Catching Up

As I mentioned in the last post, this year has still had a way with making time fly. It is practically half way through the year, which is a good milestone to check-in and reflect on progress & activities.

From a work perspective, I am really enjoying what I do (since I moved into a new role in January). However, I am spending many more hours at work (or doing work/thinking about work, outside of work) than I would like. Furthermore, I'm not sure that I'm as far along with the goals I set at the beginning of the year as I would like to be. Not that they've been derailed--it just is a glaring reminder to be more focused on these accomplishments for the second half of the year.


On a more fun note, I've been trying to find more fun & thrifty activities to do outside of the house. Since we're both homebodies, getting motivated to go out and do something can sometimes feel like herding cats. As you can imagine, one cat herding another cat isn't the most productive. But, as a result of this endeavor, we have gotten a membership to the Houston Zoo! Last week, we went to see the new baby elephant--Baylor. He is adorable!

You can read more about Baylor on his website here, and I highly recommend watching the video of Baylor playing in his kiddie pool at Trunk Tales, the Houston Zoo Elephant Blog.

Baylor helping his artist mama, Shanti, paint a picture:

Where do the weekends go?

It was another weekend that went by faster than I can remember. However, if the point of a weekend is to recuperate from the week & refresh in preparation for the next workweek, I think I succeeded.

The highlight of the weekend was attending the Bayou City Art Festival today. The weather was almost perfect (just a tad too windy, which made the shady areas a little cool for my liking) and it was an healthy way to be entertained while getting a breathe of fresh air at the same time. This was my second year attending the event, and I recognized a good number of artists from last time. My awesome loot from the Festival is a fantastic keyring made from an old fork. That's right, a fork! I am head over heels for my fork new keyring. While I can't afford, nor have room for, many of the lovely pieces I spied at the Art Festival, I can say that there is something for almost any budget, taste, and age at this event, and would highly recommend it to anyone.

This upcoming week will be a busy one at work.. LOTs of meetings, le sigh. I am already in eager anticipation of next weekend!

P.s. Here's one of my favorites from the art show:

Daily Ramblings & Houston Tea Party

When a lot of the daily excitement comes from cat-spotting, you know we leave a pretty tame lifestyle. On Monday, Fent came home excited to tell me about how he pet a cat on the way back from the post office! And on Tuesday, I was excited to tell him how I spotted the neighbor's gorgeous white cat in the window on the way to work and the way from work!


But today, there was real excitement. Apart from being tax day (woohoo!), it was a day of "Tea Parties" across the nation. In an attempt of public display against misappropriated government spending, bailouts, and taxation in general, Tea Parties were held in various cities across the country. Unfortunately for me, the Houston Tea Party created a lot of racket outside of my office window for the last several hours of the day. Even from behind sealed windows on the 17th floor, I could hear the band and the crowd in the plaza across the way.

And by the time I left work, the streets were packed with demonstrators and police. What a mess!

Bank robbers

I found out at work today that the bank in the lobby of my office building got robbed on Friday around 5pm. Leaving work slightly early has many advantages. In this case, I'd like to think that leaving early was good for my health! (I was out of harm's way.)

They bank employees did not actually see any weapons, but gave him money before he absconded. They got a pretty good picture of the fellow, so he should be apprehended soon.

Utili-key love.

I just discovered the Utili-key. And I want it! It has the most useful functions of a Swiss Army Knife (in my opinion), but is more convenient since it fits on a keyring, which I'll most likely be carrying almost anywhere I go.


Fortunately, work has been slowing down for me this week. I have been going crazy working on a certain project and am glad that it's [finally] wrapping up!

On Wednesday, Fent and I went to the Cubs game with a few other friends. The game was good (Cubbies won), but we didn't get home until after my bed time, in spite of leaving before the game finished. There were little kids in the seats in front of us who stayed longer than we did. I felt a bit lame for being so exhausted the next day. I am getting old!

More proof of aging: I found myself thinking that reading a Crate & Barrel catalog was an entertaining way to spend a free evening. Ung.

Time doesn't stand still...

Work has been really busy the last few weeks. I think I need to plan some vacation! I have been spending far too many hours in the office, and thinking about work outside of the office. Sadly, it has even been invading some of my dreams. You know it's bad when you start dreaming about work.

Yesterday, Fent and I went to the Shell Houston Open. We got free tickets and thought we might as well check out a PGA tournament since we had the chance. We arrived around 10 o'clock, which was early enough that the crowds weren't too big yet and just in time to catch the last few minutes of breakfast.

Breakfast was not very good. Specifically, it consisted of cold foods that should have been served hot. But it was free, so I will limit my complaints.

We strolled around the course for a couple hours, visiting the holes in no particular order. We stayed at certain holes to watch a few groups pass, then we would follow a player for a few more. We saw some big names, like Greg Norman and Phil Mickelson, as well as a lot of people who I'd never heard of (which isn't saying much, since I am not an avid golf fan or anything like that). When the golf and the scenery weren't as interesting, we decided it was time to check out lunch.

Breakfast should have been an indication on what to expect for lunch, but I had high hopes. There was a buffet with hamburgers, hot dogs, "chicken marsala", cheese tortellini, green beans & baby carrots, and fingerling potatoes. Before I continue, I will say that it sounds a lot better than it was. The alleged chicken marsala was not even edible (Fent tried to take a bite, but it was very very dry and he could barely cut through it with a knife). The potatoes were the most edible, but that's the only compliment I can provide. There were also some fresh blueberries, which seemed a little random, but I took advantage of the situation to load up on antioxidants.

Afterward, we grabbed "frozen dessert" bars and headed back to the 18th hole to watch a few more rounds of players pass by. The fudgesicle stick wasn't very good, and after reading the ingredients in the label, I was turned off completely and chucked it out. The excitement of golf was also wearing off, so we decided to call it quits.

Overall, it was an enjoyable day. The weather was great and the golf was an interesting experience.


p.s. Apologies for lack of photos. Cameras and mobile phones were banned for the course. =/