Rattler

A week or so ago we came home from a morning out with friends. (We meaning the girls and I). For some strange reason (God. Thank you again.) I decided to jump out and take all of my things in the door before I began unbuckling and unloading the girls. Normally I will let them out as I gather the load that seems to follow us everywhere. As I approached the door I saw a snake coiled on the doorstep.

Readers, you should know before reading any further that I am terrified of snakes. Even a small garden snake can send me to a week of nightmares. I come by it honest as my Mother is the same.

Had the snake been a garden snake I would have been upset. Had the snake been a small snake I would have been upset. This snake was more. He was easily 20 inches long and thicker around than any snake I had EVER seen outside of a cage or an animal show. His coloring also indicated this was not a garden snake. He hissed his long tongue and I went screaming back to the car. I jumped in and locked the doors...as if snakes can unlock a door. I watched him closely as I called the hubs. No answer. I called the Y where he plays basketball...busy signal. I called a neighbor. No answer. Panic was setting in. Then suddenly my 80-something year old neighbor, Mr. Doolittle, came home. I carefully climbed over to the passenger side of the vehicle so the snake wouldn't see me get out and ran across the street....locking the girls in the car behind me. He grabbed a shovel and came back with me. By the time we got back, the snake was gone. Of course this means he is loose somewhere around our house. Mr. Doolittle helped get the girls in and we locked up and stayed in the house for the rest of the day.

Ever seen finding Nemo? Specifically this scene:


For the days that followed I would grab everything in my arms and hold Cupcake's hand while saying "we go out, we go in" "we go out, we go in"
Side note - Pixar is just genius because two days of that and Cupcake was just like Nemo. Sigh.

Flash forward a few more days....Cupcake and the hubs are taking out the trash when cupcake spots the snake again. Does she run? Does she scream? Does she ask to be picked up? No. She just calmly says there's the snake. Guess she's not inheriting my terror. The hubs brought her in and told her to play inside. I went and got Mr. Doolittle and then had to leave...I was headed out anyway. Thankfully Mr. Doolittle and the hubs were able to kill him. The hubs took a picture and after having a chance to look a little closer he was in fact no garden snake...he was a Rattle Snake. A venomous snake. Whew. The fun never ends around here.

At least he's dead. Hopefully his blood trail leaves a little messages for the other rattlers in the hood....you aren't welcome here!

Beware of Bitter Biscuits...

As promised, I have more posts and stories coming about Christmas....

We just had to get our Christmas cards out first. Today they are all officially on the way. Yes, they say Merry Christmas. No, they don't also say Happy New Year. Yes, this is slightly embarrassing. No, I can't promise it won't happen again. We're the Crack Team...shamelessly imperfect and unkempt. Remember?

Sooooooo Bitter Biscuits.

On our 12.78 hour stint in Kingwood before flying out to Louisville my Mom hands me a box of EarthBaby Organic bitter biscuits and says, "Have you tried these with Chloe?" We hadn't. She then asks "Could she have one?" Pause for one moment: Can I just say that I LOVE LOVE LOVE that my Mom respects me as a Mom enough to ask my opinion on stuff. I have so many friends who's Mom's would just give their children whatever they thought is best without asking. If you are a friend's Mom reading my blog, heed this as your warning....you won't get Mom/Grandma of the year with that behavior. Love you, Mom....you make me believe (however untrue) that I really can do this Mom thing!

Ok...back to Bitter Biscuits (BB's for the remainder of this post). So, I tell Mom to go ahead and give her a BB. I can't quite tell you what happens over the next 10 or so minutes. It might have been that I was enjoying (read:devouring with no manners) a DELICIOUS meal made even more delicious because I did not have to make it and did not have to be in charge of Chloe while I ate it. I may have also been busily arranging Christmas gifts for our exchange that was about to take place. Or I may have just had one of those "Mom" moments. All that to say, I didn't see how the bitter biscuit went down, I just noted that we should pack those for the plane. And we did.

The next day we flew to Louisville and Chloe did GREAT. We didn't have to resort to all the tricks in my diaper bag (BB's included) because it was a quick flight in which we all slept, watched one short movie, and then basically prepared for landing. So, we then got settled into Grandma Sally's house and all took another nap. We woke up, showered, and got dressed much faster that we usually pull ourselves together so that we could make the 6pm Christmas Eve service. Here is what Chloe looked like:














We get to the service, take a seat towards the back, on an aisle. I have learned a few things about being a Mom :). The service starts...the bells, the advent candle...really a beautiful traditional service. Then the pastor calls the kiddos up to the front. Since we don't have "children's church" as part of the Gateway services I was so excited for Chloe to get to partake in something that was a mainstay of my childhood church going memories. Up we went...she basically crawled all over Chris and I and looked at the other little girls dreaming of when she could have long hair.

Then we go back to our seats and Chloe is done with church and hungry. So, since church wasn't done Chris comes to the rescue with...a BB!!! He unwraps it, hands it to her and all is well again. A few minutes later communion starts. We agree that Chris will go up with his Mom and Chloe and I will stay in the pew. No sooner did Chris and his Mom start up the long aisle to get in the long line for communion did I realize the truth about BB's. They are a HUGE dissolving mess! Imagine if you sucked on a graham cracker without ever taking a bite....only denser and more dissolving-er. BB gunk was all over her hands and with each smile and coo of delight a little more drooled out of the corners of her previously precious gummy smile and onto her velveteen Christmas dress. I'm stranded. I can't reach the diaper bag without leaning down the aisle and risking BB gunk drool on the new (did I mention this was a brand new sanctuary?) velvet pew cushions.

