The Tax Man Cometh

Friday I protested our property tax appraisals and WON! WOOHOO!

Yes, I shamelessly dressed down and took off my sparklies (it was funny because my thumb automatically feels around for my rings when they aren't on so I was consciously trying to NOT do that). I went armed with photos, charts, graphs and a pouty bottom lip. and it worked! 10% reduction, baby~ Ironically, resorting to some slightly childish tactics made me feel very grown-up.

What I find facinating is how many people have done or are doing the same. Yet you rarely hear people talk about it. I'm TOTALLY protesting again next year. It's SO worth it!

Good luck S-Dawg- I know you'll do me proud!

two timin' & double dealin'

so today i have a two-part-post (how appropriate)

I have been working with all these new partners at work (external to my company) and having the same conversation over and over and over, trying like hell to remember what I told these guys versus what I said on my last call. I keep finding myself in back-to-back meetings but trying to earnestly let the partner feel like they are the most important. Last night, for example, I ended up with two happy hours back-to-back at two separate locations.

It is SO HARD not to slip and to keep my stories straight! I totally feel like I'm two-timing them. or what ever you call it when you're in high school and dating a senior on the baseball team and junior on the football team and hoping they don't figure it out... Sure, in this case it really is for the benefit of the relationship that they think they are the most important. While they are *aware* I have other accounts and 'relationships' with other companies, for a multitude of reasons, their knowledge of that should be kept to a minimum.

This effort gets further complicated somewhere between Happy Hour #1 and Happy Hour #2. So there I was at HH#2, with only a tiny tostada in my tummy from HH#1, and was certainly feelin' it. Yet, there was no real explanation (other than claiming to be a lightweight... which I am not sure was really going to work after our "favorite drink" conversation) for my first drink at HH#2 (in their mind, the first -and only- happy hour of the day) to hit me so hard. Really wishin' I had gone for the wine and not the martini...

After leaving, I consoled myself by admiring Sydney Bristow and her phenomenal capability to compartmentalize. Apparently, I could NEVER be Sydney.



On to part 2: and speaking of compartmentalizing...

So we have been keeping a little secret around the Price House which means we tiptoe around dodge questions all to ensure that this little plan doesn't backfire (at least for the short term). What's this little secret, you ask? Mr. Price is heading back to school this fall to get his MBA because apparently the last three years of grad school wasn't enough ;)

Truth is, this is a great thing we are both really excited about and something we have been planning and discussing for almost a year now. The trick was that we didn't want it to negatively impact his current work environment-- especially had we decided not to pull the trigger on this. He has already been doing 20+ hours of school work ("pre-matriculation" they call it) the past few weeks which has proven extremely difficult given that he is working 80+ hour weeks.

We knew there would be a breaking point and that breaking point happened last night when he was asked to take over on the large case he's been working on for ~2 years. And BAM~ and just like that, it was time to tell. Maybe a few weeks earlier than what might have been ideal, but just goes to show you can't control everything =)

But he's definitely going to Acton and work now knows about it so the cat is out of the bag. The two-timin' and leading the double secret life is over.

Which is great news because it was completely exhausting and wore me out. ...Kind of like the hangover from that d*mn martini...

A Million Yellow Pictures

if i were to write a book...

i think it would be a coffee table book.



if i were to make a coffee table book...

it would only have pictures


and the pictures would all be of the tabby that lives in my back yard


and I would call the book "a million yellow pictures"

good news is: i apparently almost have enough pictures to create said book. even better news: i will NOT be creating such a book.

but really is ridiculous how many pictures I have of my cat...

On Creating A Blog....

Hello, my name is emprice and I’m a blogaholic. I'm not ashamed to admit it. I am addicted to blogging. Granted, there seems to be a sort of pattern where I get totally engulfed in some sort of hobby for a few weeks and then move along... nonetheless-- this one has been slow developing and now I find myself swept away!

So I have come to terms with my newly found addiction to blogging. Who knew this could be such fun! I can't believe I didn't start doing this YEARS ago. Honestly, I'm a little disappointed that I didn't. Good times, people. GOOD times.

