my very first stitches...

I've made it 32 years without getting stitches, but today the streak was broken.

I had Kim, Jazmine and Bentley over this morning for a short visit this morning and Jazmine and Kota had a "tiff"... I got in the middle of it and now courtesy of my favorite Sharpei mix, I have 2 stitches in my left forearm. I am having pain all the way up to my shoulder. I passed out in the dining room and was out for about 2 minutes according to Kim. I got a tetnis shot, 2 stitches, pain meds and antibiotics.... And yet I'm at work now. Till midnight. Joy.

Ouch.

stupid dogs.

starting over...

I mailed off my application for the CWCCA again... since being advised they were having a meeting in January, I thought this might be a good time to get my app back into circulation... Let's see if anyone objects to my membership this time.... now that I've had a chance to be a big mouth ;-) In the reason why I wanted to be a member I stated " I wish to reinstate my membership that lapsed in 10/07. I wish to continue receiving the benefits of membership" :) I will kiss no one's boo-tay thank you :) "oooh please let me in your club.... " ha. If they deny me membership, well then? *shrug* Just means I have no by-laws by which to abide ;-) I doubt they'll deny me, but sometimes it's fun to think about the flip side of things :)
I shall keep you all posted... and I'm sure you all will see my name come through in the newsletter soon enough :)

first time in a year

I haven't been sick since last year at Christmas time.... I thought I was doing so well.... I'm fighting the good fight, but I think I'm slowly losing the battle.... Airborne couldn't catch it, and Theraflu is keeping it at bay right now.... but there is an underlying ICK.... you know that feeling.... that feeling of being borderline REALLY sick.... and wouldn't you know it, I have to work because I have no sick time... :( I'm tired and run down and groggy from Theraflu... but its the only thing that helps.... I can't believe I drove to work today.... don't remember it.... scary.

In the meantime Sis is a great love bug since her last cycle and the boys are romping like any good boys should. Kota is showing Chance in no uncertain terms that while Chance may be bigger, Kota is definitely ruling the house with an iron paw. He's firm yet fair. They are LOVING their new house and their new yard. They spend more time in the yard than they EVER did at the other house, and they romp and roll in the grass and have a grand time. Now I feel bad for having not had grass before.

The lemon-house-from-hell saga continues... tho I haven't shared this publically up to this point... When I moved in the light in the master bedroom didnt' work. Not a major deal, toss a lamp in there and get it fixed when it can get fixed. Then the guest bathroom toilet wouldn't flush. Got a plumber out and he found an old cell phone battery in there! The built in microwave shoots sparks and flames (yes, seriously). The hand held sprayer on the kitchen sink broke (had stress fractures) and finally got that fixed on Christmas Eve. Now the silverware drawer broke last night. It seems that it never ends with this house. Add to this I'm missing screens on the sliding glass door and the master bedroom window. I heard the previous tenants trashed the place, but GOODNESS! So now i'm left to pick up the peices I guess. I like the house tho... and once all this piddly crap is taken care of, it'll be all that much better :)

Enough ranting for one night.... and since this has taken just shy of forever to get done, I will quit while I'm ahead. I got nice stacked pictures of Chance the other day... I'll post them another time :)

glowey eyes

I thought this was so funny.... if you look in the center of the front part of the picture, you'll see glowy eyes... that's Kota ;)
And here he is again, just a little closer up, modeling our yard decor that I found motivation to put out tonight ;-)

Being domestic tonight... making goodies to take to work this weekend...

you really must see this....

I elfed us...

I can't stop laughing....

the kids go to see Santa :)

We subjected Santa at PetSmart to the three kids... they were really well behaved.... I was SO impressed with them :) Didn't it turn out SO great? :)

I'm officially DONE

Done with my old house and can focus 100% on my new one.... now to see how badly they kill my deposits.... *sigh* Wish me luck. Thanks to Sedona for chewing part of the baseboard (see THIS post). I was able to get the piece from the builder, but I'm sure they'll nail me to the wall for labor... The only other thing they might hit me for is some damage to one of the slats of the vertical blinds (thanks Orion!)... Let's hope I get a GOOD chunk of money back.... too bad I won't get it before Christmas :( I could really use the money for Christmas shopping... Oh well.