Hours later (ok....just moments but it was one of "those" moments) the people in the row in front of us start coming back. I sigh relief knowing Chris would be soon after. As they enter the pew but still from a distance they start to say "isn't she cute?"....but as they get closer and see the mess they pause a little and "cute" is more forced out and comes with the layers of judgement that must have been heaping on a Mom who gives her baby a BB in their brand new church. Thankfully we were miles from home and knowing I would NEVER see these people again I could careless what they thought of me and our BB mess. Next the people in the row behind us are coming back. I don't know whether they cut in line, Chris was up there confessing both of our sins, or if God,who knows I am a hard learner wanted to make sure I learned about BB's. But, of course as they are entering the pew Chloe turns to watch them...and they too start to say how cute she is...of course she smiles. I've trained her well. Only this time the smile as previously mentioned includes a dripping of BB gunk out of the corners. So, I feel the drippage making it's way down my right shoulder. Perfect. Now I get to have BB mess too!!!

Finally I see Chris coming. In my head I'm yelling HURRY UP, I NEED WIPES NOW!!! But I'm also reminding myself it's Christmas! My husband has just cleansed himself at communion. We're in church. And...of course I want to maintain my perfect wife, we can handle anything appearance. Ha. Ok....not that last one but I did want to respect my husband on Christmas. Soooo, I opted for the whispered version as he sits..."I need wipes. Please." He grabs them as he gets a closer look at what has transpired since he left and starts mopping us both up with wipes as the choir sings Away in A Manger. Thank you Jesus for the reminder that even the most precious babies lay in managers among livestock. Surely we can be forgiven for our BB gunk-ified Christmas Angel in this pretty church!!!

Nobody's happy

Maybe I'm getting old. Maybe this is just indicative of my black and white personality tendencies. This may be an updated version of the age old I walked 2 miles in the snow barefoot to school but I LOVE this and think there is some real truth here....

Matthew...up close!

So here's the post I've been holding out on for entirely too long:

Almost 2 months ago when I was in the midst of some of the worst morning sickness of this pregnancy Chris and I were also teaching our Gateway U class. Each Thursday was carefully maneuvered around having my best energy and strongest stomach for the two hours we'd be teaching. Amazingly I got through. During one of the weeks of the class, I share a story that is too long for this post but includes my thoughts on Matthew McConaughey. I thought he was precious in How to Loose A Guy in 10 Days. Then one of my younger cousins thought Chris reminded her of Matt. Anyway, long story short, I shared my Matthew story in our class which was literally 2 -3 minutes of a 2 hour class.

About a week after that story, one of the girls in our class emailed me. Our class did not know we were pregnant. Since we teach a dating class it didn't seem like a necessary announcement. She had scored some tickets to Texas Monthly Talks through her company and asked if I wanted to go with her. The guest speaker...Matthew McConaughey. So, in the middle of being a horribly sick pregnant woman, I thought what better way to get my mind off the pukes...and I accepted.

She and I went down town and got there a little, ok 1 hour, early for good seats and literally were the first in line. We ended up getting in the front row, middle seats, less than 5 feet away from Matty. It was a fun interview. He's a great talker, has a sweet Texas drawl, and knew how to keep us laughing. I was so impressed with his interview and even more impressed that I made it the ENTIRE afternoon without getting sick. I'm attaching the pictures that were taken with my camera phone. They are blurry and not well done BUT show you how close we were for a fun interview.

Note to self: Make sure future classes know I like peach salsa, shoes, and paper in case anyone else has some hook-ups they'd like to share!!! Thanks Claudia for a super fun memory!

The Sn-uke

I promise after this post I'll quit posting about all the "fun" of first trimester pregnancy stuff and get back to things that more of you will care to read. However, no one told me all this stuff and I don't want to be blamed for the same offense....

When I was in High School I remember that my Dad and Brudder thought it was hilarious when they would sneeze and fart at the same time. They'd laugh so hard anytime it happened. I am sure they would be thrilled to know I am disclosing their bodily function bonding stories on our blog but since neither of them seem to be loyal readers and since I could share worse....there is it. The Sn-art (sneeze fart) was a laughable offense in our family. (Laughable for them, offense for my mom and I).

As the weeks roll on in this journey called pregnancy everyone keeps telling me it will get better. I cling to the hope they are right. This week however was as bad as any of them when it comes to barfing and wanting to sleep all day. The only difference is that I'm 12 weeks in now...which means I don't have the energy to care about where I throw up, how I look, or even keeping track of how many times I puke each day to ensure I'm eating and drinking enough. I just throw up. So, one day, out in the front yard for some fresh air, sunshine, and a hello to my neighbors who I really should say Hola! too (they don't speak much English).....it happened. I went to sneeze and I puked. I Sn-uked. I guess my body thought if my mouth was open and I was projecting out that it was fair game to clear out this hour's round of puke. Unlike my Dad and brother, I didn't laugh. And...if the language barrier wasn't enough this moment with the neighbor was a whole new level of awkward. She almost wanted to be compassionate, I think, but ultimately decided to pretend she didn't hear the large gag and splash and acted busy and ultimately went inside. Como se dice "Sorry about that, I'm pregnant and miserable!" en espanol?

I don't have a picture for you....would you even want one? I'll keep my promise...this is the last post on first tri fun....I've got a good one to post if I can figure out how to download pics from my camera phone. Stay tuned :)

Take me out to the ball game...

For almost as long as I can remember I've been going to baseball games. Some of that is because my Grandpa, Dad, and brother love baseball and we lived in Houston, home to the Astros. But the other some of that is because my Uncle Gary is a Major League umpire and always got us great tickets when he was in town to call a game.

