my time Monday through Friday with a bit of detail and the last thing I want to be doing is spending any of that time in a waiting room with old copies of random magazines.  What adds to the confusion is when the appointment itself lasts no longer than fifteen minutes; what on earth is holding these doctors up?

November 13, 2011

I can't think of a better way to end such a relaxing weekend than with a sunset picnic on the top of Mount Bonnell.  With the standard picnic fare (ciabatta rolls, guacamole, hummus, cheese, some sort of deli meat, and pita chips), we made the seemingly endless trek to the top of Mount Bonnell about a quarter of an hour before the sun set over Lake Austin.  To see the view from Mount Bonnell is to be reminded of how blessed I am to call this city and this state my home.  Tonight's sunset was especially incredible:  with a perfectly cool temperature, a slight breeze, and low humidity, we comfortably watched the sky change colors as the sun descended under the horizon, with a splash of people watching and eavesdropping for good measure.  Such a wonderful Sunday evening is bittersweet this time of year:  I know we're lucky to have such a beautiful, cool evening, but I also know those evenings will soon turn unreasonably cold for this native Texan.  This being said, I'll take full advantage while I can.  

November 12, 2011

So, over the years I've learned that two cats a cat lady makes, apparently.  I suppose my falling to this moniker was inevitable:  my first stuffed animal, given to me the day I was born, is a small white kitten; I would always cry for and defend the terrible attitude of our cats growing up; and, of course, I now find myself the owner of two cats.  Alright, I'll embrace the classification, but I am not going to embrace the crazy.  With the classification, however, comes a great deal of poking fun at the expense of my family.  Every time an occasion calls for a card, I guarantee one of those cards will be feline-themed.  For example, the birthday card I received from Gene for my birthday this evening had this adorable kitten on the cover, which opened to reveal a feline disco party of sorts on the inside of the card.  As much as I've resisted the "cat lady" label for years, I must admit I find each and every one of these cards simply adorable.  I mean, who doesn't love a kitten in a party hat? 

November 11, 2011

Contrary to its seeming simplicity, queso is not always easy to make.  When you make a slight change in one part of the recipe, liquid ratios go wonky and things can get a bit sticky.  As part of a fajita feast tonight, I decided to make queso, going by the family recipe consisting of a delicious brick of Velveeta, a can of Rotel, and a splash of milk.  With just the two of us, I got a smaller brick of "cheese," but didn't get the revised liquid ratio quite correct.  While the flavor was by no means lacking, we had to wait a bit for it to resemble dip-able queso.  By the end of the evening, however, once the left over queso had sat in the fridge for a while, we again had a brick of "cheese."  Horribly unappetizing once you realize that is now sitting in your stomach, yet still so very delicious!

November 10, 2011

Hey, remember that time with the story?  You know, the story where I went on and on about seemingly disjointed events and people, without letting on where any of my rambling was going?  And do you remember the ending of the story when I had to say "that's the end of the story" because I was such a horrible storyteller and didn't make my point clear?  Yeah, well, I found twenty dollars.  Actually, I found twenty five dollars.  After watching a mid-week college football game, on my way back to the car from the Tavern, I spotted something on the ground.  As I took a closer look, I realized it was a money, laying on the ground without a possible owner in sight.  I'm supposing this random find is to make up for all of the ridiculous stories I've told over the years and, perhaps, to give me a better story to tell instead.  But, having read over this again, I don't think this story has hit its mark.  Oh well, I suppose I'll just have to stumble across another chunk of change again.  

November 9, 2011

Today involved one of those "duh" moments I've frequently experienced in law school.  When my brother asked me, on his birthday, to come to his last softball game of the season, I told him it would depend on school and work; I was just too swamped to think of much else.  With two projects stalled around mid-afternoon, I went to the gym to wait for the projects to shift back to my desk.  While running like a gerbil in his wheel on the treadmill and meandering about lifting weights, I relearned a lesson I undoubtedly will have to relearn many times in the future:  spending time with my brother, sister-in-law, and niece at my brother's softball game on his birthday is much more important, pressing, and worthwhile than sitting hunched over drafting and Journal work simply to aid in reducing my own anxiety.  The work will still be there when I get back and had I opted to work instead, the anxiety wouldn't have dissipated; it just would have been redirected elsewhere.  Thus, after the gym and dinner, I met Kyle, Brittany, and Campbell at Krieg Fields to watch Kyle's game.  It was a great opportunity to catch up with Brittany, remember Kyle's days in little league and school baseball, and spend time with my angel, Campbell.  Perhaps just for his birthday, Kyle's 2-3 team ended the season 3-3 with a stellar victory for Brigham Exploration.  Happiest of birthdays to my big brother! 

