Dear God, I didn't mean today

Near the end of my afternoon 3 mile run, I nearly had my Jeff Corwin moment.

I was doing my cool down walk when I almost stepped on a 3 foot snake that was chillin on the sidewalk outside of my house. My first reaction was a little scream that I stopped mid scream with my hand over my mouth. Yes, even this former snake handler can be startled by snakes. I handled mostly conditioned pythons, not wild Texas snakes.

My second reaction, go into the house & grab the camera!

I came back out and the snake had gone into the grass & then quickly slithered into my neighbor's shrub. So, then I had to go get the broom to coax it out of the bush for pictures. I had to take pictures! Duh! (I didn't even know at this point if it was venomous...I know, I'm an idiot.)

I'm not an expert, but it looks like a constrictor of some sort, perhaps a rat snake (not a venomous viper).

How cool is that! And no, I didn't kill it & Jen, I think it would take a MUCH bigger bird to eat this lil guy. ;)

UPDATE: I think it might be a water snake: Nerodia erythrogaster

Let me tell you a story

Once upon a time there was a young teenage girl who was a late bloomer. She was smart, funny, and always had a lot of friends. She was a little bookish, a member of the honor society, the latin club, the theatre club, and was also a cheerleader. Although she was a cheerleader with a lot of friends, she was quite the wall flower. When it came to dating boys, she was very shy. She only had one boyfriend in highschool and only 1 in college and hardly ever dated beyond that. When she reached her early twenties, she began to bloom & come out of her shell. Wall flower she was no longer, yet she always dated the wrong kind of guys. They weren't smart enough, not nice enough, not cute enough, not Chrisitian enough, not driven enough, etc. The right one was hard to find & for a long time, she thought she would never find her perfect prince.

When she first started noticing boys in her young teenage years, she was attracted to those handsome grungy, long haired boys. She looked for a boy that was witty and smart and funny and nice. Was there such a guy? She could never find him or perhaps he didn't notice her. Maybe he didn't exist...

When she entered her twenties, her tastes changed a little. She was now looking for a man that was handsome, clean, polished, but still smart and witty and funny and nice and driven. But alas, this perfect man seemed to be a myth. Perhaps she had to settle for less. Yet, deep down (thankfully) she knew that she could not settle. She'd rather be single than live a life with someone who did not meet her standards.

One day this young lady went to a work party with some of her coworkers & she eyed this handsome guy she had seen at work before, but had never met before. They eventually found each other in the same conversation & there was an instant spark. Although there was some initial resistance on both sides, that spark lead to something wonderful.

Those 2 young people began a friendship where they learned that had much in common and respect for the differences between them. When they shared their pasts, the young lady learned that this was the guy she has ALWAYS wanted. He would have even been "that long haired grunge" guy back in her early teenage years she dreamed of and today he was that clean-cut, successful handsome man. These two shared the same tastes in music, foods, activities, movies, dreams & goals. It was a perfect match!

Today they are happily married and are more and more in love with one another every day.

That couple is Hubby & me.

Hubby, I know you will never read this blog because you don't read my blog (or ETK's blog or TT's blog). You feel that you don't need to read our blogs to know us, and I respect that whole heartedly. :)

Happy Birthday, my sweets.

I love you.

E Hoomau Maua Kealoha

Crap that bores the crap out of crap

I have been tagged to do another meme (rhymes with dream), yet again, thanks to G-man over at Man Overboard! However, this time I have to tell you people SEVEN things about lil' o' me. Cuz' it's all about me.

The rules:

1. Provide a link to the person who tagged you, and spell out the rules of the meme on your blog.
2. Share 7 (seven) random and/or weird facts about yourself.
3. Tag 7 (seven) random bloggers with this meme and post links to their blogs at the end of this post.
4. Let those who have been tagged know so by leaving a comment on their blog, and telling them where to find information regarding the meme they are now obliged to do.

Here goes...

1. Sometimes I daydream that I am a rock star. So, I can't really sing well, or dance well, or play a real instrument, but a girl can dream, can't she? I would totally rock out Gwen Stefani style (when she was in No Doubt).

2. I can't play a real instrument, but I can play a mean air guitar. Apparently in my grunge - Doc Martin & plaid wearing - Lolapolloza going - mosh pit days, I played air instruments every-so-often & my parents saw this. They decided to then buy me an acoustic guitar thinking that I had enough discipline to learn how to play. It is collecting dust under our guest bed. Maybe someday I will learn how to play.

3. Speaking of dreams. I also still dream of being a wildlife biologist or veterinarian. For the longest time, I really wanted to be a veterinarian, especially one in a zoo. I have also often wondered what life would be like if I was like the late Steve Irwin or like Jane Goodall or the goofy Jeff Corwin. I love wildlife! I love it so much, that on a solo business trip to San Diego one time, I spent my Satuday there ALL day at the San Diego zoo from opening to closing & I had a blast!

