there are 7 minutes left...

...and i'm ready to turn this off.

this is a tragedy. dirk is a tragedy. stack is a tragedy. the refs are a tragedy.

it's overall ridiculous.

stupid nash, stupid bell, stupid thomas, stupid diaw - all of 'em. blah.

i have no more words. just an upset stomach and headache.

avery...do something. anything. please.

my men.

yeah.. doc is eating. landon is...i don't know. it'd probably be best not to ask. regardless, they are both so handsome.

lovin' on my baby.

i just can't get enough.

suffering the drought.

drought: a long period of unusually low rainfall resulting in parched ground and abnormal withering of vegetation. a drought is defined arbitrarily to suit the region.

although there is no withering vegetation, unless my brain counts as vegetation, there is definitely a drought.

including mine, there are three blogs i follow that haven't been updated since may 23. what happened after may 23? something. 'cause everyone stopped blogging.

except for molly - who's wedding hairdo is to die for, by the way.

but i have some things brewing, as usual. don't you worry. a couple of cute pictures. a weekend highlights piece. we'll see if today provides a time to complete such things.

in the meantime, somebody come splash some water on me. i'm withering.

sayonara duncan. sucka! and nashy-poo, now we're coming to get YOU!

i'm still recovering.

and i'm not sure the knuckle on my right pointer finger will ever recover.

for every minute after the first half of that game last night (during which, i allowed myself to get fairly cocky, i must admit. shooting at 69 percent?! i mean, seriously people), i was chewing on the second joint on that finger, and i think there are still teeth marks.

that's 29 minutes of gnawing, not including commercials, shots from the stripe and timeouts.

after the first half, landon refused to high-five me anymore for great plays. he waved me off saying, "no, no...not until the game is over." i pouted for a moment. said, "fine. i don't want to high-five you even when it IS over.

but i did. of course i did.

anyway. it was fabulous. dirk was fabulous. jet was fabulous. how about winning decisively in overtime with three guys fouled out? i said to landon, "if three guys fouled out for san antonio, they'd be screwed." as it was, they had their best three and everyone else available and we ROCKED them in overtime.

oh, lord. i'm so excited.

if i never again see duncan's big, bug eyes and long, flappy arms when he thinks he deserved a whistle, it will be too soon.

so it's on to the western conference finals and the phoenix suns. let's just go ahead and make a run of stomping all the guys who left dallas to pursue a championship. we're just gonna blow right by with hardly time to wave on our way to the trophy.

what!!!

to further set the scene, doc slept like a baby (well, he is a baby, but you know what i mean) during the whole thing.

he just doesn't get it. he just doesn't get it.

go mavs. freakin go mavs, man.

rush hour musings from a thursday. (unedited. apologies.)

you know those old toys and cards and letters that you just can't force yourself to get rid of? every time you go through one of your closets or that box under your bed you think, "this stuff is worthless. why do i have this? i never look at it except for when i'm thinking of cleaning it out." but you can't bite the bullet and throw it out?

i mean you even forget you have it until you pull it out again. so it's not like if you threw it out you would ever sit around and think to yourself one day, "man. i wish i had that paper i wrote in college about the objectification of women in media."

well, i have those things, like a lot of people. and i have them in a lot of realms of my life. and lately, i've been finding myself struggling with these frayed remnants of relationships and dreams and thoughts about the way my life really would be.

as time passes they disintegrate and become more and more warped and unrecognizable.

but for some reason i can't just let them dissipate. even though that would likely be a freeing experience.

it's as if, if i just let them disappear i'll be left here with nothing to hold, with nothing to grasp. lost, blind and fumbling through a stark, black space.

those frayed remnants don't mean much, but for some reason, it'd be too hard without them.

i'd have to look at what i'm trying to avoid, what i'm trying to cover up or what i'm trying to keep from myself or anyone else if i let go.

it's gotta be done, man.

but maybe for one more day, i won't do it.

right now, it's just too scary.

you could've just said "you suck." i can take it.

so we're planning an engagment party for scott and kelly. we means the sisters...molly, tammy, sarah and laura.

i got a little over excited and played out my influence in the first millisecond of planning.

but you, out there in cyberspace, you're here because you want to know what i think.

so, here you go.

there are pictures here that represent the direction i think we should go.

keywords: yellow, green, white rock lake, understated elegance.

even if no one else cares, you do.

right?

sorry to be vague. it's only to protect the innocent. namely me.

