RANDOM MUSINGS

I went to see this at the IMAX/3D yesterday. And I must say that I knew it would be good…was not sure if I would actually like it, but I knew it would be good. Bryan Singer is amazing, so there was no way it would suck. Lucky for me, I actually thought it was amazing and a movie that I could watch over and over again. Singer did a great job with the first two X-men movies, and I was disappointed that he did not stay on to complete that trilogy, but Superman made it worth that loss. First, let me say that some guys may not like it because although there was action, there was also a large focus on the romance/relationship aspect between Lois Lane and Superman. I enjoyed both parts - mainly because the romance part was not overly cheesy, and was more realistic to the situation. As realistic as being in love with a superhero can be, right? The action was good, as well. Many of the action sequences were in 3D, but I would love to see them on a normal screen to see how well they play that way.

Anyway….hope everyone has a safe and happy Fourth of July holiday weekend!

One of these is going to see a movie on opening weekend/week. But tonight that is exactly what I am doing. We are going to see Superman Returns at the IMAX. I almost dread seeing the lines!!  We tried to go yesterday, but those tickets sold out on freakin Tuesday. Blah. We shall see. Better be good, damn it!

You know how you hear something so tragic it just bothers you for the rest of the day? Even if it is not something happening to a person in your immediate family or friends, it still stays in your thoughts for hours. I just found out that the little boy of one of my cheerleading sponsors from high school is in the hospital. He is only 5, and had a 4-wheeler accident. His dad found him in the driveway of their house, but he was already turning blue and is now on life support. Which they think they are going to remove him from at the end of this week. He was going to start kindergarten in August. That is just horrible. I cannot stop thinking about it. Things are so crazy right now, and then I hear something like that and it just makes me stop.

First, let me just say that my entire weekend was about over-eating, under-sleeping. Man. Starting with dinner Friday night, ending with dinner Sunday night….I had way too much food. And not enough sleep! Friday was worth it…Tany was in town, and I love getting to see her. But going to bed at 5 in the morning and getting back up at 10 is hard! All in all, pretty good weekend.

Back to the real point today…the Houston Astros. I must admit, I am one of those fans that continues to believe until the very last inning, the very last out. I don’t give up on the outcome of the game until the word “FINAL” comes up in the scoreline on the television. But the Astros are seriously making my heart hurt lately. I did not even expect to go into Chicago and kick any White Sox ass…I may believe, but I am also realistic. I just wanted to win 1 or 2….pretty much just not get swept. But now I want someone to tell me what the odds were that in this 3-game series, there would be 3 grand slams???? Wow. Buchholz did such an amazing job on Saturday as the starting pitcher. Right up until the 3 men he allowed on base were part of the grand slam that Qualls gave up in the 7th inning. A grand slam in each of the 3 games! I know I keep repeating myself. I cannot help it. I did not get to watch the game last night until the 8th inning, and I thought we were doing so well. I had been getting my updates on my cell phone, and the score kept getting closer and closer. Ended up going 13 innings. I mean, yes, technically it was a win. But I don’t know that it was a win that they can be proud of. They really don’t deserve it. The bullpen is killing us. Absolutely. I was so annoyed last night I actually turned my tv off twice and stopped watching. That drove me just as crazy as watching the damn game, though. I finally ended up watching it with “mute” on, until I could tell something was happening. People who know anything about baseball and the history of baseball know that the Red Sox are a team “that will break your heart.” (If you are interested in the Red Sox, you must see Fever Pitch) I hate to tell people, but the Astros have the ability to turn into that kind of team. If we can just make it through Detroit and the Rangers, maybe everything will turn itself around. One positive note, my husband is making his way back into the starting rotation after being on the DL. That’s right, kids….Backe should be back after the all-star break. Whoo-hoo!

“What a girl’s night it was…” That is Crystal’s line. Yes, I stole it. But I am giving her complete credit for saying it in her comment down below. Except for that whole thing with it being SO DAMN HOT, Red Star rocked last night. And thank goodness it did, cause my work day yesterday SUCKED. Well, to be fair, it did not suck until the last 30 minutes, when I got accused of being a liar and not being helpful and nottrying to work with another division on their event. Blah! All over a phone call. Funny thing is, I can actually prove I did make the phone call. So kiss my ass! And I really want to know what good it would have done me to not work with someone on their event numbers? What exactly do I get out of that??? I mean, you can call me a lot of things, but liar is not one of them. It just does not happen.

Anyway…back to my point. The point being, I am tired today! Not hungover at all, just sleepy. I did sleep in a bit. Cristina slept in by accident.  Although she had wanted to be at work at 8…I woke her up at 7:30. Ha. It had just been so long since we had gone dancing. We stayed much later than we planned. Of course. Anyway….check out the pics! And have a good weekend…

I must apologize to Aaron. For a year of going to BW3s, Aaron tried to get all of us to go to Two Rows afterwards. And I never went. It has only been in the past few months that I have discovered the wonder of $1 beer Wednesdays. And the thing is, I do not just like it because it is a dollar. I really do like the beer. And last night I decided that they have great pizza, too. YUM. For somebody that is all about the food, I cannot believe I have never eaten anything there.

