I do love football very much

Brian and I have decided that I have an irrational dislike for some football teams and individual players. I don't have an active hate list or anything, but I will admit to rooting against some teams and players. The New England Patriots, of course, are the best team in the National Football League, and every other team deserves to get beaten by them. Now, having said that, I shall list a couple of my -- wait for it -- Football Peeves.
Eli Manning ~ I've never been a fan because of the kerfuffle involved in his drafting, wherein his dad made some kind of backdoor deal so Eli would be drafted by the Giants instead of San Diego because no one had confidence in the Chargers' offensive line. That whole thing seems kinda ... pussy-ish ... to me, which is the opposite of football.
The New York Giants ~ Two Super Bowls. Two losses. That's about that.
The new head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers ~ He's a bully. And from what I've read, kind of an asshole. And the charging on the kneels at the end of the games. There is an etiquette to football. Respect it.
Michael Vick ~ Dog killer. He should always lose.
Pete Carroll, head coach of the Seattle Seahawks ~ He kinda bragged about their "win" last week. Bad form. Also, USC.
Randy Moss ~ Because if he hadn't been such a diva last season, the Patriots wouldn't have released him, and he'd probably still be playing with them and they need a long wide receiver.
Drew Brees ~ For putting New Orleans through a salary hold-out, when the city and Saints fans needed him so desperately after the bounty scandal, and then not leading the team to a single win so far this season.
New York Jets ~ Rex Ryan, the team's head coach, is very rude when it comes to commenting on my Patriots, and that kind of thing bugs me. Also, Tim Tebow, who doesn't really bug me as a person, but the kneeling thing last season was way too popular.
That's all I can remember right now. I do cheer for people and teams other than mine though, too. So it's not completely one-sided. ... I cheer for Peyton Manning, because he's a nice guy and seems to be a genuine gentleman of the game. He's a competitor, but also has respect for the game itself. ... The Oakland Raiders, because it's Brian's team, and he's always in a better mood when they're doing well. ... The Arizona Cardinals, because they need all the fans they can get. ... The Houston Texans, because it's always fun to live in a town where the team is doing well. Also, it looks like mine and Brian's special influence on sports teams where we live has transferred from baseball to football. You're welcome, Texans fans. ...

Really? It's midnight already? Ugh.

My apartment complex is officially weird. Not in a bad way, just in an unexpected way.
We are about 60 days from the end of our lease. (YES, WE'VE BEEN HERE FOR 10 MONTHS AND BRIAN'S NEW PRACTICE STILL IS NOT OPEN YET.) They sent us our lease renewal information a few days ago, for a 12-month renewal, with a $225 increase per month in rent. The increase was what we expected, since this property transferred our lease from the other property (Remember it? With "pimp" rubber-stamped on the unit's door?), and where we live now actually costs that much. So, the increase was what we figured it would be.
The 12-month length though, was an issue. We were hoping to add only six months, since May is a nice month in which to move, and by then Brian will have been in the new office for six months, so we'll know what we can afford in a house rental. The month-to-month option wasn't feasible, since that increased our rent by $400.
So, we headed into the office this afternoon with only the concern about the lease length. We were invited into the manager's office. After that, it was kind of a blur. She popped onto her computer, and next thing we know, our rent is only being raised by $75. The rates on the garage and car ports stay the same. The cable is pulled from our account, and nothing is said about the satellite dish deposit. And then, it comes down to the lease's length. They don't offer leases for less than 12 months. However, we can buy a lease-breaking clause -- a one-time, non-refundable payment -- for the cost of half a month's rent. This option, really, is a few thousand dollars less than breaking the lease (which we considered because we don't want to be here another full year). And then, she cut $200 off the cost of that.
Honestly, I was kind of stunned. I would love to brag about my amazing negotiating skills, but I don't really have any. And also, I didn't negotiate anything. It was like walking into a store, expecting to pay a lot for a pile of shoes, but then having the salesperson hand you a bunch of stuff for free, and then only charging you for a pair of flip flops. Weird. I feel like I won something without even trying.
I should have gone out and bought a lottery ticket.

What's a map that isn't a map?

