Day Two Rio Grande Valley--Friday, May 18

Wow, this morning we went to the Estero Llano Grande State Park. The park is filled with a series of wetlands. It was incredible. I didn't take many photos as most of the stuff was viewed through binoculars. In the afternoon, we attended a guided dragonfly hike at Bentsen State Park. During this hike we saw Roseate Skimmer, Coral-fronted threadtail, and Caribbean Yellow Face, to name a few. The tour took us the International Butterfly Sanctuary. This is the site in which we found the swimsuits left behind by the illegals that use this site to enter the U.S.A. They pack up their belongings into garbage bags, swim across the Rio Grande, change into their dry clothes and leave their swimwear on the ground. It was incredible how many suits we saw!

In the evening, I had the best Enchiladas Mole I've ever had. Delicious. I highly recommend Casa de Taco in McAllen.

Black-backed Whistling Ducks

Familiar Bluet

Larry, Judy & Jay

Mexico! Rio Grande River

Day One Rio Grande Valley--Thursday, May 17

Today we went to the Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge. What a day. After spending a few hours in the freakin' parking lot (JAY!), we finally got into the park. We saw so many super cool things. The best were Green Jay and Greater Kiskadee! I, of course, had no good shots of either, but I'm sure Jay and Judy did. Here's an abbreviated list:

Chacalaca
julia butterfly
gulf frittillary
zebra longwing
White-winged Dove
Buff-bellied Hummer
Hooded Oriole
cane toad
ribbon snake
Altimira Oriole

In the evening, we ventured to Bentsen State Park. This was the BEST of the best. Joshua Rose (aka JR) took us on a night hike. Well no one found it necessary to tell me to wear freakin' pants? After the hike, I had to go in for a blood transfusion. Regardless, we saw the coolest stuff. For me, the best were the javelinas and the Ferruginous Pygmy-owl. We saw a family of 14 javelinas! At the end of the night, we saw the hugest tarantula. Even though the tarantula had a "hitch it its giddy-up", it was so cool. We also saw a pauraque, mediterranean geckos, and Mexican free-tailed bat.
Tropical-checkered skipper

Spanish moss

Cane Toad

Grassland Whiptail Lizard

The cactus that attacked Jay

Rototilling Sunday

Last Sunday, we rented a rototiller from Home Depot to churn the soil so we could seed our front yard! Jules compared using the rototiller to walking two pit bulls. He did a wonderful job. We also laid a stepping stone path along the front of the house. Once grass grows, I'll take more pictures. We seeded our tree lawn the week before and we have lots of baby grass in it.

Dragonfly Days in Texas

I'm off to McAllen, TX on Wednesday. McAllen is the Square Dance Capitol of the World. Remember this little jingle from Bugs Bunny...

Step right up, you're doin' fine,
I'll pull your beard, you pull mine.
Yank it again, like you did before,
Break it up with a tug o' war.

Grab a fence post, hold it tight,
Womp your partner with all your might.
Hit him in the shin, hit him in the head,
Hit him again, the critter ain't dead.

Wop him low and wop him high,
Stick your finger in his eye.
Pretty little rhythm, pretty little sound,
Bang your heads against the ground.

The Temps are Rising

It's starting to warm up in NE Ohio. Muffs is shedding and doing anything to cool off. Last night's pose was not pretty.

In Today's Mail

I'm happy to inform diligent didymops blog readers that the City of Cleveland returned my appeal money (59 smacks) in today's mail! I thought it would take a minimum of 3 months and as it turns out it was less than one. Could this be because Frank is our new mayor?

Let the Games Begin...

Well, my impatience (I like to call it eagerness) has struck again. Yesterday, I wanted to scrub the back, upstairs porch so we could sit out there. It was filthy dirty (as my Mom would say). When I went out on the porch, the floor was worse than ever. The janky, canvas floor covering had rips all over it and the paint was cracked and peeling off everywhere. So I decided, in my infinite wisdom, to pull all the canvas off the floor boards. Surprisingly, the boards below are really cool. They're 5 inch planks. Yeah, so I commence to washing. I scrub the siding, the banisters, the floor. It looks fabulous. I'm envisioning how I can simply put a nice coat of grey paint on the floor and how nice it will look. Then I go downstairs. You likely already guessed. The pantry off the kitchen looks like a sinking ship. At least 2 inches of water on the floor, water streaming down the sides, water has even ran down into the basement. Water Water Everywhere.

