Sunday, August 24, 2008

gettin' sh*t done!

J and I took the time to make a to-do list a couple of weeks ago because there was too much to do, and it wasn't getting done. The last couple of weekends have been dedicated to crossing things off that list, and it feels GOOD! Here's some of what we've done:

  • weed the front garden
  • remove caulk in back shower; re-caulk both bathrooms
  • severely trim the rosebushes and tree out front
  • clean out the closets in the whole house
  • pull together our large donations pile
  • haircuts and baths for both pups
  • cleaning/organizing/getting rid of junk in the guest room (mostly my stuff that's been with us through too many moves)-- that room looks SO much better!!
  • preparing for J's first week of school/the class I'm teaching this week
  • organizing our mail system
  • taking care of our paper problem in this house (lots of shredding, filing, and recycling going on around here)
There's a lot more to go, but it feels SO good to be so productive. Our goal is to get at least one item checked off our ongoing to-do list each night after work/school, and at least one major item done each weekend. We've got plenty to keep us busy for a while... we'll see how we do with that goal :)

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

flashback!

a little something funny for a Tuesday...

me, circa 1960 (when I was -22)

...and again in 1966.
wanna see what you would have looked like?
check it out

Sunday, August 17, 2008

Well, I guess we're stuck.

Yesterday we took a very big step in our relationship.

It only took: two visits to the DMV (during the first one all of the computers for all of the DMVs in our STATE were down), $28, the correct form of proof of address, and 3 years, 8 months, and approximately 19 days of living together.

For the first time, we now have the same address (that we actually live at) on our licenses.

HA!

Great way to celebrate the approaching first anniversary of home ownership, huh? We're really on the ball with this sort of stuff. We've both had our parents' addresses on our licenses for... well pretty much forever, and with all the moving around we did, it just didn't seem worth it to change them. But now that we actually live somewhere that we'll be for more than two years, and that we own (! still giddy about that, even a year later) we figured it was about time.

Nothing says commitment like a shared address in the eyes of the DOR. :)

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

why the horded posts?

Because my laptop sucks, that's why.
I keep thinking about the things I want to blog, but just to get rolling on these posts, it took FORTY-FIVE MINUTES (!!!) to get my laptop up and running and blogger open. I'm tempting fate right now, because I've been at it for an hour and a half (since I turned on the computer) and my computer hasn't frozen yet. (QUICK! knock on wood fast!!)

I could use J's desktop, but he's getting ready for fall classes and has syllabi to write, so I don't want to interrupt that flow.

So, for now you'll have to deal with all the posts that I've thought of for the last week and a half showing up all at once... and lots of time in-between. Google could also help my problem if they'd let me be logged in to my normal account AND my blogger account at the same time. It makes me crazy that I have to sign out and back in (because that usually takes me 15 minutes plus two computer freezes and restarts) in order to post or comment on other blogs. Bleh.

I would really like one of these pretty things:

but unless I win the lottery, it's not happening any time soon. And, it also doesn't help that also on my wish list are:


(not necessarily that exact one, but I need a sewing machine)

and


Not. gonna. happen.

a girl can dream though, right??


Things I adore...

I love to shop. And more than I love to shop, I love a good bargain.

That's why I'm a big fan of this awesome service that I was introduced to a week ago:

Shop it to me, baby!

I got the invite from a friend, and figured I would try it out. You go through and set your preferences (what brands/stores you like, what sizes you're looking for, what's the max you're willing to spend on something) and then decide how often you want to get the email update. I've been getting mine twice weekly, and though I have yet to buy anything, it's a nice way to get an update about your favorite stores when things are on sale!
So awesome. :) Totally worth checking out.

Form: sure, looks nice. A
Function: well, since I don't have to do anything, A+
Overall: A. It features mostly "pricer" brands, but they're all on sale, and I set my price limit at $200 so that I don't get lots of emails about $2000 purses. Still though, having the sales come to me is pretty sweet!

puppy update

A quick dog update:

Both dogs are doing better. Still not best buddies, but they play with each other now, and Bailey will intentionally jump down from the couch (his "safe place" since she can't jump up) to go play with her.

We saw Bentley (my brother and his girlfriend's dog and Rosie's brother from the same litter) last week, and he's getting so big! When we picked them up, you couldn't tell them apart-- they looked like twins. Now with Rosie's haircut and Bentley's growth spurt, they look so different!

According to the vet's office, Rosie is now just under a hefty 3 pounds! She still eats like crazy, but runs around so much, we're not surprised she's burning a lot of it off. :) We asked the vet about her weight, and she said it's a healthy gain, but she's so little, I do worry that she's eating enough.

Didn't get a chance to get a picture of both babies together, but here's Rosie, lounging with me on the couch:


At the request of my mother in law, here's Rosie with the remote control to show "scale." (We brought Bailey and Rosie over to their house on Sunday, and they were surprised how little she was!)
We have a big remote, btw.

