Archive for November, 2007

I wanted to wish everyone a wonderful Thanksgiving! I, unfortunately, had to work today, leaving all the cooking and planning to my lovely husband. Surprisingly, customers are quite grouchy during holidays! You’d think the prospect of no work, lots of tasty food, and being lazy in front of the television would cheer people up. No such luck I’m afraid. Either way, I hope you’re all happy and thankful for the important things in your life. With that said, I’m off to go put up our Christmas tree! (yes, it’s a tad early, but I’m working tomorrow and this weekend, so it’s now…or a long time from now) Here’s a picture of Jabber and I sharing a pre-dinner story. (Diary of a Wombat by Jackie French given to me by my baby sister)

Several of you have mentioned to me that sometimes I have too many words and not enough pictures on my blog. Unfortunately, I tend to be a very wordy person and I enjoy writing, perhaps just a little too much. Plus, I’m not a very good photographer, which is probably why I lean towards tapping the keyboard versus snapping the shutter. However, I am absolutely inspired and very much look up to Kim’s artwork. Be sure to take a look if you have the time, her photos are amazing. So, in this post, less words, more photos. I leave you with the previously mentioned pictures of the new flowers I planted a few weeks ago (and of Andy’s newly finished brickwork). I am very proud that they are still alive. In addition, the last photo is of the bouquet of flowers I picked out from Central Market for our Thanksgiving table. I’m fighting to keep them alive till Thursday. Let me know if you have any gardening hints.

After a long and busy work week, for both Andy and me, it was nice to have a little getaway to look forward to. Since we will be unable to make it to the annual Trommer turkey day celebration, we thought we would try to fulfill our Thanksgiving needs with a supplemental weekend trip. Why won’t we be with family for the occasion? Alas, it’s one of the downfalls of working at a 24 hour pharmacy. There has to be at least 3 people working during every holiday. To avoid working on Christmas, I volunteered for both Thanksgiving and New Year’s. I suppose I don’t really mind, the extra pay will definitely be nice. However, keep me in mind if you’re in line at a retail establishment on a holiday. No matter how much I enjoy my job and the holiday money, I would much rather be eating glutinous amounts of food with my loving family than serving those that weren’t mindful enough to get their chores done before the big day. It’s hard being away from family (doesn’t matter which side, Trommer or Chao) during a holiday. Which is why it was so important for us to take our trip to Austin this weekend. We got to Georgetown late Friday night, around 1:30 am. Andy’s big work project launches this weekend. He’s been putting in a lot of late nights to make sure everything runs smoothly. Poor guy deserves some rest and a BIG BONUS once everything has been completed. ^-^ Upon arrival, we greeted the Trommer parents, but went to sleep pretty immediately.

We woke up Saturday feeling refreshed, with a puppy literally bouncing at the idea of having another dog to play with. We left Jabber and Lilly to get reacquainted, while we headed for Austin to Kat and Josh‘s new apartment. Kat has mentioned several times that there is a phenomenal breakfast taco place in downtown Austin. Alas, Andy and I have never been in town long enough (or are too lazy) to visit the restaurant with her. This time, we made a special request to eat at said breakfast taco establishment. So, the four of us sat in my pretty Yaris (yes, it’s small, but it holds 4 quite comfortably) and weaved our way through UT football traffic to the restaurant, Juan in a Million. Once we got there, the hoards of people in orange and white made finding a table a little difficult. But we managed to find a small booth in the corner. Immediately, Kat and Josh suggested upon getting the Don Juan special with 3 extra tortillas. Though we were startled at the horribly expensive price of $3.25 per plate, we decided to trust their sound advice. Boy did they know what they were talking about! The breakfast tacos were absolutely amazing!! It seems like such a simple concept: eggs, bacon, cheese, and potatoes served on a soft chewy tortilla. Yet, their special method/ingredients makes for a breakfast taco worth craving/salivating/driving 3.5 hours from DFW for. I absolutely do not want to know how much oil/butter/lard they put in the dish. I figure just so long as I only eat there once in a long while, exercise particularly hard the week after, and eat modestly on a normal basis…I deserve a little Juan in a Million.