Side disclaimer, he's not technically my Uncle. His wife, Cheri, was my mom's college roommate and were so close that when we were younger my parents wanted us to call them Aunt Cheri and Uncle Gary because they were more dear than the Mr. and Mrs. most non-family members were called. Also, the picture of Gary is not from the game we saw but a good action shot!

Anyway, since I don't live in Houston anymore it's been harder to get to the games. In fact, since Chris and I have been married we had not gone even once. Harder to believe still was that Chris had really only been to one other Major League game in his life. Considering I've been to probably over 100 in my life, this streak just had to end. So, Gary was in Houston this past weekend and we made the trip!

We went to the Saturday evening game against the Cubs. It was an AWESOME game. The Astros won 4 -1. Cameron, Gary's oldest son, came too. He just graduated from High school which completely freaks me out because I vividly remember holding him when he was just a baby. He was adorable and tiny and now he towers over me and has a deep man voice.

Some super fun things went down in my favor....let me set this up. First, the attendance roster of our crew included my dad, Chris, Brudder, His wife (Kari), Cameron, and me. Kari thinks the Crack Team is crazy and always says she will try to let loose around us. Cameron just didn't know what he was getting into and was maybe a little shy or overwhelmed. Anyway, here's the recap of Crack Team does Major Leagues:

1. Game is about to start. Umpires do a brief meeting at home plate. Recalling my childhood of calling out to Uncle Gary and waving like a fool I ask "Does Gary still do the Salute/Wave I see you at the beginning of the game?"

Cameron: (laughs) He wouldn't wave

Kari: And...he probably can't see us.

Me: (standing up, waving, and screaming like a fool) GARY!!!! WHOOO HOOO!!!! GOOO UMPIRES.

Gary: (from the field - the salute/wave I see you...)

Kari & Cameron: (mouths open in disbelief)

2. 5th Inning Chic-fil-a promotional Chicken dance and t-shirt throw. Around this time I've danced to every song, clapped and chanted with each prompting and had some good old fashioned ball game peanuts. Some of our crew thought we were settling in. I was convinced we had just gotten started. So down the aisle comes the chic-fil-a cow and some intern with a bag of shirts.

Cameron: (with no intention of doing it) Awwww - we could have gotten a shirt.

Me: Oh...we'll totally get one when they come back up the aisle.

Kari: You are too funny. (And in disbelief we'd catch a shirt)

Me: (stands up to do chicken dance, sees the cow mascot coming) WHOOOO HOOO!!! YEAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!! (more screaming and waving like a fool)

Intern: (looks over, feels sure I've earned a shirt, digs frantically in her sponsor covered satchel and throws the shirt)

Me: (reach over the heads of my sitting family and grabs the shirt) WHOOO HOOO!!!

Kari & Cameron: (mouths open in disbelief)

3. 7th inning stretch. They play the normal "Take me out to the Ball game" which I of course sing at the top of my lungs. This time the family did stand up and partake...I'll give them that. Then immediately following that song, they played "Deep in the Heart of Texas" which I also sang all three verses of at the top of my lungs and even did the hand motions I learned in elementary school. Texas born, Texas proud....it still freaks my husband out.

Kari & Cameron: (mouths open in disbelief)

(Chris too this time)

4. Post game. We're waiting outside the player/umpire exit with a group of hopeful fans. Apparently they think that players will stop their car after a long game and sign autographs for the mob. What are they thinking? Well one actually did, he must be a rookie. Anyway, he pulls his Bentley over and starts signing autographs. I get right up in there and hand him my free chic-fil-a shirt. Why not? He asks for a pen so I shout to the hopeful kids and groupies "I need a pen" and someone passed one right up. Too bad Cameron was in the locker room with his dad and Kari was picking up pizza or they would be:

Kari & Cameron: (mouths open in disbelief)

5. Gary comes out. When I was younger, I would run up screaming to Uncle Gary after the game. Because he was also younger then fans would often follow my lead and ask "Who are you?" hopeful he was an Astro. It was priceless. This time however, I ran up to him screaming and he hugged me as usual but the hopeful fans didn't bat an eye. Guess they knew by this point that I was crazy and Gary wasn't an Astro.

Needless to say we had a great time. Chris enjoyed the great seats and watching the umpires....he's never considered their role so carefully before. Go 'Stros! We love Gary!!!!

Let Freedom Ring and stuff

Sally, Chris's mom planned a trip to Austin for the first days of July to include the 4th! Since she hasn't been here since the wedding, we knew she'd enjoy seeing all the changes we've made to the Crack House. We also were able to coordinate schedules with my parents for them to come up for part of the trip to see Sally.

Sally arrived Thursday night and my parents came up on Friday morning. Friday, Chris agreed to slow smoke a couple of chickens by putting a beer can in them and smoking them up. We also did a pork loin for good measure. We heard of some other folks (Brudder) trying to smoke some brisket but in case they didn't get to see a real 4th of July cook-off I'll attach a picture of our golden smoked birds and the cooking process. Side note about the pictures - Sally, is wearing an apron my dear Grannie Frannie gave me. It classicly reads "Bet your boots, I'm Texan." Since Chris's family always notices our State Pride, I couldn't think of a better way to welcome her to my kitchen. (Thanks again Grannie!) Needless to say hours later, with Chris's careful attention, our Freedom birds (who are hardly the picture of freedom) were super yummy! I also made a big salad, some potatoes, and a yummy fruit cookie dessert. We had a great meal.

