austin weekend

we spent the weekend in austin - for our six month anniversary and also with our friends, dan and steph, for her b-day. we had a great time shacked up at the four seasons. friday night we went to jeffrey's and to see the gourds at antone's. saturday we relaxed all day and then went out for sushi with a big group of friends. sunday the guys played bocce ball on the back lawn of the hotel for hours and steph and i lounged on the lawn, watching the guys and playing with mckenzie and garcia (the pups). it was lots of fun!

at antone's

bocce on the back lawn - mckenzie can't believe how green the grass is!

it was such a pretty weekend!

our big guys stayed together at "wuf spa"

norm's buddy, drake!

rumor or r.i.p?

i just read on perez that heath ledger was found dead today...i cannot find any other source to verify this, but wow, i hope it isn't true. he is so young and so very talented!

**follow up as of 4:05, suddenly google news is full of information that this terrible news is true. ahh!

katypritchard.com

good news:  you can now find "katy norm and tuna take dallas" via a new web address:  www.katypritchard.com.  the katylink.blogspot.com will still work - so take your pick, they will both continue to direct you here!

in other news, my hubby has started his own blog for your viewing pleasure:  www.signalsfromthesidelines.com.

nephews

saturday night we kept jarrod's (my bro) three boys. we took them to the mavs game, which thrilled them beyond belief! it was a great time, a win for the mavs, and fun to spend some good time with the nephews.

the link-pritchards!

they were soooo excited about this pic!!

chili cookoff

our dear friend and cruise director, meg, planned a chili cookoff this last weekend. and in the end, my traditional chili (i should really say my mom's chili, as it is her recipe. my only addition are the greatness of jalapenos!!) was victorious!! hahaha, seriously we had a great time and enjoyed trying some new chili recipes and meeting some new folks.

U2 3-D

sooo excited!

http://www.u23dmovie.com/

a tribute: the loon

ah, the loon. if you have ever been to dallas and requested a good burger, dive bar, neighborhood hangout, or friendly establishment, most likely you have been led through the familiar swinging door into the greatness that is the loon.

in the spirit of, well, jay, i decided to do some research on my favorite dallas haunt and was interested to learn that it has a long history in our fine town. the spot was originally called "joe miller's" until the silver fox (cliff gonzales) took over fifteen years ago. cliff and his cousins started primo's down the street, and i assume it was the timing of the death of the owner at joe miller's and the opening of primo's that led him to start the loon.

all of those happenings were before my time, but when i moved to dallas in 2000, the loon was rarely crowded and faced an empty plot of land that is now the west village. there was never a line outside, it REAKED of smoke (pre-smoke zapper era), and there was always an open table (and that was before they doubled in size!).

last week there was a fire near the loon and many ramblings that she might have fallen victim to the flames. i must say, i ran to her aid. well, actually i jogged by there that evening, but still - so many fun memories, i had to make sure she was okay. of course, she was fine, still standing proud with her small green awning, inviting us all with open arms.

or as jay would say, "the loon wins."

update on the hills

i guess i've given up on pretending like i don't care about the hills, because here i am, posting about the lives of LC and the girls again. according to perez, the folks at teen vogue have fired whitney and LC!!!

that's IT!  i'm going right now to cancel my teen vogue subscription.  ; )

stretching myself a bit

so i'm not a big new year's resolution type - in fact, normally i kind of get ticked off at all those people. you know who i am talking about, the ones that clutter up your jogging areas, gyms, salad lines at eatzi's...and then disappear a few days/weeks later. but this year i have decided to take one on, become one of them, i guess. the only difference is, i already love to exercise and i already clutter up the line at eatzi's. but i decided that starting in on this, the 30th year of my life, i might want to incorporate some "new-ness" to my routine. not that i will stop running or any of that, don't get me wrong (besides, norman would be pissed!). i just want add something to the routine.

my first selection was pilates, but i could not find a studio that i liked (actually mary and i are doing this together, so i should say we could not find one we like). i started asking around and had more than one person recommed a particular yoga studio near me that i should try. well, i went for round one last night of "power yoga" at the new place, and i can already tell you, my body needed it! it was definitely a challenge, to say the least. i'm a bit sore today, but feel great and slept like a baby last night.

so i feel good, it's the 10th and i am still excited about my resolution. i guess the regulars at the yoga place probably think i am one of those people, but i hope to prove them wrong, especially knowing how i totally feel their pain on this topic. ; )

they say you can measure your dedication to resolutions by how excited you still are on valentine's day. i've also read that it takes somewhere between 21 and 90 (big range, i realize) days to form a habit, so i figure a month and half is a good place to gauge how it's going. i'll keep ya posted...but so far, i'm loving it!

peggy-anne-mckay

i have been sick the last few days. funny to me how throughout the holidays i didn't feel too good, yet powered on, soaking up every day off work and holiday festivity i could.

ah yes, then new year's day rolls around and the fun is beginning to dwindle...i spent the first day of this great year at a doc-in-a-box holding my ear and screaming. i suddenly came down with an ear and upper respitory infection (read: my body refuses to be sick in fun, but when it's time to rest or go back to work, shuts completely down). i've decided that much like little peggy-anne-mckay from shel silverstein's book of our childhood, i seriously start to feel better once fun approaches. all week i've been dragging and suddenly i feel so much better with friday being here, having saturday on the horizon.

I Cannot Go To School Today!
by Shel Silverstein

"I cannot go to school today"
Said little Peggy Ann McKay.
"I have the measles and the mumps,
A gash, a rash and purple bumps.

My mouth is wet, my throat is dry.
I'm going blind in my right eye.
My tonsils are as big as rocks,
I've counted sixteen chicken pox.

And there's one more - that's seventeen,
And don't you think my face looks green?
My leg is cut, my eyes are blue,
It might be the instamatic flu.

I cough and sneeze and gasp and choke,
I'm sure that my left leg is broke.
My hip hurts when I move my chin,
My belly button's caving in.

My back is wrenched, my ankle's sprained,
My 'pendix pains each time it rains.
My toes are cold, my toes are numb,

I have a sliver in my thumb.

My neck is stiff, my voice is weak,
I hardly whisper when I speak.
My tongue is filling up my mouth,

I think my hair is falling out.

My elbow's bent, my spine ain't straight,
My temperature is one-o-eight.
My brain is shrunk, I cannot hear,

There's a hole inside my ear.

I have a hangnail, and my heart is ...
What? What's that? What's that you say?
You say today is .............. Saturday?

G'bye, I'm going out to play!"

happy 2008!

happy new year from the kids

we brought in the new year with friends and took in all the "big D nye" events in victory plaza.  we went VIP to the stars game (courtesy of dan), saw "petty theft" (tom petty cover band) at the house of blues, and watched fireworks on the plaza.  we had a great time with the whole crew and are looking forward to another fantastic year.  happy new year to all of my friends out there, make it great!  

watching fireworks - the countdown moment

we liked the bowling pin at the stars game

judd and jay

at petty theft