Golf, Snakes, and Pants Half Down

We just got back from our first ever real golf tournament together! I am a horrible golfer, but today I did OK. It was a scramble and we actually used three of my shots (a drive (!), a putt, and a chip)!!!! But the best part of the day was my bathroom break. It's rare that the bathroom is the highlight of the day, so let me explain.

I went into the handicap stall in the clubhouse, mainly because it was the biggest and no one else was in there. I was sitting there, taking care of business and looked over to SEE A SNAKE IN THE CORNER OF THE STALL. This is not a joke. I could not make this up if I tried!!!!!

At first I thought he was dead, but then his little tongue came out. And then went in. And then came out again. GROOOOOOSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS.

I HATE snakes.

So I was in a pickle. Should I finish my bidnass? Should I scream? Was the snake going to come get me? Was the snake scared of me? If I left without flushing, would my rescuers see my bidnass?

Did I mention: I HATE snakes???

So, I did what any redblooded girl from Dallas would do. I jumped up, flushed (to save my rescuers from seeing my bidnass) and ran out of the stall with my pants down.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA.

So I fixed myself up and ran out...then I screamed !!!!!!!!!!!!!


CAN YOU EVEN BELIEVE THIS???


And to think, I already used the blog title "You Know You're In A Small Town When..."

You Know You're in a Small Town When...

You're at a 4-way stop sign and you know 3 of the four people stopped.

Happy FALL!

Italia Installment #3: Pompeii

Mt. Vesuvius

We took an organized trip (our only official tour) to Naples and Pompeii. This is Mt. Vesuvius about 2000 years after the eruption. Frescos from Pompeii showed the mountain to have a much pointer peak. So this is what it looked like after the top half blew off! CRAZY. This was one of my favorite parts of the trip. I was the little annoying student following the guide so I could hear every word :) Way better than the history channel!!!

Pompeiian House

In Pompeii we visited many excavated sites. This is the home of a very wealthy person. They know this because it was HUGE and every inch was decorated with frescoes or mosaics (check out the floor below - those are tiny tiles)! There were servants quarters, a courtyard in the middle of the home, and stables out back.

This is the main door to the home. It was left in the exact position that the owners left it in when they evacuated. The owners who evacuated left their doors open, while those who stayed to weather out the eruption had their doors closed. The doors were made of wood, which deteriorated in the ash over time. While excavating they poured plaster into the crevices to make molds of things that had decayed (such as this door). Archaeologists knew that they would find bodies in homes whose doors were closed.

Interior of same home

Dining room of same home

When a wealthy Pompeian hosted a dinner party the guests were expected to arrive at 6pm and stay until 10am. They were all lead into the dining room and shown to a mattress. Eating while laying on a mattress was exceptionally luxurious. In order to show their wealth, the hosts continually fed the guests the ENTIRE time. It was considered rude to refuse any food or wine/beer, so guests were obligated to eat without pause for 16 hours!

Vomitorium

Every couple of hours the guests would excuse themselves from the dining room to use the VOMITORIUM. Seriously. They would go puke, rinse with a wine/honey mixture, and then return the dining room to keep eating. Woah.

Streets of Pompeii

Streets of Pompeii

Pomeiians had their soldiers build their roads. This shows that they placed a lot of importance on their roads (some societies have prisoners build roads). Each road you see has 7 layers to it! Guess that's why they've stood the test of time!

The roads also served as a drainage path. Every so often they placed stepping stones like you see above so that people could cross the road without getting their little feet wet! The stones were placed a very precise distance apart -- the distance was determined by the standard wheel base distance on their wagons/chariots/whatever they were called! So the wagons could still use the roads, even with the stepping stones. Not too shabby, Pompeiians! You can see on the road's grooves in between the stones where the wagons wore the stones down. Cool.

Pompeii - Excavated Bodies - Warning!!

I always wondered why 7,000 people evacuated and 3,000 stayed behind during the eruption. Thanks to our trusty tour guide, now I know! The people who stayed behind thought that they would be safe in their basements (for the most part). The doors to their homes were shut and most of the bodies found were in the basements. What they didn't realize was that sulfur fumes would seep in through the ventilation in their basements. The fumes killed the people and then ash poured in and preserved where their bodies were. The bodies decayed, but the bones remained. Archaeologists poured plaster into the cavities and ended up with what you see above (this is why you can see bone in some pictures).

It's Official - I rock at matchmaking

ADAM AND MELISSA ARE ENGAGED!!!
I pretty much take all the credit. I rock at matchmaking. Officially my stats are only at 50%, but I've only tried it twice.

Awesome.

More Pics from Dad's Party

We had about 50 people at the party on Saturday. The theme was "Peace. Love. Raymond." HAHAH. 1960's for the 60 year old.

GOTCHA!!!!!

Surprise to my dad!!!! This weekend we (SUCCESSFULLY) pulled off a SURPRISE party for my dad! We have NEVER surprised him. Ever. As in not even once. He ALWAYS figures it out. The proof's in the pudding on this one:

You can't fake that face!

Even mom was shocked! We knew to keep the cat in the bag with her too if we wanted it to be a real surprise!

Photos courtesy of Lexipoo Pothlington, photographer extraordinaire.

Guess Who's 60???

Happy Birthday, Dad!

I dyed my hair and it turned out GREY. As in dark brown with grey highlights. I even went to a salon this time.

Dawg.

Coffee

My first attempt at uploading video! It took forever! Here's a weird little video that we took while drinking coffee at midnight in Rome. I had espresso and Matt had cafe Americano (regular coffee). I think I like the espresso because of the demitasse cups! Fun fun!!

Olympics

Conversation over breakfast at Grandy's:
Me: Can you believe that trampoline is an Olympic Event?
Hub: Whatever. You can't get me. I don't buy that for a second.
Me: No joke. It's true. Olympic trampoline.
Hub: OK, what do you want to bet? I'm not falling for this.

***1 hour later***
Google search: "Olympic Trampoline"
Google results:

1. Olympic Trampoline - Add 2008 Summer Games to iGoogle

   Results: Men's Trampoline - Preliminary - Aug 16 12:19am ET 1 Chunlong Lu 72.40 2 Dong Dong 71.70 3 Dmitry Ushakov 71.50 results.beijing2008.cn

HAAAAHAAAAAAHAAAAAAAAAHAAAAAAAHAAAAAAAAAA
:)

My First First Day...

...was awesome!! I love my class! I know it's only been 4 days, but they are awesome! Yessssssssssss!