We also played Wii. What a hoot! Side story - I've noticed that when it comes to texting, I am a nerd! I have to slowly type out what I am saying. I don't know the little codes like TTYL. I can't punctuate or capitalize the message. The college kids or younger can whip out a text message faster than I can type. I guess it's a sign that I am not on the hippest edge of text messaging. I share this so that I can have the freedom to say that while our mothers are EXCELLENT sports and had hours of fun with our Wii....they are to the Wii remote, like I am to text messaging. Yikes. But, we managed through laughter to play Rabbid Rabbits 2 and Tennis. So fun!

Finally after a long day we were ready for bed. The only problem was that our neighborhood allows fireworks so every few moments there were loud popping noises booming into the sky. This was fine until midnight but shortly after that I was a little annoyed. Is this another sign of not being hip? Maybe. But, later the line was drawn in the sand. I finally drifted off to sleep with a happy full belly and a day of wonderful fellowship with family.

Then it happened. A few hours later that is. I think the clock read 4:30a. Like a drive by shooting, some kids on the street behind us decided it would be cool to set off another round of fireworks all at the same time. Ever seen the movie Jack @ss? In one prank the guys put all these fireworks in a trashcan in their parents master bedroom. After quietly lighting them and leaving you can imagine the expletives, screaming, and hysteria that followed. I must confess that when I first saw the movie (in college with a theater of mostly guys, what the heck?) I thought this was HILARIOUS! I had multiple day dreams of doing the same thing in the middle of the night when my parents start their deep-sleep-snoring orchestra (sorry Mom, I know you think it's just Dad but it's not). I would laugh at myself just imaging it but realized my parents would probably disown me since it wouldn't be the cause for a major motion picture. Anyway, somewhere between the good old Tech days (only a mere 6 years ago) until now it must have lost its humor. As I shot up from bed, scared for my life, I was furious at the least of my emotions. I was thinking of our sleeping parents hoping this wouldn't wake them. Then I had to use the restroom as I almost lost it on myself. Then I started having dreams of blowing air horns outside their windows at 9am. Ugg. Finally, I spent the next hour trying to sleep and wrestling with the unsettling reality that I had gone from laughing at a similar humorous prank to being more like the unforgiving parents. Yikes. I've got to do a prank before the end of the summer to ensure I'm still hip. Beware loved ones...and stay tuned faithful Crack Team Chronicle subscribers.

Happy 4th, Let Freedom Ring, and please use fireworks with others in mind!!!!!!

Getting what I deserve...

So there we were...husband and wife....tucking in for a night of sleep.

Let me preface this post with a back story. Chris and I have this on-going debate about the best toothpaste. There is one kind that I like but Chris doesn't think it freshens our breath. However, his choice toothpaste, in my opinion doesn't freshen our breath. So, we cycle between his toothpaste and mine. Because we're (really me and Chris just keeps up) dramatic types, we've escalated our difference in toothpaste beyond fresh breath to flat out bad breath. So, when we are on Chris's toothpaste I complain about his bad breath and visa versa.

Ok....so there we were....husband and wife....tucking in for a night of sleep.....with our teeth brushed with CHRIS'S toothpaste. So, as he gently starts to kiss on me, I kick in with my nightly reminder of the bad breath his toothpaste causes. Playfully Chris rolls over to pout and I start to kiss on the back of his neck. Suddenly I realize something still smells.

We both love garlic and garlic DOES NOT love both of us. We're the peeps that carry the garlic smell for hours after eating it. Drat! Our kids have no hope.

So, I realize that Chris must have eaten garlic. The stench is well beyond the toothpaste. It's creeping out his pores and engulfing our bed. Because I haven't eaten garlic I am highly aware of the smell. After teasing Chris about this for a few minutes, I realize I can't take it.

In the dark of our room, I get this brilliant idea. I will put my bath and body works yummy smelling lotion on the back of his neck so I can cuddle him and drift off to sleep with the garlic and toothpaste masked by Pearbeary!!!!

Of course Chris would NEVER consent to this. So, I slowly, carefully, quietly, reach behind me to the bed side table. I feel around for the lotion, quietly pop the cap open, squeeze a little of the lotion to my hand, close the cap, and roll back. I reach up to the back of his neck and quickly rub in the lotion.

Chris: (shooting up) WHAT THE.....?!!

Karen: (laughing) Just a little lotion

Chris: (also laughing) Are you kidding me?

Karen: (now rolling) I just wanted a break from the stench

We lay back down...still in the dark this whole time....and I cuddle in. My arms slip around his waist. My legs fit into the backs of his legs. I nuzzle my nose in with full excitement for the pleasant aroma of Pearberry. I take a deep breath and...........gag! What the heck? I know this smell. It's NOT Pearberry. It's IVAREST, my poison ivy cream. DDDDRRRRAAATTT!!! Peels of laughter ensued, naturally.

It's one of those times in life where I get what I deserve.

New York - Day 4

4:30 am - beep, beep, beep, grumble, grunt, WHAT THE HECK?

Let the record state that there are only a handful of things that make an alarm piercing me to awakeness at such a horrid hour a forgivable offense. Kelly Ripa is one of them.

So, I rolled out of bed, got in the hot shower, and reminded myself that farmers are probably harvesting food I will eat without a second thought and all I have to do is get pretty for Kelly and Regis. By 6am we were dressed ready and the youngest people at breakfast by easily 25 years. We took the subway to the studio and got in line. They had a breakfast van with free food and hot drinks. We each got a hot chocolate and waited until they let us in. We were pretty close to the front of the line and when we got into the studio were able to get GREAT seats. Their show was SO fun! They had four guests: Milo Ventimiglia (from TV show Heros), Sam Champion (ABC weather man), Trevor Immelman (winner of The Masters), and Jack McBrayer (from 30 Rock). During the commercial breaks all of the guests were interactive with the audience so it was really fun to be able to talk with them "off air" and unscripted.

