About lola

I’m occasionally asked how I came to acquire Lola. It is a long story, and it starts with a Beetle.

What’s that?  A Beetle you say? 

I had wanted a red convertible since I was a little girl. In my 40s I decided I needed it before I turned 50, and that it would be a VW Beetle. After two months of searching nationwide, I found the perfect-for-me Beetle. It was at CarMax in Kansas and I asked them to ship it to the North Houston branch. 


To make a long story slightly shorter, the car was destroyed in transit so I had to find something else.  I couldn’t find another suitable Beetle at CarMax or otherwise. Allan suggested I might like a MINI instead so I looked at those on the CarMax site and found a suitable red convertible with turbo in California. They had it shipped to the North Houston branch at no charge and told me that they would fix anything I found wrong with it within the first 30 days. This car was a 2009 model and had plenty wrong with it.  They fixed everything but I was without my car for quite a bit of time soon after purchasing it. 
Once they got the bugs worked out and I was able to spend enough time with her to get to know her, I decided her name was Lola.

Her name is Lola. She is a showgirl. 

A showgirl gots to have some bling. Allan painted her brake calipers a gorgeous red.  I got her chrome letters to spell her name on the left side of the boot.   Not much later we took her to get dressed up Hawaiian style with new racing stripes on the bonnet and tribal tattoo stripes on each side. 

Lola’s first trip or outing other than to work and the store was with our club, the Houston MINI Motoring Society. We and thirty of our closest MINI friends (and their drivers) went on a dam tour. We met in Livingston and drove to Sam Rayburn and then to Toledo Bend. It was a long, fun, and sunburned day for those of us in convertibles.

She is a great car and so exhilarating , and she encourages me to always make sure that I’m fun enough to deserve her. 

Frida’s big adventure

So I  get to the office this morning and start feeding all the cats and quickly come to realize that I cannot find Frida. I look in all the usual places she hangs out and can’t find her, so then I start looking in unusual places like closed closets, closed cabinets, under furniture and so on.  No Frida.

After 10 or 15 minutes of this searching I’m a frantic mess.  Where could she be?  Is she hurt?  Is she trapped somewhere?  

And then I see it, A big gaping hole where a window pane used to be. I look through the hole and see the window pane on the ground below. Oh no. Frida has escaped!  

With cup of chow in hand I head outside to look for her. I rattle the chow, calling “Frida.  Frida!  FRIDAAAAAAA!!!”  Of course this attracts every cat in the yard. I hear the faint jingling of collar tags and follow the song to the side of the building and there she is, under the house. I approach her and of course she retreats further into the dark damp abyss. Damn. Thompson is determined to protect me from this horrid beast he knows I call Frida, hiding behind me, hissing and snarling. Thanks for the help, TomTom. 

She is interested in the chow I carry, but not at all keen on the idea of  being scooped up. I figure I might as well let her eat. I pour a puddle of the meow chow on the sidewalk and here she comes. I let her eat a few bites before I scoop her up and head inside. I was sure she would shred me to pieces, especially with Thompson following alongside, still snarling and hissing.  Thankfully I only suffered some slight shoulder piercings, which I happily accepted.

Finally back inside, she is all about her creature comforts she has come to love:  food in a bowl, water in a bowl, indoor litter box. Brother Pablo was so happy to see her, would not leave her side and could not stop sniffing all over her.  Exhausted from a night on the lamb, she is resting quietly in her favorite box of paperwork. 

All’s well that ends well. Now to fix that blasted window pane. 

Hello April!

Ahh a new month, fresh opportunities to set new goals and prepare for the season ahead.

  1. Plant some seeds! Either literally or figuratively or both. How nice to watch your dreams come to fruition as you watch your little seeds break through the soil and put on tiny leaves and buds. Set some goals and get your hands in the dirt.
  2. Declutter! Clutter can cause anxiety, inhibit creativity, and let’s face it, the more clutter you have around, the more time you will waste trying to find anything! Now is the time to go through your closets, your drawers, etc. and organize it all into three piles: things to keep, things to trash, things to donate. Never use a rented storage building as long term storage for anything that isn’t increasing in value.
  3. Deep clean! Now is the time to wash down your walls and cabinets, mop those floors and follow up with some Florida water, vacuum and steam clean the carpets, vinegar wash your mirrors and windows. Don’t forget to change your ac filters, they’re probably full of pollen this time of year. Finish it off with a nice smudge of white sage or palo santo. While your still in the scrubbing zone, do your car/bicycle/motorcycle/scooter or what have you.
  4. Banish those bad habits! I know I for one definitely have a list of things I need to do away with, like staying up too late, not always being mindful of what I put in my body, procrastinating on projects and chores. Write them on a bay leaf and burn it away.
  5. Visualize! Close your eyes and imagine your dreams and goals for this month coming true. Picture how you will look. Think about how you will feel. Now connect the dots to get from where you are now to where you want to be. See yourself going through the steps. Manifest!

A special day with Jennifer

My dear friend Jennifer came to visit me on Saturday for an early birthday  celebration.

We had a 3 hour lunch at Olive Garden.  I bet they were glad to see us go!

Then we went shopping, what fun we had!

When we got back home I showed her my paintings and let her choose one.

She later sent me pictures of it hanging in her office.  I love it!

 

Happy birthday Allan!

Sunday July 15, Day 9 of  road trip, day 2 of MTTS and Allan’s 51st birthday

So excited, today is gonna be a great day.

Had breakfast at the gas station where we also fed Buster. Got to morning rally early, got our pins, and hit the road!  Didn’t wait for the others.

Northern California was absolutely magical. We hiked a little trail through the redwoods and ferns. It was chilly, drizzly, I felt like a tiny fairy in a magical fairy garden. Didn’t want to leave  but go we must

Found a subway for our lunch  Allan shared with a nice homeless man who was so thankful.

We drove down the avenue of the Giants and and also found a drive through tree for Buster photo op.

Late and tired we got to Sacramento and found our hotel which unbeknownst to us was actually a hostel with shared bathrooms and such.  Uh no.  We found a room at a quality inn and never looked back