So the puppers is home! Jason and I are both SO happy to have him back. The kennel LOVED him. When I paid the guy said, “So are you excited to bring him home?” And I said, “YES! So excited!!!” and he laughed and said, “I was kind of hoping you’d say you weren’t because then I’d say keep your money and we’ll keep the dog - because he is such a cool dog.” I love how much other people love him! It makes me proud of him even though I know that I can’t really take credit for how cool he is - he was just born that way! His trainer was sad to see him leave too - he said, “I’m going to miss him! He’s my buddy! And picked him up and hugged him.”
So is he trained now? Well, not exactly. I sent him there for his aggression issues when he sees other dogs. He is still aggressive which peeves me a little bit. Granted, he listens to us a LITTLE bit better now… but he still FREAKS out at other dogs. We’re going to try the “It’s Me or the Dog” trick of giving him chicken every time he sees another dog. Maybe it’ll work.
That said, Rufus is now a much better listener. He sits on command nearly all the time. He heels a bit better. When we walk him, if we stop he will sit and look up at us. He sits and waits for us to enter doorways instead of flying through them before us. He is better at not jumping up on people unless they invite him. We’re also trying to get him to not get on the couch unless he’s invited - but that’s going to take a little bit of work 
So last weekend Jason and I got a new bed frame from Ikea. I love it. This picture actually has 3 headboards (all on top of each other and mounted on the wall) and we only have one - but now I want 3. It’ll just take a little bit of saving.
We borrowed my parents’ Volvo to get it… and in the process 3 horrible things happened: #1: I drove the wrong way on 95 getting home for about 20 mins so I wasted lots of gas, #2: in the process, Jason realized that part of the box was broken and the wood inside was cracked so we had to return it (which made the fact that we had to pass it again not as bad), and the worst of all #3: I dropped the car key down the elevator shaft when we were unloading it to move it into our apartment. It’s a $400 key. After fretting about this since Sunday, this morning I found out that the wonderful elevator mantainence man came and got the key out without charging me (which would have been $300/hour). I am SO happy. The back of the key cracked off so I ordered a new one from ebay just to replace the part which was only $40. So that’s all I had to pay. I am THRILLED beyond belief because I was afraid I’d have to spend 100’s to get a new one.
I think Jason and I are going to take a week off in November to visit Baby Belle which is SO exciting! More news on that soon when we actually get the okay to get off from work!
Oh, and one other thing - I finished Rufus’ sweater! Haha. 
Categories: life updates
Tagged: Rufus, knitting, ikea, bad luck, mandal, volvo key, dog training
Jason and I moved into our new place on Sunday. The day was a nightmare. Basically, our AC in the new place was broken so we couldn’t leave the apartment when really we needed to get our stuff packed up and out of our old one. We wasted time having to wait for the maintenance man figure out how to fix it, which made us end up moving until 1:00 am. LONG, MISERABLE day.
Anyway, we’re mostly moved out. We are going to finish moving everything else out tonight. I thought I didn’t like the new place as much as the old one… but I do like it. It’s a nice change and the sizes of the rooms are much smarter than the old place. My only gripe about it is that it’s handicap accessible so there are no doors under the sinks which is kind of strange-looking. I’ll figure something out to make them look normal. I’m not too worried about it. Our closet is also massive. MASSIVE. I love it.
Our old landlords found someone to rent the place next year. Coincidentally, the girl who is moving in is actually moving out of our new place. Random. It’ll be nice though because they’ll be off of our backs now.
I can’t wait to just be completely moved, unpacked, and have Rufus around again. This weekend will be awesome. I will have everything unpacked by Saturday night probably… and I’ll have my doggie around again (we pick him up on Friday), and it’ll be a 3 day weekend! Can’t get much better than that!!!
Categories: life updates
Tagged: ac, landlords, moving, packing, unpacking
Jason and I dropped Rufus off for doggie boot-camp yesterday morning. We are concerned about his behavior (VERY aggressive) towards other dogs when he is on a leash and decided to get him professionally trained. He is now at camp for two weeks. I sobbed when I walked out of the place. I’ve had awful anxiety too. Yesterday it thunderstormed and I called the camp twice asking if he was okay because he freaks out at the sound of thunder. I even called the vet and had them prescribe medicine for him while he is away at camp. Basically, I am probably 10 times more anxious worrying about Rufus being anxious than he actually is. I’m trying to calm down, but it’s hard. I had to take Tylenol PM to actually get my brain to shut up and sleep last night.
