austingirl

This dog has such huge paws. This is his paw in my hand. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

KXAN home page today. FML.

One of my college roommates was from Clarksville. She grew up dirt poor with a really crappy home life (which, from what she said, was par for the course for almost everyone there) but ended up with a scholarship to UT and eventually got a PhD. Works in DC in some non-partisan transportation planning capacity now. Anywho, when she graduated with her bachelor's degree, her mom and two brothers, who still lived in Clarksville, stayed with us for a few days. We lost touch for a while and then a couple of years later she called me out of the blue with a crazy story. One of her brothers disappeared and her mom reported it to the police. Turns out that the two brothers who had stayed with us had gotten into a fight several days earlier and one stabbed the other to death. The killer's girlfriend helped him bury the body under their mom's trailer, where the murder happened. They left town, but I guess guilt finally got the best of him because he turned himself in and plead guilty and will spend the rest of his life in prison in Huntsville. /csb

Disclaimer: I haven't read all 15 pages. I live in Austin proper now but grew up in southeast TX and have no desire to go back or move out of the city. I was born in Port Arthur and moved to Groves in 6th grade. I think PA is ~60k people and Groves is ~15k, so neither is super tiny in population, but SETX is so insular, culturally, that it feels much smaller than it is. Families have been there for generations and many people are happy to just keep the cycle going. It's rare for people to leave permanently, if they leave at all. There are good things about it, for sure, but I couldn't wait to get out of town. I never felt like I REALLY fit in there. 18 years was long enough.

Other than that, how was the play, Mrs. Lincoln?

This weekend has been the worst so far because of Satan's pollen. I'm sneezing every 5 minutes. Sparkling water helps "scratch" my itchy throat. Also, beer.

Actually I just checked and I'm 99% we're talking about the same person.

Do they have two female pastors right now? One of my good friends is one and was recently fully ordained (or whatever the term is). We met many years ago when we both worked at a large tech company in Austin. She is indeed amazing. I'm not religious but if I had to go to church I'd go to hers.

Yes, any lines involving that character are great. Also him going off about donut holes. I liked it far more than I thought I would. Daniel Craig with his ridiculous accent should've annoyed the shit out of me, as should the rest of the over-the-topness of the movie itself, but somehow it worked. Everyone just looked like they were having a ton of fun playing against type. Chris Evans plays a douchebag, Toni Collette is a Gwyneth Paltrow/GOOP type, the normally-terrifying Michael Shannon is a shrinking violet limping around with a cane, and so on. My 11-yo and I both really enjoyed it.

She's also Annie Wilkes' mom in Season 2 of Castle Rock but I think there are only a couple of us here that watch it. I'm pretty torn on whether or not I want to see this. I'm sure the acting is great, and I'm usually up for a story about women talking down misogynistic assholes. That said, I'm having a hard time separating the truly heroic work Kelly, Carlson, and the others did to bring all the sexual harassment stuff to light from the bullshit they peddled on air. Much of which promoted opinions and policies that can foster environments where sexual harassment thrives.

LOL that's exactly it.

That was me and the beach ball is the best one! So glad he likes it! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

This is from a few years ago but it still cracks me up. This is my parents' dog Lucy. She was not feeling festive, despite the outfit. Happy holidays, y'all! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

If she had PPD after the first kid it likely reared back up pretty quickly after the second one. That's what happened to me.

I will be very surprised if they are just missing. I'm also trying not to entertain the possibility that she harmed herself and the baby as a result of post-partum mental illness. More likely that her husband or someone she knows did it, but either way this is not going to have a happy ending.

This is a really great read. The story itself is interesting enough but the journalistic skill of the reporter brings it to the next level. The Jungle Prince of Delhi

Amanda Knox also had the misfortune of being tried for a crime in Italy. What is telling about this story?

Yeah, I was hesitant to have two, but looking back, I'm so glad we got our second one. Dogs are pack animals and they really do do better with other dogs. Edgar was pretty neurotic and on Prozac for a long time, but he mellowed out a lot when we got Rocket. Not that they didn't have issues getting along at first, but it's been almost a year and they are best buds for the most part. Unless one tries to take the others' bone/toy, and then all bets are off.

Yep, it's really great and not too gruesome - I haven't seen a lot of the movie versions of King's books for that reason. And I like how they are taking elements of his stories and making something new out of them.

Are you in Austin? If so, check out Hearts and Paws - they do free puppy parties on a regular basis for puppies under 16 weeks old. We did one with Rocket and it was great. Fun to watch all the puppies play and a good socializing time for them with little dogs their own size. Somewhere in this thread I posted a video from the one we went to.

In addition to what the others have said, expose them to things like a vacuum cleaner (both running and off), brooms, and so on. It sounds dumb but those are the kinds of things dogs will bark at or freak out around, and the earlier you expose them the better. And make sure they get a chance to be around people of all colors, shapes, and sizes. If they only ever see white people, for example, during puppyhood, then they may not know what to do when they meet someone who's a different color.

I'm so sorry. Good girl, Carly.

It's back. My cedar season perma-headache showed up yesterday.

Yes, we on the Surly Council of Women call this "GOP Elvira Lets Herself Go".