Tiger II Tower

I decided this was Tiger II's year to get the biggest present so I started checking out cat towers. They are realllly expensive and after looking at tons of them I decided with some help from Frank and Vick I could make one. Vick loaned us his tools, plywood, carpet and nails. We went to the Moreno farm and picked out some natural wood, cedar. Finally we hit up the Home Depot for some more plywood and posts.

The first day I just cut all the plywood and wood posts, drilling holes, making measurements etc. The second day was spent putting it all together, and carpeting it. Sounds easy enough. Well, turns out natural wood is hard to put a nail in it down the center, and its not straight. I put 3-4 nails in that bent and we couldn't get them out after hours of trying so we sawed them off and started again. After lots of fits, and blood, and some mild swearing (like "oh tiddly-winks," not) I finally finished it.

It was supposed to be a 72" tower and ended up finishin as only a 36" tower. Tiger II is too heavy for some of the levels and they bend when he hops on them. Lardo! I will need to brace them before he breaks them, but he is in kitty heaven. Before I was even finished he was climbing on it and loving on it. He hasn't slept in our bed since it was made.

If I can find more carpet I will probably sell this one and move on to bigger and better things. While I was making it I swore I would never do it again, but once I was finished I started getting ideas of the next one. :)


Got a few more pics HERE if you are interested.

Christmas Time is Gone :(

But oh what fun!! This might be a long post, but I will try to keep it short. No promises. So Christmas Eve Holly's family came over: The Coons from Dripping Springs and the Mills from Round Rock. It was nice having family together and just relaxing. We had a Dirty Santa gift exchange. I think Kat came out on top with the Catfish pillow! Charlie also scored a game, but she doesn't know what it is yet...we ordered a gift that is still a mystery to everyone, but it did not get here on time. The Coons ended the night with one of their own Christmas traditions giving each other pajamas as gifts and then heading out to cruise the hoods and scope out the Christmas glory of glowing blinking lights and fake Texas snowmen.

We finally got to bed so we could hurry up and wake up for Christmas morning! The dogs lead the way downstairs and then the wrapping paper demolition began. Don't want to go into too much detail, so I will just try and touch on the highlights. Coming in at #1...

Holly surprised me with a Raiders football and baseball cap signed by #66 Cooper Carlisle!! Holy schmokes I could not believe it. I really couldn't. It finally sunk in that she somehow got her friend (who is Coop's cousin) to get us some signed stuff. I later got the full scoop. Her friend's parents (Mr. Duke Carlisle who QB'd for UT and Mrs. Carlisle ) went to visit Coop and Holly had the chance to give them some stuff so they could bother Coop for us with a signature. Well...Holly totally flaked and didn't give them anything!! WHAT!? I know, I know...I couldn't believe it either. Regardless, the Carlisle family had Cooper sign a Raiders cap to Holly, one to me and a football to the both of us. FREAKIN AWESOME! Thanks Coop! Thanks Mr. & Mrs. Carlisle!! Best Christmas gift ever! I didn't know it, but they had brought these back to us way back in November and they had been sitting underneath the Raider Tree this whole time!

Gotta get back on track and 'splain the other gifts. No, there is too much. Let me sum up. Buttercup is marry' Humperdinck in little-less than half an hour. Err, I mean, I also got a #2 Russell jersey, Holly got drawing pencils, Raider backpack/purse, a John 3:16 sweater and an iPod arm band for jogging. Oh oh...and I also got Havoc Heli Laser Battle set!! T-Bone and Jezebel got Raider dog tags and 3-foot chew bones. Jeze had no problem unwrapping her gift or anyone else's.

For Christmas lunch, we went with Mike (Holly's bro) to Wok-a-holic, but it was closed. Pretty much everything we wanted was close...so we ate at Jack-in-the-Box. Mmm...monster tacos! Then we saw AVP:Requiem. I liked it, but I didn't have high expectations for it. Mike on the otherhand had been waiting a long time for the R rated version of AVP...and he was sorely disappointed. We ended the day with Mike and I playing Halo 3 while Holly played Big Brain Academy!