Jason and I are preparing to move out of our current place and into a new apartment. It’s a looong story as to why we are moving (we wanted to stay), but it all boils down to having kind of obnoxious landlords. Anyway, it’ll be a good thing. We’re moving to Shirlington which is less than a mile away from our current place, but is an adorable little part of Arlington. I look at it like it is the “new Clarendon.” It has lots of cute shops and even more are in the process of being added. Our apartment even has a grocery store right downstairs! The newest Arlington library is in Shirlington, as well as the newest bus depot - which means that I’ll get to wait for the bus in lovely covered, temperature-controlled surroundings! The biggest dog park is right across the street, as well as a Caribou Coffee and lots of other restaurants. The place isn’t quite as nice as our current one, but the location more than makes up for it.
We just got back from visiting my grandparents on the Vineyard - it was only 4 days but it was nice to get away for a little bit. Jason had never been there, so we hit all of the cool spots - the glass and pottery places, Alley’s Store, Morning Glory, the cutesy ginger-bread houses in Oak Bluffs, the dike bridge, the Chappy Store, and the dock. We walked around Edgartown and got ice cream at Mad Martha’s, bought fudge, went sailing, clamming, and beach walking, and even ate lobster and swordfish. Chilmark Chocolates was closed and the mosquitoes were extra awful so we missed the Japanese gardens - but there is always next year!
We would have stayed longer but we were unsure of our vacation plans for the rest of the year. We were thinking we would go to the beach for a week again, but that’s not going to happen because we have to move and we would have to leave Rufus behind. So now we are planning to drive down to Asheville in late October/November to see Matt, Emily, and Baby Belle when she is born. We’ll spend time with the little one as well as do some touring around since we didn’t get to the last time we were down there (for their wedding). Emily’s baby shower was the other weekend and I had problems not buying entire stores of baby supplies. Baby stuff is just so cute! And I’m gonna be an auntie! YAY!
Categories: life updates
Tagged: Arlington, baby belle, Caribou, dog training, doggie boot-camp, Martha's Vineyard, moving, Rufus, Shirlington
It’s really not all it’s cracked up to be. I am extremely thankful that we are given the opportunity to do so, and I’ll continue to do it because I hate having Rufus cooped up in his crate, but I really miss the human interaction of the office. It’s just not the same to communicate via phone and net!
That said, this is the one reason I love it:
He sits under my desk and stares at me and then jumps up for pets. Too cute 
Categories: life updates
Tagged: Rufus, working from home
Work has been INSANE!!!! The website is in its final stages - its deadline is June 9. The past couple of weeks have been filled with non-stop website work. It was nice to have the Memorial Day weekend to chill out and relax. Jason, Rufus, and I went down to the lake to hang out with his family and friends. Jason’s cousin, Kerri and her friend Emily were in town from NYC and drove down with us. The drive that usually takes 1.5 hours took 5.5. It was AWFUL. Once we got there we had a good time though. Unfortunately, the bad traffic on the way down made us (and many other people) want to leave earlier than planned so that we would miss it coming back.
Anyway, there were a LOT of people there. We filled 2 houses, 2 RV’s, and 2 tents. At one point there were 8 dogs there, so Rufus was having a blast!!! Of course, I have no pictures to show for it. I know there were lots of pictures taken, however, because Zack and Sophie (aged 9 and 5, respectively) were taking people’s cameras and shooting pictures for hours upon hours. Hopefully I can get my hands on some of them.
Cindy and Emily were both there and showing off their baby bumps!!!! I squeeled when I saw both of them. Emily found out that they are having a girl - so I’m going to be an auntie to a little niece (I know, my title isn’t official yet, but it will be someday)!!! I made baby booties and a baby hat for her two weekends ago. I’m very proud of my work because they were the first non-square things I have ever knitted and they turned out perfectly! I’ve been in the knitting mood, so this weekend I started a baby blanket. It’s baby blue. I’m convinced Cindy is having a boy. If she doesn’t… well… I’ll make some pink baby booties and a hat for her and eventually someone will have a boy that will enjoy the blanket!