Then came the BIG moment we'd been waiting for!! Side note - it is no big secret that Kelly Ripa and her daughter Lola love Disney's High School Musical. In fact, Kelly even dressed up as Sharpay last year for Halloween. It was all too convenient that I work on High School Musical watches at work...and of course this would be my "in" with Kelly (whom I'm sure I'd be best friends with if she wasn't so busy with her show, Electrolux and so on).

SO, it was commercial break number 1...and Kelly walked right up to the audience to welcome a sweet couple who was there celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary. As soon as she was done, I jumped right up and got her attention. Here is our dialogue:

Me: "Kelly, I brought a little something for Lola"

Kelly: (Head pops in my direction, face lights up) OH MY GOSH!!!! She will LOVE IT. (Takes the box from me) What is it?!

Me: "A watch...open the little box"

Kelly: OH MY!!!! It is so cute! I am going to use this to get Lola to do her homework. What can I do for you? Can I clean your house? Thank you! This is so sweet. Thank you!

Chris: (snapping pictures like a pro!)

Karen: You are so welcome.

The rest of the show was so fun. Regis and Kelly have great chemistry as co-hosts and the studio was so friendly and upbeat. I'd so recommend this show....and tell Kells I say hi when you go.

Kelly was great but there was no denying that our sleep had been disturbed the night before. So, we headed back for a nap...why not? It's a vaca after all.

Around 1:00 we took the subway to Brooklyn. Our friends, Angie and Ricardo had mentioned Grimaldi's pizza on their web review of NYC and we'd heard from several others that it was one of the "famous" pizza places. In fact, we've since learned that the owner even served pizza to Old Blue Eyes - Frank Sinatra. The place smelled wonderful with it's big fire brick oven. We ordered a pepperoni pizza with black olives. It was delicious beyond the words I have to describe. We really recommend making this stop if you're in the city. It's located right under the Brooklyn bridge and eating at odd hours is the only way to avoid a wait...and still no guarantees. But it is worth it.

Next we walked across the Brooklyn bridge. We'd eaten a whole pizza so there was no subway for us....at least for awhile. We loved the views and picture opps from the bridge.

Once we hit the city we decided to walk over to the twin tower memorial. Chris was in NYC a week after 9/11 so he has a very different memory of it. When he was there last time, dust and dirt was still everywhere. Signs were posted along buildings and street signs of missing persons. It was so fresh and painful. This time, construction was in process and we couldn't even get to the temporary memorial they had set up. While it's still breath taking in the solemn way to imagine the two giant towers collapsing, it wasn't what I expected.

Conveniently located across the street was Century 21. A designer clearance house department store. We went nuts. We each got a pair of shoes, I got some Chip and Pepper jeans, and Chris some shirts, and an athletic shirt. It's quite a mad house though...even at 4pm on a weekday. So, beware of weekends and holidays if you want to do some shopping here.

We took the subway back to our part of town to put on different outfits and head to a bar we'd read about. It was called 230 5th...on 5th St. It was on the top floor of it's building and had incredible views of the city. We sat on a cute couch enjoying the views while drinking margarita's. We also ordered some slider hamburgers (so cute!) and some noodles with peas. It was romantic and fun. I LOVE when Chris researches awesome venues for our trips...he always finds something good.

After that, it was back to Times Square to buy some postcards and then head to bed...with only one day left in NYC, we wanted to be full energy for the last day.

New York - Day 3

By day three, we were really getting good at the breakfast thing. We got up and ate the free meal with time to spare.

Today it was off to Union Station and what better way to get there then the subway? I'd come along way from two days ago when I was sure people got killed there. Now I really enjoyed the whole little world that existed below the city....kind of like the Doozers in Fraggle Rock.

Right out of the subway in Union Station we found a Farmers Market. It was fun to compare what was fresh and local on the East Coast this time of year. We were thrilled to see apples as those aren't found in our own Farmers Market. We also found a laughable "dog park." The so-called park was a fenced in area no larger than our back yard which isn't very big. Dogs were running like maniacs through the area. It was really interesting. We also saw our first professional dog walker...a girl about my height with about 10 leashed dogs. If those dogs were smart, they would know they could drag her through the city but somehow they all stayed organized and well mannered around her.

Next we decided to head across the street to Chocolate by the Bald Man. We couldn't help but think of my choco-holic sister-in-law. This place was like the Chocolate part of Willie Wonka's factory. There were vats of chocolate being slow churned all over the shop. Tiny truffles were displayed beautifully in shiny glass cases! A huge bar with ornate bar stools invited you towards the wall menu of every chocolate indulgence you could imagine. But before we get too carried away it was still early morning. So we opted for an Italian Hot Coco. It was like drinking melted chocolate. Delicious!!! I almost pulled the lid off to lick the cup but remembered where we were and tried not to come undone over chocolate. While enjoying the coco we did a brief walk through of Trader Joe's...how we wish we had one in Austin!

Next we walked to Greenwich Village. I found a lingerie boutique that had my favorite hanky pankies on sale....so I had to go in! While I bought my girly stuff, Chris opted to head to The Strand bookstore. (Book lovers, beware! They have 18 miles worth of new and used books...that's a lot!) There, he glanced over their "Top 80 of All Time" list and opted to buy one we didn't have in our collection. We are book lovers and don't go into book stores and come out empty handed!