Merry Christmas from the kids :)

the best news I've had in a really REALLY long time....

I got a call last week from a guy.... his name was Gabriel... he said he found my resume on Careerbuilder.com and was interested in talking to me. He was from a company called InSpeech. I figured he was calling about an IT position, so I called him back.

Long story short, he offered me a position to be a SPEECH LANGUAGE TECHNICIAN!!!!!! I can do therapy and all except supervise someone!!!!! In August I will start working in the schools here in my area as a speech therapist!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (I can't add enough exclamation points to get out how excited I am)

For those who may not know, I got my bachelors degree 12/13/97 in Speech Pathology & Audiology, but since I didn't get my Masters I couldnt' work. Well it seems that Arizona is one of THREE states in the Nation who will let Bachelors degreed folks work in schools with kids. I will have to get some observation hours in, and prove my degree and observation hours that I already have, but it shouldn't be an issue. We've already done the paperwork and I've accepted the salary offer they've given me.... :)

I'm finally going to get to do what I've wanted to do since 1993!!!!! :)

*happy dance*

art...

I've had a hard time finding something I *wanted* to put on my walls.... then Le'o pointed me in the direction of Art.com and I've been saving things to my "gallery" slowly but surely. I got an email the other day about getting 25% off through 12/10.

SO....

Rather than treat myself to a massage, I decided to treat myself to some art to put on my walls :)

This is one peice of a two peice collection, and in time, I will get the 2nd piece.... but as posters, they're really not all that expensive!! :)


This goes great with all of the colors in my house... the sage in the dining room, the maroon in the kitchen and the two shades of brown in the living room :) I can't wait to get it and put it up!! :) This peice, and it's match, were made by Eve Shpritser.

Thanks Le'o!!!

We're getting ready for Christmas....

The kids greet the Christmas holiday.... we put up the tree and some lights yesterday.... more to come....

rompin' in the new yard

a quick video of the kids playin' in their new yard :) Oh how happy they are :)

some pictures of the dogs....

So I went back to the old house today and finished emptying out the master bed and bath, the office, the living room, kitchen and pantry. That leaves only the guest bedroom and the garage for Friday. I just can't take any more right now. I'll empty those rooms out on Friday (the 7th) and then go back to clean on the 10th, 11th, and 12th. The Carpet will be cleaned on the 13th, and my walk through will be on the 14th. THEN I WILL BE DONE WITH THAT HOUSE!!!!
My feet ache, my body aches in ways it hasn't in years.... moving blows.

But on the upside, I have a great new house where I already feel at home (mostly because it's almost exactly the same!) with 95% of my junk :) Now to unpack and get things going here. I took a break after the last load and sat outside with the dogs in their new yard....

Kota REALLY approves of the grass in the new yard :)

Sedona and Dakota were romping like kids... rolling in the grass, tackling each other :) Play I hadn't seen outside in a long time.... probably because it HURT to play that way at the other house... :( Now I feel bad :(

And the Piece de Resistance... :) All three enjoying their new grass :) Happy puppies, all three :) Still figuring out where crates and dog beds will go in the new joint, but we'll get it all worked out :) They love having a bigger kitchen to lay in and won't they be surprised when there aren't boxes every where.... to find they have a bigger HOUSE to run and frolic in :)

And now for some unpacking... *ugh*

a new house for us...