And today...Holly and I have pretty much spent the day in a aerial laser battle. When we weren't battling it out in the air, we battled it out in Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games! Tons of fun and was quite the workout. Pretty addicting stuff man.


That pretty much wraps up our Christmas fun. Hope y'all had a good one too. We'll back later to show you the work Holly did to make her cat Tiger II a cat tower thing. Peace out!

Christmas Time is Here!!

It is Christmas time again!! The lights on the house are up and...the Raider Christmas tree is back in full effect!! I seem to like using "!!", but thats okay 'cause its Christmas time!! Last couple years there were only a couple of Raider ornaments. We had trouble finding Black ornaments. We found lots of options for Silver ones, but very difficult to find black. We added 3 more Raider ornaments and this year, we also found plenty of Silver and Black ornaments and Hobby Lobby and Wal-Mart. The Raider Nation is taking over.

This year is the best our tree has looked. Making its usual appearance is the Raider Express. Last year it looped around the tree and split off to also go and a huge loop around my drum set. The drum set is now in the game room where it belongs so the train is now limited to the perimeter of the tree. So far this year neither dog nor cat has yet to destroy an ornament...we're pretty optimistic about making it through the season without any casualties.

Already got the best Christmas card we'll get this year. Came from our friends Emma and Paul. Paul is one of those guys you don't like cause of his incredibly mad drawing skills, but then he goes and draws something like this and TOTALLY REDEEMS himself!! He drew this on the inside of the Christmas card they sent.

Game Time

Well...its 3:05pm and the Raiders are getting ready to destroy the Denver Donkeys. Can't watch though cause Vick is not here yet! Hurry up dude!

Meanwhile...check out the pics from trip to Oakland back on Nov. 11th. We finally got Vick to come out with us on our Family Raider Mecca. Vick, Holly and I flew out to Oakland on Nov. 11th. My pops, Zaiah and Randy flew out there from El Paso. They landed in San Jose and drove up to Oakland picking us from the airport. We went on a boat tour of the bay, unfortunately the weather was cold, wet and foggy...could barely see the Golden Gate bridge. Looked pretty cool though.

Sunday didn't get any better for us at McAfee Coliseum. We had fun tailgating, eating and check out all the die-hard Raider fans. Then the game started. Defense played good enough as usual, but our offense couldn't do squat. Justin Fargas is looking good though and hopefully we see Jamarcus Russell today...shoot, he might be playing now! But I wouldn't know cause I'm not watching the game. I'm writing this blog waiting on my buddy Vick to show up so we can un-pause the game and watch. Just send Fargas outside or off-tackle behind Cooper Carlisle and we should be golden.

RRRRAAAAAIIIIIDERRRRSSSSSS!!!

Oakland Raiders vs. chicago bears Photo Gallery

Tiger II

As you may or may not know...I am not a cat person. Unfortunately for me, Holly has always loved cats. It was a year ago yesterday when my whole world was turned upside down. We had been cat-less for almost a year. Holly's last cat tragically went missing after a youth group lock-in at our place in March '06. Move ahead to Thanksgiving '06 and thats when my cat-free heaven fell apart. My brilliant step-father Roy comes in from the front yard and announces that we have some kittens on our front porch. Holly kicks in to rescue mode and decides she going to save the flea bags from their shattered lives of freedom, all you can eat field mice and a earth sized litter-box.

Holly ended up trapping 2 out of the 4 kittens in out garage. Luring them into the garage with food and then closing the garage door was the easy part. Catching them and taking them inside was a whole different story. I helped her corner them and then she wrestled them to the ground kickin' and clawin' taking scratch after scratch. She kept them in a travel crate and tried to feed them and get them used to her the first day. This picture she tried to feed the dark kitty some chicken and just stuffed it in his mouth. He just froze wide-eyed starring back but not chewing and not spitting out the chicken. Eventually the kitties moved in to the upstairs bathroom. Where they had room to play and Holly could still sit in there and let them get used to her...and they did. She also created a temporary cardboard wall pen in the middle of our living room where they could hangout with us. In the beginning, they just hid in their crate or in the cardboard walls like Tiger is doing in the pic above.

