Thursday, November 24, 2005

Turkey Day

The party was great - a ton of fun with Millen having a bit too much to drink and threatening to get naked every 10 mins. Lots of food, people, booze, beer, and music. I didn't get home until after 1am - wicked late for me. :)

Millie and I are off to Cal's for Thanksgiving. Dad's already there and Keith is on his way.

Happy Thanksgiving!

D

Wednesday, November 23, 2005

heading out....

I had a 2nd opinion with a new spinal specialist today. I wish I could jump up and down and say I received good news, but that was not the case. Apparently there's nothing that can be done with the sole exception of annual radio frequency ablation procedures to manage the pain. Great. Like that doesn't hurt too.

So, I'm headed over to my cousin's house to imbibe a few (or many) cappucino martinis. Hopefully everyone will be oozing with holiday cheer and I can just forget that I'll have back problems for the rest of my life because some guy driving a cement co. truck couldn't stop in time.

Bah Humbug.

D

Sunday, November 20, 2005

What a week...

I'm feeling better, but am still not at 100% yet. I haven't been sick like that in years! I'm blaming it all on the flu shot that I got a week before I got sick. I've heard that you can't get the flu with a dead virus shot, but I'm not convinced.

I was supposed to go to training on Tuesday, but had to work instead. I was able to go on Thursday though and help out with agility. There's a beautiful Newfie in class - all black and about 130 lbs. She has a great personality and is really good natured around people, but not so much with other dogs.

I will have a full house today when yet another unwanted dog is dropped off for rescue. Charlie came back and Roxie is still here. I got an email from a shelter asking if I had room for one more. And the people who are dropping off a dog today want to drop off his daughter that another member of the family owns as well. I find myself having less and less faith in human nature seeing as much as I do. Rescue is a good thing, it saves dogs lives and gives them another chance. But it also gives people an out for their responsibilities. More and more people have more than one dog... they just want to give up the "bad" one - the one that they just expect to "behave" without any training, instruction, care, attention, or love. I can't stand it at times. I had a woman arguing with me on the phone about why her dog was digging holes to escape her fenced in yard. The dog isn't crated at any point, has full run of the house, with a doggie door to go outside during the day while they're not home. They haven't trained him, they don't exercise them other than letting them out into the yard, never play with him or throw a ball, and they wonder why he's bored and digging to get out, but argue with me when I tell them the reasons?? My compassion for animals has grown while my respect and love of humans has diminished.

I had a Flyball team meeting on Friday night to work out some drama currently happening in the flyball community. Many teams in our region want to boycott another team's tournaments because of how poorly run they are. They don't have people for the table or any judging positions and each tourney gets progressively worse. They charge a lot of money to race with nothing to show for it but working even more to keep the tourney running smoothly and on-time. So a private email went out about a boycott to most, if not all, of the team captains. I personally don't like sneaky shit like that. If there's a problem, try to deal with it first by talking to them. Apparently a person that knows this particular team's captain says it wouldn't be worth talking to them - they wouldn't listen and nothing would change. Which is fine, but at least let them know why people aren't signing up! How can anything be fixed if it isn't talked about? At least then people would be able to say that they tried. Gods I hate drama. This sneaky stuff is bullshit. I thought I left all of this crap in high school. I thought adults were supposed to know better. Another reason to dislike the human race.

Saturday was a much nicer day, thankfully. :) I was contemplating the structure of my day when my cousin called to see what I was doing. Since I hadn't started anything, I decided to go out and run errands with her. I had no plans on buying a single thing, but apparently that wasn't the way it was supposed to go. :) Needless to say, I bought a bunch of stuff as it was a very good shopping day, and I got 22 people knocked off my Xmas list!! Yay! I think I'm almost done - less than 10 people left I believe. I'll have to update my spreadsheet at work and then I'll know for sure.

After that, I did homework for a couple of hours, puttered around the house a bit, and got ready for 'Girls Gone Mild' poker night at Mary's. It was a bunch of fun of course. We ate a bit and played Michigan Rummy the whole night. That certainly brought my spirits up a bit. :)

Today I have that dog coming, and I'm supposed to pick up a gift for my Dad tonight. I have a ton of laundry to do, a bunch of cleaning (I hate cleaning!!!!) , and I was hoping to get everything packed up into the attic now that there is insulation up there. I have to take pictures of all the dogs and write up their bios to put them online. I also have a few proofs to add to Donna's site, I almost forgot about that.

Next week is Thanksgiving and for the first time, we're having it at my sister's house. We're also frying the turkey for the first time. Needless to say, it should be very interesting. :) I have a few side dishes to make that day, but I can do that in the morning. My cousin is having her annual Cocktail party the night before, which will of course be a really fun time. :) I will NOT, however, get sucked into playing that stupid Friends game like I did last year. It was just bad and I have to wonder about the people that know *that* much about a TV show. Who ever knew that a game about Friends could be so cut throat? ;)

I also have my reunion next week - ugh. I do not want to go and am seriously thinking of blowing it off. We just had one 3 years ago! Not all that much that has changed in the past 3 years that I feel the need to discuss with people I knew 15 years ago. But, I'm on the committee and I guess it wouldn't be fair to the other members if I didn't show up. So I'll go, alone, again. I'm sure it will be fun....

