Yesterday, I sold my television to one of my co-workers for $25. They went ahead and took it home with them last night - the living room is looking weirder and weirder. Ros sold her black faux leather couches and glass-top coffee table and end tables a couple of weeks ago and earlier this week, Shannan cleaned out her desk from the spare bedroom and moved it to the living room. The refrigerator will be gone on September 14 and the washer/dryer will go about a week after that. We're moving slowly, but it seems to be happening so fast!
posted by Jennifer Lucio at 7:13 PM | 0 comments

Stepan signed us up for dog obedience training through Informal Classes. Last night we attended our first meeting. Our first command to work on is heel - Homer did an excellent job and seemed to really enjoy the class. There are about 8 dogs in the class. It was quite amazing to watch the instructor deal with the one or two dogs who were being difficult and agressive. It was even more amazing seeing the difference in the dog's behaviour once Raquel illustrated to the dog owners the proper technique for handling undesireable behaviour. As my friends who have participated in similar classes have been telling me, the dog obedience classes aren't as much about teaching the dog as they are about teaching the owners how to communicate with their dogs.
posted by Jennifer Lucio at 9:32 AM | 0 comments

My sweet, loving, and thoughtful boyfriend bought and installed a Cateye Astrale Cycle Computer for my bike this week. On my ride to work, I took 55 minutes, 44 seconds to travel 11.43 miles. I traveled at an average speed of 12.3mph hitting a maximum speed of 26.7mph. My pedal cadence varied from a low of 46rpm (I think) to a high of just over 100rpm (on the downhill). The training goal is to use the gears to keep a steady cadence regardless of the roadway incline. It's a pretty cool gadget; I'm going to enjoy training with it.
posted by Jennifer Lucio at 2:49 PM | 0 comments

On a happier note, I'm getting to be a true home maker.....and I literally mean a maker of homes. Last Thursday, Stepan and I did some quick repair work on his fence. One of the horizontal supports had rotted so much that it wasn't supporting the slats anymore. We didn't think Homer could get out, but we were wrong. Imagine our surprise when he came running up to us in the park as we were biking home after work! The good news is he stayed close to the house, but we have no idea how long he was out, where he went, or what he might have eaten (he likes to chew on the dead birds he finds in the park).

More "home maker" news: on Sunday, we got up early and started repairs on the chimney - some large animal (probably a raccoon) created an attic access by removing the siding. I was a bit scared at first - the roof is steeply pitched - but I got relatively comfortable soon enough. We must have done something right because neither one of us fell and Homer didn't get bonked by anything that was dropped :-) I think we're 16 inches short on new siding which unfortunately means that we need to by another 16 feet, though we might check out the Habitat for Humanity Re-Store where they sell recycled building materials.
posted by Jennifer Lucio at 10:12 AM | 0 comments

Stepan and I joined Archie and Jessica for lunch with John and Shannan on Saturday. It wasn't nearly as awkward or weird for me as I thought it might be - of everyone, I think Shannan had the hardest time of it. I hope I'm wrong, but I get the feeling that once Shannan moves up there, John will no longer be a part of my life. Even now, he's IN AUSTIN, but I don't think we'll be able to see him again this trip. I'm fighting the urge to call them to see if they were planning a to get together with John's friends one more time before he leaves. Very sad for me, but when I can take myself out of consideration (not an easy thing to do as I tend to be a lot self-centered), I very happy for both him and Shannan. They looked very happy to be together - I guess I can't blame them or hold it against them when they give up friendship for the opportunity for love. I still hold out strong hopes that once they settle in together, they realize it doesn't have to be that way.
posted by Jennifer Lucio at 9:35 AM | 0 comments

Last night while listening to Jimmie Vaughan at the Blues on the Green concert (sponsored by KGSR, Stepan and I were talking to a few of his co-workers. All agreed that all white walls were boring - even the guys were convinced that there was nothing wrong with putting some color into the home! I'm hoping Stepan will come around to my way of thinking. To that end, I'm currently scouring the web for ideas. Even if we don't find something that we can agree on, I'm hoping Stepan will follow the advise of his co-worker who said that he's learned to go along with whatever his girlfriend thinks is best.
posted by Jennifer Lucio at 5:12 PM | 0 comments

Stepan and I finally arranged to take the Scientific Certification Course at Aquarena Springs. The course was very interesting and informative. The lecture series discussed the various endangered species (flora and fauna) that depend on the Edward's Aquifer such as the Texas Blind Salamander, San Marcos Salamander, and Texas Wild Rice. We learned about the archeological significance of the area as well as a little bit about the various habitat recovery plans.

The diving was lots of fun though I was completely apprehensive about the obstacle course and skills we would need to display. It was especially nerve-racking because when Stepan and I did our practice dives on Friday, I was uncomfortable with the dive conditions on our second dive which started so late that it turned into a night dive. In any event, the first dive on Saturday was an obstacle course practice dive. The main concern is that all divers have superb bouyancy control to avoid silting up the water and disturbing the native inhabitants. The obstacle course started with three 48" hoops we had to pass through without touching or moving the hoops(which is pretty difficult when you have a tank on your back and various hoses and instruments hanging around your body), then to a faux archeology grid where we had to transport a 14# "artifact" (in this case a motor rotar) from one side of the grid to the other without silting up the water or suffering an uncontrolled or unintended ascent to the surface (which in deeper waters would be extemely hazerdous), next was bouyancy control at a pair of large clam shells left over from the Mermaid show when Auquarena Springs was a theme park, followed by my personal favorite (and the last element of the course), a 48" table you had to finger-walk under without silting up the water or bumping the table.

After the practice dive, we got an hour break before having to do the course for a grade. Out of a possible 10 points you had to score 7 to pass. I got thoroughly chilled waiting in the 72 degree water for my turn, but at last it came. I made a conscious effort to take it slow and easy which paid off big time because I passed the course with a 9 (I believe I hit the first loop). Stepan also passed (with a 7) - I think he may have been overweighted (for those non-divers out there, divers were weight belts with anywhere from 8 to 30 pounds of extra weight on them to help them sink - the amount of weight depends on the environment (you're more bouyant in ocean water than sea water and need more weight) and your equipment (wet suits are very bouyant and require additional weights)).

After dinner, we finally got to explore the Spring Lake. The dive started around 7:30pm so it was starting to get dark. The visibility is much better than it is at Lake Travis (where we did our Friday practice dives) so I didn't have the problems/concerns I had then. Our tour began with 15 minute snorkle and took us to Deep Hole (the deepest part of the lake at roughly 28' deep), to the archeology grid, then through what seemed like miles of hydrenea to an area called Cream of Wheat. From Cream of Wheat we went to Diversion - a diverter cap over the artesian spring that supplies Spring Lake with water. At Diversion we were able to remove our regulators and drink fresh water directly from the springs - Mom would have loved this; you can't get fresher, cleaner water anywhere! We left Diversion, traveled underneath a sunken submarine and returned to the training area where we surfaced. During the dive we saw some turtles, some white channel catfish that were HUGE!!!!, some fountain darters, sunfish, and perch.

Our Sunday morning dive followed the path of the Saturday evening dive. This time we saw some snails and a San Marcos salander was pointed out to us, but I was looking at the wrong thing and didn't get to see it. I'm looking forward to volunteering for the various research and clean-up projects that I now qualify for though I believe I could use some more practice with my bouyancy. I would like to actually see the San Marcos salamander as well as some gar (which I'm told are quite abundant in Spring Lake).
posted by Jennifer Lucio at 4:33 PM | 0 comments