Holly's first thought was to keep the white kitty. Kirsten was going to take the dark kitty. After a while she became attached to the dark kitty and kept that one...he would become Tiger II. I thought his face/snout looked like a tigers face. Her first cat was named Tiger, so Tiger II it was.

The dogs were pretty excited to have some new toys...well, Jezebel was. T-Bone and I were both wondering what the heck we were thinking. Anytime we hear Jeze crying and whimpering...we know Tiger II got away from her and is hiding under the bed or some other place out of her reach. Usually upstairs we hear fast footsteps stomping around, coming to a stop and then the whimpering.

Seven months later, on June 11th, Tiger II visited the vet and weighed in at 11.09 lbs. Last September he weighed in at 13.10 lbs. He is probably pushing 15 lbs now at 1 year old and I have to admit...I like the little guy. The one thing he has going for him is he thinks he is a dog. He tries to stalk and wrestle T-Bone and Jezebel. He likes playing fetch which is what got me I think. He brings his toy mouse and drops it in front of me. I throw it and he chases it and brings back...its fetch with a cat. Weird.

Pretty cool cat I must say.

The Silver M Farm

Our good friends, The Morenos, invited a ton of folks over to their new home on the range...The Silver M Farm. They celebrated James', Shelly's and Makenzie's birthdays. They have an awesome place! Morgan's horse Jasper and Makenzie's horse Lila gave the kids rides. I'm going to have to go back there soon and get a ride myself cause I missed out. Giddy-up!! I didn't miss out on the food though! Delicious brisket, cheesy potatoes, Holly's corn casserole (with green chile and a crunchy Pringle's top, she got it from her Mama), tasty corn on the cob (I think I still have some betwen my teef)...the menu was awesome.

While eating dessert, I couldn't help myself and I smeared Alyssa's face with frosting. What that translated to was, "Hey kids! Would you please cover my face with frosting? Get it all over the place." They obliged and Alyssa and Morgan covered my face and arms with frosting. The kids went on a hay ride...I missed that too cause I was talking to dumb adults, and then everyone gathered 'round the camp fire and enjoyed toasted marshmallows and s'mores.

The story gets better as we are heading out, James sends me home with a ziplock bag full of brisket!! Git along lil doggie!!

Check out all the pics HERE.

The Great Pumpkin Massacre

Who doesn't love fajitas? Who doesn't love guttin' pumpkins, making a mess and carvin' Jack-O-Lanterns!? We did a lot of all that last Saturday. Had peeps over from our old and new home group and of course family. It was nice outside, but got pretty cool pretty quick and moved things inside. Brian and Jean were going for a half moon face with stars, but they taped the template on sideways. Their error still seemed to work and it looked like a starry eyes suprise...the stars ended up being eyes and the 1/2 moon was a smile. Daryl carved a big goofy smile that goes well with him! Cindy and Sam carved a patriotic America flag with stars. Holly carved some spooky bats with a bell tower...the bell tower didnt last long. The pumpkin got a bit juicey the day after and the bell tower was the first thing to go. Vick carved a dargon, but started a late and didn't finish it that night. I went with a spider and web for my pumpkin. Aside from fajitas and nachos, Tanya brought some yummy gluten free Choco-Chip cookies. Brian and Jean brought an awesome pecan pie and some Vanilla yogurt/ice-cream that was delish!

Check out all the pics HERE.

Craig and Corrie's 80's Halloween Party

Last Friday, the 28th, we finally made it to a Ruppel Halloween bash. Knew it was coming and we would go, but in typical Garcia fashion, we waited until the day before to work on our homemade costumes. Holly was of course looking to dress up as the typical 80's chick with leg-warmers and pig tail on the side. My first thought was Ghostbusters, then Magnum PI (thought all i would need was a Hawaiian shirt and huge mustache. Then I thought about a Rubik's cube which lead me to Pac-Man. With Pac-Man, I thought Holly could be a ghost and she liked the idea. After a couple trips to Holly Lobby and Home Depot, we had what we needed and got to work.

