A few pictures from the car shows

This guy is obviously a Tolkien fan.

The owner of this car spends too much time and money at fast food places.

The owner of the first 2 cars has a very loving wife who totally understands that as the over-worked sole-supporter of a family of 4.5 (the dog counts as half) he deserves rewards and 'ME time' whenever he feels it necessary!

Back-dating to 2 weeks ago

For Joe's 40th we took him to dinner at Trudy's South where we had some suprise guests join us. We then blindfolded him and took him to Peter Pan Minature Golf as a suprise family gift. Afterwards we went home and enjoyed a lemon tart from Central Market and opened his presents. Joe said that it was his best birthday ever! Great, how am I going to top THAT? I guess we'll just have wait till 50 to try and top 40.

car show updates

The Art Car Show bit the big one - only about 10 to 15 cars there and they were already leaving at 3 pm when we got there - it was supposed to last until 4.
Paul was screaming because he had just woken up from a nap and wanted to nurse. It was hot and we were sweaty. There was one really fun car that the kids wouldn't leave. Finally we did leave and went to eat some mini cream puffs at Vespaio's store/cafe (next door to the restaurant).

We drove home and stopped for 30 min at Joe's car show - he was showing 2 of the Caddies at the Oak Hill Cruise n Blues Car Show.
I'll post pictures of it all later today.

We might do our annual train ride today or in 2 weeks.

austin art car parade

austin art car home I think that we are going to this after the farmers market today.

So I have this pair of shoes that is now, hmmmm, 24 years old. I wore them to church on Sunday and thought that I'd take a picture of them. Well, I didn't really wear them to church - I wore them to the playground at church where Paul and I play while Giselle is at Sunday School. So the shoes, I bought them to wear with a teal taffeta dress that I bought to wear to my sister Joan's wedding in the Fall/Winter of 1982. I was the maid of honor! I recycled the dress for my Jr/Sr Prom the following Spring. Of course for that I wore my black patent leather shoes and a fuchsia taffeta sash instead of the teal sash I wore at the wedding. I've managed to keep these shoes when all other 'old' shoes have been given away because I didn't like them any more or chewed on by a dog or worn out beyond all use. I like these shoes and I'll be crushed when they wear out. Oh wait, I do have a pair of red lamb leather heels that I bought in 1984 that I still have too! It's neat to see Giselle dress up in my shoes just like I used to do with my mom's shoes, although my mom had WAY more shoes than I have now.

Yeah, if you call tasting and smelling like mold to be unusual!

Algae may affect water taste, odor; City water supply safe to drink
For Immediate Release – October 11, 2006
AUSTIN--- Austin Water Utility (AWU) officials want customers who notice any unusual taste and odor in their tap water to know that their drinking water is completely safe.
A similar taste and odor fluctuation resulted from a blue green algae die-off in the City's raw water supply in October 2004, and AWU officials believe the same cycle is occurring now. The 2004 episode lasted about two weeks.
"The water is absolutely safe to drink," said Jane Burazer, AWU Assistant Director for Treatment, adding "The algae bloom is a product of weather conditions, as well as river conditions."
She said AWU is feeding powdered activated carbon at its drinking water treatment plants in an attempt neutralize compounds that cause taste and odor variances.
"AWU will continue to monitor and test water from the lakes as it is treated and distributed to our customers," Burazer said. Check the Austin Water Utility web site: http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/water/ for updates as they become available.

Joe got me a new camera!

Christmas came early at the Galletti house on Thursday. Joe came home at lunchtime and presented me with this: Olympus Stylus 720 SW underwater camera, waterproof camera, shockproof camera . Evidently the thought of me regularly using the 10 yr old HP digital camera was the final inspiration for getting a new one for me. He has a 5 yr old Nikkon digital (5 mp) that he uses on occasion that he is still relatively happy with. My poor Olympus film camera will get used less and less, and I just bought that one 3 years ago. Ahhh, modern progress.

Giselle's tooth has come out

With the help of some dental floss and a door knob, Giselle has lost her first tooth. The other tooth is almost all the way in already. The top two teeth feel like they are next to go.

This is the beautiful tooth box that we made to hold all of Giselle's teeth in - complete with the first tooth (circled in red)!

Jurassic Park

The kids were playing out front with a Rhino and a Brontosaurus this afternoon. Giselle built both animals their own park to play in - the pictures don't do the real things justice.

War Of The Worlds

Take me to your leader! And don't even try giving me cupcakes made with that fake sugar!





Our visit to the Wildflower Center on Sunday.