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I was going through my email and I found these pictures from when Diana and Noa came to visit. Here is one of Diana clutching her brother and uncle’s namesake, Boris the cat. He’s a little camera-shy.

Danny and I went to Dallas last weekend for my cousin Lisa’s wedding. It was fun. I got to see my grandparents and re-meet relatives I wouldn’t recognize on the street. I also had fun hanging out with my brother and catching up on family news. My mega-pregnant cousin was there. Man, she’s a trooper. She came to the wedding despite the fact that she was scheduled to be induced in less than 48 hours. It is her first child. I am impressed. I am impressed because if I knew that I was going to have my body push something the size of a watermelon out of a hole the size of a lemon, I would not be calmly hanging out and joking around like it was no big deal. My cousin is laid back though. I think she’ll be a great mom. Oh yeah, this was another cousin; NOT the one who was getting married.

The reception and the rest of my visit were fun. The only thing I still couldn’t get used to was the heat. I mean, Danny and I both grew up in Texas and we never adjusted to it. Walking outside was like walking into a sauna. I know I’m being a bit dramatic but it sucked. After we landed in San Jose and walked to our car, I literally did a dance of joy as the cool air enveloped my body. Then I put on a sweater. Mmmmm….chill.

Someone once said that there are no stupid questions. Obviously, they were wrong.

I watch a lot of VH1. VH1 likes countdown shows…a lot. I get sucked into watching them because I have to know which rock star has the best/worst/biggest/most famous whatever. I started watching one of these shows the other day and they featured Whitesnake with Tawny Kitean, the 80’s hot video vixen. For some reason, I have a special place in my heart for Whitesnake’s song “Here I go (again on my own).” I’m pretty sure it’s because the mother of one of my elementary school classmates thought this type of music was evil. I wasn’t raised to rock and roll and party all night long, but my parents had a very nice assortment of rock records while I was growing up. We went to church, but we were never crazy Christians.

Anyway, I thought about it and I distinctly remember the exact moment when I decided to dislike country music. I was in the fifth grade and was at a friend’s house for a sleepover. She, another friend and I put on a Whitesnake tape and were enjoying it to our preadolescent hearts’ content when her mom came in and told us that we needed to listen to something else - something nicer. So, we listened to the only other mother approved album on hand - the Judd’s greatest hits. I don’t have anything against the Judds, but “Love can build a bridge” just doesn’t hold up to Whitesnake in the midst of the big-hair heyday. From that moment on, I knew I would never embrace country music. Since that day, the closest I’ve gotten is the occasional folk album and the Eagle’s greatest hits. Take that creepy religious parents! Now, I have to go light my candles, sacrifice a goat, and pray to the demons who rule my soul.

Today is day four of my diet. I decided that after I took the GMAT, I would diet to get on a healthier eating plan. Who am I kidding? I want to be skinny! I know, don’t berate me. I don’t think that I’m fat, but I did put on some weight while studying. I don’t like to exercise (except for weights which I don’t have access to) but exercising is an excellent way for me to procrastinate. I walked and rode my bike to work some, but I didn’t go walking or do an hour of yoga after work because I knew it would keep me from studying. While studying, I munched on chocolate, chips & dip, pizza, cookies and ice cream. They were delicious, but now I’m paying for them.

The other reason I’m going on a diet temporarily (two weeks maximum) is that my cousin’s wedding in Dallas is next Saturday. When one of my other cousins got married three years ago, I was 12 lbs heavier. I don’t look fat in the family pictures, but I certainly don’t look thin. Although my hair and jewelry were perfect that evening, the photos show me beaming like a rosy-cheeked blonde German girl who got the last piece of chocolate cake. For this round of family pictures, I want to look cute, thin (not bony), toned, and full of energy, not full of dessert.

I lost 17 lbs two years ago using the south beach diet. Although it isn’t fun at first, it really really worked for me. I’ve used many of its basic principles to keep the weight off without trying too hard or depriving myself of anything I really enjoy. That’s why I’m doing south beach again. I’m not eating bacon or brie, but instead I’m eating turkey, lots of veggies, and low-fat cheeses. I’m also allowed to have some red wine. This makes the temporary loss of ice cream and pastries bearable.