Seriously, Apple. Get a grip and make friends with Google. Apparently, because they wanted all the mapping glory to themselves, Apple has chosen to end their relationship with Google maps on their iPhones. Apple's excellent information-gathering source? Yelp. A cheesy, irritating, customer-supplied ratings site. Because of this, the Apple maps are ridiculously lean on practical information. And with that, Apple has an uprising on their hands. We, as a people, don't really like change, and we especially don't like change when the replacement is exponentially worse than what we already had.
I simply can't live without a decent mapping app, and the Google app was stellar. I haven't had to mess with the new maps app, for reasons I've whined about earlier this week. So it's not an issue right now, but I am definitely going to be needing a decent maps app to get me around this town.
Apple apologized for its crappy maps app today. Read the article about that below:

Tim Cook Issues Apology For Apple Maps
 The Huffington Post  |  By Catharine Smith 
Apple CEO Tim Cook has issued an official apology for the company's half-baked Maps app.
Cook wrote that the mobile mapping product "fell short" of the quality he said the company is committed to delivering.
"We are extremely sorry for the frustration this has caused our customers and we are doing everything we can to make Maps better," he conceded in a letter to users, posted by Apple on Friday morning.
Apple announced in June that it would drop the popular Google-built maps feature from iOS and would release a homegrown Maps app with iOS 6. Since the glitchy new app launched, users have been vocal about its tendency to mislabel or erase cities, move famous landmarks and warp scenes in 3D Flyover mode, to name a few complaints. Many are also disappointed that Maps doesn't provide transit directions, which was a go-to feature for many fans of the Google-made maps in iOS.
Cook in his letter promised users that Apple is working to better Maps and suggested a handful of third-party apps that users could turn to in the meantime. Wrote Cook, "While we’re improving Maps, you can try alternatives by downloading map apps from the App Store like Bing, MapQuest and Waze, or use Google or Nokia maps by going to their websites and creating an icon on your home screen to their web app."
This is a far cry from the paltry statement Apple distributed last week, shortly after Maps became available and the outcry began to rise over bugs in the app. "We launched this new map service knowing it is a major initiative and that we are just getting started with it," an Apple spokeswoman said at the time, per Mashable. "[T]he more people use it, the better it will get."
Sources told The Verge this week that Apple apparently announced its own Maps app while it still had another year left on its mapping contract with Google. At least part of the disagreement between the two companies was over a voice-guided navigation feature that Google had included in its Android app but had left out of Apple's iOS app.
BuzzFeed reported recently that Apple is beefing up its Maps staff to keep pace with Google, which already has a seven-year head start on its mapping products and currently employs about 7,000 people for various maps projects.
Google is said to be working on a new maps app for iOS 6. The company could submit the app to Apple for approval into the iTunes App Store by the end of this year, according to anonymous sources who spoke to the New York Times.

Halloween decorations EVE

ITEM!: I watched, and thoroughly enjoyed, Elementary this evening. I am digging the story that Sherlock Holmes is a recovering addict living in New York in modern times, and that Watson is the awesome Lucy Liu. I don't think they could have come up with a better way to mess with the Holmes soup without screwing it up royally.
ITEM!: The Snow Leopard operating system shipped today, but according to the tracking information, it won't be here until next Wednesday. Which sucks right out loud, but if I'm anything, I'm patient. Which is completely and totally untrue. I WANT IT NOW. I hate carrying around two phones, and I mostly hate not being able to Facebook away from a wi-fi connection. It's like I live in the stone ages or something.
ITEM!: Tomorrow, I get to decorate my house for Halloween. As is my custom, I will drop the kid at school and buy myself a venti mocha for the day. Then, it's all about breaking out the orange and black boxes, and finding places for all my pretty Halloween things. I am beyond excited. It's been two years, and I can't wait to dig out all those things.

Tonight, sleep; tomorrow: TV

I had wanted to watch the season premiere of Modern Family tonight, but Brian decided that a showing of The Truman Show on AMC was more interesting. I settled into the bedroom, and Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl. Brian has since fallen asleep in front of something else, and I've watched my entire movie, so really, now the late hour is a factor. Happily, Thursday is Kimmie and Brian's Date Day, so we'll be watching Modern Family tomorrow. This kind of "miscommunication" happens quite a bit in my home.
I did get to watch most of The Avengers today, though, so that was good.

Updating the world, y'all

Well. This is interesting.
I got my new iPhone 5 this afternoon. I was totally excited, so was quick to pull it out of the packaging and set it up. So, it's all ready to go, with the network connection and all that. I go to restore it in my iTunes account, and am met with a speed bump. I need to download and update my iTunes to iTunes 7. I knew this going into my new phone, so was prepared for this.
However, I downloaded iTunes 7, and discovered that it was unable to install because the operating system on my computer was too old to support it. This leads me to apple.com in search of the new operating system. The newest OS, though, won't download onto my computer either, because the newest OS needs a newer OS than I have. The current OS is Mountain Lion, prior to that it was Lion, and before that it was Snow Leopard. My OS is the one before Snow Leopard. I bought my computer in 2008, and as of now, for my needs, it's obsolete.
But then Andy came to my rescue. I called Apple, and after a few minutes on hold, I was given over to Andy, the man who knows everything. I credit him with giggling only minimally when I told him my computer software version. Hearing that, he knew exactly what my issue was, and had the right news for me. They do have the Snow Leopard OS, but it has to be shipped to me. (Once there's a new OS, all former systems packages are shipped back to Apple and stored for people like me who call three years too late to update.) So, of course, I ordered it. Happily, an outdated system update is only $20.
Once I have Snow Leopard, I can update my iTunes. Once I can update my iTunes, I can restore my new phone with my iTunes information, uploading all my apps, pictures, music and conversations. That should happen sometime between Monday and Wednesday next week, Andy thought.
Until then, I have a phone with minimal apps and fun stuff on it, with which I can make and answer calls and text, and that's about it. (WEIRD!!) And I have a phone with which I can use my apps and games on wi-fi, but not converse with anyone. I am a woman of two phones for a few days.