Cindy is still thinking about having me as her doula. It will be very cool if it happens, but if it doesn’t, it doesn’t. I want her to have the birth she wants and if it doesn’t include me then that is perfectly okay! We talked about it a bit and I lent her one of my doula books so that she could read up about it.
I had some of my stomach-cramping issues while we were there. I really need to see a gastroenterologist about it. It’s SUCH awful pain - I can’t imagine labor is any worse. It feels like someone is wringing my intestines out. Either that or just ripping them to shreds. God, it’s so freaking painful. So, I’m finding a doctor this week. I’ve had enough of it!
Tae Kwon Do is going great. Next week I will be testing for my yellow belt - woo! Last week I got a pretty big bruise on my hand from hitting targets - ouch! I also popped my knee out a bit from missing the target on a kick - ouchx2! Anyway, I really enjoy it. I really like two of the girls in the class that are near my level (one is white and one is yellow).
Hooray!
Categories: life updates
Tagged: baby blanket, baby booties, baby hat, doula, knitting, memorial day weekend, pregnancy, stomach cramps, tae kwon do, the lake, the website, traffic, work, yellow belt
i live a life where i’m afraid of not having a clean, safe place to live in. but sometimes i wish i could just live in a shack or a tree house. i’d find ways to survive. i’d find a tarp when it rains. i’d ride my bike to get places and buy a big basket for it to carry the things i need. i’d take my dog with me and knit him an ugly sweater so he stayed warm even though i hate it when people dress their dogs. he’d freeze otherwise. but i don’t even know how to knit anything other than blankets and scarves so i’d have to just make a big scarf and wrap it around him and tie it closed. i could learn to knit sweaters for myself and wear lots of layers and ripped jeans. i’d make fingerless gloves and a hat and i wouldn’t match. then again, it’s just now starting to get warm.
i’m not too sure where i’d shower.
and i think i’d have to work a minimum wage job so that it would be okay to look sort of homeless at work.
i wish i didn’t have so much CRAP. i used to be so sentimental and i kept so much stuff that i didn’t need, but that’s slowly changing and i’m slowly throwing things away that i don’t need.
i should have done this in college. now i need suits and stylish clothing for work. i need purses and shoes to match. i need to look good so that i’ll stay employed. i should sell things or give them away. sell everything i don’t need and give away what i can’t sell other than what i need to seem “normal” at work. i don’t need 15 purses. i really only need one. i don’t need 7 water bottles.. i should just re-use one. i don’t need 2 ipods, 2 laptops, 40 lip balms, and 50 thousand pens. i don’t need 20 pairs of pjs. in fact, i don’t need pjs at all. plenty of people sleep in their clothes. i could sleep in sweatpants and a t-shirt.
i want to stop buying food and eat everything in my pantry until it’s gone. then i want to start fresh and just buy what i need for the week. don’t the french do that daily? i want to know what it’s like to worry about not having food. i want to see what it’s like to not have a disposable income. i want to worry about feeding my dog and forgo buying superflous things i don’t need in order to do so.
i feel like things might be so much more simple in a world like that. and i don’t mean that poor people have simple lives. i just mean that maybe, if i spent money like i was only earning minimum wage i would learn to appreciate the things i take for granted. i need to put my credit card in a locked box and only use cash. i’ll give myself a set income for a week and see how far i can stretch it. then maybe i can learn to live without the things i really don’t need.
Categories: thoughts
Tagged: fingerless gloves, going green, green, hippy, hippy chick, income, knit, knitting, minimum wage, money, poor, sell, tree house
Saturday was the first time I ever watched the Kentucky Derby. It was also the last. Ms. Linda had a party so I went early and helped put it together. She was very excited and had a bunch of people over. We placed bets and ate derby pie and all that fun stuff. I put bets on Eight Belles to win since she was the only filly in the race (and I like her name). Well, she came in second right before she hurt all of her ankles and had to be put down. NEVER WATCHING HORSE TORTURE AGAIN!!!! I was crushed. Absolutely crushed. I can’t believe it. It’s so wrong to push animals so hard that they hurt themselves. I’m so upset about the whole thing.
Bryan and I were talking about it and he said how pretty she was - all black with a little bit of white in her tail. I thought she was grey, so I looked for pictures of her online. And of course the picture I found was one of her collapsing. HORRIBLE! Not what I want to see. Just for the record, she was dark grey.
