That's what I get for watching TV

I get a commercial stuck in my head. For days on end. I find my foot tapping for no apparent reason during a meeting. I get distracted on a conference call because I was singing a song inside my head rather than listening to my co-workers.

And still it's there.

A little bit more, a lil' bit more...
A little bit more, a lil' bit more...

Has anyone seen that Target ad? So you know what I'm talking about. The first time I saw it I didn't even know it was for Target. I must have been entranced by the beat, so I missed the "Target.com" text at the start of the ad.

And still...it's in my head.

A little bit more, a lil' bit more...
A little bit more, a lil' bit more...

So Amar and I googled it last night, because we just had to know who sings it. For your information, it's Jamie Lidell, and you can enjoy a sound snippet here.

I'm still alive...

So after 10+ days of not posting, I'm making a comeback.

Long story short, the past 10 days have been a bit crazy. Amar and I have both had the flu, and basically, it kicked us to the curb pretty quickly and didn't even look back. I think we did a pretty good job of not spreading it to anyone else, so that's one good thing that happened :)

Anyhow, life goes on. We saw Amazing Grace the other day and really liked it. You should go see it.

Oh, I also started reading Ragamuffin Gospel the other day. You should check that out, too. Good stuff.

Happy valentine's day

It's no secret that I work in a predominantly male field. My recent observations put the ratio somewhere around 5:1…sometimes even higher. Not only am I outnumbered, but I'm out aged as well. Most of my co-workers have kids my age, possibly even grand kids my age. You get the picture.

On my way to lunch, three of the guys approached me, apparently discussing the topic of they day.

"Kim," one of them started, "today is Valentine's Day."

I braced for 1) potential cheesy joke, 2) potential inappropriate joke, though those are rare with these guys or 3) potential Valentine's related question.

"Let's say you're getting a gift. A big gift."

I nodded, immediately picturing those Lexus ads from Christmas…the cars with the big bows.

"Would you also want a card with the gift?"

I could see where this was going. I paused to consider my answer. In fact, just yesterday remembered that I had been listening to a radio host discuss this exact topic.

"Guys," I began cautiously…"the card is like the icing…"

Before I could finish my sentence, one of them shouted "See!! I told you!!!"




Good luck out there, ladies.

Site updates

I'm experimenting with some site tracking widgets, so if you see a webcounter in the next few days, do not be alarmed. I'm only tracking your social security numbers and your mother's maiden names.

In other news, I'm coming out of an allergy funk. It happens about once a year. You never really, truly value the fact that you can breathe through your nose and swallow without pain until those abilities are suddenly taken from you without warning. But it was nice to work from home for a few days and take it easy. Not that I prefer being sick, but hey, whatever works.

Our pastor is going through some great stuff in church, so if you haven't tuned in yet, you really should listen in on the January and February sermons. Good stuff. The past two Sundays have been about marriage, namely leaving and cleaving as mentioned in Genesis 2. But it's good for everyone, not just married folk.

Check it out here: www.Grace360.org

The cookie

Peanut Butter Patties, you just may very well be the death of me...










But oh my, it would be such a tasty, tasty way to go.

Granola update

So it didn't turn out like I expected it to. It was not clumpy enough, and was a bit on the salty side. I blame the peanuts, personally. But don't we all?

Wish me better luck next time...

I amaze myself sometimes

I cooked.

A meal.

And it wasn't from a box.

Seriously, yes, Amar and I had spiffy pasta and broccoli last night. And in paying me perhaps the best compliment, he said, "This is good. This is 'invite people over' good."

So yes, I'm on a roll. Or at least the beginning of one. I mean I was rolling and cutting basil leaves. Amar was slicing garlic and cubing mozarella. I was dicing tomatoes and sprinkling red pepper flakes. Flavors were flying across the room left and right. The aroma of a nice meal permeated the entire place. Wow.

And it was apparently good enough that we both had leftovers for lunch today. Yee haw! We're in business!

I'm going to attempt two more dishes in the next few days, but as I type this, I'm reminded of some wise words....

"Pride goes before destruction,
a haughty spirit before a fall."
Proverbs 16:18

I'm back!

Well, I'm back in Austin. Finally! I just barely made it out of Texas before the huge ice storm hit, and I wound up missing the entire thing. I've already unpacked and done laundry (a record!) and I'm hoping to stay unpacked for awhile. Wish me luck :)

Amar and I are still recovering from Christmas decor. Yes, the tree is still up, though yesterday we made some progress. He's taken our lights down, and I've packed up all the ornaments. Once we decide to stop lounging around, we'll start dismantling the tree and we'll finally be finished.

