A Story He Will Hear a Lot as an Adult, I Bet.

My nephew is not a fan of the spotlight. He walks away with a little smirk on his face if you ask him to tell you what the cow says or to show you his nose, and he absolutely refuses to call my father Gramps. He knows everyone wants it too much. Nobody can understand not wanting center stage quite like me, so I leave him alone about the whole thing. We were all sitting at dinner the other day when David starts yelling right at me at the top of his lungs.

"Shut yo mouth and watch TV"

And he would point dramatically at the end. I laughed so hard I cried and David decided he liked that.

"Shut yo mouth and watch TV" Glare and Point.
"Shut yo mouth and watch TV" Glare and Point
"Shut yo mouth and watch TV" and then he clapped his hands together, bowed his head, closed his eyes and said, "Amen."
And we all lost it even more.

I just want to make sure I remember that a long time from now.

A Point for Dallas

My parents came to town this past weekend and brought us a couch. Now we have more than one chair in the living room, which is nice. Other than some driving and directions issues it was a really nice quick visit. Just the idea that we live close enough to have a nice quick visit is great. Anyway, we introduced my parents to the wonders of Ikea, Cuban pork sandwiches, and the Dallas Farmer's Market.

We think this is among the better markets we have ever experienced. It is almost strictly produce based with just a few off shoots of flea market fare or fair food, but that is okay because the produce is awesome and it goes on everyday. Here are some pictures from the first time Sergio and I went to the market and we allowed ourselves to buy anything we wanted without taking into account that we couldn't possible finish it all before it went bad. We figured it up afterward. We spent $25 dollars on all of this stuff. Had we bought the same items at any local market in Portland we would have spent roughly $52. And it wouldn't have tasted as good either.
This time we bought greens and purple hull peas. Wish me luck as I attempt to cook both of these items for the first time. I think the key is lots of bacon.

Hidden

Just a pillow on a blanket on the floor...
...Just a 14 year old, three pound chihuahua IN a pillow on the blanket on the floor.

Pita likes to hide in blankets so that when you collapse onto something your heart stops halfway down because you might be about to land on her and not know it. This is my in-laws dog.

Rededicating

I hope somebody still checks the blog from time to time. We have been a little preoccupied lately with moving, traveling, job-hunting, and other expected and unexpected events. Energy levels have been low. This is just a little note to say we will be focusing on the blog again and to check back for more frequent posts. They may not be better, but they will be there!

These Colors are Like My Dreams, Red, Gold, and Green

We painted. And this is what happened. Three walls in our living room are yellow or "Brass," and two great big walls are green or "Sweet Annie." Because the room had to be painted with semi-gloss, the yellow is what Sergio refers to as "Nacho cheese." And that is pretty much right on. But we both really like it anyway. It makes the room so much more homey than the normal sanitorium white walls of most apartments.

Unfortunately, the kitchen chairs turned out funny. They were meant to be bright red. Think Fire Engine. Instead they turned out Watermelon. Or maybe Salmon. This is what happens when you buy $3 Oops paint at Lowe's thinking it will work just fine. I was quite disappointed at first, but have since learned to like the fruity chairs. We also have a bright red bowl on the table, pumpkin orange measuring cups hanging from a shelf, and tomatoes on the table. Our kitchen is a cacaphony of oranges, reds, and pinks.

So now I can mark one thing off of my list of fifty things to do before I croak. I painted my house obnoxious colors just because I could.

Movies

The Dark Knight ♣♣♣♣
We thought it was awesome.

Lars and the Real Girl ♣♣½
We enjoyed it. Not everyone will.

Where in the World Are Dawn and Sergio?

Little Rock.

We have been to Dallas and seen our apartment. We painted and cleaned and tried to get to know as much of the city as possible in five days, with mixed results. And then we turned around and came up to Little Rock.

All of these things deserve a post of their own but we can't seem to get internet anywhere right now and our pictures are trapped on our computer. This is my parents computer, if you were wondering.

Good things about Dallas so far:
Grilled cuban sandwiches
spicy thai that delivers
good food on every corner at affordable prices
our apartment
our neighborhood
the pool
the building Sergio will be working at

Bad things about Dallas so far:
no free wifi
the tollway
loopy one way streets
the insane heat
sprawl

On a different note, my nephew is two now. I wish I had internet on the right day or could post a picture now, but this will have to do. Happy Birthday David! It turns out that two likes to push noisy things around the house, spin cars in chairs, and hit golf golfs (golf balls) with spoons (golf clubs).

Flash Update and Some Pics

Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, South Dakota, Iowa, Nebraska, and Missouri are done. Taking a brief break in Fayetteville to barbecue, visit with friends, and finally see the first baby of the group. We'll be checking out Dallas and our new apartment by Friday afternoon.

Home Stretch

My brain is mush. Why are the last three weeks of grad school the busiest and hardest we have had the entire time? Seems like bad planning. Sergio is bored silly waiting on me to finish class and can we GO already? I have no idea how to make that last sentence grammatically correct. Because my brain is mush.

We are out of here tomorrow as soon as my classes are over at 1:30. Phew.

Dawn has the Cheekbones, I Have the Cheeks

This week we tackled the NEED TO DO's. Yard sale and donation trips on Saturday, cleaning out closets and junk every other day, and now we are back to donating and maybe selling more books. We also attempted to load my old trunk into the car to be shipped on Greyhound, but learned a lesson in square pegs and round holes. We aren't sure what to do about that at this point.

And it has been very hot, leading us to take cold showers, eat every meal outside the house, and not dry my hair. Here is dinner out, non blow-dried hair, after a cold shower.