mother's day

I just dropped the hubs off at the airport so he can go work in N'Awlins for a couple of days, and the french press, some cheese toast and I have settled down to try to get caught up. The past week has been the sort where a few important things have slipped through the cracks... like forgetting to email a friend back to say 'yes, please call anytime!' (that's for you, J.R.!), or to check the court date for my speeding ticket (it's TOMORROW. 4p. glad I checked.) The stack of things to wade through on my desk here isn't friendly.

It's been a full last few days. M and I got up before the crack of dawn Thursday and drove to Dallas to work, he at Panavision, me down the road at the studio in Grapevine Mills and then over in Richardson. I worked until 11:45 that night, and by the time the poor man got us back to the hotel and into bed it was 12:30ish. Then we hopped out of bed early to come back home, so he could get back to work after lunch. Friday night we had a plate of stuffed shell pasta and broccoli and passed out. Scratch that - I passed out. I'm pretty sure he stayed awake waging war on the mosquitoes.

Oh yes, we have the mosquitoes. They breed under the damp house, we think, and come in through cracks and crevices. They make M crazy, because he is their favorite feast. I *just* started getting bitten, so my kind mother-in-law let me bring home the Don't Bug Me Insect Balm I gave her last year. I LOVE this stuff, even if M says it makes me smell like a hippie. A lady who lives in Calvert, Texas makes it, and she used to sell it along with her other products in a little coffee shop there on Hwy 6. I bought some one day passing through on my way to Hico to see my parents, and got totally hooked. The shop closed at some point and I was afraid I'd never find it again, but she has a website! whew. her soaps are wonderful, too.

Saturday was chock full of activity. We got up early to go to the church and get breakfast ready for members of the finance team, the elders, and the admin team. As they began noshing, I had to bug out to go to a reading of an animated movie I'm a part of. The movie's called The Last Flight of the Champion, and I'm voicing Kitka, a Russian cat. Very Boris and Natasha-esque. My accent needs some work. FPU class was in the afternoon - next week is our last class! It's been such a great experience. We went home for a few hours and then over to our friends' house for a birthday dinner. It was so fun to hang out with that group of people and eat such fine food. Who knew foie gras was flipping delectable?!

Mother's Day this year was really nice. My mom and dad were actually in town earlier in the week, so I went shopping and gave my mom her present then and asked her to take back gifts for my grandmothers. I sometimes send corsages for them all to wear to church on Sunday, but this year I wanted to do something different. One of the best was the green purse I got for Yaya... it was a wonderful shade of green, woven and with a wooden handle, and it looked really fresh and summery to me. She's a stylish lady, and I could see her carrying it. Turns out, she was looking for a green purse on her own! Cosmic connection there. I'm happy to end her search and so glad she likes it. The knit shirt I got Grandma fit, and I got her some Aveeno moisturizer/sunblock, too, since she WILL go out and work in the yard!

Can I just tell you how much I love Marshall's? Because I do. I find treasures in that store, and I love coming in at or under my budget.

We went to church with M's mom and family. They traditionally ask moms to stand and be honored, and give them a gift. This year's I thought was awesome - a little kitchen wisk and three gift certificates for meals at nice restaurants around town! They also do something else that I think is very cool - they ask those who want to have children, want to adopt, whatever, to stand and be prayed for. Families are invited to stand with them, or people can stand in honor of someone else and intercede for them. It's a very sweet moment. M and I chose to stand, and while we prayed the names of my dear friends who yearn to have babies kept playing like a record in my head, along with those who're currently pregnant and excitedly planning and those with little precious munchkins who bring us so much enjoyment. Blessings for all of you, ladies.

Here's our Mother's Day table... we decided to serve the food over on the buffet and put out pictures of the women in our lives to look at.

These are plates that my mother-in-law found while canvassing various Salvation Armies and whatnot looking for plates for our wedding dinner.  I LOVE them.  I kept about 15-20 plates from all of the ones we collected, and donated the rest back after the wedding.

Banana cake from the Betty Crocker cookbook with strawberries and Whipped-Cream Icing from the Good Housekeeping cookbook (that's Yaya's cakestand, too).  flowers courtesy of our backyard and the church's rosebush.:

 

L.B. with two of her boys.

love to everyone.  