"a penny for your thoughts, a quarter for the call and all of your mama's love." (the sunday version)

sunday: we drove five hours from plano to san angelo after church to surprise landon's mom for mother's day. both landon and matt (his brother) talked to delana earlier in the day on sunday, and she was not hiding that she was totally bummed that "her babies" weren't coming for mother's day. they just played along. funny: landon said he didn't call her until after church because he couldn't lie to her (by saying he wasn't coming) while he was at church. such a good boy.

the drive was nice. it was doc's first road trip. he is definitely a road trip dog. such a good boy. we made it to san angelo (mike's house) at about 7 p.m. when we walked in the door, i was first, delana looked at me for a second like she didn't recognize me. then she came rushing over, crying on my shoulder. her crying made david cry, which made landon cry. bunch of softies, i'll tell ya what. me? no. i didn't cry.

right.

so we hung out. delana also received a beautiful (albeit slightly wilted) bouquet from central market. some of the flowers seen here. and these pretty little blue bowls from pier 1. she was quite happy.

and i bet you're wondering about my poor dog being dressed up like a doll.

landon's granna (his dad's mom) bought him this teeny red and white shirt (for the odessa high broncos) and had No. 72 (david's high school football number) put on the front and "henry" put on the back for landon when he was a baby. we put it on doc and it fits. the thing is so little it only fits around landon's bicep now. delana wouldn't let me take if for doc. but she did say i could have it when i have a real baby. i argued. doc IS a real baby! i lost.

mother's day surprise mission.....a success.

"a penny for your thoughts, a quarter for the call and all of your mama's love." (the friday version)

so this is the mother's day blog. just about four days late. it was a weekend event.

friday: we had mother's day with my mom. landon and i bought her this lovely vase, circa 1880-something. it has pretty enamel detailing and it's really quite tiny. antique glass. love it. we also brought her a BEAUTIFUL (if i do say so myself) bouquet of flowers from central market. the flower pictures here are some examples of what was included. it was all shades of pink. definitely magnificent. we got her a pretty little card with a simple message - her favorite. and we had brats and hot dogs on the grill and a lovely salad. laura proceeded to impersonate mitch hedberg the entire time, "there are six ducks outside and they all want sun chips." don't ask. it was a lovely time with mom. too bad we didn't get to be with her on real mother's day at gramma's new house. it was a good alternative though. always much fun.

an apology of sorts.

to any of you who are watching: you know it's been a week and a half since i've written here. i don't really have an overwhelmingly good reason for that. i was out of town last weekend and monday. tuesday was rushed trying to get out a park cities story about the package of five bills the texas legislature handed down in an effort to improve public school finance. yesterday... yesterday was just my usual lazy wednesday.

oh, and of course there's the spectacular western conference semi finals series going on between my mavs and the hated spurs.

see? no really good reason.

but today, i'm feelin it.

funny how i always want to go on a blog-updating spree on the least convenient of days.

deadline day.

oh well. here goes nothing.

everyone, put on your reading hats.

tonight, my job delights me.

i really do like to work on a daily deadline. my sports editor called me from the airport in san antonio this afternoon (he was covering state championships in tennis and golf), and told me he'd caught wind that the new boys basketball coach would be announced at tonight's highland park school board meeting. of course, i was already going to the meeting, like a good little education reporter should. the announcement was a big secret. athletic director and head football coach randy allen hadn't even told the other hp staff coaches about it before tonight.