It's a good day for a birthday

TODAY IS MY MOM'S BIRTHDAY!!

Happy birthday to you,
happy birthday to you!
Happy birthday, dear Mommy!!
Happy birthday to you!!

Celebrate, certainly, but don't call her "elderly."

Also, peppermint mochas soon!

I'm getting excited about the last three months of this year! The fall months are usually among my favorites -- a result of living those years in Boston -- so that's no surprise. But the activities coming up look like they will be super awesome. And as I'm staring at October only five days away, I'm getting really happy.
October ~ Visit to California, which will include a barbecue with the family and friends; fun days for Sydney, Mom and I; time with Daddy; hair and waxing, which is always a good thing; and real Mexican food. ... Sydney's sixth birthday, which will be celebrated at Chuck E. Cheese with her classmates; and I'm thinking Galveston's Paradise Pier with Brian and I. ... Halloween, which is one of my two favorite holidays. In fact, the decorations will go up this Friday, a full three days before the first of October, which is unprecedented for me. My neuroses clash with holiday excitement.
November ~ Cool weather, which will mean I can open my windows all night and all day, and break out the sweaters, hats and scarves. ... The G. Family may be coming out to spend Thanksgiving with us in Houston! Brian's mom suggested it this morning, and my goodness, I'm getting totally excited and way too eager for this to happen. I'd love to host the family for the long weekend!
December ~ Winter vacation from school, which means that Sydney and I can sleep in for a couple weeks. ... Mom visits for the holiday, which has become a necessity for me. I can't wait to have her here for another visit. ... Christmas shopping, which is one of my favorite activities ever. I've got a good list for Sydney already, though it could get totally blown out of the water on her birthday. I love shopping for Christmas. ... Winter, one of my four favorite seasons. ... And finally, Christmas, my favorite holiday, and the culmination of all the good stuff going on this year.

Yeah, this is a post about that

It's official. I can't be a woman with long fingernails anymore. Back in the day, I was a huge fan of long fingernails. I'd grow them as long as I could. Then came a life with typing. But really, when it came time to type as a career, I embraced a life with short fingernails. (There's a point to this, I promise.) Most people who have ever sat next to me while I've typed on a keyboard know that I tend to pound a bit on the keys, making a whole lot of noise as I go through my words. But mostly, I type with the tips of my fingers, not the pads, which accounts for the pounding.
Anyway, that's how I type.
So it should come as no surprise, especially when we factor in how neurotic I am about such things, that I don't like to type when my nails get too long. It bothers me when my nails tap on the keys. It's like tapping them on a chalkboard as far I'm concerned. Bothersome and making me have the chills.
Anyway, this morning I trimmed my nails so they're nice and short again. They were too long this weekend, which also is a reason why I didn't type much the last few days. (See! The point! More reasoning behind my being so quiet this past weekend!)
Also, if you're looking to be grossed out a little, do a search for fingernail images. Yuck.

I love having my movie channels again

ITEM!: It wasn't my intention to take the weekend off from the blog. And I hate seeing a two- to three-day gap in posts. But let me tell you, those two nights of more than 10 hours of sleep were really awesome. Sleep is good.
ITEM!: We had our first day with NFL Sunday Ticket yesterday, and it was a ... .... football-filled one. Honestly, having that many choices is crazy. And Brian's new and unconditional love for Red Zone is all-encompassing. We bounced around from channel to channel all day. By the time we got to Monday Night Football tonight, we were almost footballed out. I figure that by the time Thursday night rolls around, we might be ready to sit for an entire game again.
ITEM!: In addition to that, new television begins in earnest this week. I've got four television shows to watch tonight. though two of them will wait until tomorrow. What I've watched already this evening: Hawaii Five-0, and Castle. I'm saving Dancing with the Stars for the morning. I'm also recording Revolution, but I missed last week's episode, so I have to watch it online before I settle in to tonight's show.
ITEM!: Is Jeopardy on television anymore?

