The Canals at Valley Ranch

There's a restaurant directly behind me. You can enjoy delicious (I'm hoping) Italian food while you sit near their floor to ceiling windows that overlook the canal.

The weather has finally cooled off enough that I can venture outside without fear of drowning in my own sweat. That 10 degrees makes a pretty significant difference for me, but the ChiChis are still hating the heat.

I decided to explore the canals in my neighborhood. Apparently there are about 5 miles of them that wind around luxuries homes and not so luxuries apartment buildings. I barely covered about a half mile because my boys simply stopped moving at a certain point and dropped to the ground.  I had brought plenty of water for them, and they drank it, but then they still looked like this:

I let them rest for about 15 minutes, but even then, I had to carry Miles back to the car. Next time I go, I'll make sure that it's on a very cool day so that I can show you more of the canals. For now, I have these pictures. What I couldn't get pictures of were the many turtles that hang out on the rocks. As soon as we'd approach, they'd plop into the water like a bunch of giant, green, slimy ice cubes dropping into a green smoothie.

Most of the houses have back porches that open directly onto the canals. There were lots of chairs and tables out and I imagined the people who live there hanging out at night, listening to the sounds of the canal. I don't know if they actually do that.

Miles and Elvis terrorized the ducks. Of course. In their minds, they are mighty warriors.

How can you not love a face like that?

A Month and a Half - in Ten Words or Less!

OK, not really. I'm going to use a lot more than ten words, but I needed a catchy title.

Many of you have been asking me what I'm up to. I have mostly been very busy with minutiae, and there is just too much to write about. From this point forward, I will be posting about the cool things I'll be doing!

This is how I've been feeling for the last couple of months.

Since my last post, a million things have happened.  My mom bought a house, moved in and started fixing things right away. That was very time and energy consuming for me, but I was happy to help because she is over the moon about her new place. Pretty much right after I got her settled in, it was time for me to move into my apartment, and the effort nearly took me out of commission. I'll skip the boring details, but let's just say that I'm glad that all the moving is done for now.  I'll probably move again when my lease is up, just because I picked this place before I really got to know the city, and it's a little more suburban than I would have liked. It's a very nice neighborhood, nonetheless.

New stuff: I started teaching at a music school, was offered a music director job at a very cool church, which I happily accepted, found the perfect dance school where I can take classes that keep me happy, healthy and sane, and I'm starting to make great friends. Also, I found some awesome Asian supermarkets where I became acquainted with a fruit called jack fruit. If you've never seen it, stay tuned, because I'll be posting pictures of it soon. Anyway, that about sums up the last few weeks. 

And now, here are some random pictures:

There's a really cool resale store near my mom's house. We've found all kinds of treasures there, like these impressive chairs, which came with a round dining table that my mom bought. I'm pretty sure it used to belong to King Arthur. I have proof. I found the letters SL carved into the armrest of one of the chairs. Boom! So, anyway, as soon as the chairs were delivered, Dolce jumped up and struck this pose. I think she's channeling De Niro.

I will never get tired of the Texas sky. Get out of here, Texas sky, you are just too fabulous!

A corner of my mom's garden after a summer rainstorm.

I think someone's had their face buried in the greek yogurt jar. I'm not saying who. But his name starts with the letter Vito.

We found a really great Thai restaurant that serves soup so good, I have to use every ounce of my self control to keep myself from licking the bowl. I think I'll get it to go next time so I can go to town on that bowl away from the curious looks of strangers. Mind your own businesses, restaurant patrons!

This is what Elvis does while I'm teaching on Skype. It's too much cuteness for one dog, but he's pretty humble about it. Most of the time.

These adorable lizards are everywhere. They move by sashaying side to side. Their skin is somewhat transparent, as you can sort of see their insides. I found this tiny guy in the house, and he was injured beyond help. You can see the gash on his neck. RIP beautiful baby lizard.

I'm Dallas Doll, and I approve this message!

I saw this plaque at Target. I didn't buy it, though, because I already have way too much stuff. So I just took a picture of it.

No matter where they sit, or how much room there actually is to stretch out, Miles and Elvis stick together. They're BFFs.

See?

Believe it or not, they are both comfortable like this.

My mom's house. That's Don's car in front.

This is the pool at my mom's housing community. It's gigantic.

Rainy parking lot. Home Depot. I have spent a lot of time there since moving to Texas.

So... we only get one hour a day to eat here? And not at all on Mondays? Talk about not letting your work run your life. Well played, restaurant owners. Well played.

Vito has absolutely no problem begging for affection.

I was really missing my friends who are far away. And then I reread a favorite book by Richard Bach and came across this page. I felt better after that.

See you again real soon. Y'all.