Bandana fun

Yesterday I walked into the bedroom and saw this crazy sight, as Angela was trying on one of her new bandanas. She's gone bandana crazy and ordered one in nearly every color--even burnt orange so she can help the Longhorns win this year. She's modeling a red one here because we were about to go to a Frisco Roughriders game.

The minute I rounded the corner and saw this dunce cap of a bandana, I started cracking up and begged her to let me get the camera. She obliged.

Thankfully, she did lay the bandana down in time for the Roughriders game.

I'm so blessed to have this in my life.

Odd pics from the Mix 102.9 Studio

I'm sorry my camera phone sucks so bad.
I'm feeling random today.
The CD shot is interesting. Those are diapers up there. No explanation for that. We don't use the diapers or the CD's much.
The swear jar isn't terribly full. I guess that's a good thing.

Avril Lavigne has the coolest-looking signature on our autograph board, but I'm scared to show you a close-up on the off chance that you're an identity-stealing criminal. I can't read a lot of the signatures. What's the point of signing an autograph board at a radio station if no one can read it and will never know you were even there? Kelly Clarkson and Dakota Fanning have cool signatures. Cool and memorable.


I think the Dixie Chicks were playing when I took the shot of the control board. They're getting the green light. They'll be here in September around my birthday. Back when I lived in Austin and was in a band, Natalie's dad Lloyd came to one of our shows because he loved our CD and was thinking about working with us a little bit more. But we didn't hear much from him after the live show. We must have really sucked. It still sort of pains me. I love me some Dixie Chicks! It's just hard to listen to them without being haunted by thoughts of cataclysmic failure. Doh!

Some things work out perfectly however. Take this bit of wardrobe utopia for intstance. Is this not the single greatest bit of color coordinated bliss you've ever seen?! I'm in love with it I say! I've been wearing the jacket just about every day this week because, although it's a million degrees outside, it's 55 degrees in this office building and without some sort of protection a sensitive gal like me can get frostbite. Today I just happened to add the t-shirt and go all Longhorn haute couture on yer aayyuss.

That is all for now.

Lance Bass...not a huge surprise!

Come on out Lance....the water is just fine. :-)

Lance Bass of 'N Sync Reveals He's GayJul 26, 10:37 AM EST

The Associated Press

Lance Bass, band member of 'N Sync, says he's gay and in a "very stable" relationship with a reality show star. Bass, who formed 'N Sync with Justin Timberlake, JC Chasez, Joey Fatone and Chris Kirkpatrick, tells People magazine that he didn't earlier disclose his sexuality because he didn't want to affect the group's popularity.
"I knew that I was in this popular band and I had four other guys' careers in my hand, and I knew that if I ever acted on it or even said (that I was gay), it would overpower everything," he tells the magazine.
'N Sync is known for a string of hits including "Bye Bye Bye" and "It's Gonna Be Me." The band went on hiatus in 2002. Bass has also found headlines for undertaking astronaut training and failing to raise money for a trip into space.
Bass says he wondered if his coming out could prompt "the end of 'N Sync." He explains, "So I had that weight on me of like, `Wow, if I ever let anyone know, it's bad.' So I just never did."
The singer says he's in a "very stable" relationship with 32-year-old actor Reichen Lehmkuhl, winner of season four of CBS' "Amazing Race."
Bass and Fatone, 29, are developing a sitcom pilot inspired by the screwball comedy "The Odd Couple," in which his character will be gay.
"The thing is, I'm not ashamed — that's the one thing I went to say," Bass says. "I don't think it's wrong, I'm not devastated going through this. I'm more liberated and happy than I've been my whole life. I'm just happy."

Ribs and risks

Angela's mom was in town over the weekend, and she and a friend came over for a barbecue on Saturday. We love the grillin'! Angela is great with meat. She can marinate, dry rub, and baste with the best of them. Meat intimidates me a bit, so I'm not so good at cookin' it. Angela's strength is my weakness.

We played euker for the first time. We've played pitch and spades before, but somehow we had missed the euker boat until Saturday. It wasn't that hot so we played outside on the patio. Angela and I were partners, against Angela's mom and her friend Julie, and we managed to hang in there with them. I don't think I bid very well because I always thought I had a crappy hand. I had a decent hand once and didn't bid, but Julie bid and we ended up setting them. I felt bad because I probably should have bid. One can't go through rounds of cards (or life) playing defense all the time. But I didn't feel like I knew what I was doing so I decided to sit on it rather than make a move and potentially make a fool of myself. Hmm...it's the same sentiment with meat and cards. If I don't feel like I can master the process, I don't try. Interesting. Or I let someone else do it better. At the very least, I need to feel like I'm decent at it before I put myself out there. That could be a mix between the fear of failure and pure laziness. Something to ponder. Taking risks comes so naturally for me in other areas. But since they are areas of familiarity, perhaps they aren't risks at all. Perhaps they only appear to be risks to objective bystanders who don't share the comfort level.

My goodness...I just wanted to write a blog about spare ribs, and now I've launched into deep thoughts about what constitutes being out on a limb. Who knew that euker could produce so much self-awareness.