Holly just bought about 6 yds of blue (Inky the ghost) cloth and sewed a loop along one end...did that to 2 different pieces of cloth. Then she just cut them into strips with her roller-BLADE...she came close to slicing off one of Tiger II's paws who kept attack her cloth. Pac-Man was made with 2 pieces of board cut into circles and the removed a piece of pizza from each. Used wire to sort of piece them together and spray painted it yellow. Used large sheets of construction paper to cover the front and a lot of staples from my staple gun.

Our hats off to Craig and Corrie for a great party. Played the name game, where a famous 80's character or person's name is taped to your back. You don't know who you are and you have to ask people Yes/No questions to try and figure out who you are. Took me a while, but I figured out I was Willis Drummond from Different Strokes. Holly took a bit longer but finally figured out she was Daisy Dukes from the Dukes of Hazzard. By the end of the night, the Ruppel's dog, Daisy, was wearing everyones name on her back. I never touched Craig's famous Punch of Death, but he and his friends and played some 80s tunes, and I had a pretty good idea what a Punch of Death felt like. Nyuck-nyuck.

Check out all our pics HERE. Here is Craig and his band playing Centerfold from the J. Giles Band...there are a couple more tunes on my YouTube page HERE. Oh and by the way...Pac-Man just BARELY edged out the Rubik's Cube to win the Best Costume Award! The prize? A bottle of Jose Cuervo Gold Margarita (Classic Lime). Holly was thrilled.

Orionid Meteor Shower

Little did I know, but apparently there is an annual Orionid Meteor Shower. This year it happened on October 21, 2007. Holly and I looked at a few maps of the stars to figure out where to look for the meteors. Finally learned a little something about the Orion constellation. Always knew about Orion's belt, but didn't know much beyond that. The origin of the meteor shower was supposed to be between Orion's left shoulder and Mars...looked but could not find Mars. We were looking in the right place though! Got up at 4AM early Sunday morning and hung outside for about 30-40 minutes and saw at least 8 or more "shooting stars." Haven't tried taking many night time pics, but I took my camera out and took some pics of Orion and Ursa Major/Minor...the Dippers. There was also a really really bright star I took a pic of...meant to search and see if I could figure out which star/planet it was, but never got to it. At first we thought it was a plane coming in...and after a while realized it wasn't getting any closer. It was fun and was a nice night, but we were dead the next morning at church.

Baby's First Constellation Photos

Chevelle at Stubb's

Woohoo!! Finally got to see Chevelle in concert. Bought tickets way back in March, but the band's trailer with all their gear was stolen just before the concert so it was cancelled. Finally was rescheduled for 10/18 -- and just my luck it landed on a Thursday night. Our IBM flag football league plays on Thursday nights. So we played our game at 8pm, concert started at 7:30. Finished right around 9pm and hauled butt downtown to Stubb's. Kara, Vick and Mike and joined us and as we walked up to the place, we heard them starting so we didnt miss anything.

Man, these dudes were awesome. Its mostly the front man Pete Loeffler. He does most if not all the writing and the sound he gets with his Mesa Boogie and his baritone guitars in dropped A# tuning is sweet. Only thing that sucks about that is it his hard to play with a standard guitar...so I don't even try. Awesome concert though. Mike was trippin' on some guy who had a chicken head/wing thing going. Hopefully they come near us again soon. Would like to get there early next time and get further up to the stage.

I Take It Back...

Dolphins fans suck. Yeah sure, all of them. Apparently all Raider fans are thugs, so might as well group all Phins fans as jerkfaces. When I said they were nice earlier, I meant they didn't say anything to us. The guy we had some good banter with was sitting with his family, one of them was a Giants fan and the other was a Raiders fan. So they were fun. The people right next to us were Dolphin "fans" but they weren't even wearing any Dolphin gear...just regular t-shirts. I think most the crowd there was just scared of all the Silver and Black, they were trying to go unnoticed in their own stadium. Can't blame them though, the Raider Nation is bunch of thugs.

