My dog – my normally beautiful dog – transformed into a hideous beast for a few seconds. I thought you’d enjoy this photo as much as we do. =)

mid-shake =), originally uploaded by tara.aukerman.

… are amazing.  =)  I had my first pedicure today with my almost-sister-in-law (less than 24 hours, now).  She needed a break, and I was more than up for trying something new.  My feet are so soft, my back and my legs have been massaged, and I have these great little foam flip-flop souveneirs.  Must do this more often.  Next time, we’re taking our Auker-men.

Carrie seems to be doing well – just a little stressed.  And no wonder!  As soon as she got back into the car and checked her messages (she wisely left the phone in the car during the pedicure), she got a frantic call that started with “Oh my God.  Something’s horribly wrong” (or something equally alarming – I can’t remember exactly anymore)…  Turns out, someone had ordered blue shirts for something and received lime green shirts instead – but it wasn’t even an emergency.  C’mon, guys – rule number two (after “Happy wife, happy life”) is “NEVER alarm a bride!”  Sheesh.

I’m taking a quick break from work to post – I’ve been hanging at the local Panera (free wireless internet) and working remotely today while David runs with the rest of them trying to get the various wedding places decorated.

I wanted to post because I wanted to show these pictures:

My office mate.  With a paper umbrella barette.

My boss (a la the FrenchWoman from the End of the Word flash movie).

Me.

Can I just tell you how much I love the people I work with?!  Sedona rocks.  Literally, actually – the guy who hired us, Kerry, is a [fabulous] guitar player/singer who makes rounds at a local restaurant/bar chain called “Cheeseburger in Paradise.”  We had planned, for MONTHS, to show up and surprise him some night while he played – we bought KerryLand t-shirts and everything – and the DAY OF our surprise drop-in (which, by the way, we planned for months), he invited us all out to see him play.  Dinner and drinks on him.

Meredith, Angela (another coworker) and I decided that the least we could do was have blue hair, too (like his logo).  Every one of us wore one of those three wigs by the end of the night.  =)

Check this out. =)

this cracked me up – the 80’s were so silly! on the off chance that someone else out there might think it’s funny (like maybe Melissa), I’m posting it here…

You Know You Grew Up In The 80’s If:

1. You’ve ever ended a sentence with the word “SIKE”
2. You watched the Pound Puppies.
3. You can sing the rap to the “Fresh Prince of Bellaire” and you can do the “Carlton”.
4. Girls wore biker shorts under their skirts and felt stylishly sexy.
5. You yearned to be a member of the Baby-sitters club and tried to start a club of your own.
6. You owned those lil’ Strawberry Shortcake pals scented dolls.
7. You know that “WHOA ” comes from Joey on Blossom.
8. You know what Parachute Pants look like and feel like.
9. If you ever watched “Fraggle Rock”.
10. You had plastic streamers on your handle bars… and playing cards on your spokes for that incredible sound effect.
11. You can sing the entire theme song to “DuckTales ” (Woo ooh!)
12. It was actually worth getting up early on a Saturday Morning to watch cartoons.
13. You wore a ponytail on the side of your head.
14. You saw the original “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles ” on the big screen… and still know the turtles names.
15. You made your mom buy one of those clips that would hold your shirt in a knot on the side.
16. You had big hair and you knew how to use it.
17. You played the game “MASH ” (Mansion, Apartment, Shelter, House)
18. You wore a stonewashed Jordache jean jacket and were proud of it.
19. L.A. Gear….need I say more?
20. You wanted to change your name to “JEM “. (She’s truly outrageous.)
21. You remember reading “Tales of a fourth grade nothing” and all the Ramona books.
22. You know the profound meaning of “WAX ON, WAX OFF”
23. You wanted to be a Goonie.
24. You ever wore fluorescent clothing.
25. You can remember what Michael Jackson looked like before his nose fell off and his cheeks shifted.
26. You have ever pondered why Smurfette was the only female smurf.
27. You took lunch boxes to school… and traded Garbage Pail kids in the schoolyard.
28. You remember the CRAZE, then the BANNING of slap bracelets.
29. You still get the urge to say “NOT ” after every sentence.
30. You remember Hypercolor t-shirts.
31. Barbie and the Rockers was your favorite band.
32. You thought She-ra (Princess of Power!) and He-Man should hook up.
33. You thought your childhood friends would never leave because you exchanged handmade friendship bracelets.
34. You ever owned a pair of Jelly-Shoes.
35. After you saw Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure you kept saying “I know you are, but what am I?”
36. You remember “I’ve fallen and I can’t get up”
37. You remember going to the skating rink before there were inline skates.
38. You ever got seriously injured on a Slip and Slide.
39. You have ever played with a Skip-It.
40. You had or attended a birthday party at McDonalds.
41. You’ve gone through this nodding your head in agreement.
42. You remember Popples.
43. Your motto was “Don’t worry, be happy.”
44. You wore like, FOUR pairs of socks over tights with high top Reeboks.
45. You wore socks scrunched down and over your tight jeans.
46. You remember boom boxes. . and walking around with one on your shoulder like you were all that.
47. You remember watching both “Gremlins ” movies.
48. You know what it meant to say “Care Bear Stare!!”
49. You remember watching “Rainbow Bright” and “My Little Pony”
50. You thought Doogie Howser/Samantha Micelli was hot.
51. You remember Alf, the lil furry brown alien from Melmac.
52. You remember New Kids on the Block when they were cool… and don’t even flinch when people refer to them as “NKOTB”.
53. You knew all the characters names and their life stories on “Saved By The Bell,” The ORIGINAL class.
54. You know all the words to Bon Jovi songs – SHOT THROUGH THE HEART.
55. You just sang those words to yourself.
56. You remember watching Magic vs. Bird.
57. Homemade Levi shorts.. (the shorter the better)
58. You remember when mullets were cool!
59. You remember when frizzy hair was IN.
60. You still sing “We are the World”
61. You tight rolled your jeans.
62. You owned a banana clip.
63. You remember “Where’s the Beef?”
64. You used to (and probably still do) say “Whatchu talkin’ ’bout, Willis?”