After brunch, Kat and Josh navigated us to a couple really neat shopping sites. First up was Whole Earth Provision Co. Don’t get me wrong, I still love my Ann Taylor and Anthropologie stores, but shops like these have unique merchandise that makes shopping so much more interesting. We wandered around for awhile, looking at gadgets, toys, books, and knick knacks. Kat and I bought a few Christmas presents, which is exciting. We then hit Zinger Hardware, another neat little spot. There was so much I would buy in there, it’s a good thing we only had my Yaris, and no extra seats. ^-^ After all the shopping, we headed back to Kat and Josh’s apartment. We were invited in and received a nice tour of their home. It is probably one of the nicer apartments I’ve seen, very roomy, 2 balconies (which I am very impressed by), lots of room to grow, and an underground garage they can get to directly from their apartment! Everything inside was bright, cheery, and very well decorated, must faster than we did our house…me hanging my head in shame. We stayed and chatted for a little while, the boys about their computers, the girls about the wonderment of Bare Minerals makeup. At the rate Kat and I talk the stuff up, we really deserve a commission from the company. But soon we were on our way back to Georgetown for more fabulous food.

Once back at the Trommer home, we talked with the parents, played with the puppies, watched television, and attempted to help with dinner preparations. Dad Trommer had most of the work already done and Mom Trommer finished the rest of the chores (more shame on our part). Grandma and Grandpa Trommer soon arrived, and a delicious dinner was soon underway. We had some extremely tasty smoked chicken, smoked veggies, fresh baked bread, baked potatoes, a yummy marshmallow salad, and a strawberry cream pie. Andy and I are too spoiled every single time we go to Austin! To feel a little less guilty, we have vowed to spend a little extra time at the gym, which will be possible because I’m working the morning shifts this week. It wasn’t exactly like Thanksgiving dinner, but the mouth watering food, and the wonderful time with a caring family was all that mattered to us. We spent the rest of the evening swapping stories and just enjoying each other’s company.

All too soon, it was time for us to head back home. We packed everything up, and started on the road for Keller. We had a marvelous weekend, and though we’ll be missing Thanksgiving celebrations in both Georgetown and Overland Park this year, we’ll do our best to have a nice little holiday of our own. The food may not be as good, the company may not be as lively (though if Jabber gets into Andy’s coffee, we may have a different level of rambunctious on our hands), and we’ll definitely be missing those that we’re not with, but I think we’ll do just fine. Sigh…Thanksgiving is still 2 weeks away, I’ll let you know if I’m still so optimistic as the holiday gets closer. Andy has to work till 4 am (or later…) tonight…cough cough EXTRA BIG BONUS cough cough. But I have to be at work at 8 am tomorrow, so I’m off to bed all by lonesome. Sigh…who’s snores will keep the monsters away tonight? I suppose Jabber’s will have to do, seriously, she’s snoring like a freight engine right now. Exactly what she did today to make her so exhausted is beyond me, perhaps all that extra napping?

Today is Jabber’s pupniversary! Exactly one year ago today, we made the huge decision to adopt a pet from the Keller animal shelter. After much thought and several pro con lists, I decided on the chocolate colored Australian Kelpie with the funny colored eyes. At the time, her name was Maxine, which we quickly and unanimously decided to change. Andy originally wanted the long haired dachshund named Romeo. However, I knew which dog was suited for us from the moment Jabber climbed into my lap at the shelter. We can’t believe we’ve had her for only a year! We can barely remember life before Jabberwocky the Crazy Kooky Pup. We are extremely grateful that she seems to be as fond of us as we are of her.