I'm being facetious of course, but some buttwads were throwing rocks and bottles at our team bus after the game on Sunday! >:|

From the PalmBeachPost.com:

Bottle shatters window of Raiders team bus

Monday, October 01, 2007

Police are investigating a post-game incident at Dolphin Stadium in which fans threw rocks and at least one bottle at an Oakland Raiders team bus, even though it was being escorted by members of the Broward Sheriff's office, according to authorities.

A bottle shattered a window of the bus, which was carrying Raiders staff members but not players, Miami-Dade Police spokeswoman Nelda Fonticiella said.

She said police suspected a group of fans standing at a tailgate site but could not make an arrest in the incident, which took place at Gate 1A at 5:45 p.m. Sunday.

"There were a lot of people, but nobody was able to point out one particular person that had done it," Fonticiella said. "We are getting together with the stadium to see if they have video cameras in that area." Dolphin Stadium spokesman George Torres said officials are contemplating beefing up security around the gate used by visiting teams.

"Certainly that's not something we've had here before, and we certainly don't want it to occur again," he said.

Digital Cameras Are Fun

Alrighty...here are all the pics from our vacation. There are tons. So much fun to just snap off pic after pic, especially at the game.

• Florida Pics (174): The resort, Old Town in Kissimmee, Disney World and Cocoa Beach
• Raiders Pre-Game Pics (92): Tailgating at Dolphin Stadium with Raider fans and pre-game warm-up from inside, including the maintenance on the field from the downpour that started just before the game
• Raiders 1st Qtr Pics (62): Raiders vs. Dolphins
• Raiders 2nd and 3rd Qtr Pics (104): Raiders vs. Dolphins
• Raiders 4th Qtr Pics (119): Final quarter of the 35-17 Raider victory!

By the way, the "Dol-fans" were very good hosts. Not many fans were in attendance, but thats what happens when you are 3-0. The fans we came across were all good sports and we had some good back and fourth banter until the 2nd half when it was clear the Raiders were not going to give the game away as usual.

Thanks Dol-fans! Oh, but there is no avoiding it...their "fight song" is the lamest thing I have ever heard. As one guy put it, this is the coolest song....from 1970. I guess with all the old farts in Florida they won't be changing it any time soon.

Raiders 35, Dolphins 17 -- w00t!!1!

The fun is gone...but oh what fun it is to ride a 35-17 victory over the Miami Dolphins! Nothing but WINS this week. I missed the season opener of our IBM Flag Football league, that sucked. The guys didn't miss a beat though and our team won 13-0. We bought our time-share. The Raiders kicked major booty down in Miami...it was an amazing game. It was almost like a home game. Clear across the country, opposite coast...and there were tons of Raider fans out there supporting their team. These are die hard fans man. I mean, look at our team. Probably the worst Super Bowl hangover in history. Last year we won only 2 games. We start off 0-2 this year and yet, an away game on the opposite end of North America and our fans were out there in huge numbers. The tailgating was great. The group of wrestlers were hilarious. I love the pic of Mean Gene Okerlund interviewing us. The Hulkster was great...he studied The Hulk and had him down pat. Gorilla Rilla was in the hizzy. We were worried about walking around in Dolphin country, but everywhere we looked we could see Silver and Black.

I already watched the replay of the game when I got home and it was great to hear the loud cheering in the Miami stands when the Raiders scored or made a great play. The rain was crazy...but it felt nice. Almost got a little too cold there for a while. By the time the sun came out in full force during the 3rd quarter, we were really wishing the rain would come back. Raiders finally gave us a great game. Jordan and Fargas kicked butt. The zone blocking scheme and new OL coach are coming together. Our boy Cooper Carlisle played a great game. He played the zone blocking scheme in Denver (boo!) and looks like its paying off here. Culpepper didn't show much as far as passing, thankfully he didn't have too, but he got the job done and didn't turn the ball over. He accounted for all 5 of our TDs. Ran 3 in and threw for another 2. Technically he threw 3 TDs, but one was called back for offensive pass interference. It looked bogus to me during the game. I replayed it when I got home, and yup, it was bogus. Raiders won though, 35-17...can't get over that score.