Let the summertime, house antics begin...

Question?

If you were a car title for a 1994 Eagle Talon, where would you hide?

Who Said You Can't Beat City Hall?

I am very pleased to inform you that I won my appeal for my parking violation! My hearing was scheduled with Cleveland Municipal Court for this morning at 9:30. My name was called at 9:45 and by 10 a.m. my ticket was thrown out. Special thank you to Magistrate Wolcott for hearing me out and coming to this decision. The whole process was smooth. Justice prevailed.

Happy Easter

We made it to my Mom's on Sunday around 2pm for side meat and all the fixins. We found her car (below) encased in a block of snow. The highlight of dinner was hearing a horrible crashing sound and looking out to see the gutter on Mama's house hanging in the driveway. Mama and Billy were over in no time to rip it down! Damn. I'm so mad I didn't snap a picture.

Easter lilies from Yvonne are below.

I'm dreaming of a white Easter...

Man did Cleveland ever receive a punch in the gut over the weekend. Nearly 2 feet of snow fell from Saturday to Sunday on C-town. We awoke to some of the deepest snow of the year. It took Juliano 2 hours to shovel out the car.

Shirt for Summer

I want to get this shirt for the Summer season.

Weekend with the Thomas Family

Over the weekend, my cousin Christi and her husband Brian visited Cleveland with their two children, Madison and Grant. We had a fun time showing them around the city. Friday we went to the Winking Lizard! On Saturday, we spent a few hours touring the Museum, followed by dinner at the Harp and cake at Mom Schrift's house. She's into these yummy, triple layer chocolate cakes from Corbo's right now. We enjoyed that! On Sunday, we had breakfast together and then they headed back to Pennsylvania.

Below are a few photos from the day at the Museum. Let me add that Juliano and I are not used to being around a 5 and 8 year old. Oh my gosh, were we tired on Saturday night. We crashed on the couch at 8:00!

Penzeys

Many of you have already tried Penzeys spices, but for those of you that haven't, you need to get online and place an order. Penzeys sells the freshest and best tasting spices. Their garlic salt is outstanding, along with their basil, oregano, garlic powder, thyme, 4S, savory leaves...I could go on and on. Check them out at Penzeys.com.

Court Date Set!

I finally received my appeal date from the City of Cleveland. I filed my appeal in January and it took until March 16 to hear back from them. I will go to court for my parking ticket "violation" on April 18. We shall see if the system works.

Very Bad Kitty

Juliano and I stepped out for a few hours this morning and returned home to find a mess in the kitchen, courtesy of Miss Muffin Skylar. Apparently, we didn't latch the cupboard and Miss Muffin climbed up onto the counter (no no #1) and got into the cupboard (no no #2). She rummaged around in the cabinet, knocking down glass jars of balsamic vinegar and olive oil. She finished off her mischief by knocking over all my spices.

As punishment she is receiving no Pounce kitty treats today.

Here are some before and after shots of the cupboard.

Another Dinner!

As a "thank you" for helping shovel us out, I made lasagna for Greg and Mike the other night. It was quite a spread of food for four people! All was consumed.

To: Renee From: ?

Look at this hot little item! I need this fan before the hot weather arrives!

Blue Dot

Someone needs to blue dot LUI5.com. I mean it hasn't changed since Valentine's Day. Wake Up.

Trip to New Germany

Last weekend, Juliano and I ventured back to the cabin. The storm that hit us, threw a ton of snow on the Alleghenies as well. My uncle plowed our road to the cabin and we all made it back successfully! The depth of the snow made it impossible to even take a walk.