-m.y.

thank you for calling

I’ve spent the last couple of days deep in the trenches of undercover customer service research via multiple phone calls. Our internets have been on the blink, and after one unsuccessful repairman trip, I wanted to request another. Allow me to illustrate AT&T’s World of Automated Prompts, which go something like this:

‘I see you’re calling from (number). Is this the number of your AT&T account?’ me: ‘No’. ‘Sorry, I didn’t quite catch that. Is this the num-‘ me: NO! (pause) 'I see. Please say or enter the number of your AT&T account.’ me: Punching numbers. Not even going to attempt saying them. This isn’t my first rodeo. ‘We need to know why you’re calling so we’ll know how to direct you. Are you calling about your Dish network service, DSL inter-‘ me: DSL! (pause) ‘Thanks. I need some more information. Just say what problems you’re having. You could say ‘Outage’, to report an Outage, or (list of things that don’t apply to me, then finally), or say ‘Repair’ or ‘Technical Support’ me: REPAIR! (pause) ‘I think you said you need Repair service, let me transfer you to a customer service representative. In case we get disconnected, is the number on the account a good number to use to reach you?’ Me: NO. ‘Please enter a contact number’ Me: punching buttons again. ‘Thanks. You’ll be connected shortly’

A few minutes later, hopefully…

AT&T Rep: Thank you for calling AT&T my name is BlagedyBlah may I have the number on your account?

Me: mumble the number again. Didn’t I just give you this?

AT&T Rep: And is this a good number to reach you in case we get disconnected?

Me. MumbleNO. Mumble cell number. Why did I have to punch this into your system if it doesn’t show up in front of you?

AT&T Rep: Who am I speaking with?

Me: Mumble info.

AT&T Rep: Okay, how can I help you today?

Me: Tell my story. Again. My internet is cutting out. Still. There’ve got to be notes about it in the system, right? This is the sixth time I’ve called in a week. I just want another repairman to come to my house. Please. Repair.

From here it’s gone 2 ways. First, I was put in a cue to speak to tech support, only to find that I was really just in another cue for another rep who needed to hear the whole story again before saying something like ‘oh, you need line maintenance’ me: YES! ‘call this number and select your state and go from there’. Me: Can’t you just transfer me somewhere to make an appointment with a technician? Them: ‘NO.’

So I call the line maintenance number, and as the automated system starts reeling off states I’m ready. Except they never say Texas. So I wait, and wait, they’ve finished the list and there’s nothing else, and finally I push a ‘0’ out of desperation and get kicked to another sales rep, who needs to hear it all again. And everyone I speak to needs both my AT&T account number and my contact number.

Which is funny to me, because they don’t want to call you back. Case in point, during one of my calls yesterday, something was actually wrong with their side of the line…it was cutting in and out, and the lady rep kept apologizing and asking me to repeat what I was saying. I shouted to her to just call me back at my contact number so we could get a better connection, to which she replied, ‘I’d rather not do that, ma’am!’ I shouted back that I could call her back if she’d give me a direct line, but apparently that’s a no-no. Of course, I was welcome to call back and go through the prompt system again. So we kept shouting at each other until she transferred me to another rep that magically lined up a guy to come out this morning. I asked if she was with Line Maintenance. She said she wasn’t and if my problem was taken care of I should have a good day and thanks for choosing AT&T.

The other way it’s gone is that I’ve been told Line Maintenance would be calling me… so I wait, and an automated system calls me that says: ‘We’ve checked your line and it seems to be fine. If your problem has gone away, press 9. If not-‘ and the call is dropped. ‘If not…’ what?! It hasn’t gone away, it cuts in and out, I need you guys to come still! But you can’t call them back at the number that shows up in your caller ID. You have to call AT&T again. And begin the whole ordeal from the beginning.

Horrible. Frustrating, awful system of customer service. We went with AT&T because we dislike Comcast so much… my experience with them was also plagued with shoddy customer service.

CRAZINESS. John the AT&T guy just left – he messed with wires and gave me a new modem, so we’ll see. But holy mackerel.

I would also like to offer up the following wish… I would love to be able to go to a Jiffy Lube or another of those express oil change/state inspection joints and just get a good oil change/fluid check/inspection without them trying to up-sell me on sixty and eighty dollar filters, fuel injection flushes, and who knows what else. Seriously.

To end on a pleasant note, yesterday I needed to kill some time and decided to head for my favorite pho place in the city, Pho Tan Loc over on Bellaire just down the street from Sharpstown Mall. I was introduced to it back when I started working for one of my anime companies. I doubt I would've had the courage to go in and try it by myself, but those guys had canvassed the area and knew what was what... plus, one of my friends was Korean and we relied on his knowledge and experience to guide us. The prices have gone up a bit... a number 15 small used to be $5.50, and now I think it's $7, but it's still the most flavorful pho ever. (and it's out to your table in 5 minutes!)




then I went down Bellaire toward the Beltway to Star to get a lovely and refreshing bubble coffee drink... sooo tasty, and cheaper in this part of town:





Another great place in this part of town is House of Bowls ... really good food, and the noodle and egg plate looks sort of gross but is totally delicious.

we ate them crawdaddies...

