It's Raining...

Story time: It was a dark and stormy weekend in Dallas.  (No really, it was a dark and stormy weekend in Dallas.  It's been raining all week.)  Early, early Saturday morning I had the two Frenchies (Dooley & Damon) in the backyard.  I was walking around with the umbrella (ella, ella) encouraging them to "hurry up" (our command for "go pee") when all the sudden a very high pitched noise came from the sky!  Trigger, our good looking hound, darted outside from the doggie door trying to locate the sound.  As I'm scuttling to the porch I heard a significant thud from behind, when I turn around I see a rat dying on the ground under our tree .  He was clearing dying from poisoning.   Eeks!

I tried not to be helpless.  I took two of three beasts inside.  The Frenchies hadn't located Mr. Rat, but Trigger's nose picks everything up.  He located Mr. Rat.  I finally got him inside too.  With three beasts safely inside, I went to the garage to get a shovel. I was going to take care of the dying rat.  The key takeaway at this part of the story is that I tried not to be helpless.

I tried.

I am helpless.  I couldn't handle it.  I am helpless around dying wild animals with long snake-like tails.  I went inside and woke my husband up and told him the story.  (It was a dark and stormy weekend in Dallas...) A rat fell from the sky.  He's not 100% dead.  He's suffering in the rain.

My husband got out of bed...

I stayed safely in bed safely under the covers. Safely.  When my husband returned to bed I asked if Mr. Rat was still alive.  He told me not to ask any questions.  He said, "I took care of it."

And that's one of the many things I love about my husband: when I am weak he is strong.  "I took care of it." That's right!  My husband took care of it.  I guess now I need to take care of him...

Real Mouse In the House

We live ten minutes from downtown Dallas in an area known as Lakewood, which is East Dallas and sits on the west side of White Rock Lake.  With the lake, the creeks, the hike and bike trails, and the golf course this neighborhood doesn't feel like it's ten minutes from the downtown area of the ninth largest city in the US.  This is why this neighborhood is hot.

In this environment the wildlife is more robust than a normal neighborhood.  We have coyotes (that have been known to eat pets), we have hawks (that my husband saw eat our squirrels), we have mosquito (that eat all of us).  Another creature that is in abundance is rats and mice.  We really have to stay on top of exterminating the rats and mice because before we moved into this house in April 2014, we had to repair damage in our attic created by those little guys.

Last week I was watching Dooley on the nanny camera.  Yes, my husband set up a camera so I could watch the dogs who are confined to the office while I'm at work.  On the nanny camera, I saw Dooley playing with a toy inside the office.   She was throwing it up, chasing after it, and running around with the toy.  I thought to myself adding a puppy to our household, Damon, really brought out the youthful spirit in our 5 year old Dooley.

When I got home, my husband informed me that there was a dead (big) mouse (rat?) in the office.  Yes, Dooley was playing with a mouse...in my house.

This place is too wild for me. I'm going to start looking for houses 5 minutes from downtown.

The Twins' Room

As we have safely arrived on the other side of 14 weeks, with the twins expected to enter this world between 36 and 38 weeks (mid to late March 2016) it is time to get serious about the nursery.

As I stated in this post, my inspiration is the above photo; I saw it years ago and knew when I got the chance to decorate a nursery I would pick something interesting, whimsical, and not cartoon-ish.  I'm still leading with the ideal if our sons are surrounded by a beautiful environment, then they will act in a beautiful way.

The art is hung on the walls.

The cribs and changing table are ordered from Dwell Studio.

 I'm often asked: what's your nursery theme?  I state simply: Midcentury modern!  No one seems to understand, but I will post pictures when it all comes together.

Husband Book Club

One of my favorite books is Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird, and I was dumbfounded when I learned my husband has never read this great American novel.  How did he escape Texas public schools without reading this masterpiece?  I think it was required reading in both 6th and 8th grade for me.

One of my husband's favorite books is Andy Weir's The Martian, which I have not read...but I saw the movie (thumbs up!) because it is staring my youngest son's namesake, Matt Damon.

We created a book club.  I'm currently reading The Martian, and he's planning on reading To Kill a Mockingbird.  We'll regroup and discuss the merits of each book at a later date.

America

This week late at night on some weird hotel channel I regrettably watched a show about gruesome deaths.   The only segment in the show I watched was about a beloved African man that partied hard one night at a game reserve, passed out inside in a chair, but left the door to his bungalow open...a hyena attacked him, killed him, ate him.  Yes, it's a terrible thought.  I changed the channel.  (Don't change the channel here, keep reading...)

A few days later I learned my UBER driver was born and raised in the mountains of Ethiopia.  He was a cattle farmer and he was the last person in his family to move over to the U.S.A., which was about ten years ago.

I told him about the hyena-eating-a-man segment.  I asked him his opinion on the situation.  He stated without hesitation absolutely that happens in Africa.   He said especially during the mating season when the male hyenas are full of testosterone.  In fact, his minister was eaten by a hyena while walking between villages.

He said hyenas eat men.  Lions do not (eat men).  According to my UBER driver, people and lions have a deep connection.  When his people see a lion approach they call the elder out to perform a spiritual calling/dance directed towards the lion, which always ends with the lion walking away.  I was touched by the story he told where men and lions are connected; it is beautiful.

I asked him if he felt connected to elephants in the same way (I feel connected to elephants!) and he laughed and told me that he lived in the mountains.  Elephants do not roam mountains.  My question was ridiculous, apparently.

As my ride was ending he said that Africa is a great land and everyone must visit it at least once.  However, he claimed again without hesitation that America is the greatest country in the world.  His whole family had jobs, houses, and good lives in this country.  If he hears anyone speak negatively about America or complain about America, then he offers to buy them a plane ticket and suggests they leave.

America is the best country was the last thing he told me before I stepped out of the car.

Noisy Neighbors

Last weekend in Austin we had to hunt to find a place to stay for Saturday night.  One night only! We finally found a room at the Sheraton in Austin.  The lobby was nice, but the rooms were dated with popcorn on the low ceilings, outdated bathroom design, the uncomfortable bed....and the thin walls.

At approximately 2 o'clock in the morning I woke up to the sounds of our neighbors going at it.  Yes, it's true we were already in bed long asleep at 2 o'clock in the morning on a Saturday night in Austin.  We're living the dream - in our own way.   I giggled a little bit when I realized what was going down next door at 2 o'clock in the morning, and I couldn't go back to sleep until the screams and moans ended.

I also had flash backs to my senior year in undergrad when I lived with Missy off Far West in Austin.  We had a large (affordable) two bedroom apartment...with thin walls.  We had noisy neighbors that sent screams and moans our way at all hours of the day.  Eventually, the sound was so frequent that I didn't notice it..they were just part of the apartment.  It was always funny when friends would come over and they'd ask: what's that?

Me: That's the sound of Martha (Fauker) snoring?

Guest: Not that.  Do you hear that?

Me: (listening) Oh, that's the sound of the neighbors having sex.  Don't worry, they are noisy but they don't last long.

Then we'd giggle.