Falling down on the job

Kelly R. told me in class last night that I was falling behind on the blog, and I'll be darned, she was right! Know what's funny? I think about what I'm going to put in the blog all the time - the trick is sitting down and writing all the good material that's in my head. Couldn't ya'll just plug into my head once a day instead??

Preparations for the Holiday Open House are coming along fast and furious. Mom and I have a big joint shopping project scheduled for Saturday. Priority #1 - shoes. Priority #2 - holiday decorations, big and small.

And it's a good thing this day o' shopping was planned like a week ago. Because this 50 degree weather is kicking my butt! I haven't wanted to do anything at all today because it's too darned cold. It's really quite amazing to me that I ever lived in Wisconsin where today would be a veritable heat wave.

Thursday was a really awesome day for me. I had lunch with an old friend I haven't seen in four years. Derek and I worked together back in 1999-2000 at a high tech company, and kept in touch for several years afterwards, but eventually drifted apart. Interestingly enough, we both left high tech for self-employment around the same time. He went to grad school and became a licensed counselor and now has his own successful practice. We'll definitely stay in touch this time.

We ate at The Shady Grove, which is a big Austin favorite. They have a really peaceful and lovely outdoor seating area, which is where Derek & I ate (given that it was 75 degrees yesterday!) and all the tables are gracefully sheltered by an ancient, amazing pecan tree. (It ain't called Shady Grove for nuthin') But there was one little thing marring the atmosphere. Dive bombing pecans falling at breakneck speed from the tippy top of the tree, and hitting everywhere! I got hit by three pecans personally - others landed in food, on the table, one hit just right so that Derek's tea spoon was catapulted from his tea glass across the table. Every three minutes or so, you'd hear the sharp crack of another landing ring across the patio, and we'd all take stock of the damage. It was so absurd, it kind of made up for the annoying part. We vowed to bring our own umbrellas to protect us next time!

Now I should get back to counting out little tiny crystals. Yup! They arrived! So that's also on this weekend's task list - getting them photographed and put up on the website for sale. Soon, my friends, soon!