We're in the new house and this is my first official blog from the new house :) MOST of our stuff is here tho there are still some things in the old house... including hot water, which is NOT in our new house (yet). I had to pack up and go back to the other house for a shower tonight. Why do showers feel SO MUCH BETTER after you've been moving all day? ;-) The couch is cleaned off, the TV and Tivo are set up and internet is up.... bed is made too :) All the important parts. I'll be taking pictures tomorrow hopefully, once some things are put away... it's pretty wild right now and OH my gosh the disaster in the other house... *whew*
So for tonight, I say goodnight... more tomorrow :)

a new chapter begins....

I got the keys to the new house today! yay! Now the work begins. And wouldn't you know it, it's freakin' raining!! It's supposed to rain through tomorrow... so I can only hope for an early reprieve. Brad and Nicole are being troopers and helping... rain or shine.

I will post pictures once I get some :) Internet is slated to be set up tomorrow between 1-3pm :) I'll have internet before hot water, but hey, it's all good :)

An anniversary that's hard to forget....

In a few hours it will have been 9 years since my life changed. It's hard not to be melancholy at this time of year for me. Thanksgiving doesn't hold good memories for me anymore. Don't get me wrong, there ARE good memories... but the bad one overshadows the good ones most of the time.

In a few hours it will have been 9 years since my sister and very bestest friend Tanya died. I write every year about it, and well, let's be honest... it never goes away, does it? I learn how to deal with it better with every passing day. I hate to overshadow someone's birthday with these feelings I have, but 11/25 will forever hold very very sad and life changing memories for me.

My step-sister Tanya (tho we always just considered each other sisters...) was 24 on 11/25/98. She was driving with her boyfriend and her adorable son who had turned 1 just 4 days earlier, to my dad's house for Thanksgiving... an 8 hr drive from Northern New York, through Pennsylvania, to Virginia. An auto accident took Tanya's life, sparing her 1 year old son and his father.

She was 1 month and 4 days from her 25th birthday... she'd been a mother for 1 year and 4 days... and she was my best friend for 9 years. Now it's BEEN 9 years... she's been gone for as long as I knew her... seems weird to think about it that way...

May my sister be playing soccer (her favorite game) on the clouds and watching over her son, who just turned 10 years old 4 days ago. I know she watches over me and my dad... and her sisters and brothers... She was the glue that held our patch work family together...

I love and miss her every day...

Happy Birthday...

Both Megan and Anne share a birthday today... 11/25. Happy Birthday ladies :) I'll try extra hard to put a smile on my face today in your honor!!! :)

Happy Thanksgiving 2007

I just wanted to wish my friends and family a wonderful Thanksgiving. I will be working tonight, but we are having a wonderful dinner... Turkey is being brought in by the company, and between my teammates (3 + me) we're having mashed potatoes, gravy, rolls, stuffing, cranberry sauce, carrots and pumpkin pie :) I hope you all get to spend lots of time with your loved ones today :) I'll be thinking of all of you and am very thankful to have you all in my life :)

corgis singing happy birthday

A day late for our dear Ariel, but I know Megan has a birthday upcoming... and my nephew's birthday is today (11/21) He's 10! :)

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday to you....
Happy Birthday to you....
Happy BIRTHDAY dear ARIEL!!!!!!!
Happy Birthday to you! :)

Many many hugs over the miles to the sweetest friend of Kate's I've met... (ok, I've only met two of her friends, but now I'm proud to call you a friend of my own!)

I hope you have a FANTABULOUS Birthday Ariel :) Many many well wishes for a wonderful day!!!

4 times in the ring....

And 3 times RWD... not TOO bad a record I suppose ;-) I just *really* wish we'd be the bride instead of the bridesmaid ;-)

Saturday:
BOB : Preston
WB/BOW/BOS: Dona Ana
WD: Leelo
RWD: Chance
(I forget RWB)
(Sedona was 5th of 5 in her Open class)

Sunday:
BOB: Preston
WB/BOW/BOS: Addy (Harry Griffith's girl)
RWB: Dazzle
WD: Leelo
RWD: Chance
(Sedona was 3rd of 5 in her Open class)

Stirring up tons of dust here in the office sorting through a years worth of papers... I'm such a pack rat... :(

Packing sucks.

the weight has been lifted ;-)

My hair has been long... for a long time. It had gotten TOO long. This was me in August... before going to the Nickleback concert.... and it had grown since then...