November 8, 2011

While walking toward Mozart's this evening, I was appalled to see a Christmas-themed light and music show on the decks.  Thanksgiving hasn't even gone by and already we're celebrating Christmas; it makes zero sense to me.  My ire continued to rise as we walked closer and closer, until, that is, I heard a familiar song: the Texas fight song.  As I watched the lights, I saw Bevo, the University of Texas logo, and plenty of orange lights to make my school pride swell with joy.  The inclusion of Texas in the light show forced my irritation to subside a bit, but the point remains:  what are we doing celebrating Christmas in November?  As we were leaving, we were again regaled with the music and light show, which must repeat itself every hour on the hour.  Christmas must be going on twenty four hours a day, seven days a week at Mozart's.

November 7, 2011

Every two weeks or so I am reminded of the height of the inconvenience and pain of doing laundry without having a personal washing machine and dryer.  I have to find a place willing to exchange bills for quarters; then I have to gather all my laundry, balancing the laundry detergent atop my leaning tower of clothes; finally, I have to make the trek across the complex to the laundry room.  After I press start, I carefully watch the time, lest someone rifle through my clothes to steal my underwear, yet again.  Unfortunately, tonight I was reminded of the extent of a person's decided lack of respect and consideration for the belongings of another.  Within minutes of my dry time finishing, I walked into the laundry room to find two piles of clothes:  a pile of dark clothes on the left, dry, and a pile of light clothes on the right, still soaking wet.  An easy solution would be to run them through another cycle while simultaneously refraining from writing a note sure to land on passiveaggressivenotes.com.  Unfortunately, I was unable to do even this as the person who felt it necessary to discard my clothes on the table, still wet, also decided to take all four available dryers.  I have no idea if one of my dryers simply failed to dry my clothes, or if the person took my clothes out mid-cycle.  Regardless, a public thank you is in order: thank you, sir or madam, for also failing to remove all of my clothes; I am now missing a number of socks and the like.  In the future, please be more considerate in your moment of deep lack of courtesy and ensure all of my clothes are actually in the dripping pile you leave on the table.

November 6, 2011

I love gloomy days, really and truly.  I love when the clouds are deep grey, threatening to dump inches of rain on the city, accompanied by loud bangs of thunder and brilliant strikes of lightening.  The tenor tends to relax me so I can remain my productive self, but with a side of slight flippancy as I work toward parking myself on the couch with a movie later in the day.  Interestingly though, the only part of the city not afflicted with the gloom today was the area around the Capitol.  Texas is famous for its ridiculously unpredictable weather, but I thought it was interesting that today's weather was so particularly selective.  If you were looking for a warm sun and blue skies today, all you had to do was take a pleasant walk down Congress to the Capitol building.

November 5, 2011

October is a wonderful month, but one I failed to take advantage of for one distinct reason: pumpkin everything.  I briefly dabbled in the world of pumpkin when I stole the Pumpkin Schmere during its first appearance on Bagel Wednesday, followed later by a few pumpkin lattes.  When I found a recipe for pumpkin cookie sandwiches, however, I knew I'd found the best pumpkin-themed treat.  Finally finding the time and inclination to try the recipe this weekend, off we went to the store to find the random medley of ingredients the cookies called for.  Not one full week into November and all of the pumpkin-related baking necessities are nowhere to be found. Instead, we found a box version of pumpkin cookies, so we resigned ourselves to that and making the icing from scratch.  Note for the future:  one pound of powdered sugar is much more than necessary for delicious cookie sandwiches.  I suppose this is the final incarnation of pumpkin deliciousness for the season, though.