– You’re still singing “You Give Love a Bad Name” in your head, aren’t
you?!

today, Monday, September 19, is “talk like a pirate day” – hence the pirate-speak on the blog. got this fabulous plugin that turns all the text into pirate speak. =) will be trying out some new filters (among them, “swedish chef” and “elmer fudd”) in the next couple of days.

it was a good weekend. the IWS had a concert on Saturday afternoon – part of Gumbo Aid, a series of concerts at which the Red Cross was collecting donations to help out in the Gulf Coast. after that, went out to dinner with some of the neatest people – 5 couples (including us) from our church – and laughed until my sides ached. had about 7 glasses of DP, too, so it was a great night. =)

church on Sunday, choir practice after lunch. choir practice was great! I have so much fun singing, and even more singing well. after practice, the director pulled some of us aside to work on a Tallis piece – it’s fun to be the only girl singing with a bunch of guys. I love it when I can sing one on a part.

Monday Night Football at our house tonight! show up for some free, homemade and really really good garlic tomato pizza.

… rocks. =) it’s leagues ahead of anything I’ve owned. I feel powerful – like I could compute ANYwhere!

I got bored yesterday, and started looking through my blog’s stats. people searched for things and found me! this is new – until now, people have just linked from other people’s blogs or my emails to get to this page. here are some of the funnier things they typed into the search engines:

• flu “didn’t make it to the bathroom”
• feeling “outsider”
• Sabbath afternoon fun kids
• american gigolo blog

not quite sure what brought my blog up for the last one. =)

so, tonight is Dave-n-me night. tomorrow is a bridal shower for a girlfriend who’s about to graduate from Taylor. then there’s a meeting with the apartment lady to (hopefully) sign some papers and get us an apartment for next year. then there’s going out with David after he cooks me dinner.

fyi: Texas is the only state with a legal right to secede from the union. (Texas-American Annexation Treaty of 1848)

hehe… funny election email:

We Texans love y’all, but we’ll have to take action if Kerry wins over Bush. We’ll miss you too. Texas has given all those complainers plenty of time to get used to the results of the last election. After seeing the whiners along the campaign route, the folks from Texas are considering taking matters into their own hands.

Here is what will happen:

#1: If John Kerry becomes President of the United States, Texas will immediately secede from the Union.

#2: George W. Bush will become the President of the Republic of Texas.

So how will Texas survive as an independent Republic?

1. NASA is just south of Houston, Texas. We will control the space industry.
2. Defense Industry – We have over 65% of it. The slogan “Don’t mess with Texas” will take on a whole new meaning.
3. Gas – We refine over 85% of the gasoline in the United States.
4. Oil – We can supply all the oil that the Republic of Texas will need for the next 300 years. Yankee states? Sorry about that.
5. Natural Gas – Again, we have all we need and it’s too bad about those northern states. John Kerry will figure out a way to keep them warm…
6. Technology – We currently lead the nation in producing computer chips and communications–small places like Texas Instruments, Dell Computer, EDS, Raytheon, National Semiconductor, Motorola, Intel, AMD, Atmel, Applied Materials, Ball Semiconductor, Dallas Semiconductor, Delphi, Nortel, Alcatel, etc, etc. The list goes on and on.
7. Medical Care – We have the largest research centers for cancer research, the best burn centers and the top trauma units in the world, as well as other large health centers. Dallas has some of the best hospitals in the United States.
8. Higher Education – We have enough colleges to keep us going: University of Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Rice, SMU, University of Houston, Baylor, UNT (University of North Texas), Texas Women’s University, etc. Ivy grows better in the South anyway.
9. Labor Force – We have a ready supply of workers. We could just open the border when we need some more.
10. Industry – We have essential control of the paper industry, plastics, insurance, etc.
11. “National” Security – In case of a foreign invasion, we have the Texas National Guard and the Texas Air National Guard. We don’t have an Army, but since everybody down here has at least six rifles and a pile of ammo, we can raise an Army in 24 hours if we need one. If the situation really gets bad, we can always call the Department of Public Safety and ask them to send over Chuck Norris and a couple of Texas Rangers.
12. Food – We are totally self-sufficient in beef, poultry, hogs, and several types of grain, fruit and vegetables, and let’s not forget seafood from the Gulf. Also, everybody down here knows how to cook them so that they taste good. Don’t need any food.

This just names a few of the items that will keep the Republic of Texas in good shape. There isn’t a thing out there that we need and don’t have.

Now to the rest of the United States under President Kerry:

Since you won’t have the refineries to get gas for your cars, only President Kerry will be able to drive around in his big 9 mpg SUV. The rest of the United States will have to walk or ride bikes.

You won’t have any TV as the Space Center in Houston will cut off satellite communications.

You won’t have any natural gas to heat your homes, but since Mr. Kerry has predicted global warming, you will not need the gas.

We’ll miss you.

Signed, The People of Texas

it’s our next phase in new American (or is it French?) currency…

DateToSave.com

what, Audrey Tatou missionary dates? I love it… this site cracks me up. I think I’m gonna buy a t-shirt. =) thanks to Chalupa for sending the link.

any “hot” non-Christians out there? I’m supposed to dump David (according to this) because he’s already saved, and find myself a “hot heathen” to date. don’t worry, boys, I’m hot – because Jesus made me hot. =)