Unfortunately for Jabber, pupniversaries also mean annual vet appointments. Our puppy was originally diagnosed with a severe case of PDA (patent ductus arteriosis) and her expected life span was supposed to be shortened drastically (we were told she wouldn’t make it to the age of 3). The first vet we went to highly recommended we get a $3000 surgery for her. This seemed a little too much to swallow, a $3000 operation for a dog we only had for a day? So, we decided to get a second opinion. The second vet took a good look at Jabber’s perky attitude and carefully listened to her heart. He told us that though the heart murmur was definitely present, he thought we should take a look and see how she reacts to everyday life before jumping into the surgical solution. For the last year, Andy and I have been keeping a close eye on Jabber’s energy levels and exercise routines. There was absolutely no sign of fatigue, fainting, weakness, or shortness of breath. If you’ve met our dog, you understand there’s absolutely nothing physically wrong with her. So, at yesterday’s appointment (with a third vet), I was expecting another long lecture about $3000 surgeries and leaky hearts. Much to our surprise, the vet told us that there was absolutely no sign of a heart murmur. He said that her heartbeat sounded completely normal and any trace of a murmur has disappeared. He told us that PDA’s have been known to seal itself off, but always in newborn cases and always in a few days after being born. He didn’t think Jabber’s heart could have mended a PDA in a year long timespan. Instead, he hypothesized that perhaps her initial irregular heartbeat was due to extreme anemia from malnutrition (which makes me really sad, what horrible owners did my beloved dog have prior to us?). I suppose in the end it doesn’t matter what happened, just so long as we have a healthy, happy puppy.

The said puppy is currently under the office table chewing on her pupniversay present, a new tennis bone! All throughout the house, you can hear the squeak of puppy teeth against tennis ball fuzz. Here’s to another fabulous Jabberwocky year!

Okay, I’ve got exactly seven minutes to update my blog. So I apologize if I’m less than coherent in my thoughts. I am working the semi-late shift this week. Our schedule has been very confusing as of late. To try and avoid overtime and complaints of who got the better schedule (I know who it is, but in favor of discretion, I won’t mention names or how much I think this person needs to suck it up and grow up), it has been decided that the four “young ones” of the pharmacy will be going on a rotating schedule. This consists of one early morning week, one really late week (4 – 11:30 shifts), one week of semi-late shifts (1 – 9:30), and one week of mid day shifts. You wouldn’t think this would be confusing…but for some odd reason, we’re always trying to figure out who’s doing what and who’s going to be coming in when. I personally hope this rotating schedule becomes extinct quickly. The morning shifts are nice…but when you hit all late night shifts, it’s pretty depressing. As promised, the cough and cold season has turned our normally busy pharmacy into a madhouse. We have lines that rival Disney World rides, and a stack of prescriptions to fill that is so fat that it always makes me wonder just how many people live in this area!!

Anyhow, working the later shifts mean I usually get up, go to the gym, walk the puppy (if time permits), try to prepare a dinner for Andy so when he gets home from a long day at work he can just heat it up, and finally after all that is completed, I can go to work. One of my older (and rather bitter) co-workers laughs at me and tells me that after a couple more years of marriage I won’t be making dinner for Andy anymore. I resent that. My mom (and Andy’s mom for that matter) have always cooked dinner. Not to mention, I like making dinner. It’s an interesting creative outlet. It doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with being married, besides the fact that I now have someone to critique and share my recipes with.

A happy break to note from my crazy schedule: my best friend Ashley came for a spontaneous visit last weekend. I managed to beg a friend from work (thanks Krystina!) to work for me on Saturday, and Ashley and I spent the day together. We went shopping, got pedicures, and just generally laughed our way through the day. We had a nice dinner at Edelwiess (fans of this blog have seen this name before, it’s a neat German themed restaurant with live music) with Anni, David, and Ethan. We got a personal performance from the accordion guy (songs played included Stairway to Heaven, Flight of the Bumblebee…etc). I’m absolutely amazed and perplexed at how complicated accordion playing is! After lots of questions, I’m still boggled as to how anyone makes music from such an odd instrument! All too soon, Saturday was over and Ashley was on her way home to Kansas. It was nice to get to see her, no matter how infrequently it may be. Okay, my minutes are up, I’m off to cook. I leave you with photos…

It’s the whole group of us (minus Andy). Aren’t we a pretty looking bunch? …Especially when Ethan decides to not blink and smile during the photo?

It’s Ashley and I with the nifty accordion man. He has one fancy accordion, let me tell you! It’s all electronic and button happy.

Ashley was very amused with the “please don’t touch my drink” cards. You’re supposed to put these on your beer/beverage of choice when you use the restroom, and the wait staff won’t clear it by mistake. She really wanted a photo…surprisingly not of her holding the card. ^-^

Okay, I’ve got to go get ready for work. Yay for sick people! Hm…that didn’t come out right.