So yeah....flag football win, went to Disney World, bought a time-share, Cocoa Beach, Miami, Raiders kicked butt, what an awesome week!! Oh! Oh! Oh! To top it all off. After the game, our last night and we are sitting in the hotel room chillaxing and watching some more football and then we see a football score update:

Kansas City Chiefs 30, San Diego Chargers 17

Haha...oh man, that gave me a great laugh. Stoopid Chargers. I'm happy for Beth and her Chiefs to stick it to the Dolts. Hehe.

I'll be right back with all our photos from the last week. There are TONS!

Hooray Disney!!

Thursday night after chillaxin in the pool we headed to the Black Angus for some BEEF! With stomachs full, we headed over to Old Town. The last time we were there they had classic cars cruising...this time it was a swarm of 2-wheelers...and some 3-wheelers. Lots and lots of pretty bikes and trikes. After walking off the meal, we stopped at what is possibly the best go-kart track we have ever been on. This was like a triple decker track that looped around and around climbing higher and higher until it straightens out you pick up speed on a huge decline that banks around into another decline back to the ground floor. Sweet ride.

We could have taken 2 2-day passes to Universal or 2 1-day passes to any Disney theme park. We were at Universal a couple of years ago, so we choose to go with Disney. Looking at the parks, the Disney-MGM Studios had the Star Wars attraction "Star Tours" and the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror ride, so we went with that park. Disney-MGM did not disappoint...except for the Drew Carey "Sounds Dangerous" attraction. Don't ever waste your time on this one...unless you just need a 15-minute power nap. Star Tours was alright, the AT-AT outside the ride was sweet. Muppets 3-D was neato. Best ride was the Tower of Terror...2 thumbs up! The only disappointment was passing the Star Tours attraction and seeing Darth Vader out posing for pictures, but the line was closed before I could get in to get my picture taken with him. :(
The live shows for Indiana Jones and the Extreme Stunt Show were really cool. Around 5:30ish we left the park and headed to Cracker Barrel for some dinner. On the way to the car, we passed a car that had the driver's side window busted out...eek. Glad it wasn't our car. After enjoying a fine "home cooked" meal, we headed back to the park to catch the 8pm show of Fantasmic! Left the park for the last time and headed to Downtown Disney and strolled the shops there. Ended our walk at the Haagen-Dasz and got ourselves a ice cold tasty treat. A great close to the magical world of Disney and our Friday in Orlando.

Saturday we slept in, grabbed some lunch, another nap and then headed to Cocoa Beach. We nixed the Space Center plans, just too worn out. Weather wasn't so great, so we didn't even get in the water. Just cruised the beach and the pier and then went back home and relaxed in the pool. Finally packed everything up and tried to get some sleep before heading out to Miami to catch the RRRAIDERS!!!

Taking the Plunge

Well, it finally happened, my famous streak of saying no to timeshares is now over. But don't cry for me Argentina. We are now proud owners of a cute little week every other year. Which doesn't sound like much, but we also get 12 getaways a year. Woo-hoo.

They put us up in a fabulous two bedroom two bath condo. We are having so much fun here in our little house we don't venture out much except to eat, I'm sure thats not a surprise. We are having a blast here in cloudy/sunny/rainy/sunny Florida. Today we did the timeshare thing, had lunch, worked out, played some 1-on-1 basketball (Holly won on a last second shot...pure luck) and then just relaxed in the pool.


Who know whats for diner!? Tomorrow we get to go to Disney-MGM Studios and then Saturday we're off to Cape Canaveral and then play time at Cocoa Beach. All that is just the appetizer for the huge feast on Sunday. We leave early Sunday morning and head down to Miami for the RRRAIDER game!! Welcome to Miami, Bienvenido a Miami. Joey Porter has guaranteed a win this weekend....so we can't wait for this game! Especially since we get to go there riding a one game win streak! :P

We will be taking a lot more vacations...ones that we can take friends on, so I encourage all y'all to start buttering us up. Just kidding, but not really...


