You say tomato...

We've just started our Salsa dancing classes. They were partly inspired by the movie Mad Hot Ballroom, and partly the result of not being able to dance. We have quite a few weddings to crash in the next few months so we plan to use our newly acquired skills to catch the eye(s) of all guests, and then put them in our pockets. Jeremy and I will be the people Salsa dancing to every single song.

The class has about 52 people in it, and I have to say it was a little traumatic. The dancing component went just fine, but we had to line up with girls on one side and boys on the other (much like ballroom in the 6th grade). We spent the lesson dancing with random people instead of the person with whom we registered. From a social standpoint I suppose it's good to meet new people, but since neither Jeremy nor I are in the market for additional love interests at this time, I give this aspect a thumbs down. Furthermore, I have a tendency to burst into wild giggles which is not so good for the stranger's self esteem. Jeremy is used to my oddities and properly trained for responding to such an emergency.

With about ten minutes left in the class I realized the woman Jeremy was dancing with had on a shirt reading, "You say tomato, I say &*^% you!" I am not sure any other piece of clothing could say "nice to meet you, but you better not step on my toes" so succinctly.

Next time you see us, we will not be the same Jeremy & Erin you've come to know, instead, our salsification will have morphed us into "Rees & Nina" (pictured above).

Only the best blog entry EVER.

If you know us at all you know that Jeremy and I are unbelievable enablers when it comes to children. "Discipline - what's that?" "Did that kid just belch? AWESOME!" The two of us are highly amused by children and Susanna's most recent blog only serves to reinforce this. (I know that when we have our 15 children they will resemble Fred & George Weasley. We are doomed.)

Oh, and I rode the bus with a Confederate Soldier today. AGAIN.

The End of an Era

Miss America is on (gasp!) CMT tonight. To all my fellow poor people without access to cable: pull yourselves together! Get up off the floor out of my, uhh, your puddle of tears. If I can make it through this difficult time you can too! As I am no longer eligible to compete as Miss South Dakota, which was truly my life's ambition, it is a little less fun to watch the pageant anyway. I think this might be the first year in a while that I've not known one of the contestants because all my friends are now geriatric. Just kidding, friends. Fortunately I can still go to the Miss America website and read the bios of all 51 contestants, print them out, and pretend they are all my friends. My favorite is Miss Texas. And not because I currently live in Texas, but because, well, she is my age and uhh, just check her out.

It is probably better for me not to watch the pageant because I just say mean things like, "wow, how much duct tape did she need to hold THOSE up?" and "do you think she is using rubber cement to keep her bottom THERE?" I do enjoy learning about the wonderful charities with cute names that each woman has founded. For example: "Kidz Kount: Promoting Children's Literacy" or "M.A.C.K. - Making a Commitment to Kids" (which I like because it was founded by someone named MACKenzie. Honestly, isn't the whole point of a charity NOT to call attention to how awesome you yourself are?)

If you have endured my entry this far I want you to play a fun game. If you were, say, Miss Idaho, what would your platform or charity be?

I have included a picture that is timely in its celebration of the UT National Football Championship as well as the celebration of blond cheerleaders and possible pageant gals nationwide.



May the best bikini-clad pre-med juggler win!

The Shat Heard Round the World

At 9:53 this morning, Kona used the litterbox.

This is a really good thing.

Welcome Home Kona! And oh yeah, classes just started again.

Kona and I are writing you all to say thanks for your thoughts. We are currently curled up on the floor next to one another and honestly, I am not sure who is more relieved she is home. Not that I am biased or anything, but I think the nursing staff and doctors were big Kona fans and I might be wrong, but the nurse seemed sad I was taking the world's co-cutest kitty home.

UT started classes again today. I am taking a course about religion and public policy. We will discuss everything from faith-based initiatives to the teaching of evolution in schools. Everyone teaches one class so I've got to pick a topic that involves religion and public policy. So many options! Right now I'm thinking I will look at the impact of federal money on social service programs- specifically those that respond to basic needs like food and shelter.

My other courses are related to managing public finances and data analysis. I solemnly swear not to expound on either one.

Jeremy and I begin our Salsa dancing lessons soon. I am very excited! Austin is such a fantastic place for dancing to great music, and since the bars are now smoke free we will actually have a reason to go! I will also be taking tap dancing with quite a few of the staff members from St. Austin's. How funny is that? Erin and the tap dancing nuns/priests.

My wonderful husband is almost done with dinner. Mmm, fajitas.

Until next time!

Aaah, Saturday

It is with tremendous relief that we can say Kona is much healthier now. While she is still receiving supportive care from the animal hospital she is now eating, drinking, grooming, and almost doing her duty in the litter box. (As a certain person with the initials GK would say, she is "dropping the deuce!") We are still waiting for test results but the vet thinks she has toxoplasmosis and NOT a brain tumor. We visited her yesterday and the little cutie was actually purring and meowing while she nuzzled us. Interestingly, her horrible ear infection didn't infect her inner ear, and the seizing was probably unrelated.

For all pet owners out there, we wish we had pet insurance. I am a cheapskate, and scoff at such attempts to suck money from you by convincing folks that they need unnecessary things, but man, you better believe we are looking into it now.

I'm so excited about the prospect of her coming home, I might do Karate for Christ!

Get Well Soon, Kona!

Jeremy and I returned to Austin and our favorite kitties on Monday.

Unfortunately, (or fortunately) Kona began having very scary seizures while I was home for lunch yesterday. The poor thing was in awful shape, but I am really glad it happened while I was at home with her. After rushing to the animal hospital she was sedated and given fluids. Our initial thought was that we have an epileptic kitty.

As it turns out, she had horrible ear mites and a bacterial and fungal infection that may have spread to her inner ear. This is really worrisome for us because she has been into the vet four times in a year and half for checkups and various tests. Ear problems were never mentioned by the doc.

She is undergoing some heavy duty care right now and had to be knocked out with anesthesia. We can't wait for her to come home very soon! We miss our Kona :(

Fairy Dust & Machine Guns

We just returned from a great trip to Disney World. It was wonderful to spend time with our family and our favorite stilty lizard, Chasity McDougal (name was changed to protect the magic that comes with being a disney character). Here is a picture of our buddy on the move:






Jeremy and I agree that Christopher Guest & Co. should film a movie about a family trip to Orlando. Included in the feature film would be the following:

- a family of five wearing matching "Gonzalez Family Vacation 2006" sweat shirts

- 5.6 billion children expressing profound gratitude to their parents for the lovely vacation by screaming, crying, kicking, and biting their way through all four parks (this is so much FUN!! BUY ME AN ICE CREAM.. NOW!!)

- at least one man who insists on using binoculars to examine all performers from a distance of eight feet or less

- plenty of machine gun pendants nestled in the chest-hair of dads (like this, but with red, white, and blue jewels)



This trip was especially fun because we breezed on to most rides AND we were the lead float in Mickey's Jingle Jangle Jungle Parade! (Chasity McDougal and her good friend Crumpet get our votes for entertainers of the year for making that happen.)



Our friends John & Melissa were in town for the Disney Marathon so we also got to visit with them before heading home!