I love the insight it gives you to a friend's life. I mean, seriously... It's all the stories you would never think to tell someone if you were doing a lets-catch-up phone call or an it's-been-way-too-long series of emails... But it's the stuff of life. “The good stuff” in my opinion.

Another brilliant thing is: I can do it at work! Although I cannot access any personal webmail accounts from work...yes, they are all blocked (and IF you find a work-around, the loophole is usually closed within 2-5 business days because heaven forbid that during a 60 hour workweek, someone may take 5 minutes to check their personal email...I'm not bitter or anything).

So in spite of the attempt to cut me off from the rest of the free world... I can at least hop on your/my/any blog and again feel reconnected. It's a beautiful thing.

On telling friends about said blog...

While I spend plenty of time thinking about funny or random tidbits to rant or reminisce about, it seems I quite regularly forget to ever tell anyone about this little blog. Opps.

So here's the bonus... I’ve been remembering to tell peeps about it lately and lo and behold...those friends mention their blog and *kapow* ~instant blog karma! I get to peruse another friends' blog and get that magical 'reconnected' feeling. Or even better... they're inspired to start/return/revive their own blog.

On style.....

Since I have found myself so entertained with the blog lately, I decided to give her a little love -- a face-lift, if you will. Sure, the 'ol girl isn't that old or anything but couldn't we all use a day at the spa every now and then. So tonight I have changed the background/layout. Not sure if I’m 100% on it yet... I kept bouncing between two or three designs and then there were things I didn't like Sooooo I did some brushing up on the HTML skills and revised them. But for now I'm going green (the one I modified the least, of course.)

Open to comments/inputs. Anyone? Anyone? ...Bueller ..........Bueller...........?

Which brings me to one last point.... if you're reading this, you are one of a fairly small crowd. Should you feel so inclined, please post comments so I know that

e v e r y o n c e i n a w h i l e ,

some one is actually reading my ramblings.

xoxo~me

Fancy Shmancy

okay, kendra, here they are...

background: so we went to this over-the-top fundraiser on lake austin. incredible house, delicious food and any drink you can think of. you always know it's gonna be fancy when there's valet parking at a private residence.

anyway-- as an "activity" they had a bunch of Bentleys for test driving. And to entertain the ladies? Oh, call it ~$40 million in jewels displayed in the dinning room, just for the tryin' on. Hindsight, I REALLY should have taken a picture of the whole layout... but already feeling a bit like the Clampetts, I opted not to. However, Hillarey and I did try on this little bauble-- a mere $150k+ estate piece-- and did manage a few snaps of our dress-up session.

And no, there was no "making a run for it" ...there were several APD officers in the dining room, at the front door, and flanking the gated entrance/exits to the neighborhood.

Good times, anyway.

remembering the alamo

had a great time bouncing between the 150-year-old Menger bar, Pat O's, the apartment and the river walk this weekend. totally worn out from the weekend but strangely, can't wait to do it again. and by the way, San Antonio is totally underrated. so glad supper club was able to make the trip and so grateful Chris and Sue let us stay.

Also-- rest assured that I confirmed, once again, that mimosas make mornings marvelous!

easily said that a good time was had by all.

(photos pending)

good morning, city

not far from home, in a rich and historic town always full of visitors, the city is waking up.

groups on walks, people on bikes, sidewalk signs set back up, tables being set for lunch, cupped hands peering into the windows of yet-to-open businesses, the volume slowly rising, visitors pointing out sights, occasionally someone spots me and waves curiously.

I've got my own soundtrack playing in my ear but I wonder what their soundtrack would sound like.

my coffee cup is almost empty. guess i'll join the cityscape on the sidewalk before long.

tiny rivers

also known as streams... I dedicate this tri-post to my precious husband. Bless his heart.

Realization: So I have had a crazy headache in the afternoons for the past three days. Hmm….allergens aren't particularly high right now, so not an sinus headache… no evening cocktails to blame, so not a hangover… I've pretty much stayed off the caffeine since the whole encounter with the 'roids for my back, save for a few cokes lately, but not a caffeine headache… So I continue to ask myself...what on earth could this be about!?! I've been listing and detailing my ailments trying to figure out what on earth could be the source of this afternoon into evening pounding, radiating headache. So yesterday I'm talking to the Mister and say I *think* I may have figured it out… *maybe* it's the tub of gum 10 steps away from my desk...