I agree with PETA’s suggestions about the sport… but I don’t agree about blaming the jockey. I bet he’s just as wrecked about the whole thing as the owners and trainer. I did see a shadow shot of him where it looked as though EB stumbled or tripped or something and he threw his arms out for balance, but I still don’t think it’s his fault. How would he have known that she actually hurt herself and not just tripped? Still, like I said, I agree that there should be some changes made to the sport to make it safer for the horses. It’s not right that 2 horses have died in the past 3 races. I’m mad that people are saying, “it doesn’t happen that often.” Well, color me stupid if I’m wrong, but those seem like pretty high odds of death to me.
Bryan came back home with Jason and I to watch Cloverfield (eh, not that good in my opinion but they love it) and spend the night so that we could all go see Iron Man on Sunday with Mr. Terry and Denver. It was pretty good. I enjoyed it. The X-Men movies are still my favorite Marvel movie, though. I really like Batman Begins too… not sure if that is Marvel. Anyway… It was the first movie I had seen in the theater since the last Harry Potter movie came out last summer, so it was really good to be sitting in the theater again.
Bryan also found the need to torture my dog. Rufus has his own blanket which pads his crate. When he’s not crated he pulls it around with him like a little tot. He also chews on it when we’re not paying attention, so there are a number of holes in it. Bryan threw the blanket on top of Ru and laughed while he tried to find his way out. Eventually, he found one of his holes and stuck his head out of it. It was actually kind of funny… silly dog!
Last night I was laying in bed and just knew it was going to be one of those nights where I couldn’t fall asleep. It’s frustrating because only until very recently I had been sleeping very well and falling asleep within a normal amount of time. I hope this doesn’t continue. I don’t know why it’s happening.
Categories: life updates
Tagged: dog, eight belles, iron man, kentucky derby, movies, peta, Rufus, sleep
sometimes i wish the world was black and white. or maybe that everything in only one or two dimensions was only black and white and gray and that everything else stayed in color. that way, real life would be colorful. we might appreciate it more. then the black and white things, the less important things in life wouldn’t seem so vibrant but they would unearth complexity in thought that you wouldn’t have if they were colorful.
Categories: thoughts
Tagged: black, black and white, color, life, white, world
So I went to a Hanson concert last night - I think it was my 7th show, although you could argue it was my 8th if you count a 5 or so set for a radio show. Anyway, it was awesome. They continue to amaze me while the fans continue to scare me. It was at the State Theatre, which is right next to Clare and Don’s - the restaurant where Mai works. So of course the whole staff at C&D’s was like “geezus, Hanson fans are FREAKS!!!!” Yeah, pretty much.
I totally forgot my ID. Stupid. I needed to pick my tickets up from will call AND it was an 18+ show, so I really needed it. One of the guys at the door just let me in without my ticket because I probably wouldn’t have even been able to get them without my ID. Sweet. Thank goodness for Mai and her connections. Of course, he let me in without a ticket but still x-ed my hands. You’d think I’d learn by now to bring my ID. That’s not even close to the first time I’ve had to get a gigantic underage stamp when I’m not underage.
I bought a shirt. It’s cute. Doesn’t even say Hanson on it - just Georgia. I adore that song. I’m pretty sure the shirt is in boy sizes, so even though it’s a cute style, the sleeves are really quite long. Long enough to look stupid. So, I’ll just cut ‘em!
They played until quarter to one. I am exhausted this morning. Of course, waking up with my makeup and hair still done made the morning a bit easier! Haha!
The show was - unsurprisingly - amazing. I could go on and on about it… but the bottom line is that Hanson concerts make me feel like nothing else can. There’s some deep personal emotion that gets stirred up in me every time I see them. It is undoubtedly a result of having grown up with the band and grown up as a fan of the band. Being a fan of Hanson while growing up is something only fans who were tweens in ‘97 will ever understand. It’s a satisfying thing to look back on for a number of reasons that I won’t even go into… but it all comes down to passion.
When I was getting dressed this morning I saw my stack of old Hanson shirts (which I eventually want to cut up and make into a quilt with Mrs. Bell’s help). The one on top (the filmstrip there on the left) made me smile - they were so little!!! And to think… when my fandom started I was that little too… those were the days…
Categories: life updates · memories
Tagged: concert, hanson, state theatre