Of course all this walking around left us a little hungry so we grabbed one of the infamous Papaya Dogs. Yum! Also, as we were walking through a little park in the village we walked right past Peter Dinklage. For those of you who are cool, you'd remember him as Miles Finch. He was walking his dog. It's tough work rubbing elbows with the famous but little did we know our elbows would only get more sore while in NYC...

Refreshed by star gazing and Papaya dogs, I had worked up an appetite for SHOPPING! We grabbed the subway and headed to Macy's. Chris may not get as excited about retail as I do but I couldn't allow him to come to NYC and not walk through the 8th Wonder of the World. After that we headed to one of my favorites, H&M. I historically would come home from business trips with bags full of new goodies for both of us. However, we had never had the H&M experience together. It was delightful and this time of the bags of goodies even included some other people...

Next it was time for more food! It's amazing how much more you want to eat when walking so much. We went to S'Mac a fun Mac and Cheese place that we'd totally recommend. Chris had the Napolita Mac (like pizza mac!)and I had the Buffalo Chicken(Spicy hot). It was a super cute place with lots of character. After chowing down, we took the subway back to the Theater District so we could change into some fun clothes for our David Letterman taping.

We arrived at the Ed Sullivan theater around 4:30 to check in. We were pulled out of line to a separate line. The girl asks "So, are you guys ready for David Letterman?" my response in my squeally, scream voice, of course, was "OH YEAH!" Before Chris could be too embarrassed she asked our favorite part of the show. (Remember my side note yesterday? We don't watch the show.) So, I head snap to Chris as if to say "Tell Her Honey" and Chris quickly responds with "The Mail and of course The Top 10." She put a blue sticker on our ticket and sent us to the next line. There we were pulled aside from the group of 20 or so other people. We were informed that we "looked fun" apparently that's a high value at the Letterman Show. I was just happy my squeals finally got a reaction! Anyway, our fun look had earned us a place in the first few rows!!!! We were told to come back earlier than the rest of the gang. Whooo hooo!!!

We went back to the hotel since it was a block away and I called my parents to tell them about our excitement. Why is it when I can't figure out how to cook chicken Mom is a phone call away with the perfect Martha Stewart answer but when I really have something good to share no one answers?

Anyway, we got back to the theater, got in the "special" line and were whisked inside to do a "warm-up" with another assumed Intern. She got us excited, had us practice screaming, told us the rules (including no "whoo-ing") and then we headed in. We were about the 2nd or 3rd row back in the center. It was AWESOME! First a warm-up comedian came out and got us laughing. Then Dave came running...like sprinting out for a little time with us. Then the taping began. The Paul Schaffer band was really good. Dave was mostly funny with a few canned moments. The guests were: Amy Poehler to talk about her movie Baby Mama, Jason Segel to talk about his movie Forgetting Sarah Marshall, and a live performance from musical guest Jordan Zevon. Jason Segel was REALLY funny but Amy and Dave were not as funny (without their writers) as I would have imagined! It was great to be in the Ed Sullivan theater and to see the production side of it all. Because it was the Friday taping, we even got to watch ourselves on TV at home in Austin a few days later! We really had a blast!

After that we grabbed dinner at the Cosmic Diner. Chris had an awesome lasagna that we think had cinnamon in it...there was a unique flavor that was YUM! I had the pasta primavera with fresh veggies on top. We then took a piece of New York Cheesecake to go.

We took the cheesecake back to our room and ate dessert in bed...we had to hit the hay early because we'd be getting up at 4:30am the next day...

New York - Day 1

Because nothing says serenity, rest, and relaxation like Times Square, New York that is exactly where we decided to spend 5 days in celebration and rejuvenation of finishing our six week class. I'll say it again, it's always an adventure with the Crack Team.

Our flight left from Austin at 6am. In the collection of previous posts, I am sure you are readily aware that we are not morning people. And by morning we mean the hours of 7am - 10am. So, leaving our home at 4am was really closer to our bedtime than our wake up time. Needless to say, we slept almost the entire Jet Blue flight...and I was really looking forward to the tv's. I figured they had more than the 6 channels we have.

Once we landed in NY we got our luggage and called the same car service my company uses (or my old company, reference previous post). Although Chris would much prefer the adventure and frugal options of the subway or a yellow cab, we had big bags, empty stomachs (we both get carsick) and were more than ready to be in the city which is no short trip in public transportation. I pushed for the car service and the beautiful Lincoln town car got us from airport to hotel quickly, comfortably, and actually turned out to be the same as a yellow cab. Let me know if you are going to NYC and need the service number!

We dropped our luggage at the Hampton and headed to lunch. As we were walking there, a couple was openly and loudly arguing in the street. He would yell "If you walk away from me one more time, that is IT!" She would yell back "Oh just watch me...." and let the record state I have omitted many expletives because here at the Crack Team Chronicles we like to keep things PG. Anyway we awkwardly walked by, felt horribly for them, and weren't sure what we should do. We noticed other people walking on the street as though nothing were going on. It was then that we realized we weren't in Austin anymore. We collectively determined that since people are always around you in NY things that we are used to doing in private, people in NY do wherever since privacy is utterly unaffordable. We celebrated our thesis with a make out right in the middle of the sidewalk on 51st. Why not?

For lunch we went to Eatery. It was a short walk from our hotel and really good. We LOVED the edamame and recommend it. Chris had a burger that he also really enjoyed and I had the Southwestern Panini...yum!

