Honeymoon!

We booked our honeymoon! We have the best travel agent. She is putting together a list of things to do and places to visit in each country, and of course advice on where to shop, what things cost, etc. I have been so impressed with all my dealings with Tramex travel.

Here's what our trip looks like:
Austin - LA - Hong Kong - Bangkok (this is going to be a long 2 days.)
3 nights at the Marriott Royal Spa and Resort
Tour of the city on day 2

Bangkok to Singapore
3 nights at the Shangri la Hotel
Tour of the city on day 2

Singapore to Denpasar, Bali
4 nights at the Bali Hilton
Tour of city on day 2
2 days on the beach :-)

Bali to Hong kong
3 Nights at the Harbour Plaza
Tour of city on day 2

Hong Kong -LA - Austin

We're so excited!

Weekend Camera Shopping

The weekend, as usual, passed by in a blur. I'm happy to say, though, that work did not infiltrate this one. Crunch time is over for now and things are back to a normal schedule. We spent our weekend with friends, including some lake time, discovered a new (to us) restaurant downtown, and attended a friend's birthday party at a bar downtown.
Brian did his husbandly duty on Sunday and changed the oil in both our cars while I went for a great run on town lake with the girls. Later on we went shopping for a new SLR camera. I've discovered that things that look like a good deal online at first glance, are not when you look a little closer. For example, the camera I'm looking at is selling at one retailer for about $500, which seems like an awesome price for this particular camera and lens, however, on closer inspection, it turns out they're holding the battery and charger ransome for $129 and $179, respectively. Which makes it actually more expensive than if I just ent to Ritz or Best Buy.
I've lost a couple of Ebay auctions for a camera and 2 lenses, which on closer inspection was a good thing because it turns out to be a factory floor model, and the warranty is only for 90 days, as opposed to the 1 year warranty on the new one.
Another thing I've learned is that Nikinions.org and Photo.net forums are full of friendly and helpful people who know a lot about photography. I'm so excited to get back into the art of photography. I mean, my trusty Canon digital is a perfectly good camera, and takes awesome pictures, but nothing beats the feeling of a nice Nikon SLR in your hand.

Room to breathe

The fact that my last diary entry was over 2 weeks ago is not an indication that I've tired of blogging. No. It's an indication that I have been a slave to work lately. On Friday, though, even though work was demanding, and timing was inappropriate, I took the afternoon off for a much needed retail therapy session with Barbie. It was awesome. We went to the new outlet mall in Round Rock, and spent entirely too much money at Banana Republic, Gap, Guess, and Papaya. I helped Barbie pick out several new and versitile options to "step it up a notch" in her professional image. Mission accomplished, Barbie, you looked great in your new clothes and definately polished and professional.
Despite the fact that work has snaked its way into my weekends in the form of "bug crawl" conference calls, I still feel like I've had a relaxing weekend, puncuated by some accomplishments in gardening, and quality time with friends. Brian and I finally finished operation "Cover up the fence". Not that it's covered, but it will be in a couple of years when things grow in. We added edging that pinned down the weed blocker and it looks damn good out there.
On Saturday evening we went to sushi with a small group of friends, followed by a movie at the Alamo - Talladega Nights.
This morning I took a much needed run on Town Lake with Jen. Much needed because I haven't seen her in way too long, and because I have been very remiss on my running schedule lately. Though I'm happy to report that I haven't lost my running mojo, it's just been on snooze for a while. Aside from some stomach cramping issues, I had a good run, and as always, great conversation.
This evening I'll go and watch my hubby play indoor soccer, followed by some quality time in front of the telly, and possibly some ice cream :-)

Anyway, I haven't fallen off the earth, I'm just busy. So to all of you who I've been unable to spend time with lately, just try to wedge yourself into my schedule here and there in the form of a quick lunch or stop n' chat. I miss my girls.

Quick mid-week update

Happy birthday to my wonderful mum on Tuesday 8/2. I'm glad you liked the pressie and I hope you had a wonderful evening.

Work is balls to the wall crazy. I don't even have time to pee. I'm constantly in meetings and have to multi-task because I have way too much to do to pay attention (companywide problem, it seems).

The HOA "improved" the land behind our fence by removing a giant mound of dirt. It looks shitty and as a result of said mound being removed we can now see the road through the fence. So we went to Red Barn yesterday to pick up plants to plant along fenceline to cover up the fence. Problem is that there's a lot of rock under ground here. So we got a pick-axe. I'm gonna go help my hubby smash some rocks now, followed by dance class this evening.

Exciting, isn't it?