Oh my, I am tired. I have been working a lot of hours lately and
in an effort to not give up any after-school activities, have taken to going in
bright and early. Which I do prefer to staying late, but my head has started to
have that haze that I had each day when I opened at Starbucks (not to worry, I’m
not going in to work THAT early!). But such sacrifices must be made in order to
keep up the fun post-work activities.
A couple pieces of exciting news, catch up of activity, and a
horror story to follow...
1. First bit of very exciting
news- my little sister has finally announced to facebook that she is pregnant
(aka, I can talk about the news I heard back on the 4th of July)…and
not just regular ol pregnant…TWINS! Oh my. The weekend before she told me, I
had just been telling Brian that I bet she would be having another kid sometime
soon (she is such an amazing mom…it was only a matter of time)- and then a few
days later she sent me the ultrasound picture…with two little blobs. As the
aunt, I am so excited for a little pair of cuties…but thinking about my sister,
I can’t even imagine how overwhelmed she must be feeling (she told me she isn’t
focusing on that just yet, just working on getting past the nausea)…but I have
to say, if anyone can handle it, she can. I have been so proud of her as she
has grown up and continued to step into new responsibilities and handled
everything with such grace. And, I know that she has a great support system
around her of family and friends- I’m hoping that these new additions will
force her to ask for help though!
2. Second bit of exciting news-
one of my very best pals got engaged last week! And while that is exciting news
on a personal level in itself, they somehow ended up with an internet sensation
engagement story. Joel managed to figure out a way to get Jen out of the house
and down to the capital area in Austin (where they live), and got down on one
knee, while they had the whole pretty park area to themselves, and popped the
question…very sweet, private moment for the two of them. I woke up the next
morning with a text from Jen and a picture of her hand with the ring on. Great
news! Turns out, they weren’t totally by themselves and someone managed to snap
a beautiful picture right at the moment he asked…and then posted the picture to
the Austin sub-reddit, hoping the couple would find it. Long story short,
friend of a friend, etc…the picture found them, and they have since been
blogged about, interviewed, on the local news…so fun! And what a cool thing to
have a truly genuine candid shot of the moment. Meanwhile, they are in Paris at
the moment inhaling croissants, strolling along the Seine, and probably being
super mushy and romantic. They had the Paris trip planned for a while- and let’s
be honest, we all figured the engagement would happen there-but now they get to
just relax and enjoy the trip without any of that kind of pressure…love it!
3. Here is the transition point
between exciting news and activity catch up...Entercommies are champs of the
Summer kickball league! Woot, woot! I’ve had so much fun playing on the team
this summer…they used to be a little bit intimidating to me (I mean, they are
superstars compared to the Bahama Bombers team), but this past season has been
great. It helps that we were undefeated. I’ve moved from the outfield to third
base, which I like (outfield is such pressure!), and have been focusing on the
art of bunting. I’ve known most everyone on the team for quite a while
(everyone worked at the radio station at some point), but it has been fun to
see them each week…they are so encouraging on the field…it isn’t intimidating
at all. Anyway…Champions. Feels good. Fall ball has already started.
4. We saw the Dark Knight Rises
for the second time last night. We saw it the first time during opening weekend…did
the whole sitting for a couple of hours outside of the Imax theater to insure
good seats…for sure a great movie…though it was hard to let myself get immersed
in the movie because of the Colorado shooting…the movie is super intense and I
was constantly thinking about those people sitting in the theater, enthralled
in the movie, and then the confusion and panic that ensued after. I could
imagine being in the movie and not understanding that what was happening was
real. I was hoping I’d be able to relax and enjoy the movie a little more the
second time…but not really. I still found myself glancing at the exit doors
every so often, and jumping a little every time someone stood up to go to the
bathroom. BUT, it is a great movie…particularly in the giant Science Center
6-story Imax theater…also fun to pick up little things along the way that you
missed the first time. Ohhh, and we ate dinner in the Center House before the
movie..I hadn’t been there since they remodeled…there are some pretty tasty
food options now. I ate at the little pie place…had a chicken pot pie for
dinner and took a little berry pie into the movie with me. Yum!
5. Tonight
is movie night…in honor of the Olympics and America…we are watching Captain
America, and planning to BBQ out in the backyard before. I decided to make some
ice cream again…I had been on a big ice cream making kick for a while there,
but haven’t made any in quite a while…I looked up different recipes and decided
on a Tin Roof Sundae…which has a vanilla ice cream base. And called for
actually using vanilla bean to soak in the milk custard. I’ve never used REAL
vanilla bean before…sliced open the pod and scraped the seeds out…mmm, smelled
so good. I had to make the milk custard base last night so it could chill in
the fridge overnight…I snuck a little taste of the mixture this morning and I
think it will be a good batch! Have to add the chocolate covered peanuts and a
fudge ripple too! Planning to make little ice cream cone cookies as well…we’ll
see how much time there is after work.
6. And
finally…eek, the scary story! Last week Brian and I were hanging out at my
house. I was in the other room when Brian came running out of my room… ‘Eryn,
you know I don’t normally get freaked out by spiders, but…’, and then he
described a monster of a spider that crawled out from behind my dresser, ran
across the floor and under the bed. He made a claw with his fist in describing
the size. As mentioned MANY times in my blog, I don’t love spiders, but they
sure seem to love me, and so I manage to deal with them. I was picturing a
creepy wolf spider that nobody wants to deal with, but rolled my eyes a little
bit. BUT, also knew I probably wouldn’t get great sleep knowing there is a
large-ish spider under my bed…so we decided to hunt it down. I got some
cleaning spray and a shoe, Brian had a curtain rod…he stood on top of the bed
and rustled it…I was watching the sides, waiting for the critter to escape. And
I saw him. He crawled out behind a large cookbook I had sitting next to my bed.
Despite the thickness of said cookbook, I could see the spider over the top of
it…he was THAT TALL. I froze. I let out a scream (I don’t scream). I whispered
to Brian…we exchanged spots- him on the floor with the curtain rod poised over
his shoulder like a baseball bat. I crouched down low and started spraying the
cleaner at it…didn’t even phase him! But he did move…and Brian started
swinging, getting pieces of him, but he kept running. Finally, with a loud
crunch (I’m not exaggerating, it was loud), he was finished. We both let out a
sigh, but didn’t let our guard down, fully expecting him to somehow come back to
life (as they always do in scary movies). Brian stuffed the giant spider body
under my bookshelf, out of sight, where he still is now. Shudder. I know it sounds
silly, but this spider was LARGE. I mean, what had he been living on in my room
to get to that size? He was like a daddy long legs on steroids…so tall. Ugh.
Do you have shivers? If not,
would you like to stop by and take the spider corpse out of my room?
That’s all for now…have a
super weekend!