Next we headed to Times Square to kill some time while they were preparing our room...and because after eating so much walking around seemed like a great way to make sure our pants would still fit. We went into the Hershey store because Chris loves chocolate. It was packed and really not too interesting - very NY touristy. The last thing we needed was a regular old Hershey bar for $5 because it had a picture of the Statue of Liberty on it. No offense Ms. Liberty. So we headed right across the street to M&M world. While it was equally as touristy in some ways, it was larger and more fun in enough other ways. The pic with this post is me with Disco M. There was also a whole wall with two story tubes filled with many colors of M&M. You could make your own combination. We love M&M's and the chance to make ours pretty seemed brilliant. We also found one of those machines where you put in $0.50 and a penny, crank the handle and it magically embosses a commemorative design on it. I put in the money, Chris cranked the handle, and out it came - an M&M penny. We were like kids in a candy store...and to some people we literally were!!

Finally it was back to the hotel for a little nap before our big night on the town. Even with glorious shopping in spitting distance, lights and action a block away, and the naked cowboy playing his guitar in the middle of Times Square, there was no denying that these night owls had started their day at a painful and ridiculous hour of the morning. If only coffee was an option for us....

Awake and dressed for a night out, we ventured across the street from our hotel to the subway. I was a little uncertain of the subway, especially at night. I've seen the movies, people! Well, it turns out that danger in the subway is like Texans riding horses everywhere...only in the movies. We got our tickets, got on the A train, and headed to the upper west side for an Italian feast.

We went to Regional for dinner. It was FABULOUS! Another strong recommendation from the Crack Team. Our waitress was so sweet and informative, the ambiance was perfect, and the food was unreal! They start you off with an appetizer plate of chickpeas and toasted Italian bread. We also enjoyed a glad of red wine (I wish I could remember the name!). For dinner, Chris had Maccheroni con Salsa di Melenzane e Pomodori - a plate from Sicily that was, in Texan terms, wide rigatoni noodles, with eggplant, tomato and dry ricotta cheese. I had the Culingionis al Pomodoro - a plate from Sardegna. It was sheep milk cheese ravioli, in tomato sauce, with pecorino cheese. If we were thinking with our heads instead of our taste buds we'd have saved some room for dessert but instead polished off our entire plates. We loved our whole Regional experience.

We headed back to the hotel for some sleep - big things were still ahead and since breakfast was free in the morning we couldn't sleep in too much or we'd miss it. Day 2, coming soon....

The Carpet Saga continued...

So I hear that for some of you my post yesterday was "great material." Typically that would be used to describe a comedian who told some great jokes. So just to be clear....yesterday's "great material" was my very own reality not a Last Comedian Standing audition.

But, because I at least know some of you enjoyed reading....here's the update:
- Chris came home at 6:00p
- I left for a super night of girlfriends and chocolate at 7:30p
- Chris tried to work on our class with lots of banging, almost gave up
- Workers finally leave close to 9:00p
- I get home at 10:00p
- We dare to go upstairs...

Ok, so if I'm being real, the carpet looks good. It isn't too dark, it feels like a million bucks compared to the stained bachelor rug that we used to have, and really the installation appears to have been done very well.

However, what we found upstairs was our newly painted walls had been chipped, the fresh white banister had scratches from their tools, and the drawer on my beloved art table was broken. That alone was enough to make me want to crawl in bed and pout when horror of all horrors, we see that they have thrown...yes thrown our pillows and bed linens onto the bathroom floor. To make matters worse they moved some stuff in our bathroom to have room to finish out the edges. Apparently they grabbed the plunger (I pray it was because it was somehow in their way not that they used it) and threw it on top of our linens as well as a few other things. I was horrified. They did manage to put our weather and emergency broadcast system back in place. (Chris got it for Christmas, it could be it's own blog but the short of it is that it gives you the weather forecast and sets off an alarm for emergencies - strange they were careful to put that back but our alarm clock is still M.I.A.). So, we did the appropriate and healthy thing....

We went back downstairs, made a mid-night snack and started researching websites where we could leave poor ratings if they wouldn't make this right. Well ok that's what I did. Chris continued to work on the class.

Finally after midnight I changed out all the bed linens to make sure we were going to be sleeping on fresh sheets. Chris and I talked through our game plan of who would call in the morning (me) and how nice I would be (ha!). Really though at this point I was so tired....not just physically but that each home project seems to lead to 5 more. We can't bring everything back upstairs because now we have to re-fix painted walls that were just painted last month. We can't arrange the furniture how we want because we want the manager to see the pile of mess they left etc. I tell Chris I just need to cuddle and go to bed and of course my wonderful husband was happy to help.

We had just about nodded off and like an alarm this loud noise was echoing through our room. Apparently a cricket had made it's way into our home in the carpet installation process and decided to play a midnight tune. I don't know if you know this....BUT THEY ARE LOUD!!! We get out of bed and head to the loft where we see the culprit perched on the newly painted and scratched wall. Chris goes over to scoop up Mr. Grasshop(Mr. GH) and off he goes jumping and flying like a mad man. Naturally a blood curling scream was appropriate so I did the honors and scared Chris and caused Mr. GH to shut up. After looking and looking for where he went we finally gave up. If nothing else, I scared the song out of him.

Back in bed and really ready for sleep this time an alarm really did go off....louder than the grasshopper - because it just wouldn't be a Crack Team story otherwise. Of course it was our Weather and Emergency broadcast system that had so carefully been returned to it's location. Apparently there was a tornado warning in our area. I asked Chris if we should pray because apparently things weren't settling down....and go figure that was the last of our evening interruptions.

So the update is that we have new carpet, we can't take fun pictures to show you yet, and Mr. GH is probably dead somewhere among our piles of stuff. I am sure I'll find him one day when I've almost forgotten and then leave him one last blood curling scream....

We'll have pictures up as soon as we can!

Painting, Carpet, House Repairs, OH MY!