I posted these pics to facebook to share, but the I think the quality gets warped in the upload there. or maybe I just like seeing my photos better on my blog is all. :)

mates of state

put on a really good show last night at warehouse live. we like fun, husband-and-wife bands... especially when we win tickets to see them!








they played my jam! they played M's jam, too, but we were too busy singing to snap any video... not that that stopped me on this one. :) oh, and nobody panic... I discovered I've had my video settings on compact instead of standard, and a quick test revealed that that's why all of my clips lately have been fuzzy. duh. of course, I discovered that after I took this snippet of video, so here it is in all it's fuzzy glory:

snap!

my 4-hr session later this afternoon got moved to next week!! not that I'm not thankful for the work and I've still got to go hit another one at noon, but now there's a chance the laundry will get done and I can sink into a Domesticity Vibe for most of the day. I've already cleaned the kitchen, even mopped the floor, and sweet potatoes are currently baking in the oven. the coffee in the birdie cup is good and so far this is such a nice day. I feel like a girl. the house is quiet.

I read this a few minutes ago on agent b's blog, and was struck by it: "Waiting is not popular in the westernized world. We are impatient. We want our microwaved hot-n-ready pizzas now. And so forth. In the western world, waiting is considered a huge inconvenience. And inconvenience is considered a major crime against our human rights. Thus, waiting is assumed to be like an inhumane act." I think of my own impatience, how I plan my days to take certain routes and am totally offended when things don't happen in the order I expect them to. of how I sometimes rush into things out of a spirit of fear, unwilling to wait and see. of the long, awkward wait for my husband.

I love this song... we sung it on a Sunday morning recently:

Teach me, Lord to wait
Down on my knees
Till in your own good time
You will answer my pleas
Teach me not to rely on what others do
But to wait in prayer
For an answer from You

Teach me, Lord to wait
While my heart is all aflame
Let me humble my pride
And call on our name
Keep my faith renewed;
Keep my eyes fixed on You
Let me be on this earth
What You want me to be

Those who wait upon the Lord
Shall renew their strength
They shall mount up with wings like eagles
They shall run and not be weary
They shall walk and not faint
Teach me, Lord, teach me, Lord, to wait

Spirit, help me to relax today and grant me perspective. minister to me that I may be a blessing to others.


-m.y.

things that sound awesome.

now that I'm finally done with my work for this day.

in no particular order:

a bath.
a prayer.
cleaning my face with Pond's cold cream. just like my Grandma.
laundry. folded and put away. ha.
stretching a body that's been sitting way too long.
finishing my third Little House book.
straightening the sheets so I can get in them.
a huge glass of ice water.
working on my scarf.... decompression city...
the idea that I'll block off Friday afternoon for the mythical trip to Magic Nails. and a haircut? dare I push my luck?

this list was interrupted by a commercial on tv for onlinebootycall.com. wha?

my sister-in-law sent some pics of my niece last night - she looks bigger and wiser and like a proper little girl with very expressive eyes, and I wish I could know her more.

some things I'm grateful for:

girlie brunches.
FPU and our dear group.
good friends.
12 steps.
singing in the sanctuary.
student loan payments.
on top of the plumbing bill paid-in-full.
a good vet visit!
my edgy husband, who plays the cards with me.
being haunted by a trumpet. here's my brother-in-law at his last recital at Moores School of Music:



I wish I'd gotten some video of his first song. talk about haunting... it felt very film noir to me.


I'm also thankful for various soul whispers and affirmations, the ability to resist the 40% off plus free shipping sale at Lands End (which wasn't easy, really), the promise of seeing Mates of State in concert and singing 'The Re-Arranger' very very loudly, and for the hope of new days ahead.

-m.y.

paper anniversary

last weekend, I celebrated being married to this man for an entire year:



I like the photo above. like he conquered that tree and claimed it for the betterment of us.

because he is extraordinarily thoughtful, he gave me the sweetest gift ever - framed movie tickets of the first movie we saw together on January 16, 2007. we'd been hanging out a couple of weeks, and I was ready to... um, proceed. because he was playing it super-cool, people. which is why, while we were waiting for the previews to start, I pointedly remarked that my hands were cold. see, I'm in my thirties... I don't have time to make small talk and coyly wait for our hands to 'accidentally' meet in the popcorn box. I just want my hand to be held by someone I like and I'm not above making a dork of myself to accomplish this.



truth be told, after the movie we also shared our first kiss at my aunt's house, and I pretty much played the dork to make that happen, too. how forward do I sound?! I have no regrets.

because here we are, married! two people who weren't sure they'd ever find their lobster. ('Friends' reference, anyone?)

we praise Him.




we also think Flemings is an amazing place to get a first anniversary steak. for reals.

-m.y.