Time to get the day started :)

D

Saturday, November 12, 2005

flu?

I've heard that you can't get the flu from a flu shot - especially when they use a "dead" virus. However, I'm living (barely) proof that that statement is suspect.

I was out of work ALL week last week sick as a dog. It's Saturday, day 6 of the sickness and I'm not all that much better, except that I don't have a fever anymore. I called my doctor this morning and she called in a prescription for antibiotics and cough syrup. She asked why I didn't make an appt to see her, to which I asked if she would've been able to pick me up since there was NO way I was driving.

I was able to get out today and get all the insulation I needed for Steve to install tomorrow. Other than picking up my 'scripts, that's all I've been able to do. :( Although I did get through all of my email and got some homework done.

Ok, back to lying on the couch.... this sucks!

D

Tuesday, November 8, 2005

ugh

I woke up from a great weekend as sick as a dog.

I've been out of work 2 day and feel like crap. :(

Sunday, November 6, 2005

Great day :)

I leisurely rolled out of bed this morning, made myself some coffee and a bagle, and sat down with the newspaper. Perfect Sunday morning. :)

Still feeling really relaxed, I went to the supermarket for a few things I forgot the other day (STILL forgot kitty litter), and when I got home, started cleaning. (!) The kitchen looks good for a change, as does the living room. The spare room, well, that's another story. :) But that will look better once the insulation is added next Sunday and I can throw some of these boxes up there.

Joe & Ellin arrived around 2:30pm, sans Floyd (poor Millie.) We went to home depot and got everything needed for the additional basement lights. We stopped at the supermarket (again, as I forgot an ingredient for a new steak marinade I was trying), got gas, stopped at Newbury comics, and the beer store. (I'm so thankfully Joe works for beer and food :) )

Joe went right to work and had the 3 additional lights up before the pepperoni bread was ready. He also added a few more outlets while he was at it. :) I got everything else prepared for dinner and we sat down to a tasty meal of steak tips, garlic butter potatoes, baby carrots, and asparagus. I really out did myself today, if I do say so myself. :) Since Joe had seconds, I'm guessing he thought it was yummy too. :)

Then we threw on some tunes and played Michigan Rummy until 9:30pm. We had a great time. :) All in all, it was a great day! Of course, it would've been an awesome day if I didn't have to clean. :)

Roxie went around the table and sat on everyone's laps multiple times, so she's doing better. It took her a few minutes to not be afraid of Joe & Ellin but obviously she got over it. :) I'm still not letting her out in the yard without a leash yet; that will come in time.

So now I'm sleepy and I'm going to head to bed, read for a bit, and then pass out. :)

D

Saturday, November 5, 2005

cleaning sucks...

At least I can see the top of my filing cabinet (aka kitchen table)! You can also see the floor, but I never got to the dishes. oh well :)

Roxie is now here, but she doesn't like me very much. She's very scared, which is normal, but she'll get over it within the next day or two. She's currently hiding in her crate having a little quiet time.

I was supposed to go to Home Depot today and get all the lights for the basement that Joe is going to install tomorrow. I'm hoping he and Ellin won't mind taking a trip before we start as I'd really like his advice on which ones to get. After that, I won't have to be afraid of my basement anymore! Yaaaay!

The weather was beautiful today! I had the back door and front bay windows open for most of the day. It just got chilly though, so they're closed and I'm going to go hang out with the dogs under a blanket. :) Dog heat rocks. :)

I'm off to catch up with Tivo and see what I missed this week. :)

D

p.s. - I updated my website a bit; added a page for Payton, updated Freddie's titles, etc., etc. Go see and let me know if you like his bio. :)
There was an explosion at the back door today; it was in the form of 4 dogs going bonkers. The cause? A squirrel, innocently sitting on the deck. By the ruckus it caused, you would have thought a meat wagon crashed into my backyard. Freddie is the worst as his prey drive is soooo much higher than all the others. Millie, being the typical hound-mix, loves to tree them and let me know what she's done by this incredibly different bark of hers. Skootchie, the referee of the family, just stood there and told the other dogs to knock it off. Didn't work. Payton really had no clue why everyone was so animated so he barked to go along with everyone else, and then ran circles around Millie, barking, while she did her treeing bit. Thankfully my neighbors are A) dog people, and B) understanding. :)

Today, Roxie is coming to stay for a while until she can find a forever home. Her owners are having their first child and found out that Roxie is *not* good with children. I also have to call on the 8lb escape artist. It's on the list of things to do for today.

What I really have to do is get my @ss in gear. I spent the morning doing homework for the new class - without coffee! So I really need to get a cup of Java and start cleaning the disaster area otherwise known as 'my kitchen.'

I wish I had a cleaning person....sigh.

D

Friday, November 4, 2005

Testing....

My blogger has decided not to post any more documents to my server. This is a test. :)

Thursday, November 3, 2005

Quick update

A quickie after scarfing a PB&J sandwich and before grabbing a glass of milk and heading off to training. Home Depot still has something in the moving packets, but it isn't coupons anymore. They now give you this card to fill out and they'll send you the coupon in 4-5 weeks. Phooey.