Valentine's Day Blizzard

We had quite a snow storm in Cleveland over the last 2 days. The storm dumped nearly 2 feet of snow on us! Juliano ventured out to shovel on Wednesday afternoon. He quickly realized the task was daunting. And we had to call in the Grecos. Those of you that do not know the Grecos need to picture two guys that will do anything for you at any time of the day. Sure, you have to put up with a little lip from them, but they get the job done. Last Spring, in less than 15 minutes, I watched these two carry 15 cement boards up 2 flights of stairs and then proceed to carry a cast iron tub out of our bathroom. They're unreal.

The Grecos arrived around 5:30 and within 30 minutes, our driveway was clear. And then they did the sidewalk!! Juliano and I cannot thank them enough for helping us out.

Note below that Boogers Greco wore a pair of gold lamay pants while shoveling.

Happy Groundhog Day

Today, the groundhog named Phil did NOT see his shadow in Punxatawney, Pennsylvania. This means Spring is just around the corner! Bring it on.

The Museum was kind enough to allow me to adorn a stuffed groundhog for our main lobby. I made her a top hat and a sign letting today's visitors know that Spring will be here soon. Hard to believe since it's 5 degrees outside right now.

Bird in the Chimney

On Friday, Juliano emailed me at work because he thought he heard something in our chimney. On Saturday, I went down to do laundry and I could hear something too. By the afternoon, we both heard noises quite a few times and decided to try to get it out. Juliano disassembled the entire vent for the water heater. We thought it was in the vent. With that completely off, we realized the critter was still in the chimney and it was indeed a very large Starling. We placed bread in the pipe venting the water heater and the bird quickly flew out of the chimeny and into our basement, carrying the bread it its beak! The poor bird flew around our basement for quite a while. I'd like to point out that initially Juliano was laying on the floor in a "tornado warning" pose. We turned out all the lights, propped open the side door and, after much chasing, the bird finally flew up the stairs and out the door.

City of Cleveland vs. Renee B.

Well, it's official. I have submitted my Notice of Appeal for my unjustiifed parking ticket of December 28. How can one place coins in a meter when the meter is malfunctioning and will not accept change? Yet, I'm supposed to pay a $25 ticket?

Today, I submitted my appeal with three notaized affidavits from my co-workers that witnessed my attempts to insert quarters and dimes into the meter. We even left a dime in the meter to show our intentions before going into a downtown buidling for less than 10 minutes. When we came out the meter maid was writing the ticket. We approached him and he acknowledged that the meter was not working. HE ACKNOWLEDGED THAT IT WOULD NOT ACCEPT CHANGE. He also told us he would note that in the "system". Apparently the note was not made.

On January 10, I recieve a letter from the City stating that I must pay my outstanding $25 ticket. I decided to take it to court. Most would simply pay the ticket, but it's the priciple of it all. I would have much rather put my coins in the meter and not had it come to this.

I'll keep you posted with how this turns out. I should receive my court date in a few weeks.

Sad News

It is the end of an era. Join me in saying good bye to my 1994 Eagle Talon ES. It was a good little car for the first 10 years of its life. Within the last 2 it has turned into a devil, the doors won't lock, the gas tank leaks, there's oil all over the engine (wonder where that's coming from?), it sounds like a tank coming down the street, that is when it actually starts, it needs a battery, and our good friend in Cleveland Rust has come to see it more than a few times.

It's a sad day. Bye Bye General Talon...
P.S. If you know of anyone that may actually want to buy this car, please let me know!

Cleveland Orchestra Concert

In December, my friends Billy and Michelle gave me 2 tickets to attend a brass and organ holiday concert at Severance Hall. The concert helped get me into the Christmas season. My Mom and I really enjoyed the lights that accompanied each piece too. There were snowflakes dancing on the ceiling and walls.

Coffee Backpack

It's not easy to see in this photo, but below is a photo of my Mom receiving a cup of McDonald's coffee from a man wearing a backpack full of coffee! The Museum had an event in early November to kick off the holiday season and this man walked around the party filling coffee cups. It was so funny.

