Bigger or Better: Life outside of Texas

When confronted with a decision between a pet dog and a pet cat, a comfortably-sedated girl chose the cat, no question. Forget the dog. My then-fiancé and I vaguely considered the same decision as we were evaluating what changes marriage would bring, and if apartment restrictions would make us choose. How can one choose a favorite child-from-two-separate-species-not-related-to-you? We decided we'd decide later. "Later" came without my permission and without our consent when I got word that my dog had run away from the pet sitter while I was out of town. She is an odd-looking dog (hairless except for a Mohawk), so I'm not sure anyone would take her in, but she was super smart and loyal and quiet and didn't lick people and she loved me. My cat does not have those qualities. She sheds a bunch even when I comb the loose hairs out; I find cat hair clinging electrostatically to edges of tea cups and on floor mats. Yes, she's around my leg. Sometime

To my future self: 1. You can survive detours from the planned path. Mark and I were supposed to meet my parents for lunch, but before we left we followed up on the low tire pressure signal light on my car...and found that both the back left and the spare tires were at 12psi--less than half of what they should be. Once we fixed that, we got on the tollway to get quickly up to the NW exit to Cypress. And found out on the exit ramp that the NW exit was completely closed, and that we were forced into the NE exit. Not where we wanted to go at all. Yay for Texas feeder road U-turns. 2. Some pictures are better than none. Not sure why I took this pic. But it's from the last reception! Mark. And part of Mark's parents 3. it's fine to go to someone's wedding reception even if you don't know them that well [but you should be invited. don't overlook that part]. The best time to get free food is when the hosting people are so happy that they want everyone