the reason it was a big secret, i found out, was because they basically "stole" the plano west (my alma mater) coach, david piehler, who started the program there in 1999. piehler went to smu (also my alma mater) and was No. 4 on the all-time scoring list when he graduated. he also signed as a free agent with the dallas mavericks in 1984, but was released at the start of the season.

point is, i got this story at 4 p.m., went to the meeting at 5 p.m. and had the story finished and filed by 7:30. there were interviews with the new coach, the AD and the superintendent. it's 680 words.

it's newsy. not your usual "sarah sidebar."

but it's fun to be driving around town and calling people on their cell phones. your editor's in the airport. you're writing quotes with a spare pencil from under your car seat while you sit at a red light on the way back to the office. it's greatness. what i always imagined journalism would be.

is it a sign that i get 100 percent more excited about sports stories than i do any other story?

unrelated, well, basketballish, at least: the mavs are winning 58-38 at half time in game 2. nice.

i think the coffee's old. i know a bug bit my shoulder. twice. and paul simon sings of '50 ways to leave your lover' as if nothing is at all wrong.

i have these bouts of nostalgia. it's almost like a condition.

they come from left field. a single string of notes or a mention of something we wish we could do can set them off. or maybe it's something i don't even associate with it. like the birmingham news.

nostalgia: a longing for the past, often idealized and unrealistic.

but it just seems so good when i remember it.

the sun splashing through the leaves as my friends screamed with laughter.

the perfectly temperate breeze i almost didn't notice as he came closer.

the promise of so many things.

now it seems the promise was then. the things i was promised were happening then.

the excitement, the unknown, the adventure.

and this isn't to say i'm not happy with the way things are now. there's plenty of promise now, too. a lifetime with the most wonderful husband a girl could ever hope to end up with. babies. a flourishing writing career. hey, you never know...

but there's still this sense i am unable to definitively shake.

it's just always there. sometimes hiding. and sometimes attacking.

like today.

today, it attacks.

hell, maybe it's just all the 60's music i'm listening to today. it gets in my head and rattles my marbles, you know. hippies.

"paint me a birmingham/make it look just the way i planned/a little house on the edge of town/porch goin all the way around..."

"...put her there in the front yard swing/cotton dress make it early spring/for awhile she'll be mine again/if you can paint me a birmingham."

so this morning mom told me dad's moving to alabama. you're right, birmingham. good guess.

i don't know that i've ever been to birmingham. or even alabama for that matter. mom told me her friend susan's sister lives there. apparently it's beautiful.

i'm trying to imagine living 500-plus miles from my dad.

i don't think it's registered just yet.

some other interesting things related to the birmingham news have gone down today.

nothing concrete enough to give out details over the internet.

but if and when anything is confirmed, you can be sure i'll fill you in.

in the meantime, sing it with me... "sweet home alabama..."

correction: dallas is 647 miles from birmingham

road trip to a Little Chapel in the Woods and a plethora of pomanders.

so yesterday i was taking doc out for a pee and texting a friend of mine to find out if she wanted to go get some ice cream.

i'd just gotten up from a nap, landon was still sleeping and when he got up he was going to play basketball.

while i was texting, i was interrupted by a phone call from another friend molly.

she and natalie had been hanging out and just happened upon a michael's where they proceeded to drop $125 on various pink (excuse me, fuschia) and chocolate brown ribbon as well as a variety of pink and white silk roses and peonies - the roses complete with dew drops glistening.

they called because without knowing it, they'd launched themselves into a wedding project - making pomanders to hang on the first few rows of the beautiful chapel where molly will be saying 'i do' in october.

so of course, all available bridesmaids were invited to join the festivities. that included me. i hurried right over.