We haven't blogged in awhile. I am still trying to determine if there value in putting our thoughts, happenings, or muses on here. If you have thoughts on this, feel free to comment.

In the meantime, I am in a state of delirium and needing a place to vent so...read on if you dare.

As many of you know we've been working endlessly for the past almost 2 years on refacing the bachelor pad to a home. The downstairs is 95% done...with most of the work coming from our own two hands. It looks great but each wall, outlet, light fixture, and hardware is still hard to look at without thinking of the time and energy spent. All we're saying is those home make over shows make it look MUCH EASIER and FASTER than it is.

So, 2008 has been a year of paying to have others finish the upstairs as much as we can afford. Earlier this year we had a great painter paint all the upstairs trim, our loft, the mater bed room, and the master bedroom ceiling. It looks GREAT. If you are in Austin and need a recommendation, let us know. He did a fantastic job and was totally reasonable.

We also purchased carpet to replace the last of the stain-filled bachelor stuff. The first time it came into the warehouse it was damaged. So, it wound up that by the time they reordered and we finished with a house guest, today was the first day we could have it installed. (Side note, we also had tile installed last summer in our Kitchen. Some of it cracked by the garage entry door so we asked to have it fixed under warranty - conveniently scheduled for today as well). They told us the carpet team would move furniture just not electronics or breakables. Needless to say, our downstairs looks like our upstairs vomited over the ledge of the loft.

At 9:00ish this morning the carpet place called to let me know that they were still planning to install today and that I needed to be here. I took off work and began the waiting process. At 10:45 they called to let me know that the tile guy would be here this afternoon. Nice update, right?

Finally around 11:45 with no sight of the carpet team I figured it was time to call and figure out what was going on. They had said morning and we were 15 minutes away from the end of the time slot. The Carpet place assured me that the carpet team had just left and the tile guy would be 2 hours later. This was good news as the carpet place is only 8-10minutes from our house which would mean technically they could still hit their morning slot.

At 1:15 the doorbell finally rang. It was the tile guy, an hour early. He came in looked at the tile, realized he'll need caulk to match our grout, not grout. This meant he can't do the job today and will have to come back some other time. Drat! Five minutes later he was gone and the carpet team who supposedly left the place that's 10 minutes from our house over an hour ago still aren't here. I eat a few girl scout cookies, try to focus on an outline for a class Chris and I are teaching, and then realize I am going to have to call again. As I am looking up the phone number, the doorbell rings again.

The Carpet team is here!!! What does carpet team mean to you? Especially when they promise it will be done today which is now only 1/2 a day. Well apparently to Carpet Mills it means two people. Those two people came in, went upstairs, and looked around. At one point one of the guys yelled down: "Ma'am, how do you expect us to move the furniture?" I told them I was told they would be taking care of that. To which they started yelling at each other in Spanish. I could understand enough to know they were not happy and did not know how they were going to do it. I could have told you it would take more than 2 guys to move our bed. Then they started laughing uncontrollably. As if this was one big joke. This big joke in which we just spent a wad of cash and our weekend clearing the upstairs for. What is a girl to do?

Side story - in college a dear friend asked me to cut her hair to save some money. I admitted I had never cut hair before but was willing to try. She got some good scissors and we laid out a sheet and started the whack job. At one point when I realized it was bad news that I didn't know what I was doing I started laughing. It was one of those times where once I started laughing, I couldn't stop. My formerly carefree friend now started to get panicky telling me that when you are trusting someone to do a job and they are laughing hysterically it's hard to trust what is about to happen to you.

Funny how what goes around comes around, huh?

So here I am blogging you....who knows what will happen next. In light of a good attitude I am trying to laugh myself. One thing is for certain....it is always an adventure at the Crack House.

Hopefully before and after pictures will come soon. Say a prayer...

Banana Birthday...

Happy Birthday Banana Chris!

In case you didn't know the Crack Team takes birthdays pretty seriously. For some, (no names mentioned ahem, Kevin Robert McNally aka. BRUDDER) dinner out and to bed early is a restful and refreshing way to celebrate another year gone by. But for the Crack team, we do big deal birthdays.

Today, February 7th, is Christopher's 34th birthday. Not to be out done by the previous cattle drives or movie marathon celebrations, I had a new tactic – monkey-ing around. It started this morning when Chris opened the jeep to head to work. On his seat - a Birthday Banana as ripe as his yummy lips! Then a co-worker of his helped distribute 50+ bananas to the people he works with. Sporadically through the day they'd deliver one with a birthday treat. At first he thought people were just sharing fruit (clearly he doesn't work where I work - we do Starbucks runs). Then as the pile began to mount so did his suspicion. Who organized this - the office or Karen? Right before lunch that question was answered when a third party friend arrived for a "drop in" with a black banana. Some techies (technical types that Chris works with) even got creative (something me and my co-workers can appreciate) and brought peanut butter or added bows to their fruit.

After a birthday lunch Chris was off to a meeting. He was abruptly pulled out of the meeting and sent to his desk when the real gem, Priscilla, showed up. She grunted a few times, did a little jig and dropped off a Banana balloon and a card that lovingly read: "Happy Birthday My Big Banana Love, Karen." To complete the day his co-workers got some ice cream (a treat Chris really likes) for banana splits and sang their own happy birthday. I'd say I kept the Crack-Team-big-deal-birthdays tradition alive, wouldn't you?

Special thanks to Kouri - the co-worker who really helped me pull it all together, Anil for the thoughtful drop-in with the black banana, and Kara my idea helper. Happy Birthday My Big Banana! I hope it's one you won't soon forget.

Banana bread anyone?