And last night my friend from work cut it... Not the greatest pictures, but you can see the difference, I think! :)
the back was just about to my the waist of my pants... I could easily reach it... and now I have to stretch to reach it. :)
It feels SO much better and in a pony tail, it bee bops around like a cute little puffball on my head (yea, real cute) :)

A weight has been lifted :)

Hunger Strikes

Nothing comes between Dakota and food. NOTHING.

Chance on the other hand.... hasn't eaten much in the last few days....

I can only attribute it to his sister being in nasty drippy girl dog heat. Nice of her huh? to torture her brother that way ;-)

Sedona has always been a picky pants, but Chance always eats. ALWAYS. He passed on yesterday morning's breakfast... he picked at dinner last night and is sleeping with his bowl full of burger and kibble right now... *sigh* boy dogs!

I work tonight and then I'm off for the next three days (dog show) :)

We won't be homeless!!!

It's official (as of a few minutes ago)!!!!!

I got the house that I showed you all the pictures of a few posts ago! It'll be mine officially as of 11/30 :) I get the keys on 11/30. I sign the lease and such tomorrow at 1 :) I'm SO very excited :)

Now the fun begins... packing and moving and unpacking... ugh. It's alright... nice house, bigger house, grass.... LESS RENT :) YAY!

Tis the season...

.... again..... 3 times in ONE year..... the first year I've had a female dog intact.... *UGH*

January 26, June 25 and I noticed swelling today... 4.5 months since the last time. I looked at her and said "REALLY??!! Comon now! Give me a break!!!"

And here we go again....

On a brighter side, Kathy Clark (Clarken Pembrokes & Sussex) said that Lark went 4 months between cycles until she was bred... so that just means I gotta breed this hussy ASAP after she's 2 ;-) I thought the boys were paying more attention to the back end than the front... *sigh*

The anniversary is upon us....

It was one year ago tonight that I mashed up my car....

RIP moron cow who crossed the path of an Orange Element going 60 mph ;-)

Click here for pictures.

Ah how i'm glad my car doesn't look like that anymore! :) That was a crappy experience. I think we'll take another route home tonight ;-)

Life and it's going ons

Well in the last week or so life has really been flipping around for me quite a bit. On the 2nd I was informed that I had to be out of my house by 12/31. Out. Of. Nowhere. The owner is defaulting on the house I think.

So I started looking for a new place to live. I found a really cute house very similar to what I'm living in now... larger house, painted walls, grass in the yards, no evil tree in the front and best of all... LESS MONEY PER MONTH! I got all excited, turned in my application for it, and asked my current landlord how I was to give notice. They basically turned around and said because I hadn't given notice before paying Novembers rent (i didn't KNOW until 11/2!! Rent is due no later than the 1st!) that I had to pay Decembers rent and be out by the end of the month. Long story short, the current landlord talked to the owner of this house and has prorated the month of December in half for me (thank goodness!) . The new house has said I can move in the last Friday of November (which is 11/30, starting my lease on 12/1). It gives me a 2 week overlap, but I'm ok with that... it gives me time to move my stuff and clean THIS house before my inspection set for 12/14. So I'll be in my new house for my birthday and Christmas... which is kind of cool, I guess. I told them I only have two dogs for now, but it won't be a problem to add a third after the first of the year I think. I can come up with something. I just don't have the money to add the third dog (not when they charge you $200 per pet!) right now.

So I'm packing tonight... slowly. The office can for the most part, be packed up without any problems, so I'm starting there.