I could totally rock this 'do

So, I'm hating my lack of bangs right now. In the pictures of us when visiting Endeavour, I have no bangs. They're pulled back in a ponytail and headband. And I don't like my face much without them. So, here's the plan: I will either succumb to my needs and cut them myself tomorrow, or I will fight my whims and wait until Malia can do it in a couple weeks. Either way, Malia will make them level and/or decent looking.
Also, I can't wait to get my hair colored. My grey hairs are bugging the hell out of me. I keep thinking that I'll just go to Target and get some at-home coloring solution, but I'm scared. Yep, just scared. I messed up the straightening thing, and I'm convinced that me coloring my hair brown will somehow come out black or red or something. I'm positive that I will screw it up incredibly, and I'll be stuck with some calico-cat blotching for a few weeks until Malia can fix it.
I think the best course of action is a self-trim, because bangs will, at the least, make my disdain for the color less prevalent. But we'll see. I could very easily chicken out, which I usually do when it comes to cutting my own hair.

Endeavour ... still with the British "u"

Well, that may be the closest I ever get to a Divine Experience.
Tonight, Brian, Sydney and I drive out to Ellington Field to view the space shuttle Endeavour. The shuttle is on a cross-country trip to Los Angeles (its final home will be the California Science Center), and it's making some scheduled fly-overs and a couple stops. It was supposed to leave Florida yesterday and spend two days here in Houston, but weather prohibited a take-off yesterday, so Endeavour is only here for tonight, and leaving in the morning. Seeing the shuttle only means driving in your car, and walking to the tarmac where it's sitting.
According to my phone's mapping function, the drive is only 27 miles, but 42 minutes in time. With the traffic, it took us two-and-a-half hours to get there. The excitement was only heightened by the little amount of gas in the car and the slight detour to a gas station. We parked in a grassy lot behind a VFW lodge, and walked across the highway and then onto the airport property. We figure the walk, from the car to the shuttle viewing area, was more than a mile. Sydney was a trooper, and hoofed it with us.
Once we entered the viewing area, we could get as close as 100 feet from the airplane and shuttle atop it. Honestly, I could probably sit along the ropes and stare at the thing all night. I was close to tears when we first rounded the corner to see it, and I swear, I took way too many pictures of it. (That's one there.) But it was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. It'll never be in Houston again, and it will probably never be in this condition again. (I imagine the Science Center will make some exterior changes for the visitors.) And we got so close!
I missed my calling. Brian said that he's always really surprised by how much I really want to be an astronaut. "You didn't want to make the extra effort, but you certainly wanted to do it," he observed. Well, sure, math and science were never my thing, and apparently, you need both to be a space-going person, but still, they (meaning NASA) should have just known that I would make a good math-adjacent astronaut.
I love me some space shuttle though, and tonight did me just fine.

Directly to the TV

Who knew that I would get completely overwhelmed by DirecTV? I mean, really, so many channels, and no real rhyme or reason to their groupings. But, on the way, way, way, up side, now we have DirecTV in our house, and it's awesome.
But it's way late now, and it's time to go to bed.
Also, I have all my movie channels again. And, Comedy Central in HD again. Also, a buttload of space for DVRing shows. And, a cool satellite dish outside my house. It's like I'm in the modern age now.

I'm bummed 'cuz the Pats lost

New television programming began last week, and continues in earnest this week. I've actually got a calendar in my bedroom that I pulled out of last week's Entertainment Weekly so I can keep track of all the shows I watch, and want to give a chance in the new season. So far, it's only been Glee, which began last Thursday. But tomorrow, a new show, called Revolution, begins. I'm going to DVR it on the TV in the living room, because I think Brian will enjoy it. It's a story of a group of people finding their way in a world 15 years after the planet has lost electricity. I like the premise, and the show, so far, has gotten some good press.
I don't actually have the calendar in front of me, or I would go through the list of all the shows I'm going to give a try these next several weeks. And the only one I can think of that starts this week is Revolution. So this, really, is an incomplete post. But don't let this evening's momentary laziness be mistaken for apathy towards television this season. I'm eager to dig in.

No more visits to the Garden

I know this may not surprise you, but I did not have a good eating experience at Olive Garden today.
Brian's been hungry for a plate of regular, good spaghetti and meatballs recently. Why, oh why, have we not been able to find our Ottavio's in Houston? So, we visited Carrabbas earlier this month. It was good, but Brian's been wanting salad and breadsticks too, which means Olive Garden.
We had to wait about 10 minutes, and were seated next to two tables of angry-looking old women. We thought we'd try the lasagna fritta, which is breaded and fried lasagna pieces, which sounds interesting, but they're sitting in alfredo, which makes them less yummy, certainly. I ordered the baked ziti dish, hoping for a crock pot full of ziti in red sauce with some cheese baked into a crust atop it. That was not what I got. I'm even more hungry for some good red-sauce Italian food right now than I was earlier today. I'm totally jonesing for Ottavio's now. I don't know if I can wait a month for it. I'll have to, but I won't be happy about it.
It makes my sad, icky lunch at Olive Garden sit even heavier in my stomach.