Teaching an old dog new tricks

After several years of having Sugar. I finally decided it would be nice for him to know a few tricks. While Christy was out of town for work a few weeks ago, I decided to suprise her when she came back. She laughed at first when she thought I was trying to get him to do stuff. Then she was shocked when she realized he was actually listening to me. I taught him to sit, lay down, and most recently, to stay. I felt bad about him chasing us up two flights of stairs if we were just running up to grab something. Then he would chase us back down the stairs again. Now we can tell him to stay and then go up and get what we need and he'll be waiting for us at the bottom of the stairs. I think he's a big fan of this most recent trick also. I don't think anyone likes stairs. This is a picture of Sugar staying. Christy would like the next trick I teach him to be "roll over." I don't know how well I'll do with that one...especially since I'm working more now. - TONY

Twice as good as Fiji or Aquafina

This McDonald's I stopped at must have charged extra for this stuff. It's not just water. It's "water-water." In case you didn't know what was in this dispenser the first time you read W-A-T-E-R, they decided to write it for you a little bigger a second time. I hear the R&D dept. is working on an improved version for release in 2010. It will be water-water-water. - TONY

Nelly

Yesterday, Jean and I visited The Galleria for a little retail time. We walked in through Dillard's and couldn't figure out what the crowds were for and why a Nelly CD was playing. Well, Nelly is originally from St. Louis and he was doing an appearance there. You had to pay to stand in a VERY long line to get his autograph and possibly a photograph with him. It was entertaining to see, that's for sure! And I'd love to know how much it cost!

The New Car Stereo

Well, for those that have not heard, we had our car broken into a week ago. Let me assure you that we were not very happy about this! They popped the lock on our car and the lock fell into the door. They also ripped out the car stereo and damaged our dash board in the process as well as breaking our glove box. They were also able to steal our GPS and Tony's cell phone which were both in the center console. Tony was only inside the store for five minutes!!! So, until we finish working things out with State Farm (which has been fantastic so far) and get the car fixed, this is the only radio available in the car. Or you could just use ear buds or portable speakers for the iPod, but not Tony...

Sponge Bob + Kitten = ?

Tony and Jean have been dying to visit this junk store that we pass daily since the day that it opened a few months ago. They finally forced me into this place. Aside from the $12.99 prescription contact lenses, the strangest thing that we saw was this trash can. They have shelves upon shelves with random colors and completely random combinations. This was the strangest to me! I mean, honestly, what does Sponge Bob have to do with a kitten head?

Branson

So, for the first week of August, I spent in visiting several cities for Summer Sendoffs. For the second week of August, we spent it in Branson, MO on a family vacation with Tony's family. We had a great time and really enjoyed seeing everyone. Especially our three nieces and our nephew! Most of our pictures from the trip are on the camera, so I'll post more pictures as soon as Tony uploads them to the computer.

While there, we visited this awesome ice cream shop named Delectable Delights. It's so adorable! I love the pink and white stripes! Plus, they served Blue Bell ice cream which is something that we can't get here in St. Louis!!!!

Flying the Friendly Skies

By the time Monday morning rolled around, I was very much ready to get back to St. Louis! It had been a long week filled with very early mornings and late nights and lots of airport meals. I also learned something new on this trip - Chili's in the airports has a pretty decent breakfast! Also, whoever does the scheduling for Southwest does an outstanding job. I flew them for all of my flights and the most empty seats that I saw on any flight was three. They definitely maximize their profit!

The plane that brought me home to Tony!

Sight out the window mid-flight between Omaha and St. Louis.

Home Sweet Home

While I was in Houston, I had the chance to make my first trip home to Sulphur since we made the move to St. Louis in February. I was able to able to visit from lunch on Friday until VERY early on Sunday morning. I had an amazing time visiting with everyone! What did we do? We ate. Then we ate some more. And then even more. I turned in my list of suggestions to my Mom a few weeks before the trip. I thought that she would make a few things on my list, but oh no, her and Dad made all of it! I have to admit, even though I gained a few pounds there and left absolutely stuffed, it was amazing to eat Mom and Dad's food again!

I also called Aunt Nell a few days before the trip to remind her about how much I loved her cookies. She made me chocolate chip cookies and the peanut butter ones along with her lemon cake. After much begging, Mom also made her fudge for me! I absolutely love her fudge, but she only makes it three times a year - Easter, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. I figured that since I missed Easter, I deserved it in the summer!

In addition to the amazing and delicious home cooked meals, we also had the chance to visit Tony's Pizza in Lake Charles and the sno-cone stand. I've had sno-cones in many, many different places, but not one has been even close to as good as the ones from the stand on Maplewood Dr!

I had also teased J.T. before the trip about how many signs I had to help make for him when he was younger and coming to visit and that I wanted to be greeted with a sign of my own! I requested a pink and purple sign with glitter. Instead, I had a very lovely purple and yellow Tiger striped welcome home sign! It was absolutely fantastic! Thanks, J.T.!

Summer Sendoffs

Wow! It's been ages since I updated and Mommy Harriet is complaining, and we certainly can't have that now can we! Anyway, it's been a very busy August. I spent the first week of August flying to multiple cities for our Summer Sendoffs. I visited Cleveland, Chicago, Dallas, Houston and Omaha. Basically, I was sick and tired of seeing Midway Airport in Chicago since that's where pretty much all of my flights flew through! The one saving grace of Midway? It has a Ben & Jerry's!

Concourse A at Midway.

What you can't see is all of the video spots playing telling the history of the Battle of Midway. I had plenty of time there to sit and listen to them!

While in Houston, I was thrilled to have a change to visit my absolute favorite museum - The Museum of Natural Science. The Terra Cotta Soldier exhibit is there until October and I had been dying to see it. I'm so thrilled that I had a chance to go! The exhibit itself was absolutely incredible. I've watched several documentaries on them, but it's something else to actually be standing there next to them. The detail work in each of them is astounding. And to imagine that there are over 7,000 of them!

All in all, it was a great trip to the museum. I wish that I could've gotten more photos of the soldiers, but no photography was allowed. I snuck a picture with my phone. :)

I was also shocked to see the newly constructed and much larger gift shop connected the building and the parking garage. It's about time that they replaced the closet size gift shop there!

Terra Cotta Soldiers

Good night. Goodnight. Parting is such sweet sorrow...

Miles Sevier

2001-2009

Resident of St. Louis, Missouri

Survived by his parents, Tony and Christy Sevier, and his little brother, Sugar Sevier.

Yesterday, our beloved fish, Miles, passed away. I had Miles longer than any pet I have ever owned, eight years. He was an African Cichlid whose original name was Saban, but he underwent a name change in January 2007 after Nick went to Alabama. He informed me he no longer wanted to be associated with the traitorous *%*#@. He enjoyed killing Christy's "pretty" fish that would try to take some of his space. After a while, he grew too big to have any other fish in our 5 gallon aquarium with him. He outgrew his castle, but it had long been his home, so he would swim in the large opening in back and swim vertically in the castle so he could fit. His eye would take up the small window he used to swim out of. After some research online and consulting a local specialty aquarium/fish store, he suprisingly made the trip to St. Louis in the back seat of our car. He died after I prepared his tank for our vacation this week by adding water to his tank. I guess he didn't like the water up here in St. Louis. In Baton Rouge, he never minded if I didn't add the extra chemicals in his water. I know better now. Funeral services were held yesterday in our back yard. I promised him I would never let Christy flush him. She has wanted to during our previous 3 moves. I even carved him a little headstone using my rotary tool. Miles, you were a good fish. You will be missed.