Butterfingers

I wish!

Lately, I've been experiencing some pain and nausea that is far too familiar, a pending Doctor's appt. is in the works. Besides battling the usually discouragement that accompanies such pain, oddly I've been experiencing a new symptom. My nursing self would diagnose this as "at risk for breaking anything valuable as evidence by the inability to contain said stuff in my grasp, related to stress-induced/mind-numbing chronic illness".

Night #1: I am so nauseated I can barely think about food, but given I had not had anything to eat since the am I make myself a bowl of plain oatmeal. I sit, bowl in lab, for quite some time trying to motivate the spoon to my mouth. Not successful. So instead I decided to play a game of checkers on my handy-dandy iphone4. Again, not successful. Instead, I drop my entire phone into my bowl of oatmeal and watch it sink (along with my heart) like the Titanic. My sweet husband sees me staring at my bowl of oatmeal with a side of iphone4 and quickly cleans it off for me.

Following morning: I wake up rested and refreshed after a long night's slumber, completely oblivious to the events of the night before. I make myself a bowl of cereal (I'm more eager to try food at this point) and walk confidently towards the living room to my favorite couch. Not successful. I barely make it two steps out of the kitchen before the bowl JUMPS out of my hands and lands atop my pooch. He did not mind being covered in milk and Crispex cereal. The carpet however did mind. After I raised my chin and cleaned the mess, I thoroughly enjoyed a new breakfast.

Night #2: My sweet mom sent us home with leftover enchiladas and a side of gf chocolate cupcakes, given I feel more like poop and less like a chef these days.

* At this point in my story I feel compelled to let the blogging world know I am not pregnant. Nausea is something I have simply become accustomed to in my everyday life.

So, riding home with food in-tow, my right foot suddenly decides it would rather be covered in icing than happily nestled in my shoe. Now, with Matt's cupcake officially ruined (I already ate mine) I pick up the remains off the floorboard and try to dispose of them appropriately. Can you guess what phrase goes here? That's right, not successful. In picking up the cupcake from the passenger floorboard, I some how manage to toss it onto the floorboard in the backseat. Luckily, we always travel with a living, breathing Dyson vacuum, so he promptly cleaned it up. Thanks Trist for constantly helping mommy clean up her messes. Needless to say, Trist hasn't left my side for the last 24 hours.

Welcome October

Dear October,

Oh, I must anticipate your arrival no more... You are here and ready to stay (for the next 30 days at least). I welcomed you in this am with a trip to Starbucks for my PSL, although it upset my stomach. I'm still waiting for my apology. I'm sorry the weather isn't as inviting as it was earlier this week, but I'm optimistic it will cool down, don't you worry. Well October, I've got to run but, I look forward to all the wonderful things we will do, places we will go, and orange things we will buy. Enjoy your stay!

Your gracious hostess,

Melissa Waite

Hook 'em

Today marks another day of senseless violence occurring on school grounds. A 19 yr. old gunman opened fire at the UT library today with an automatic weapon, and by the glory of God, missed everyone he aimed for, and eventually took his own life. I still can't believe we live in such an ugly world that we should fear getting an education for such reasons as these! Being there just 3 years prior brings back all the emotions of being on campus after the Virginia Tech shooting, with the emails of bomb threats and our emergency sirens going off about once a month. My heart goes out to students, teachers, and administrators every where! Being a student comes with risks, but it also comes with such great gain! I pray for the lost souls who feel the need to commit such acts, and the hearts of those left trying to make sense of it all!

Gluten-free + Groupon= Grrrreat

So what's up with this thing called Groupon? (Thought I'd start with a Jerry Seinfeld-esq intro) But seriously, Groupon is amazing. You register based on your zipcode and you receive daily emails containing AMAZ-ing deals for food, fun, and other fluff. Thus far, the best Groupon I have purchased was for a little place known as Little Aussie Bakery. Be forewarned, do not go if you are able to eat gluten and intend on keeping your wallet heavy...EXPENSIVE! Delicious, yes. Worth it, well yes...thanks to Groupon. Best $10 I have spent in a while.

Among my purchases: package of 2 vanilla-iced cookies, a lamb sandwich with side salad and roll (can't remember the last time I used the words roll, restaurant, and myself in the same sentence), a piece of 4-layer strawberry sponge cake, and an additional package of cookies to reach my $25 Groupon Certificate level.

Yes, as good as it looks

About 5 min, I meeaaan 23 1/2 minutes later :(

*I didn't eat it all myself. Promise.

And I didn't get a stomach ache from eating it so fast.

And I'm not saying I had some in my hair.

Cause I didn't.

* If Justin Berner says otherwise, ignore him. He lies and he likes the Cowboys. And he will lie about really liking the Broncos over the Cowboys at this point. Although, you might wanna tell the truth on that one. Better football choice my friend!

Bigger News

We don't really celebrate Halloween. Just carving pumpkins, Fall Parties, and certain costumes are acceptable. This falls into one of those categories!

Yeehaw

Big News

That's right people. Fall is knocking on our door, so please ignore the weather channel stating 99+ degree weather. It was pointed out to me, by my sweet husband, that I associate seasons with what Starbuck's drinks are available. Thus, Pumpkin spice latte= Fall. I am not the biggest fan (nor any fan at all) of cold weather but, I do enjoy cooooollll weather. Plus, cooler weather = not needing to re-shower after walking from the front door to the car + other really awesome things that make Fall fantastic.

Welcome back "We'll always have Paris"

I have to admit I have already been wearing these.

Thank you UTHSCSA for keeping it Fall indoors year round

YES! Pottery Barn catalogs bursting with acorn filled hurricanes,

brightly decorated plates, and individually labeled pumpkin place markers!

Did I mention the PSL?

Pumpkin scented candle, I will be purchasing you tomorrow!

Well, maybe not in Texas but one can hope!

Food and Fam go together like turkey and gravy

(I actually hate gravy, just seemed like an appropriate metaphor)

BARF and glop

Say what?!?! Well, this may sound absolutely crazy to some, so feel free to judge us, but Mateo and I started Tristen on a new diet. BARF (Bone and Raw Food) and glop (not really sure what it stands for). We take whole chicken parts, grind them in a meat grinder, and form patties. Next, the glop. In a blender, I put a whole head of Romaine lettuce, green beans, carrots, clove of garlic, a banana, and a small orange, and pour into ice cube trays. Breakfast consists of one patty, a defrosted glop cube and a dollop of daisy (not really...a dollop of plain cultured yogurt), followed by a single patty for dinner.

Okay, so why did we choose to do this? We know a friend that does it and has seen great results with his pup. Plus, it mimics the dogs true diet in the wild. I mean what wild dog doesn't eat cultured yogurt, right? Truthfully, we thought it would be better for him inside and out. So far he hasn't been scratching as much, his coat looks awesome, and his poop is much better (outside of yesterday, not sure what happened there).

Shout out to Costco for chicken by the ton!

Glop!

My Happy Boy!