Opening Night

Last night, Juliano had his opening reception at the Kunstwerk Gallery. We had such a fun time seeing so many of our friends and family members at the party. Thank you to everyone that made there way to Cleveland for the evening. Juliano has 9 prints on display at the gallery until the beginning of January. "Passing Aspens" sold last night!

If you would like to see the images on display, visit Juliano's personal website, boronka.name.

Our friend Garrett also has images on display at the gallery. Pictures of each space are below.

Juliano's artwork


Garrett's artwork

Our Tree is Up!

Last night Juliano and I ventured out in the arctic temperatures and got our Christmas tree. It's a super-fragrant frasier fir. I picked a fir as they tend not to lose many needles and smell good. Tonight is decorating night!

Corn Caserole meets its match

Last night those crazy kids from The Correl (minus 1 bitch) got together for a reunion at our house. I slaved over the stove for hours. The menu featured chicken scaloppini, green beans and rice pilaf. I forgot dinner rolls, oops.

After much food and conversation, I presented my banana creme pie! This is when disaster hit the party. One cut and we realized we needed spoons for this one. It ran faster than Klunky through Ohio City after dark, faster than Jules over the Lorain Carnegie Bridge, faster than Boogers chasing Chance on Whitman.

I believe I out did my corn caserole flop of 2005. A photo of the infamous pie is below. It sure looked pretty before the knife hit it.

Raking Leaves

We spent most of today in the yard raking leaves and cleaning out flower beds. Juliano filled at least 20 bags of leaves. Muffin helped out by chasing down a leaf or two.

Our First Holiday Decoration!

Theresa and I ventured out shopping on black Friday. I picked up this cute snowman for our mantel.

Muffin and her new kitty bed

Happy Thanksgiving!

I recently bought Muffin an adorable kitty bed. It's super soft and fuzzy. She has been a good kitty and uses her new bed all the time. Here is Muffin on Thanksgiving morning.

CoUnTeRtOpS

Well, we finally have them. COUNTERTOPS. They look great and we're quite happy with the fabrication & installation process. Our situation was unusual, but the Home Depot contractor did a good job cutting them to fit our farm sink. We decided not to remove these cabinets. They are original to the home. We do hope to refinish them at some point--at our rate, in like 10 years! :-)

I made the curtains. It's a cute striped fabric, but hard to see in these pictures. I'll take pictures of the curtains later. I still need to make the top valance.

Our Kitchen-Month 6

Despite Theresa's attempts to distract me from organizing the kitchen, I made much progress yesterday! The only item needed in the kitchen now is countertops and they have been ordered. Hopefully we'll have them by Thanksgiving. Here are some pictures of the new and improved kitchen.

Happy Halloween

Boo! Saturday night was filled with costume parties. I attended Mama's party and the Museum's annual Halloween party.

I got dressed up around 7 and headed out to the festivities. I wore my standard hippie costume, but it was spiced up this year. Thanks to Judy for loaning me some of her 70s clothes! The totally 70s shoes were a huge hit.

Let me start by saying that Mama's party was not at Mama's house. Five minutes upon my arrival at the neighbor's house, Mama and I witnessed a sight I wish on no one. The house was filled with children, hitting a pinata and scavenging on the floor for the candy! In the midst of this scene picture a cute little Jack Russell terrier-type dog pooping right in the middle of the living room. Enough said, Mama and I exited stage left...

Outside, there was a heated tent and cool bales of hay for sitting. After a beer, I headed out to the Museum party. Many attended the Museum's annual Halloween party and they put an extraordinary amount of effort into their costumes.

On Halloween night, Jules, Mike and I passed out candy and watched Halloween 2. Here's a picture of the me in my hippie costume and the pumpkin I carved!

Update on 1-800-Contacts

Apparently this is a scam the doctors run to get their patients into the office for a visit. I called my Doctor's office and convinced them to release my order. They were trying to make me come in for an exam. Eventually they released the order, but they told me that before I can order more contacts, I must come in for a visit. She acted like she was doing me this big favor by releasing my order, but Ohio is a 2-year state for prescriptions-so technically my current prescription is good until May.

