The standoff

I'm sitting at the new house.

I'm waiting for the cable guy.

There is a giant red wasp hanging on the ceiling in the kitchen.

I'm only 10 feet away from it and do not wish to anger it.

I am trapped.

I am praying that God would intervene and somehow the wasp would just die, suddenly. Maybe it has heart disease or influenza. Something that could potentially be fatal to a wasp. But I'm praying that it would die. Soon.

Otherwise, I'll have to beg the cable guy to kill it when he gets here. And since he's coming between 8-12 today, it might be a long wait.

From where I'm sitting, I have a perfect view of the thing. It's just hanging there, almost motionless with the exception of the occasional wing flutter (which just about sends me running for the hills).

Tools at hand to kill it or defend myself? A tiny broom that one of the contractors left the other day.

Please pray for my safety if you get this in time...

The sounds of silence

I walked into work today and immediately sensed something strange.

It seemed...quieter.

But people were talking, hands were typing, phones were ringing.

But I could definitely sense that it was quieter.







So I asked around a bit, just to do a sanity check. Turns out that the AC was shut off about 10 minutes before I walked in (although I will say that it was still quite cold!). It's amazing how I had become so used to the white noise. And to be completely honest, my ears started hurting.

They wanted that white noise. They kept trying to listen for it! And it started giving me a headache. After 5 years with the AC noise in the background, it hurt to have it disappear.

Funnier still? Everyone is talking about it. We're just a bunch of lab rats....

In a state of mourning...or about to be

Most of you know that I was born and raised a TV kid, though it does not pride me to say so. In fact, I've been trying to slowly rid myself of the addiction. However, there are a few spots in my TV calendar that will remain occupied until the various shows end. I just can't help it.

On my list for this season:

• Gilmore Girls
• Lost
• House
• The Office

Last week, I was in mourning over the end of a Gilmore era. Yes, tears were shed and I'm not ashamed to admit it ;) Amar was nice enough to buy me Season 1, so that I can hang onto a little Gilmore for a while...

Now it's looking like this week I won't fare any better. It is apparently "widely rumored" that there will be 5 significant deaths on Lost this week. Why do they have to go and do that?

Any predictions, you Lost watchers out there? I can't bear to write mine down...but if Sayid goes, it will be a sad day in our household.

Quick updates

Just a quick note to say that we're still working on the house. Here are some of the latest pictures: theramas.smugmug.com

Also, since we'll soon be moving, posts may be a bit spotty around here...just warning you :)

Distraction

Amar and I are spending the evening at a local coffee shop in Central Austin. I’m trying to read my homework for Bible study, but I continue to be distracted by the people around me, as you may well know, I majored in People Watching in college. So Amar suggested that I blog in real-time about my observations upon people watching. I will record the events, and then record my thoughts of said events in parenthesis. Here goes:

There is a semi-hippy sort of birthday party going on. Can’t figure out who it’s for, but people of all ages are in attendance. They have probably about 10-15 people already, and folks keep showing up. They have a large bundle(?) of balloons which they keep trying to weight down. Hippie man just went to grab a giant rock. (That seems to have worked.) In addition to people showing up continually, food and beverages are also in abundance. They have 2 full pies/cakes, several trays of other bakery goods, a tray of coffee mugs, a tray of cups of ice, and a whole big container of iced tea. (Woah.)

(Too many people on this deck are wearing crocs.)

There is a lady in the parking lot in her car, and she’s talking on one of those Bluetooth earpieces. Though to the casual observer, it looks like she’s in there talking to herself. She’s been in there for 30 minutes. (I am beginning to fear for her oxygen supply.)

Flies! Being attacked by flies!! Must cover my dessert!!!

Why are so many people wearing either crocs or cowboy boots?

Lady is still in her car…(I should check on her periodically to make sure she doesn’t lose consciousness. )

Party update: Whoops – there goes the tray of cups of ice! Splash! One of the kids just ran around yelling “Yum yum, cake cake!!”

A car alarm goes off in the parking lot… (but it must have been a really sketchy alarm because it made that beeping sound that trucks make when they backup. Sketch-y.)

Lady is now getting out of her car. Oh! She’s going to the party! Oh…she’s going to a different party. Never mind. I was fooled by the present in her hand.

Party update: More party attendees are arriving! So far the grownups outweigh the kids by about 10:1. Still can’t figure out who the party is for…Apparently the folks who have just arrived are the guests of honor. Much exclamation has broken out on the deck. Yippee! She’s here! (Whoever “she” is…) The kids have now been handed really large glasses of milk. (The perfect complement to the massive amounts of cake they are about to consume.)

Party update: Woah – major party faux pas. Someone just called someone else “the oldest.” Yikes. Not a good ice-breaker.

And the armed forces have arrived. (Whew – just when this party was getting out of control. Two fine members of our National Guard have now secured the deck.)

ALERT – CUTE BABY ON THE DECK!! I REPEAT: CUTE BABY ON THE DECK!

A woman just showed up with two friends, explaining Austin in the following way: “…Now, Austin has these things called ‘lakes’…” at which point I totally lost interest in what she was saying because 1) she wouldn’t be at this particular establishment if it weren’t for our “lakes” so THERE and 2) I didn’t find her shoes to be aesthetically pleasing.

Party update: Parenting advice was just given out to a young boy: “No matter what happens to your brother, your sister cannot be left alone.” (Way to go chivalry?)

Party update: Craig! Get the matches! The matches, man, the MATCHES!

Austin itself has struck back! The lady who made the "lake" comment just dropped her purse, spilling it's contents all over the place. Go Austin!

Ok - I really must be getting back to my reading...

Interesting observation of the day: food

I just realized that almost all the food I've eaten today has been orange:

• Pumkin muffin
• Quesadillas (cheese was orange)
• Orange

The only exception to this would be the coffee that accompanied the pumpkin muffin.

Odd.

I guess I'm just thankful that the food color inspiration of the day wasn't blue.