However, I did find out that they're having some insulation promotion - if one purchases at least $250.00 worth of insulation, one will get a $75.00 Home Depot Gift Card in the mail.

Sweeeet!

That's better than a 10% coupon!

Agility went well, every dog seemed to grasp targeting pretty easily so we were able to give them some time on the equipment. There's a beautiful Newfie in class - so friendly and sweet! I love *huge* dogs. :)

'k, *now* it's time for bed!

D

no fire last night :(

Someone (me) had forgotten that there were some fixes moving into production last night and that someone (me again) had to work. Thankfully there were no issues and it only took 85 mins. So, no fire for me. Phooey. My next house *will* have a fireplace!

The birds have been missing for 2 days now so I'm assuming Bubo is back. I haven't heard him though, but that's all I can think of.

I got, and completed, my first week's assignments for the new class. It's going to be torture to participate in this one....

Steve (my friend Jessica's husband) is coming over on the 13th to install insulation in the attic. I have to remember to pick up baffles (I think that's what they're called.) He does that house building/repairing stuff for a living so I'm much more comfortable with him up there than me. :) It just takes one mis-step and there goes your ceiling.... that's something I would do. :)

But I am going to ask him if he would be interested in making my half wall into a book case. Another one of those some day ideas. :)

Tonight I have to teach agility at dog school. Thankfully there's only one class so I'll be home by 8:30 or so. I don't know why, but I've been very tired this week. I know some of it was from all the yard work, but I'm puzzled by the other half.

Tomorrow Holly, Rob, & I are taking a ride up to American K9 to do some extra flyball training with Payton & Sammi. There are a few things that Freddie does that I want to make sure don't happen with Payton - double striding on the return, no box turn to speak of at all. I'm not worried about the double striding part, that's really inconsequential. It's the lack of a box turn that has me worried. Not having a good swimmer's turn on the box means that Freddie is taking the impact of him hitting the box in his shoulders; and he hits that box *hard*!

Saturday is cleaning day - and Home Depot day. Speaking of which, I need to take a ride to the Post Office today and see if they have any of those 10% off your entire purchase coupons for HD.
Every little bit helps when you're spending hundreds at one time. :)

'k, that's it for now. :)

D

Wednesday, November 2, 2005

bunch of small stuff I keep forgetting to write about

In no particular order....

For the first time (while I've been home), I had Mourning Doves and female cardinals on my deck eating from the feeder. The Mourning Doves were actually just picking up the seeds from all of the other messy birds. They're good cleaners. :)

Freddie did great at the flyball tourney - he was solid 99.9% of the time, which is excellent. We didn't stay for the costume contest as Rob & Holly wanted to get home to watch the game ( I dunno which game... or what sport....). I was pretty much done by the end as well so I really didn't care. :)

I left work early on Mon & Tues because the weather was incredible and I thought it would be a good time to get the rest of my yard work done. I mowed the lawn, mulched leaves, weed whacked everything, and then swept it all up. It's actually looking pretty darn good, if not a little brown. :)

I finally finished my paper after a million revisions and editing sessions. I'm not sure that I'm all that happy with it but I don't know what else to do with it. They say you are your own worse critic and I think that's very much the case here. I guess I'll find out Monday when I get my grade for it. Here's hoping to keep that perfect GPA. :)

Payton was supposed to come with me to training last night but he pissed me off so I left him home and took Skootchie instead. She had a BLAST! I forget how much training she hasn't had, and just how much she loves working for food. I'll have to start swapping them out I guess. :)

Joe & Ellin are coming over on Sunday to work on the lack of lighting in my basement (Joe's an electrician.) Ellin and I will hang out or go tax-free shopping if we have time. I don't think it's going to take him a long time, so maybe we can just hang out, eat, play cards, and sit by the firepit. :)

Speaking of firepit, I'm considering having a bit of a flame tonight. It's not 70 degrees like yesterday, and it's only supposed to get down to the 50's tonight. I don't have any plans so I'm thinking the kids and I should enjoy a fire tonight. :)

I found out what's expected of me for my next class - WEB 111. What a huge waste of my time and money. I called the school today to see if there was any way at all that I could test out of it, but they don't have a test for it. I told them I'd be willing to do all the homework and the final project in a week and pass it in but they said No. So I have to be bored for the next 6 weeks with this stupid introductory class. What a shame.

My reunion is coming up at the end of this month. I really don't want to go as we just had one 3 years ago. But, I'm on the committee so I have to. That'll teach me to open my mouth. Honestly, the worst part is having to go alone. It's not acceptable to be single at this age - I should be having my 3rd or 4th baby or something. Oh, and having 4 dogs doesn't count, btw. What fun!

I spent Sunday the 30th with Sue as it was her 30th birthday (30 was an awesome year for me.) Aunty Kathy, Sue & I went out to breakfast and then hung around her house from about 2pm on, cooking, talking, chatting - just having a good time. :)

ok, back to work for now. :)

D