Now that I’m taking a break from studying, I have time to cook. I’ve eaten at home the last three nights. Danny is dieting too although he’s not really doing south beach but is instead giving up burgers and pizza and eating at home more. He doesn’t have a big sweet tooth like I do and he shouldn’t have any problem cutting out the grease for a couple of weeks.

In addition to dieting, I’m also doing some mild toning exercises at home. Don’t worry. I’m not going to overdo it. My main distraction from munching is my new knitting project, but I’ll save that exciting story for my next post.

Ugh. It is supposed to get up to 92 tomorrow. This sucks because we do not have air conditioning. The good side is that it cools down to the 70s at night and there is little to no humidity. Still, it sucks to be in our home office at night with the computers running and no AC. We might break down and get a window unit soon.

I took the test yesterday. It didn’t suck, but I didn’t do nearly as well as I wanted. I aced the verbal part but I bombed the math part. I think it’s because the math part freaks me out for some reason and I got really far behind in the beginning. Thinking back on it, I knew some of the answers to the problems that stumped me, but my brain was in panic mode and I couldn’t focus. The good thing is that I know I have the verbal down and I just need to focus on getting my math score up. I’ll probably take it again in Aug or Sept, but I’m just going to take it easy for the next couple of weeks.

Thanks to everyone who called to wish me luck and then called back to see how I’d done. I really appreciate the support and knowing that you guys are thinking about me.

Tomorrow morning, I take the GMAT. I’m as ready as I’m ever gonna be.

Exciting news: The rest of Danny’s immediate family is coming to visit before the end of September. This is so cool! His mom and younger brother are coming for a week in August and then his older brother and sister-in-law will be here Labor Day weekend.

Also, I got a really cheap plane ticket to come back to Austin in September. I won’t be there for very long (3 days) but I’ll have enough time to visit my family, go swimming at Barton Springs or Deep Eddy pool, eat at Polvo’s, and meet some of my old work buddies for lunch or happy hour. It will probably be super hot and humid, but can handle it if I take time to dip in the pool and sip a frozen drink.

I talked to my good buddy Cody yesterday for the first time in months. I gave him a call on his birthday and we chatted for a while before he got an incoming call from his mom. He is doing well. He says the weather where he lives in AZ is perfect and he’s been rockclimbing a lot lately. Cody is TEH rockclimber man. He took me bouldering with him once at McKinney park east of Austin. I had fun but found out later that I had gotten a horrible case of poison ivy. What I discovered two doctor appointments later is that when you get poison ivy for the first time, it takes over a week for it to show up on your skin. When it finally did, holy shit I thought the backs of my legs were going to rot off. I got some ointment from my MD and that did NOTHING, so I drove to Kerrville to see a dermatologist I hadn’t been to since 1996 because I couldn’t find any other one in Austin that would accept me as a new patient. This guy was good though. He gave me steroids to reduce the swelling and some super cooling ointment. My rash went away in two weeks thank GOD. I sincerely apologize to anyone who had to look at my legs during that time.

Anyway….rockclimbing is another thing on the “things I’ve always wanted to try” list that I can check off and never think about again. To this list I have added spelunking (tunneling), softball, soccer, and sweaty yoga.

Question of the day: Is it better to try something new just for the experience or better to know yourself well enough so as to avoid things you seriously doubt you will enjoy?

I’m completely enamored with the song “Somewhere Only We Know” by Keane. I’d heard it before but thought nothing of it. It finally struck a chord with me when I was watching highlights of the live 8 shows from last weekend and they showed Keane performing. Even though the lead singer’s outfit was totally unflattering (slightly portly guy wearing a dark shirt and pants and a superwide white belt), I was sucked in by his rendition.

I’ve since downloaded the song and am singing the chorus to myself everywhere except at work. It’s funny because the style reminds me of the schmaltzy pop ballads played on the radio, and yet it is completely addictive. I think Keane may be the cute baby that Travis had after Coldplay knocked it up and then went off somewhere to “find itself.”

Anyway, the thing I realized about myself is that I totally would have loved this song if I were fourteen. I’m twenty-seven now. Does this mean that the song is that universally appealing or that I will always have a thing for poorly dressed British rockers? Maybe it means that I like the song for different reasons. I understand that the meaning of the song is about wanting to go back to a place in time where you could be with your friends or be with yourself and feel safe and comforted. If I were fourteen, I would understand that much but then focus solely on the physical location of “somewhere only we know” and then going there to make out with some cute boy with a “tortured” soul. Heh heh….