Mr.P: Uh, yeah. Most likely. How much have you been chewing?
Me: Um, prolly about 1-2 dozen pieces a day.
Mr.P: And for how many days?
Me: Uh… three.
Mr.P: What kind of gum is it?
Me: Dubble Bubble! You know, the old-school kind?
Mr.P: Yeah, the kind loaded with sugar and after about 10 seconds it turns into concrete?
Me: Yep! That kind.
Mr.P: Yes. I think that is the source of your three days of mystery headaches.

Why can't some things be just a little more obvious? Anyhow, I laid off the gum today and magically: no headache. Another great side effect: my teeth won't have rotted out by my next dentist visit.

Baffled: my recent hankering for mexican vanilla from Amy's Ice Cream. Sure, it's an iconic Austin-esque thing, and I know it's great, but it's just not something that pops into my head as something to run go get. Coffee? yes. Thundercloud? All the time. Amy's? notsomuch. Undergrad at UT… maybe 3 trips total. While living in Dallas & visiting… 0 trips. Since moving back to Austin: none until… the past week or so and I've had it 3 times and I can't seem to stop craving the stuff. Seriously. How could I have been missing out on that Mexican Vanilla goodness all these years? I tasted "Batter Up" last night and though it was delicious and tasted just like cake batter as I was hoping for, But I just couldn't pass on the opportunity for more M-Vanilla. So, thank you, Amy! You surely deserve your Austin-Icon status. Not that I ever doubted you, it's just that I'm now whole-heartedly behind it.

Final stream-of-consciousness: maybe it's the increased amount of sugar intake recently, but I have really felt the need to describe to Mr. Price my streams of consciousness that back up or lead-up-to my random commentary. Once I finish with my diatribe, that goes like this: "You said [fill-in-the-details], which reminded me of [fill-in-the-details], that made me think of [fill-in-the-details], so I was wondering [fill-in-the-details] and then remembered to tell you that [pause] so… that's why I said [fill-in-the-blank]… in case you were wondering." And bless his heart, he just listens to my rambles, nods and says, "I figured something like that."

So a big "thank you" to you, Mr. Price. For the late-night trips for ice cream, your patience with my sugar-induced ramblings and the wherewithal to recognize the source of my ailments. As a prize, I'd like to take you out for a treat. Best thing I can think of-- and since I'm sure you already know where that will be, you pick the flavor. xoxo~me

Pizza-Pool-Party with the Skaggs

Had a great time with Team Skaggs on Monday night. Sam discovered how completely hilarious it is to give zerberts (or blurzurts, whatever you want to call them) and laughed maniacally as he "attacked" his mom & dad. It was fantastic. There might not be a better sound in the world (Sam laughing, that is... not the zerbert). And sweet Jane slept right through it!

beautiful night for a barge

Spent a lovely weekend in Dallas and got to catch up with friends I hadn't seen in AGES... Kelley and Jim have *officially* moved back to Texas, got to see Whit and her new pre-chemo super-short cut, got to spend countless hours catching up with Sister Sarah before her and Miguel move to Oman AND see Shelb and hear about her newlywed marital bliss. Great weekend. Incredible friends. Relaxing (and constant) conversation.









Mia's for dinner and Breadwinners for Brunch










Andy & Tennasyn and Whit & Tennasyn










Shelb & Celie-Louise and Sister Sarah


Then I-35 happened. There's just no two ways about it. I hate that stretch of highway-- no matter how great the weekend was, onceI got home and spent an hour all tense and stressed out... trying to relax from having 18-wheelers fishtail and fly past me on the right while some moron riding on my bumper and the shoulder missing and replaced with a concrete wall inches to my left... all while whizzing along 15+ miles over the speed limit. Safety first, huh?




Thankfully, my Zen returned: Family dinner tonight was at Ski Shores. The whole fam in tow, we took a slow cruise up lake Austin on the pontoon boat while the sun set and we passed Madeleine around.

Sometimes reality isn't so bad.









Aunt Mimi and Maddie






If only I didn't have to return to work tomorrow....










Daddy-o and Madeleine as "Queen of the World!"










Maddie having a blast and showing 2 of 6 teeth