it was quite fun, but we realized that a pomander commands quite a few more flowers than we orignally estimated. but, not to worry, a solution was divised. two incredibly lovely, full pomanders on the first rows on either side of the aisle and then simple, pretty satin bows alternating down the rest of the aisle.

after the pomanders (none of these here are the ones we actually made. they're simply examples in case you're one of those few people who are not wedding crazy and do not know what a pomander is - if that's even possible) were complete we decided to road trip it from dallas to denton to see the place molly is getting married.

i-t i-s f-a-b-u-l-o-u-s! i love it.

the chapel photos here are of little chapel in the woods on the twu campus in denton. the wedding will be here, and the reception will be a short walk across campus to hubbard hall in the room that doesn't have icky yellow tile on the wall or water stains on the ceiling. it wasn't open so we couldn't go in. we did get to go in the chapel and, i'm not exaggerating here, it's breathtaking. tiny and so detailed. stain glass windows, lead framed windows, incredible lights that dim and simple wooden pews. it's just so intimate. it's perfect. i know, i'm rambling. i'll get to the point.

we had a great time hanging out, and we got tons of ideas. example: we're gonna buy wooden letters "M" and "C" (for molly and chris) and paint them fuschia. look at the photo of the front of the chapel. we're going to tie them on either side of the front door on the brick part. there are little holes in the brick behind that you can't see where we'll loop the ribbon and make a bow in the front.

sorry... bad explanation.

my mom is going to make the bouquets and flower arrangements (all roses) that will be scattered throughout the two locations - the centerpieces at the actual reception will be rose petals and candles inside glass hurricanes provided by twu.

it's all just going to be beautiful. i'm so glad molly trusts natalie and me so much with wedding ideas because i freakin' love doing this kind of stuff.

i mean, can you blame her? our weddings were simply stunning, if i do say so myself.

aahhh.. weddings. it never gets old.

today's topic for musing: pat mcquistan. (read: scary.)

"with his past shoulder-length red hair twisted into wet strings and matted against his face, his lip bloodied and his breath coming out in heavy, audible bursts, this 6’6, 314 pound offensive lineman is a sight to behold."

i'll update when the story is posted. in the meantime, don't go into any dark corners or closets for fear of this man lurking about.

update 5.8: the story on mcquistan.

my mustangs represent!

for all of you who don't know, i am an avid mustang football fan. yes, even when we went 0-12 in 2003 and 3-8 in 2004.

i was at all the games as a mustang roper, until my senior year when the ncaa banned such groups, citing possibilities of "special treatment" for sought-after recruits. no, we did not have sex with the highschoolers. we wore unflattering red or white collared polos that were usually too big. it was totally innocent, i assure you.

anyway!

last season we were 5-6, with two or three games (including the one against balor, matt) that we definitely should've won.

all of this is really only mildly related to what i'm writing this blog to tell you.

so on with it, you say.

four players on smu's 2005 squad are involved in nfl rookie mini camps this weekend. two, linebacker dd lee and kicker chris mcmurtray (yes, he's the white one), are at valley ranch as we speak. i will be there tomorrow morning and hope to drop a friendly hello to those two. also, linebacker/d-back alvin nnabuife signed a free agent contract with the oakland raiders, which basically guarantees him a trip to their training camp this summer. finally, d-back rolando humphrey was invited along with 90 (!) other rookies to try out for the (booooo...) washington redskins.

also, go here to see lee and mcmurtray's names on the dallas cowboys website.

so, there you have it. good times.

wishing them the best of luck.

go ponies!

