Racing with Rimkus

On Thursday I participated with Rimkus in the Houston Young Lawyers Foundation 5K here in Houston. It was a huge race...of 67 runners! It's a big contrast from the last race I ran with Roma (as that one we all ran with dogs) or even back to January with the 25k+ runners downtown for the marathon festivities. I figure this was where I'd capitalize and do well.

Hmm...those young lawyers were fast...and in the Houston heat AND humidity! It was a wet, hot night for a run... I did okay, running in 30 mins, 45 seconds...right on my typical pace. I placed 36 out of 67...in the bottom half! I had a great time and was probably the first (and last) time I finished a race and had a few beers.

Running will be slowing down as the summer approaches, but I'll be sure to run on the hot, non-humid days. I like the heat, but not when you feel like you're running in a freaking steam room!

Pug-Sitting with Robo...and Roma & Buster

This past Friday and Saturday were eventful as we got to pug-sit Robo (aka Robotron). It's no secret I'm a pug fan...so we were ready to dogsit for the first time. Robo and Roma were a bunch of hooligans at times, but fun for the most part. It was a "ROMA" or "ROBO" or "ROMO" couple of days.

Here's Robo saying "please help me take back the bed and that bone..."

Best story was Roma and Robo with the bones and the dog bed. We have one dog bed and two bones. Was this a problem? Yup. One dog was on the couch and the other was in the bed...all was great, they each had a bone. Then it was like "no I want the bone." "now I want that bed." No, I want the other one back." This one, that one, on and on!!! It's hilarious to think back on, but it was a nightmare in the moment. Our dog obviously does not like to share. Daycare says she does great, so who knows...?

On Saturday, Aaron came by with Buster so the three pups got to play for the afternoon. They all had a good time.

"Pulling a Debbie"

I call it "pulling a Debbie." That is when you run yourself out of gas!

I love Debbie and she knows I give her a hard time about this, but that's only because it happens often! "Hey Deb, let's take your car today..." Deb's response, "ummm, okay, but we need gas." She does it with a big smile! But Deb got it from her mom, they both know "I have XX miles when the light goes on." And they go XX minus 2...I have 2 miles till empty, I guess I'll get gas now!

Well, I pulled a Debbie this week...and it frightened me! I drove up to do an inspection in Bedias, Texas...a couple hours north and surely enough my light comes on. Good thing...I was already 5 miles off any noticeable road and went another 10 to the project site! My car reports "distance to empty" so I knew I had miles to go. Driving 15 miles each way off any sort of road (I was on a dirt road) was definitely a little scary. After the inspection I went and followed the client to the gas station...I had 12 miles left.

That's what I call "pulling a Debbie."

Oh and when I told Deb, she laughed and gave ME the hard time! :-)

Roma's Good Behavior = Dog Bed

We may sound mean, or like "Nazi Drill Sargents," as my dad put it, but we are very strict with Roma. I mean the dog destroys things with her mouth that just never stops. It's only prepping us for kids, and the talking back that will undoubtedly come in 15 years. But back to Roma, because she destroys and eats things (i.e. towels, pillows) we hadn't gotten her a dog bed. Recently she's been doing better...so we are giving it to her on a trial basis. It doesn't go in her kennel (just yet) rather sits on the couch. Last night, we said "go to your bed" and she actually did. So we are getting there.

More on the "good pup" is her training progress. She's nailed down the basics (i.e. sit, down, roll over), doing awesome at "stay" and "leave it," but we hadn't really ventured anywhere new...until this week. This week Debbie was all over her with "shake." And you know what, within one day, she's a pro! What a smart dog we have...you say "shake" and her little left paw goes reaching for your hand!

Oh and Kitty likes the bed too...

We got an email from our vet saying "Happy Birthday Midnight" this week...we both kind of were like, "hmmm..." Just like Roma, Midnight doesn't really have an official bday. Kitty was pulled from a river and Roma was a stray...their stories are unknown, but we believe they are both from south of the border!

Poker Night

It's been a while, a loooong while, since I last played poker. I went in fully expecting to lose. Debbie shared this feeling and was oh so confident in her husband! (Yes, I might have glanced back at the rules ensuring I didn't look like an idiot!)

