Blessing of the Animals

Luna was a little miffed that the priest at our new church does not do the blessing of the animals.  Instead it was done by a deacon.  But she was quickly mollified by the St Francis medal that she received that she now wears proudly on her collar.

The highpoint of the blessing was an escaped rabbit.  Everyone was chasing the rabbit, including the deacon with his alb (good Word for Words with Friends) flying behind him.

Ubiquitious

People ask me how we are adjusting to our move.  Overall it has been relatively simple.  It had been a long time since I had made a major move.  I was transferred to Atlanta 14 years ago by Cisco Systems. I remember something as simple at that time as transferring my Junior League membership was a nightmare.  I cannot remember the exact details but a stack of cards has to be sent from Orange County to Atlanta and it kept getting misplaced, lost, etc,,,,  With this move everything has been so easy.   I was able to change the addresses of everything on the internet.  I sill use the same monster mega banks, prescriptions were transferred by our pharmacy.  There is an incredible Whole Foods here.  We still get the same pizza on Fridays nights that we got in Atlanta.  We frequent the same places we did in Atlanta-Target, CVS, Paper Affair, Neiman's, J Crew, Starbucks, etc.  Things have been made easier because I lived here in my 20's and still know a lot of people.  We do love the culture here, the food and the people.  Texas people are so friendly and so nice.  I am missing the beauty of Atlanta, especially fall right now.  I miss the architecture, beautiful landscaping and great design stores.   

The school K is attending is very large but the children are in "pods".  The same group of children rotate between 4 classrooms that are in a U shape around their lockers so it has not been as intimidating as I thought it might be.  The teachers are excellent.  Homework is manageable and meaningful.  So far I think this school is much better for K than her previous school.

And there are sidewalks here.  Love that!  And they just opened a FlyWheel.  I have everything that I need.

Gobsmacked!

Last night we went to the Chihuly exhibit at the Dallas Botanical Garden. My photos do not do the artist's magnificently lit sculptures justice. There was also a clever village made entirely of pumpkins and pumpkins and gourds throughout the gardens.  I felt like I had been transported to another world.

Addicted

It started beningley enough-a new spin place opened in my neighborhood that I wanted to try.  A Groupon showed up in my inbox so I bought one for me and one for my neighbor.  We quickly became addicted to Flywheel.  I really miss those workouts-I have tried some other spin classes in Dallas but have not found anything that I like as much.  Although I am addicted to Flywheel that is not really the addiction problem.  The problem is Groupon.  It got so bad this summer, I was buying one every day for my neighbor and me.  Manicures, pedicures, yoga classes (both in Atlanta and Dallas),facials, microdermabrasion, Keratin treatments for K and Liza and on and on.  Most have worked out well.  There were the chimney sweep guys who did not show up but Groupon gave me a credit.  And the exercise place that I thought was barre classes that turned out to be pole dancing.  Groupon gave me a refund for that one also.  Most recently I have been buying Groupons for things to do on the weekend with K.  I have bought horseback riding, trips to wild animals parks and endangered animal sanctuaries.  This past weekend we went to a wild animal park.  They had a lot of interesting animals and the employees were so knowledgable and nice.  We had a great time in spite of the heat.  And I am going to resist Groupons for a while until I have used all of the ones I have.  Managing these Groupons is like a job.

Clay Day

A bowl for Bert, a vase for K and a goblet for me. As always I am amazed at K's focus and concentration.

Farmer's Market

We started our weekend with a trip to the farmer's market.  Check out all of the beautiful peppers.  We really are in Texas!   And it has been hotter than heck!  The temperature had dropped 40 degrees this morning and there was a wonderful breeze.  Heaven!

12 Hours and a lot of meowing

Poor Bert hated the car ride to Dallas.  He meowed most of the way and most of his first night here.  He is settling down today.  Luna is happy as can be and loves that we walk to school.