(sorry, i have no idea what the hell is up with the picture placement on this thing. but don't they look so nice in their ties? aww...)

an update on the whole "T-minus" thing.

we gave our apartment complex a 30-day notice that we are moving out.

yesterday, landon got a phone call from a very apologetic apartment manager saying that we have to give a 60-day notice.

what? since when? i have never heard of that.

i would try to fight it, citing that fact that no other apartment complex in the universe requires a 60-day notice so why does this one? but my will to fight "the man" has been beat down so much lately that i just sighed heavily and resigned myself to the way things have to be, even if i had exhausted myself fighting.

so...anyway, we're paying the month-by-month rate of rent for june, thereby putting us back 30 days on our road to financial freedom.

so check that whole T-minus thing from yesterday.

updated: T-minus 58 days until we move into the upstairs bedroom on rock hill road.

and for now i'm gonna hope it's still T-minus 360-some-odd days until a house.

but i'll be sure to keep you updated.

as if you're holding your breath for such updates.

yeah. right.

a message from a desperately missed bff. (she has red hair. you have a 50/50 shot.)

"reading your blog made me think that i need to tell you the following things:

1. i wish i could post messages to your blog.
2. i absolutely LOVE your new haircut. so chic. wish i could have the guts to cut my hair short.
3. i am also trying to lose a few pounds -- we should try to motivate each other.
4. your blog is a bookmark on my computer at work and at home.
5. i think we have the same glasses.

miss you!! love, me."

is it any mystery why i love her?

**note: she does type with correct capitalization. i lowercased - for the sake of consistency. and, OK, maybe i was a little bored. lay off.**

married (and graduated and working and...) and living with mom.

so it's inevitable that you will all find out. i mean, assuming there is a living, breathing human out there that actually reads this thing.

my first inclination is to try to keep it a secret.

but when my address changes and it takes me at least an hour to get to work and i never invite you over anymore, you'll realize it.

it's just a matter of time.

ok.. it's not that bad.

but i can't help but feel a hint of sheepishness creep in with this announcement:

landon and i are moving in with my mother.

there, i said it.

again, it's not that bad. i love my mom. she's one of my best friends. and she has a huge, beautiful house in prosper with plenty of room to share. and she's so kind to even consider letting her 23-year-old, married daughter with a college degree and a full-time job move back.

and it's only for nine months.

we're going to pay off this nagging credit card debit. that's what we're going to do. i'm convinved anyone who works for a credit card company is going to hell. there is nothing positive about credit cards. but don't get me up on that soap box. it's a long way down, and i don't think you have the time or the interest.

but we have interest - high interest - and it's disgusting us so much that we're taking drastic measures to eliminate it.

so here we are.

T-minus 28 days until we move into the upstairs bedroom on rock hill road.

and with that, T-minus 360-some-odd days until we purchase a house with zero credit card debt.

keep your eye on the prize, sarah. keep your eye on the prize...

sweating and spitting mad. plus a headache.

i would blog, but it has been the day from hell.

and i just can't get up the energy to write about it at this point.

plus our air conditoner has not worked all day and it's 90 outside.

not OK.

so... i'm not slacking. or forgetting.

i'm just refusing.

check back later after i cool off, literally and figuratively.

something i'm (semi) proud of, in case you're one of those people who asked for that sort of thing.

read me!

thanks a lot.

but i wonder how he knew my age.

just boasting that i managed to get on the famed dmn writer's live chat this morning:

sarahphenry:
Matt - Excellent job this weekend keeping up with the blog. It was extremely informative and entertaining at the same time. I was wondering...what are your opinions on the from-left-field announcement from Jerry that the Cowboys will be changing the offensive scheme to include two tight ends? Have you seen this scheme work? I'm imagining Glenn, Owens, Witten and the new Fasano as being a pretty intimidating foursome.

Matt Mosley:
S.P.H., Great to hear from a demographic I'm desperately attempting to reach: Women, age 22-65! But I appreciate the kind words. The one guy I'm not ready to put in that fearsome foursome is the aforementioned Fasano. Let's wait until at least the second week of training camp to put him in that group. Yes, I think the Cowboys will have more firepower than they've had in years, but you still have to keep Drew Bledsoe upright. And the Jones announcement wasn't all that exciting in my mind. Do you really get all jazzed when an owner leaves the "fullback business?" I know I don't. Thanks again.