November 4, 2011

Most Fridays find me at home, working on one thing or another.  It also means Elliot gets some serious 'game o' fetch' time in with me.  As I'm studying, or researching, or whatever it may be, he sits next to me, pawing one of his many toys in an attempt to get me to throw it for him.  Sometimes it's just a ploy to get me to move my hand closer to him, at which point he puts his paw on my arm so I can't throw the toy and so he can get me to scratch behind his ear.  He's a sneaky one.  Since I have the MPRE tomorrow, and haven't gotten in as much studying as I'd like, today was more focused on practice exams than playing fetch and whatnot.  This did not go over well with my spoiled kitten; instead of resigning himself to the window sill until I took a break, Elliot sulked under the covers on the bed until I was done studying.  Poor angel, it must be so hard having to sleep, lounge, eat, and not work all day.

November 3, 2011

So, remember that part of the summer when I mentioned the oppressive heat and whatnot?  And do you remember when we all claimed we couldn't wait for cooler weather to arrive?  I don't; I wouldn't wish near freezing temperatures on myself.  I may like my winter wardrobe better than anything else in my closet, but I do not like being cold.  In my misery, I whine and complain and do everything to make the situation just that much more unbearable, rather than just bundling up appropriately and going on with my day.  Today saw the first major cold front of the season as it hit later in the evening.  Perhaps due to the half a dozen hours or so before sun up and after sun down last weekend, I am simply terrified of cold temperatures right now.  Thus, today I wrapped up in my scarf, winter coat, close-toed shoes, and long sleeves.  I was still cold, but I'm hoping that was just me making it more miserable than it had to be rather than that being the actual temperature.  Looks like I'm in for a long winter . . .

November 2, 2011

Endurance sports reward experience.  With this in mind, and recognizing I've gone from a half marathon to fifty miles in the span of a mere seven months, it is no surprise I finished Cactus Rose ahead of only a handful of other runners.  With plenty of running years ahead of me, I've decided to take my time recovering from Cactus Rose before running headlong into the next big adventure.  Recognizing the benefits of weight training for my capacity to run longer and without injury, I decided to start recovery training at the gym today.  I'd like to see continued increases in mileage, but I'd especially like to increase my speed.  Over the coming months, I hope to ease back into longer runs, but make them more frequent, rather than simply as part of impromptu training for an upcoming race, and to incorporate hill and speed workouts, all of which is dependent on available time.  I haven't chosen a goal race to direct all of this toward, but I'm sure one will manifest itself shortly . . . Rocky Raccoon 50 miler, anyone?

November 1, 2011

I have no more excuses; I must start studying for the MPRE (i.e., the Multistate Professional Responsibility Exam).  In addition to sitting for a three day exam after graduation, law students are required to take the MPRE to be able to practice law.  I've always been a bit perturbed by the legal profession requiring an exam on ethical and professional rules, as this is the very profession trained in avoiding rules, but I digress.  Rather than come up with some excuse like lack of time or the exigence of other obligations, honestly put, I have little motivation to study for this exam; it just doesn't scare me enough.  It's relatively cheap to register for the exam, and I don't have to have passed it prior to sitting for the bar exam.  Further, it's not as if the exam is on constitutional principles or the rules of evidence; the ethics rules are logical and obvious to the casual observer.  But rather than kicking myself in a few months for failing the exam and having to spend the sixty some-odd dollars to re-register and the time to study again, I opted to begin studying tonight.  Well wishes for the exam are more than welcome, as would be a heavy dose of motivation.

October 31, 2011

How can one possibly say thank you to an incredible, unflappable, and incredibly patient one-man Cactus Rose crew?  With enchiladas and beer, of course.  Over the past day and a half, I've reflected on the eighteen and a half hours I was traversing the Cactus Rose course.  I'm a very independent person so, at first glance, I'm sure I would have thought entire self-support for the race would have been feasible.  However, I now am very well acquainted with the fact that Cactus Rose requires quite a bit more than stubborn perseverance and independence.  Although I knew to take extra shoes, extra food, and extra everything, there is no way I would have had access to any of it without assistance at each aid station.  Without a sane person present, I could not have overcome the psychological wall and virtual "check out" to force myself to eat more calories before moving on to the next set of miles.  Simply put, there is no way I would have finished on my own.  While I can utter "thank you" and "you're awesome" as many times as my lungs will allow, these words felt meaningless considering the accomplishment I couldn't have achieved without help.  Thus, Chuy's had to fill in the gaps this evening with creamy jalapeño sauce, Mexican beer, and chicken enchiladas on a breezy patio with a server by the name of "Shaggy."