Anyone else still have Christmas in their house? Please, help me feel better about myself and admit that you still have decorations up. I know you're out there...

A few Brazil pictures

Out sick

Sorry for the lack of a decent update from the southern hemisphere yesterday. It seems that I was under the weather. Quite under the weather if you don't mind me saying.

But I'm back upwards of 90% today, and all is well. I'm literally counting the hours until I can be back on my home turf. Not that Brazil is bad or anything. Quite the contrary. I just miss my peeps, that's all.

Anyhow, it seems that now Europe is getting the same stuff that Texas got earlier in the week. I have a theory that there are really only a handful of storms circling the globe. Every time they cross the international date line, they change personalities. They do some reorganizing. Sometimes they downsize, choosing to let a few clouds go. Sometimes, if the hydrologic cycle has been good to them, they can spend a few extra on some cumulonimbus clouds here and there...maybe a cirrus or two.

But it's the same bunch every time. Just like corporate America, they have contractors that work for them. For instance, sometimes you just don't have the talent on-hand to generate the lightning that you'd really like to unleash on the Midwest, so you open up a few recs, and off you go.

Ok - enough silliness. Back to work.

P.S. On Wednesday we had both a fire and a massive power outage. Too much fun, my friends. Too much fun!

The update for Tuesday

While Austin has been busy digging itself out of the massive blizzard of '07, we've been enjoying rather nice weather down here this week. Apparently before we arrived, they had experienced daily showers since the beginning of the year. But the sun has joined us this week, and it's been really nice down here.

After a rather uneventful day at the office Tuesday, I returned to my hotel room to find a beautiful bouquet of flowers that had been sent by my dear, sweet husband. What a wonderful suprise!

We went out to a pretty snazzy pizza place last night, and enjoyed a stroll around the neighborhood in the cool weather. But by the time I got back to the hotel around 9 o'clock that night, I was dead tired.

So there you have it, the skinny from Brazil. That's all for now, folks.

A third of the way there...

Well, these first few days of work have been...how should I put it? Oh yeah, long!

We catch the shuttle at 7AM to get here, and we catch the shuttle at 6PM to leave, and an hour's drive on each end of that journey. That makes for a long day. But we're being productive, I guess :) Still wearing hard hats and safety glasses, but this time around we have indoor plumbing. Oh, bless those people who have been working on that!

We also have a cafeteria in the building now. But I'm still relying on my good ol' rice and beans to get me by. I'm not willing to risk the mystery meat yet. Here's an actual conversation I had with a Brazilian friend of mine yesterday during lunch:

Me: What kind of meat would you say this is?
Him: What? What do you mean?
Me: I mean what type of meat is this? From what animal?
Him: Well, I guess it's meat. The normal kind.
Me: Um, yeah. I'm going to pass.

Other than that, nothing too eventful has happened. It's warm here, so it's a bit crazy to imagine Austin as a block of ice right now.

What really happened...

So I'm in line, about to board my jetliner for the 10 hour flight to Sao Paulo. Boy howdy, I've been eagerly awaiting my first class seat. My free first class seat. I hand the lady my boarding pass. The boarding pass which has an obscenely low row number listed on it. She scans it. And then my whole life flashes before my eyes.

Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.

"Ma'am, you need to see the agent at the ticket counter."

Despair pulses through my viens.

I hand the agent my boarding pass, and with an incredibly cold and heartless tone, she tells me that she has to bump me to coach. Coach! She says that some "missed connections" who "actually paid for first class" deserve the seats more than me.

"But you don't understand," I plead. "The sheer fact that I have first class seats on an international flight has literally carried me through this incredibly long day."

"I know. But I have to take your soul from you now. I can try to get you a good seat in coach, if you'd like."

"Thanks," I reply in a tone I can only describe as deflated and surrendered.

So I spent my 10 hours in the (bumpy) air listening to the people in first class clink their glasses, order wine, cut their steak, and freshen up with their hot towels.

But I made it just fine. It's a sunny, summer day here in Brazil, which is more than I can say for the entire state of Texas. Oh, and there was a super pretty sunset last night. I'll upload some pictures later. Peace out.