Not quite so blobbish

Angela went back to work this week after three weeks at home recovering from surgery. She gets tired a little more quickly than usual, but otherwise she's doing well. While she was home I became a complete slacker with the workout routine, so this week I've put the hammer down. Forty five or fifty minutes on the treadmill every day, free weights every day but one, and major discipline with the food intake.

My friend Diana came to the radio station to pick up some Melissa Etheridge tickets last Friday and we talked about food, and she totally inspired me to pay more attention to my diet. And by diet I don't necessarily mean weight-loss plan. I just mean a way to manage food and make better choices. I stray from the good path every so often and as soon as I notice I'm feeling sort of blobbish, I have to get conscious and pro-active. Like last night at work my stomach took control and started me toward my locker where the peanuts are, and in mid-gate I recognized that I wasn't really that hungry so I turned around and went back into the studio, guzzling a ton of water on the way in. Last week I would have ignored my brain and ended up eating peanuts and chocolate covered raisins, and then I would have been mad at myself for creating that full and gross feeling when it wasn't there before. Does everyone think these things or am I insane? Perhaps just a control freak. Anyway, Diana said she feels great when she eats healthy and lethargic when she eats fast food, etc. I haven't eaten a fast food burger and fries since 1998, but I sure do pound my share of chips and salsa. This week I've gone back to sandwiches with extra lettuce and tomato, and tons of fruit. I'm fruit-logged. But I feel better and have plenty of energy for the treadmill.

That said, I can't wait for the weekend so I can eat some chips and salsa. Hey now! It's all about moderation I guess.

Note about the website

Jenaustin.com has been down for the past day or so as we upgrade to a new server with cooler capabilities. The new website has been up and running for the past week or two, but in order to add a store and other cool features we had to take it down again and change servers. Thanks for bearing with...

That's the extent of my technical knowledge.

I don't know whether to be angry, sad, or just grateful for my own dogs' little lives

I love our 4 miniature schnauzers so much. I'm not prepared for that inevitable day when they're no longer here. They're just so sweet, and smart, and such a huge part of our family. I couldn't bear it if I did something to accidentally jeopardize their well-being.

A friend of ours lost her dog today. Angela called me as she was heading home from work and said her "heart hurt," which is her way of saying she got some disturbing news. One of her co-workers left her dog out in the backyard today, and when her boyfriend got home the dog was dead. The temperature reached the mid 100's today, and the only shade in the backyard was a little section along the fence. There was a doghouse back there too, but couldn't have been much cooler.

For the love of God, please bring the animals inside. I feel terrible for our friend. What a tough thing to deal with.

I laugh at our dog Sophie sometimes because she's such a diva. She just recently started becoming even more diva-like. If the water has been sitting in the dish in the master bathroom too long and there's only a shallow bit left, she'll sniff it, walk away, and look at me. So I rinse it out, fill it up, and put it back down, and she drinks out of it immediately. If she decides the water in the kitchen has been sitting there too long, she'll sniff it, walk away, and look at me. So I rinse it out, fill it up again, call her a silly goose, and set it back down, and she drinks out of it immediately. This routine could get old in a hurry with the water restrictions and all, but what happened today with our friend's dog sort of put everything in perspective. Whatever you need, Sophie. Silly goose.

Good fortune

You know how sometimes God sends people into your life at exactly the right moment?

I was just in the break room trying to get a Diet Dr. Pepper, and the vending machine kept spitting out one of my quarters. It was adamant about it! It would take one quarter and one nickel, but that's only 30 cents and I needed 55. I tried to get two different vending machines to take this seemingly defective quarter and both of them spit it out. Just as the second vending machine was rejecting me, Louis (the best engineer in the world) walked in and saved me. It was Diet Dr. Pepper time for him too. He had a nice cripsy dollar bill that the machine had no problem with, and once he got his change he was nice enough to let me exchange my crappy quarter for a fresh new one, just expressed from the machine. So now I have my Diet Dr. Pepper, and Louis has his Diet Dr. Pepper plus the crappy quarter. I wonder if he'll have trouble using it. Where does one spend quarters if not in vending machines? I hope Louis isn't 25 cents poorer because of me. I'm grateful to him. It's because of him that I now believe in vending machine angels.

Other than the soda drama, things are good. The Rangers stomped all over the Orioles last night so the jersey I'm wearing today has a fresh glow. Oh how I love the Rangers. And since I'm in for Lisa Thomas this week and I'm not doing my night show, Angela and I have the evening to play. I'm going to go fetch her after work and we're going to have a wild and crazy late afternoon/evening of Linens N Things, Ulta, and Cantina Laredo. The salsa at Cantina Laredo tastes like chili soup and I love it.

Have a great weekend! We've got Kelly Clarkson tickets! It starts this afternoon with Rick O'Bryan. Good luck. And if you go to the Melissa Etheridge show tomorrow, let me know how it is!