Ooh…they also had two baseball games on at the same time - Rice and Astros. Thank goodness the Astros won, cause Rice got blanked. Embarrassing!! Poor Rice. It is one thing to lose, but another to get shut out! Speaking of baseball, everybody should already know that today is the day that Clemens comes back. And I really do not know if I can even watch the game. I may take a nap before going out instead. Just too much pressure! It would be like watching Lidge for nine innings, and most people know how he makes my blood pressure rise. He did well last night, though. I might be the only person that is not 100% confident that Clemens is going to walk out there and crush. I just think he is still a little rusty. I mean, I am not being negative, I just am being realistic…the man is old and has not had that long to get back in shape!! But hey, ya gotta believe, right??

Okay girls…Thursday = girl’s night. I am in dire need of ghetto music and ass shaking. I came to this conclusion after I started dancing in line at the Sonic in the Galleria…to the music playing at the ice rink. Cristina thinks I am nuts. Definitely going someplace super cheap. Cheapness is goodness. Contact me for more details.

Coming soon, by request, more pictures will be going up. I stopped being so damn cheap and finally paid for my flickr account! So I can put the pics from Austin/Memorial weekend and the last girl’s night, etc., back up. My camera has not gotten much of a workout lately! That just means we need to be going out more, damn it! There WILL be pictures taken Thursday night.

Normally I love rain. But today it is killing me! I never watch the news in the morning, so I was on my way out the door when other Galleria-area people called and told me about the flooding. That would have been nice, huh? If I had just kept going and ended out in the flood, with all the other crazy people who do not watch the news. At least I have an SUV!  So now I am just hanging out, doing as much work as possible when you do NOT have access to the damn database from home! Oh well. Nobody else in my division was able to make it, either. Maybe later this afternoon. But at the moment I am just bored!! And I ate all of my Chex Mix for breakfast. Chex Mix may be my new addiction.

Summer convinced me to go to work. Yuck! I actually do have stuff to do today, that I cannot do at home, so it is a good thing…but nobody is here! This place is dead.

For real. No bull. No shit. And I think I saw them all. Now, I did not learn of this fact until late in my trip, or else I would have been documenting all of them with photographic evidence, to get a count. But I can verify that there are way too many!

Yes, I am back. And I had an awesome time. I took a ton of pictures, which should be up soon. We shall see. There are over 500 of them, so I promise not to bore you by posting ALL of them. Just the faves.

Boston might be my new favorite U.S. city. I say that because I will always be in love with London. I cannot help it. London is just a great place. But Boston is great, too. Mainly because it is almost surreal. There are modern, glass front buildings next to pubs and meeting houses built in the 1600-1700s.  A city that is so old, yet still embraces modern things. Like Dunkin Donuts.

I would also like to take this time to gush a bit cheesily about Fenway Park. Now, Wrigley was great…and Cubs fans are great. And most of you know how much I love my Astros and Minute Maid. But…baseball fans around the world could learn a thing or two from Red Sox fans. Fenway supposedly sells out the entire season the first day tickets go on sale. Granted, Fenway does not hold as many people as a modern stadium would. But that is still an awesome feat. Back to the point…Red Sox fans are amazing. They are constantly cheering. One of the most interesting things was how the fans never leave, never give up and are on there feet like it is the world series at every scoring opportunity. And 99% of the people have on Red Sox shirts. Just a sea of t-shirt jerseys. They also like to bring in beach balls and throw them around all throughout the bleacher seats. I was not paying attention and had a rather large beach ball thrown in my lap. It was great. Completely a blast.

Of course, I did other stuff besides going to the baseball game. Took a bus tour down to Cape Cod. It was raining that day and freakin COLD. Also did the Sam Adams brewery tour. They are very serious about their beer. I can honestly say that I did not really like some of the ones I tasted. TOO heavy and dark. The place itself was neat, though. Very hard to find, and I think I scared my mom to death taking her through some of those streets. Boston actually has a pretty good subway system. After Chicago’s I was very impressed. It is kind of pointless because it is not that far-reaching. Involves a lot of getting off the subway and getting on buses. Yuck!  Boston’s was really good and easy to use, though. Just walking around and following the Freedom Trail was awesome. Especially for somebody that likes history as much as I do.

Okay, I may go pass out now. I am TIRED!  It is good to be back in Houston!

I am going to be out of commission until Wednesday, technically, as I will be on vacation in Boston! Whoo-hoo!! Have fun kids, and be safe! I will have plenty of pictures, of course!!