GO RRRAIDERS!!!- Frank and Holly

Hooray Football!!

Yea! Football is finally here. Luckily I'm not in the hospital getting my stomach pumped...had some week old melon again this week. The veggie lady is on crack man, it still tasted good, smelled good and had good texture. Whatever. So yeah, football is back! I am stinking up the place in my Pick'em League, lost 2 of my 3 fantasy football league games and I got knocked out of my Survivor league in the first week. Hooray football!!

And yes...I picked Oakland in week 1 for my survivor league. If I was going down, I was going down in blaze of loyalty. Plus, I really thought they could win. I hadn't counted on our defense not doing so well. The offense at least had some life. Detroit did a good job of double team D.Burgess pretty much the whole game and Kitna had time to pick our secondary (which has no depth) apart. It was still a great game for us...nice to see them fight back and try to win for once. Plus, the brisket, mashed taters, nacho cheese and all that good stuff makes any game great.

Theres hope for the Raiders though....can't wait for our new rookie QB to step on to the field. Here he is...just look at his vertical!! That alone gives him a competitive edge over any defensive player on the field. He'll just be jumping over peeps Mario style yo!


Youngest Player Ever Drafted To NFL - Watch more free videos

All Clear

If you haven't read the previous two posts...you need to catch up with those.

So it is 10:30 in the PM and all is clear. Melon that has been cut up and stored in the fridge is still good after about a week and half. It is a little mushy, but if you don't mind the slightly soggy texture, the aroma and taste are still grade A cantaloupe!! The melon from this morning and this afternoon are all gone and the stomach is in check. Hooray cantaloupe!

So far so good...

I'm 6 hours into the melon ordeal and so far so good. Innards are in check, no fever, no spots and most importantly -- as Bugs taught us all, no coat on my tongue. I wasn't able to finish it all this morning. There was a lot...but also I was a little scurred. Things are good though, so time for more melon!

How long is cantaloupe good for?

I've been a fan of Blind Melon for years, but wasn't until recently that I started to like cantaloupe. Didn't even know how to spell it until now. I spelled it cantelope on my first attempt. Good thing I still got my looks. Anyway, Holly got me into it...she can bring home the melon! Chop it up in the fridge. Then I can take it to work and forget about it for about a week and haaaaaaaallllfff....cause shes a woman! Not sure how long we had the cantaloupe at home. Was in the fridge at least a day or two. Brought it into work Wednesday the 22nd. I took the afternoon off to go to the lake (I'll come back later with those pics) and forgot to eat my melon. I was also off Thursday and Friday cause we drove 600 miles to El Paso to take my brother home and to visit. Came into the office on Monday...forgot the melon was still there. Tuesday....forgot. Finally this morning I go to put my lunch in the fridge and sooo happy to see my melon still there. I took it to the office to eat and realized its been a while. So I open it and it smells delicioso! I inspect for mold. Inspection clean. The taste test...slightly softer than I remember melon being, but tasty nonetheless. I ask some friends how long melon lasts...no one knows, but chellers offers this link that says cut up melon in the fridge lasts 3 days.

I'm still eating the melon. We'll see how I'm felling this afternoon...

On the Run...

(Click newspaper to enlarge)

Old headline...but I think I've seen this guy in Austin. We were in El Paso last Christmas. We were on our way to my aunt's house for Christmas and stopped at Circle K for some lotto tickets to hand out as gifts to the family. We were going to buy Wii's for everyone, but they were so hard to find...so we just got them $1 scratch-off tickets. It could be like giving them 100 Wii's!!

So we are at the Circle K gassing up and buying tickets. Holly managed to snap a few pics of the culprit making his getaway. Very striking fellow if I do say so myself.

(tried to make a casual getaway, but the jig was up)

(look at the guy at the door, he could have stopped the criminal, but he punked out)

If you know the whereabouts of this hunk, a hunk of burning love...feel free to challenge him to some StarCraft, Madden, Guitar Hero, Mario Kart, Mario Strikers Charged or Wii Tennis. Yeah boi!!