Contacts should arrive in mail today!

Screw 1-800-Contacts

So I realize on Sunday that I'm putting my last pair of contacts in my eyes. I got online Monday to order another supply. Today, I come home from work to a message from 1-800-Contacts saying they could not fill my order because my eye doctor told them my prescription was incorrect. I've been wearing the same prescription for the last 10 years. Apparently my eye doctor told them my BC (Base Curve) on my eye is 8.7, not the 8.3 that I was ordering. But wait, you'd think that 1-800-Contacts would tell my eye doctor that I've been ordering 8.3 for the last eight years. No, they assume I'm ordering it wrong. Apparently when the doctor calls, they don't bother checking their records. So I have another 5 days left on my contacts and no resolution in sight (no pun intended).

Thanks Brian for telling me about 1-800-Contacts.

Polish Festival

Today, my Mom and I went to the Polish Festival at St. Stanislaus Parish. The church is located in the Cleveland neighborhood of Warszawa, aka Slavic Village. The inside of the church is beatifully ornate. (see picture below) And it was visited by Pope John Paul II in 1969, at that time he was known as Cardinal Woytyla. After lighting a few candles in the church, we headed over to the hall for the festivities.

The line for food was super long but well worth the wait. We had golabki (stuffed cabbage), potato pancakes and perogies. After eating, we set out to find the games of chance. My Mom quickly found them and within 5 minutes won $200! Shortly thereafter, I won a basket of goodies. We then sat in the hall and listened to the polka band play great music and shared a bottle of Okocim.

It was a great festival. I look forward to going back next year.

Days 13, 14 & 15-Chicago

What can I say. It's Chicago. We love it here and never miss an opportunity to swing our flights through this town! On Friday morning, we feasted on a dozen dried out cake donuts and then went out shopping. In the evening, we headed downtown in search of a Serb restaurant. The place I had found online was defunct. Nowhere to be found. But the restaurant in its place had Cevapa on their menu so after much going back and forth, we decided to give it a try. It was delicious. We had yummy salads and huge servings of Cevapa. Jules tried a Czech beer, Brian had an unusual German beer, Luis ordered a Beck's Light (hello?).

On Saturday, we got up and headed downtown for lunch at Fado. I love Strongbow cider and Fado is the only place I know that has it on tap. We drank & ate much and then went to the lake shore to walk and take pictures. After a day of mucho walking, we made our way home, stopping at Oberweiss along the way for ice cream!

On Sunday, we had a bloggers reunion at Walker Bros Pancake house w/Mary (from Ain't No Thing But a Chicken Wing). We nearly got jumped at Walker Bros because we moved to the front of the line for having a party of 5 when no one else in front of us did. It was scary because Mary wasn't there yet and people were throwing us nasty looks. Mary finally showed up and had to enter the restaurant through the exit for fear of her life. Aside from this fiasco, we all enjoyed a good breakfast. Afterwards, we went to Ikea for a 30-minute run through. I bought a pack of napkins...Woo Hoo.

We spent the rest of our time lounging, watching Tivo and chatting. Jules and Luis watched Episodes 3, 4 & 5 of Star Wars. Luis couldn't hang or they would have made it through 6. Thanks guys for a fun weekend. Looking forward to your visit to Cleveland. When will that be???

Day 12-Travel Day

We got up early today to begin a full day of travel. We stopped at Bread for coffee and pastries before our journey to Albuquerque. Our flight left ABQ in the afternoon. We arrived in Chicago in time for dinner. Luis baked up about 8 lbs of chicken breasts and handed me a box of Stove Top to cook up! It was delicious, but 2 lbs of chicken per person was a gross over-estimation.

Days 10 & 11-Colorado

We did a lot of relaxing these two days. Went shopping, ate at Gazpachos again and tried a new place called Kennebec Cafe. Juliano helped our friends Bev & Bob install a new Macintosh at their house. It was nice to rest and sit around talking!