Hair Days are getting better

Okay, so I got a good haircut last week. I'm usually skeptical about anyone who cuts my hair who isn't my sister, but this new gal was rock solid. And she cracked me up while she was whacking away, which would have made it a good experience even if she had given me a bad haircut. She had Judge Judy on in the background and kept getting mad at the plaintiff who was trying to get money out of an ex who didn't pay the light bill. "No wonder she got the lights cut off. I'd put the light bill in my own name and go on 'bout my bidness..." You go girl. And thanks for the bad ass haircut.

About the hair...I decided to move away from the curly look and onto more straight layers. I was inspired by Lena Heady from Imagine Me and You. We rented that movie last week and the whole time I was thinking about how sassy her hair is and how I would like to have it on my own head, only blonde. (I tried to post a Lena pic, but the file is too large and I don't have that handy resizer at work.) I didn't take a pic beauty shop with me, but my hair ended up kinda that way anyway. She's hotter than me, so I just have to get close.

On the way out, my stylist whispered to Angela, "You make Jen keep her hair like that now." It must have really looked like crap when we first got there. Must be a huge improvement. I'm doing my best.

But I've noticed, the new layers put pressure on my head where there was no pressure before. So I'm constantly messing with it to ease up on the pressure points because I think if it's putting pressure in weird spots on my head it must also look weird to everyone around me, but when I look in the mirror it looks better than it has in a long time. go figure. I guess I have to get used to the weird hair feelings. I suppose I can put up with what feels like monstrous, flyaway cowlicks as long as it all looks good.

Back to the show...

I'm doing middays for Lisa Thomas this week instead of my night show. No sleeping in this week. At least I have better hair.

I've got ants in my pants

I'm such a freak. I've been working on this book of mine for about 4 years now, and the time has finally come for publishing. Rather than feel overjoyed and be tempted to do the hokey pokey in the middle of the street or whatever it is that excited people do, I've been a big stress ball. Poor Angela. She's trying to recover from surgery and she's had to put up with this nervous fidgeting. "Help!! The margins aren't right! It's printing funny, make it stop! But I don't know how to convert it to a PDF file!" Nonsense. It's not that difficult, I know. But I'm easily intimidated by computer-based procedures that I don't have experience with. And after spending 4 years trying to breathe life into this thing, the fear that one wrong move on the keyboard could cause it to explode and die, is enough to keep me from messing with it altogether. Irrational fears have taken hold. But I'm sending it to the publisher tomorrow and it will finally be out of my hands. Margaritas will ensue.

I've been tinkering with jenaustin.com too. The current look served a purpose, but I think it's grown a bit tired and it's time for it to evolve. My incredibly awesome web designer (and book cover designer) Julie is launching it sometime tomorrow. You'll be able to listen live to Mix 1029, get info about the book, and knock yourself out with tons of other fun stuff. I hope you like it. I'm a whole lot happier with it.

What's more...I'm in desperate need of a haircut. It seems that I've hit a wall in many areas in my life and it's time to move on and never look back. I'm antsy I say. The next step with my hair just isn't as clear as the rest of it. I've had to go with a pony tail/bandana combination for the past couple of days to keep my hair at bay, and even that is getting on my nerves now. Rick saw me through the window in the Mix studio this afternoon, pointed at his head, and immediately started flexing his biceps. I guess only body builders wear bandanas on their heads like this. I laughed at him, but I really should have sassed back that he completely overlooked the color coordination between the navy, light blue, and black bandana, and the navy, light blue, and black Mavs shirt that I'm also sporting today. Men. Anyway, I'm getting my hair whacked tomorrow. Sinead Austin has a nice ring to it. Hmm....

4th of July Weekend fun

We bought a new bed yesterday. We upgraded to a king-sized bed from a queen 7 years ago to make more room for the pampered pups, but the quality of the bed wasn't that great and now it's concave in the spots where we usually lay. It's hard to crawl out of the dips each morning, plus the chiropractor said the mattress might be to blame for some of our bone issues, so we decided to get something better.

Angela can't shop for much after having surgery because she tires quickly, but mattress shopping was a breeze! She just had to move from bed to bed as we were testing them, and once we found the one we wanted she just stayed there and rested while I did the paperwork. It worked out perfectly.

We went to Central Market and then Walmart Saturday, but by the time we got to Walmart she was worn out and needed a wheelchair cart. The ultimate way to shop! I had control of her so she couldn't wander off and be gone when I needed to ask her something. :-) And on those occasions when I needed to leave the cart for a second to squeeze through a crowded area, she could wheel off on her own and the cart wouldn't have to sit there blocking anyone's way. It was genius. We did notice that people stared more, I suppose trying to figure out why someone so young and vibrant was being wheeled around. And a couple of people were extra nice. One Walmart worker who was restocking in the frozen foods section smiled real big as she was folding up some boxes and asked if Angela was cold. She didn't care about my goosebumps--just Angela's. She was sweet and we exchanged a few pleasantries with her before moving on to the Diet 7up and Coke Zero aisle. It was an interesting experience.

The new bed is being delivered later this morning, so we've got to explain to schnauzer number 3 of 4 why she is losing the current bed that she has grown to love so much. It's her favorite place in the world. Even when we're not in it, she's in it. Hopefully it's the covers and pillows that she loves, and not the concave mattress. We'll break it to her gently.

Happy 4th everyone!