I'll try to get pictures of them together soon.
:)

Christmas in ... AUGUST??!!?

So, I'm all about Christmas in July as I mentioned a few weeks ago. It's fun to listen to Christmas music, and even put up a tree for a day or two, all because the point is that it's funny because it's SIX MONTHS till Christmas.

Apparently Garden Ridge didn't get the memo.

I was there picking up something on Sunday, and here's what I walked in to:

(crap-tastic cell phone pictures, of course)

I walked in the door, in my shorts and tank top, sweating from the heat, and STRAIGHT into winter-wonderland, complete with blow-up lawn snow globes featuring characters from Winnie the Pooh. Woah. Talk about an assault to the senses.

I had a conversation with J last week about how I was excited for fall and to put up our fall/Halloween decor, and we debated whether the beginning of September was too soon. We concluded that it was pushing it a bit, but acceptable. I fully expected to see the fall and Halloween displays up at Garden Ridge. Not only did they also have Christmas on display, it was front and center, and the Halloween stuff was buried off to the side.

I'm all about extending the Christmas season, but this is CRAZY!!

Saturday, August 2, 2008

meet Rosie.

Rosie Marie
current weight: 2 lbs, 10 oz
favorite pastimes: bugging her brother, pouncing, eating, chewing, snuggling

Wow. Well, it's been quite the week, to say the least. I think we were fairly prepared for another little dog in our home, but it's still come with some adjustment. (As a side note: Anyone who has been bugging us about babies can just CHILL OUT because this has been a good reminder that we are NOT ready to selflessly give up our lives and our money for a kid just yet.)

My biggest fear was realized when she came home... Bailey thought she was fun for a while, until he realized that she wasn't going to stop pouncing on him trying to play. Bailey has been a sweetheart to her, never anything mean, but spent the first few days trying to avoid her as much as he could. I'm pretty sure he was thinking: "What in the heck is this thing, and please tell me it's not staying here. Simmer down whippersnapper!" That's kind of funny because HE was once the little puppy, and I know Riley (my parents' dog) felt that way about him. Ah, how the tables turn.
This was way closer than Bailey wanted to be for a few days...

So I spent quite a while worrying that we made the wrong choice. But a few days, a visit to the vet (Rosie's first check-up), and a lot of googling later, they started to warm up to each other, and I started to learn that it's normal for it to be like this for a couple of weeks whenever a new dog is introduced. We are making sure that they get plenty of seperate time with us, and Bailey gets tons and tons of love and praise when he's sweet to his sister. Every day, it's getting better, and I'm hopeful that someday they'll be buddies.

Rosie is... well... I think the best word for it is a spitfire. :) When we brought Bailey home, he was shy and didn't move around much and took a week or two to really "blossom" into his true personality. This little one showed up ready to party.
Rosie already telling us what's up.

Rosie will sprint around the house and is a ball of energy. That said, she does calm down and snuggle up in a sweet little lump:

She (as Evan put it) "runs on the same batteries" as Bailey- one minute super-active (though at 3 1/2 he's calmed down quite a bit!), then next, asleep. Rosie also LOVES to eat. It was hard to get Bailey to eat at first (small dogs are prone to hyperglycemia and it's important that they eat fairly often as puppies), but Rosie dove right in and has been chowing down ever since. We've been calling her Miss Piggy and Little Fatty. :)

Rosie has been great at crate and potty training so far-- she only cried her first night, and ever since she's been sleeping through in the crate with only a small whimper here or there. She hasn't quite mastered going potty outdoors yet (the grass was tall last week, but J cut it short and we think that will help), but she's a pro at the potty pads we put in the kitchen with her, so it's all good. She's quite content to spend a nice chunk of her day like her big brother, curled up in her bed in the study, but she always needs some toys to chew on.
We've been taking both dogs on a walk every night to help with their bonding (working well!) and wear them down before bedtime each night, and were surprised when Rosie DID THE WHOLE WALK on her first try! Granted, it wasn't a long walk, but getting Bailey to do a cul-de-sac in the beginning was hard. Most of the time she doesn't really run/walk, she hops and pounces, and frankly looks like a little frog. :)

We're very happy (albeit adjusting) as a new little family, and I think I'm going to like this feisty little girl... :)

Rosie's "baby" picture


For comparison, Bailey's baby picture:
Aw! He was so little!!

PS- Rosie got a haircut last night, and looks different now. :) I'll try to take some pictures and post soon! (but don't hold your breath...)

um, I lied.

So, I promised a post, and asked my (three) readers to "stay tuned" ...and then I didn't post. Wonder if anyone actually "stayed tuned." :)

Not that this makes it better, but I still have yet to email, text, facebook, myspace, upload or in any way distribute (other than showing other people the pictures on my cell phone) any Rosie pics. We've been busy. What's that they say about second time parents? ;)
So I hope the next post will suffice.