My parents are in town! They are looking for a home to purchase (they plan on moving out here in another year when my Dad retires). There is one house they are already interested in but my sister lined up a couple of other homes for them to view for comparison. It will be great to have my Mom and Dad just thirty minutes away instead of a two day drive away!

And congratulations to Marc and Kim! They were married yesterday in a quiet ceremony by the new Water Works in Philadelphia. Then, they are off to NYC for the weekend (our wedding gift to them was two tickets to see Wicked: The Musical) then back to Philly to catch the Eagles v Packers game at Lincoln Financial Field.

Whenever we are in the park, Strummer will inevitably sniff out a rather innocuous piece of twig on the ground. He will lift his hind leg up high, lean into it every so slightly and relieve himself. It is a rather comical sight, this white puffball of a dog acting as if this tiny pile of kindling was a mighty, massive oak tree.

His quarter leg lifts also crack me up. Positioned right on the edge of the grass and sidewalk, these leg lifts are so discreet you would think he was merely taking a break from walking. It is as if he is posing, looking for style points.

Strummer's football jersey should be arriving any day now. I am glad he tolerates my madness. I am sure he is thinking, "Why does this silly human insist on making me look like an IDIOT? I am a DOG, for crying out loud!"

The volume of traffic has increased significantly in the past week.

This is a definite sign that the Snowbirds are here.

We had heard that the Upper Deck was now the Eagles headquarters so we decided to grab lunch and watch the Eagles/49ers football game. Interestingly enough, Tony reminded me had Marc and Kim gone with their original wedding plans, the four of us would have been at this very game in San Francisco.

We could not believe it when we walked in and the first person we saw was ObnoxiousFanGuy. He was one of the reasons we stopped watching games at a particular bar in central Phoenix. Things did not bode well, but we ended up doing two things to help lift up the mood. One, we tried to convince ourselves that ObnoxiousFanGuy is probably a very nice person during non-game days. And two, we found the farthest table away from him.

It ended up being a pretty decent time. We lucked out with two seats at the bar right in front of one of the LCD teevees. The crowd was big, loud and raucous but very fun especially when the team scored and the Eagles Fight Song and Rocky tune would be blaring out at all ends of the bar.

The guys that were sitting next to us were very nice. I was amused that they thought I was being 'dragged' to watch football.

If they could only see my LSU Game Day Face, haha!

The husband and I delayed our third anniversary celebrations to this Friday. We had reservations at Wildfish at the Waterfront. Having read a good review, we were pretty excited about it. The restaurant is split into thirds. The bar is in the middle surrounded by the dining area on an upper level. The hostess led us to the back of the south dining area towards a corner booth. It was an ideal location. The corner setting was quiet and private, providing us with a great vantage point overlooking the restaurant.

To start off the night, we ordered a bottle of Pinot Grigio and the calamari special. The Pinot was very nice, crisp and sweet. The calamari was tasty with a spicy dipping sauce. Tony ordered the seared Pacific ahi tuna steak, lightly drizzled with a spicy mushroom sauce with wasabi mashed potatoes on the side. I asked for the surf and turf, an 8 oz. petite filet accompanied by a 1/2 pound Australian lobster tail and a twiced baked potato (who says girls don't like to eat). The lobster was nice and sweet but my filet was a bit rough. Our server was nice enough to take it off our bill.

For dessert, we split the lemon meringue pie. I was expecting something small and simple, but when the plate came out, my mouth basically hit the floor. I was staring at a three inch tall meringue! It was very good, just the right amount of sweet and tart but after the wine, appetizer and entrees, we were completely stuffed!

Happy third anniversary Boo. I love you.

After a casual dinner at Nello's, the husband and I walked hand in hand around Old Town. He had been away on business and just got home and I had been missing him like mad. The weather felt so good. It was in the mid-80's with a light breeze!

Can y'all imagine how glorious it was to be outside without feeling scorching heat coming off from the blacktop?

And tomorrow is only supposed to be a high of 93°! Ninety-three! As in the HIGH, people!

I can absolutely feel autumn around the corner!

For the past hour I have had two songs on repeat:

The Moon and Willie from Cat Power

Chan Marshall's so freakin' awesome.

Strummer has another new cousin! Marc and Kim adopted another long-haired chihuahua, this one a girl they are currently calling Sister Mary Margaret (subject to be changed).

Unfortunately, I did not have my camera with me so no photos. She is tiny (just over a pound), still has the precious baby fuzz and looks exactly like her big brother, McNabb.

On my first visit to NYC in May 2001, we were there participating in the 5 Boro Bike Ride. We actually stayed in the Marriott World Trade Center and even went up to the outdoor observatory of WTC 2.

[above: World Trade Center, as seen from the Brooklyn Bridge, May 2001]

I was in a training class for work in Quincy, Massachusetts when I first heard the news. I drove back home to Worcester in shock and wept all that day and night.

We were back in NYC in December, three months later.

[above: Ground Zero, December 2001]

Even after five years, I still cannot believe that horrible day ever happened.

Dave, Tony and I had dinner at Stingray Sushi last night. Their hostesses can be spotty (ranging from extremely nice and professional to rude and typical Snottsdale gals), but their food and servers are usually spot-on. Our hostess was nice, if a bit vacant (and who was the guy behind her -- her bodyguard or something?), server was on it (from our orders, to re-filling our drinks, to getting our check - three very simple things!), and food was great (we were not very adventurous last night -- typical edamame, gyozu, calamari, spicy tuna, spicy shrimp and shrimp tempura rolls).

I was a bit freaked out, though.

We had a 10 minute wait for our table, so we decided to hang out at the bar. I turned around and CRIKEY! There was a guy sitting next to us who looked eerily similar to the Croc Hunter I nearly fainted.

I am having all kinds of faux sightings this week. In addition to the CH, I thought I saw Matt Leinart squeezing produce at my local Safeway.

Our new Bosch dishwasher has just been installed!

Can a girl be in lurve with a home appliance?

Bliss :)

LSU Football begins their 2006 season tonight against UL-L.

Geaux Tigers :)