Game started off strong, had a good showing, won a few hands...yup, I won a few. Started with 7,500 in chips...not sure what I peaked at, but I know it was more than that.

Soon enough, a couple hours in, I was dwindling. At my last chance, I went all in...I had a crappy hand and that was the end.

It was fun, especially the beer chugging later on...no worries, I wasn't driving!

Roma's "Shiv"

Yes, Roma has a shiv... Some might ask, "what's a shiv?" That's easy...according to dictionary.com:

shiv (shĭv)
n. Slang
A knife, razor, or other sharp or pointed implement, especially one used as a weapon.

Here's Roma's...

Crazy, we give her a bone, she makes a weapon! Not sure what she intends to do with it, but one thing's for sure, we don't let her run with it in her mouth!!

Silver Medal Finish in Softball...

If only we could have played the game we may have won the whole thing! It's complicated how it went down, but we ended up winning the "Runner Up" trophy in Pearland's Recreational Softball League.

It was complicated and rehearsed. The team "Troublemakers" were a bunch of ______ (you fill in blank, and make sure it's bad!). See they have ringers on their team that come in and tear up recreational softball. We are D league, that's basically the league where we go out and drink beer...oh and then play softball! These tools are just that, tools! So by them forfeiting the game we tied for the season. And with the tie, the team with the more runs scored for the year won. They THOUGHT that the 15 runs they gave us (the forfeit score is in the books as 15-0) were enough to pull a victory, but they miscalculated. In the end, they won, and "theoretically" they should be forced to move up leagues. HAHAHA, they have been changing their name, coaches, etc etc., anything to not move up. Bunch of scared little girls... Anyways, we had a good time last night anyways, watched some other games and kicked back with some beer...

And for all the statistician's out there, or anyone that cares, I closed the season 8 for 8 (plus a walk). For the season I batted 0.606. Now that was good for fourth WORST on the team! The season had an extended slump in the middle that killed my average (And there were hard hit balls in there, just couldn't find gaps). Between the first 4 and last 4 games, I batted 0.889. The middle 4 games I batted an anemic 0.267.

Had an awesome time...now a few weeks off...then back to the field in June for the summer season!

Another First...Soccer! With the Houston Dynamo...

Cinco de Mayo was fun downtown with drinks and dinner at Guadalajara Haciena del centro. It was a little pricey, but the margaritas were quite refreshing... Later we headed to the Roberston Stadium to see the Houston Dynamo take on FC Dallas. My soccer questions started early, like "what's FC mean?" It means "football club." Soccer is not my expertise...and my experience playing was limited to one summer in NY playing on our company indoor soccer team. The Earthquakes were not that great! Plus I sprained my ankle pretty badly. But anyways, soccer here in Houston...

I had some experience with the Black Iguana margaritas previously...during our fun golf game out in Pasadena last year. I went with beer, Deb and company went with the margaritas...


We didn't get to hear the celebrations as the Dynamo lost 1-0. On the bright side, the Astros won...haha, they have won 1 game in their last 10. That's a totally different subject!

Overall, we had a good time out there at the game. I definitely would be down for going again...but then again Minute Maid Park is air conditioned, so we'll just have to check out the weather reports before the game!

Dog Days of Summer

The hotter it gets, the more we all want to stay inside. Roma loves going outside, but as she is black, she absorbs so much heat! When we are outside for a few minutes and you touch her, it's like asphalt (sort of). So, taking her to the dog park is useful to tire her out, but also hard on her because of the heat. No worries, though, she is all over the water!

She has even found shade...

As has her "boxer" buddy...

Back from Florida...

I added Cesilie to the bandwagon of Indians fans!

Well...it was a nice trip down to Florida to see the family...always fun! Kids grow up so fast, example, Cesilie. Also, I played some hardcore Scrabble games with mom, and finally got to play Cruise IQ with my dad.

A few random photos from the trip (off the iPhone, as we didn't take any with our camera, perhaps we'll get some by email from the family)...
I helped Cesilie brush her teeth...

Tamara made a mess of herself, so her and Tim decided a towel would be a sufficient changing room...hahaha

FYI, Roma did well during her first vacation, aka boarding. She was quite tired last night and it continued today! Kitty, like always, was very vocal to see us...MEOWS all night long!