Thankfully I'm getting a bonus from work, and that is what will make all of this do-able. So stay tuned ... the kids and I will soon have a new address... *sigh*

Here is the front of the "new" house

And the back (note the ceiling fan on the porch! YAY! and the GRASS!!)

This is a view of the living room looking into the dining room (left) and kitchen (right)

The master bathroom

The master bedroom with the bathroom being the door on the left, the HUGE walk in closet in the middle, and the door (and the linen closet just outside the bedroom door) on the right

Looking into the master bedroom

The kitchen (one side)

And this is the floor plan of the "new" house

and this is the floor plan that I am currently living in... VERY similar!

Wish us luck... We'll be needing it!

CWCCA Membership.... the update

Well I found out tonight that my petition to get an extension was denied by the CWCCA Board...

I'm frustrated and angry about this... on top of other crap that went down this weekend.... but I just thought I'd share with those of you who took note before... I'll have to reapply if I want to be a member again...

Oh joy.

A Visit with Ollie :)

I went to go and see Ollie today for the first time in over a year... I just haven't made it a priority, and I feel bad... but it was great to see him :) He's gained some weight (which Susan promises to work on) but he looked GREAT otherwise :)
Sedona made herself right at home, hopping up on Susan's lap and hanging out on the sofa....

Happy boy :)
Me and my boy... bad lighting, but ok picture ;-)

We got down on the floor and started playing... just like old days :)
Him lookin up to his mama for approval ;-)
This is my favorite picture (despite it looking like I'm being taken over by my hair!)
We did all of his tricks... my Cardigans must be dumb or something... none have picked up on all the tricks Ollie knows... ;-)
Just the happy bear
The kids playing with Susan
Ollie winning at tug :)
Me playing tug with him :)
I miss him, but I'm not sad about him anymore... I'm sad that he's not with me, but I'm SO happy he's in a great home :) I'm even happier that I can go see him and that he's nearby! :) Susan is a great lady and I'm very fortunate to have met her and to know that she's taking care of my very special Ollie bear :)

Halloween at our house :)

The kids were the official Trick-O-Treater Greeters at the door as in years past... and again, in years past we ran out of candy in ONE HOUR FLAT.
The greeters standing ready at the door for the next swarm of kiddos :)
I would have been able to hand out candy longer (we ran out in a little over an hour... much like last year) had I not have been a bone head and MELTED all the chocolate :( I left it on the dryer and did a large amount of laundry in the last two days... STUPID me!

Our Fall scarecrow :) Actually, this was a housewarming gift from when Daniel and I bought the town home, but I managed to come away with him ;-) I didn't take much in terms of holiday decor, but I liked him, so .... ;-) I'm sure he doesn't miss him ;-)

The kids standing guard... I wrapped purple lights around the baby gate to make it more festive ;-) The dogs, as always, were a huge hit :) I'd hear people from the street "Let's go to the house with the dogs" and heard one kid say "those are scary dogs"... WHAT?! whatever. :P
Yea, scary dogs, these three.... *sigh*
They had to take an intermission and play... ;-)

Kota was standing as door sentry for a bit, so I took the chance to snap his picture... He mostly hung back and let the kids visit with the trick-o-treaters... such the dignified ole man ;-)
This was Sedona's place all night... right at the door watching the goings on... little busy body ;-)

And when Chance tried to take a look, she gave HIM "the look" :)
Finally he pushed his way through. He was the official kid greeter... standing up on the baby gate kissing those who wanted kisses and standing to be petted... such a good boy, that Chance :)
Two peas in a pod, these two :)
And pound pound pound went my door once more and when I finally got to it, it was my friend Rachel's daughter... I wasn't expecting to see them, so it was quite a pleasant surprise :) Overall, Halloween 2007 was alright.... a swarm of kids are STILL in the streets and the neighborhood is like a block party... I stay hunkered down in the house avoiding all the busy-ness... I like my quiet solitude :) I think the dogs had fun though :)