4. I really want to learn a martial art. This has been a goal of mine for a long time & I don't know why I have never pursued it. I have no good excuse. Hubby is trained in a Kung Fu. He hasn't trained in some years & we discuss that once we are more settled (i.e. I am working & we have moved into the next home) maybe we can find a martial arts school & train together (although he would obviously be MUCH more advanced than me). I am not sure what school I would chose, but some of the Chinese forms are so beautfiul & graceful, I'd have to consider one of those.

5. I have had some gnarly stoopid injuries: When I was 3 years old, I sustained a pretty nasty burn. I was running around a table (b/c that's what 3 year olds do) chasing nothing & tripped over the cord to one of those large coffee urns. The scalding hot coffee poured down my leg & according to my Mom, I had 2nd & a few 3rd degree burns. Luckily, I have no scars. When I was a Freshman in college, I BURNED MY RIGHT EYEBALL with a..... curling iron. I know, sounds scary & stupid all at once, eh? Luckily, again, I have no scars & my vision is 20/20 in both eyes to this day. And my final stoopid injury, again in college & attesting to my nerdiness, I once got so excited for getting straight A's (I was struggling that semester & wasn't expecting all A's) I jumped up in the air out of joy forgetting that the kitchen floor had just been mopped & can landing down, slid across the floor, & my leg slammed into the corner of a wall ripping open the skin on my shin. Thankfully, it was not a huge laceration, but I probably should had stitches. I didn't & I do have a scar, but it is a pretty cool one.

6. When I was 3 (apparently I was a handful at this age) I had an aversion to clothing. My mother would dress me & in zero seconds flat, I'd be all nekkid. Nekkid all the time. It didn't matter who was around. I did not want to wear clothing. Much to her, my husbad, and the rest of my family & friends relief, I grew out of that. I wonder if my mother ever worried that I was headed for a career in the adult entertainment world (JUST KIDDING!!!!). ;p Today I much prefer and am most comfortable to be fully clothed.

And

7. I know I am a big dork & I embrace my dorkiness! But I think I am darn cute dork. P.S. I just learned that dork used to have a not-so-nice meaning: DORK.

I'm not tagging anyone on this one, but if you want to play, feel free.

Thus shalt thou cleanse and purge it

I swear, sometimes I can be such a stereotypical woman.

I have pieces of clothing and shoes that I have held on to for far too long. Some for TEN years! "Well, I might wear it again." "It has sentimental value." "But I got that in Singapore." "It could come back in style." "I spent so much on that." "But I love those jeans!"

My favorite and probably MOST typical:

"Maybe I will be a size 3/4 again."

How rediculous. Really.

Even if BY CHANCE I am actually ever a size 4 again (which I seriously doubt), wouldn't it just be better to get new clothes????

So, I spent a big part of yesterday fighting with my packrat side & CLEANSED my closet. There were 7-8 shopping bags of clothes and shoes that I donated. It was tough letting some of it go (especially the cute size 4 jeans!!!!) How crazy is that? Talk about holding on to too much. It felt good to let it go & to donate it to hopefully someone who'll need it much more than me.

"Sometimes you've got to let everything go - purge yourself. If you are unhappy with anything . . . whatever is bringing you down, get rid of it. Because you'll find that when you're free, your true creativity, your true self comes out." ~ Tina Turner

(Ack! I still have my dressers to go through....)

Too Funny! Love it!

I actually know someone who did something similar but during their Father& Daughter dance (but not to Baby Got Back...LOL & ew!).

And I thought I was original for dancing with my Dad to a rock song at the reception. ;)

YEAH! More Pet Photos! Gotta Lov'em!

Everything Tastes Better with Cat Hair in It

Stupid Kitchen/Cooking Action #534

Over the past years of being a non-single woman, I must say I have done a FEW idiotic things things in the kitchen. Not cooking enough food....for ONLY TWO people......accidentally putting what I thought was dishwasher detergent (but was a LARGE bottle of hand washing dish detergent) into the BRAND NEW dish washer.....and I am sure there are many more

WELL....

Last night I decided it would be funny to throw Hubby's home-baked pizza on the open oven door and floor because I love cleaning dried, stuck-on cheese from cooking surfaces and food tastes much better with dog & cat hair stuck in it.

I'm only a little brain damaged.... I can somewhat function in the kitchen.....

I swears!

WWC

This week's WWC from Tink are "Assortment" & "Purple."

Here is an assortment of flowers from the San Fran Conservancy of Flowers, some with shades of purple. What can I say; I love flowers!



Next week's words: "Landscape" & "Orange."

Most Wonderful Time of the Year

The holiday joy has begun in the Alli & Hubby household. The Charlie Brown tree is up, the stockings are hung with care (but alas, we have no fireplace...yet), a big part of our shopping has been completed, & I am still in search of the Christmas cards I loyally buy every year. There is still so much to do, yet there is much relief to at least have the ball rolling.

So Shy - A Haiku for You

You read my bloggings,

Yet comment you never do.

So shy, why are you?