It's the journey, not the destination

Saturday's trip recap:

I should have known that my fairly decent travel record was going downhill with all that happened during last weekend's trip. However, I am learning the hard way that things don't always go according to plan.

My body of evidence:
1) The flight out of Austin yesterday was delayed because on its way into Austin, the plane was struck by lightning. According to the crew, they needed to patch some holes. Yeah, that's a great start.
2) We wound up leaving Austin 2 hours later than expected, which pretty much ate up our layover time in Dallas.
3) We arrived in Dallas 15 minutes before our flight was supposed to leave. However, the plane at the gate we were supposed to park at was having mechanical difficulties, so we sat on the runway for a good hour. We watched our other plane take off without us.
4) Our luggage is missing in action, but they've told us that it'll be on the flight with us. Yeah, I buy that.
5) During our time in Dallas, the temperature dropped about 20 degrees. Again, we're prepared for a South American summer here, not the Texas winter storm of the century. Cold? A little.
6) About 1/2 of the flights out of DFW have been cancelled today. We're hoping ours is among those that isn't cancelled. But we have no idea...our hotel reservations are good until 6PM, but the flight doesn't leave until 7:45. Nice timing, eh?

The bonuses so far:
1) The airline determined that we missed our flight because of "mechanical difficulties" so they put us up in a hotel for the evening.
2) We were rebooked on the flight for Saturday, and the only 2 seats left were in business class. Bummer :)
3) Because we're on business class for an international flight, we were autotmatically granted entry into the Admiral's club. Posh.

So here we wait in Dallas. For ~4 hours so far, and about 3 more to go. We're crossing our fingers that we get to leave tonight. If we don't, then we'll try again tomorrow. But the weather is supposed to get significantly worse tomorrow through Monday. So who knows. I may get a little used to the Admiral's club...

Editor's note: Internet Explorer thinks that I'm writing this in Portuguese, so every word shows up on spell check. Please pardon any errors...I'll see what I can do to get this fixed...

Racking up the miles

Well my friends, this week finds me looking head on into another international trip. Yep, I'm going to Brazil again, and with a whole 2 days notice! Wow! :) Wish me luck.

It has been travel central around our house lately. First to Brazil, then Mexico, then Alabama, and now Brazil again. I have no idea what time zone I'm in, honestly. I really don't prefer to live out of a suitcase, but it'll have to do for a little bit longer.

As for my to-do list, per Kaitlan's request, the participants of the recent 'Bama road trip are to compile a Top 10 list of various happenings. I don't know that they are in any particular order, but here is my list:

1. Taking the bridge to heaven over Prien Lake in Lake Charles, LA. The fog was so thick that day that we didn't know where we'd wind up. Tiffany and Krista describe it better...
2. The 18 mile bridge on which no cop could ever take radar, as confirmed by our pastor. Gotta love the Atchafalaya Basin bridge! All 18.2 miles of it.
3. Taking a nap in Birmingham with Anne's dog Penny. I never had a dog growing up, and I've always wanted one to fall asleep on me. This was a first. Shout out to the basset hounds out there!
4. Watching the car surpass 60,000 miles 2 miles before we got back home on Monday night. Woo hoo!
5. Beautiful Alabama sky at night during the drive from Orange Beach up to Birmingham. Tons of stars to see!
6. Showering myself, my friends and my family with powdered sugar from my beignet while drool was sliding out of my mouth. The picture of glamour? You bet! Action shot below:
7. Getting to spend time seeing the Gulf Coast states with some fabulous friends.
8. Attending my first beach wedding: white sand, pretty sunsets, cool water...very lovely...
9. Talking to Walter at 1-800-Starbuc while we were frantically in search of a Starbucks. He is the man.
10. Getting reprimanded in church in Birmingham by an elderly man that didn't necessarily care for the way that my husband had his arm around me during the service. Oh, and then talking about it after church with the pastor who we had only known for about 30 seconds. Great stuff.

I know, I know!

It's been forever.

Yes, I know. And I'm sorry. I couldn't be more sorry, actually. Or is it sorrier?

Well, whatever. I've been all over the place for the past couple of weeks, thus the noticeable lack of posting. Was there also a corresponding lack of post-worthy happenings? Possibly. But I tend to blame sheer laziness and vacation for the recent void around here.

Ah, sweet vacation. Amar and I didn't have to travel much for the holidays. We slept in. Made our own schedules. Had coffee. Relaxed around the house. Ran errands. Hung out with friends. Hung out with family. Ate lots of yummy food. Decorated. Wrapped gifts. Unwrapped gifts. All that jazz. It was fun!

But now we're both back at work. Not so much fun :( But seriously, I didn't even open my laptop over the holidays and it was great! Now that I'm back in cubicle land, however, and much more on-line than I have been in recent weeks, the posts should be rolling in on a semi-regular basis.

Well, except for this weekend. It's road trip weekend as we head to 'Bama for a wedding. Long drive? Oh, heck yeah. But it will be fun to spend time with friends and visit a few other folks on the way as well. Wish us luck!

Items on last night's menu

We ate at a cute little Italian place last night. Typically, the waiter will bring English menus to those of us that need them. I am fascinated by the translations on these, however, since the Portuguese to English isn't always right on the money.

For example, here are a few of the items featured on last night's English menu. All items appear as they were on the menu:

• Unwaved chicken
• Rotten cheese
• Friend cashew (a cocktail)
• Pizza: ham, eggs, peas, palm tree, olive
• Tenant roast beef
• Packages stuffed with ham
• Turkey chest
• Triturated nuts
• Fresh tomato without skin sauce
• Solid of leaves
• Little buck leg (in pieces)
• Splints of funghi
• Pasta: milk cream, gem, bacon

It was actually one of my favorite restaurants thus far :)

I'll be home for Christmas

Yep, I'm leaving South America tomorrow and will be back in Texas on Friday morning. Overall, Brazil has been fun. Good food, nice people, good weather (aside from the heat!). The parts of the country I've seen so far have been really pretty. Lots of bright green trees and dark red soil.

This trip has also given me the opportunity to meet a few more of my co-workers that until now, have been a continent away. Though I will say this, I don't think I could travel full time for work. Some folks travel every week, flying out on Monday and back on Friday. That is not my kind of gig, but the occasional trip now and then is ok for brief amounts of time :)

Anyhow, it's a little strange seeing Christmas trees everywhere, Santas on every window sill, and garland on all the doors down here. Since it's in the high 80s, it is just hard for my mind to comprehend that it really is Christmas. I had no idea that the holiday was so widely celebrated in South America. Yeah, I'm a pretty insulated American :)

Hopefully I'll be able to post some pictures of my trip when I'm back in the states. Connectivity is patchy down here, so I think that's why my previous attempts failed. I know, I know. You're all dying to see what Brazil is like. But patience, people, patience...

See you soon! Feliz Natal!

Oi!

Yep, I'm still down in Brazil. Sorry I've been remiss in posting as of late. Our days are pretty long, and honestly, I've been too tired by the time I get back to the hotel to do much more than lay back, watch Harry Potter and do some Su Doku.

This is indeed the life.

We got Sunday off from work, which was nice. Some of us headed a few blocks down from the hotel to a local park for a bit. There are a ton of local merchants and craftsmen that come to the park, setup a tent and sell their goods. Most of us are looking for good Christmas gifts, but honestly, a lot of this stuff you could find in the US. I have, however, found a few things that I'm bringing back with me.

As we trekked back to the hotel, we started to realize why this part of Brazil enjoys a siesta during the afternoon. It was crazy hot. I was literally a puddle in front of the hotel by the time we made it back. We rested for the afternoon and then a few of us went out to one of the local malls that night. It was super crowded, but we had a good time.

Today, we're back "in the office" if you can call it that. Only 4 more days until I get to come home. Yippee!

Feliz Natal!

(I really hope I spelled that right!)

Brazil, the first few days

Brazil is good so far, I guess. Aside from the 10 hour works days, I don't have too many complaints :)

Seriously, though, it's been ok so far if I don't count being away from friends and family. The food has been great so far - lots of tasty beef and strong coffee served in tiny cups. I'm here for about another week, and I'm really hoping that the building will have indoor plumbing by then!

Due to the somewhat shady nature of the areas we're in while we're here, we have a security team that stays with us as we go about town. They are supremely cool. And I can tell you this, you haven't been shopping at a mall until you've been shopping at the biggest mall in Latin America with security guards tailing you. It was super fun! I'm going to try to get some pictures with them, and will post those when I do.

In the mean time, hopefully these will tide you over...enjoy! One is a picture of the mall we went to, one is a picture of the construction site, and one is a picture from the plane. You guess which is which :)