Nine days out

Isn’t that enough? I’m nine days away from a wedding. I’m so excited I can’t stand it.

Taking a break

I’m going to need to take a break (as I obviously have for a while now) due to a new job and no home internet connection.  More details to come, when I can actually update this thing!

New addition to a family, just not mine

My dear friends (and Cash’s godparents) welcomed their first child, a baby girl, on Tuesday night.  Abigail Mosi Swanson joined the party weighing in at 7lbs.  Mother and baby are doing well and hope to be home tonight (father is presumably ecstatic).  We’re all very excited to meet her, and thrilled everyone is doing so well.

 Welcome, Abigail, and congrats Dan and Jenny!

Merry Christmas from the Dog in Black

New addition to the family

A few weeks ago B got an email about an old redbone coon hound that needed adopting.  He immediately wanted to adopt him.  It wasn’t unlike the feeling I had after I had seen Cash’s picture and a few weeks later heard he was going to PetSmart hopefully to be adopted.  In my mind, if he was going to be adopted, he was going to be adopted by me.  Now in both of our situations, neither of us were looking for a dog, but immediately knew that this dog’s home was with us.  I think that’s probably how it goes, if it’s right, you just know this dog is supposed to be in your family.

Well someone spoke up before we did and the dog ended up in Virginia with a family that had never had an indoor dog before but was willing to give it a try for this old boy.  When B heard the news, he was heartbroken.  He woke up in the middle of the night to tell me, “I hope he poops in their house, then they won’t want an indoor dog for sure.” 

Well evidently the “praying for poop” campaign worked, because we got an email from the rescue lady that the adoption had not, in fact, worked out, and the family wasn’t ready for an indoor dog.  We were to meet her on Sunday so she could see the home and meet us.

When she got there, we put Cash outside so he wouldn’t be overwhelmed with excitement (Cash is very high strung) and met the dog with much excitement of our own.  We took him outside to meet and play with Cash.  They immediately got along, even though he’s an old lazy dog and Cash is a 5 year old ball of energy.  When we took them back inside and we were talking with the lady about what she knew of him (he was found in a ditch in Kentucky nearly starved and flea and tick-ridden, but is now up to date on all shots and parasite-free).  Cash still wanting to play, was really enthralled with him, he, on the other hand, wanted nothing more to do with playing.  He jumped up on the couch (which is completely allowed in my house) and curled up on B and put his head on his chest.  We all agreed, he had found his home. 

He is Leon, the 8 year old redbone.  Welcome home, Leon.

Edit: This picture was not posed.  That is exactly where he crawled.

How ironic is this?

I am in sales.  I love to negotiate.  I’d like to think I’m pretty good at it.  But when it comes to MY life, I absolutely HATE negotiating things.  I really do.  Ugh.

I remember thinking what a strange phrase to know…

My first high school boyrfriend’s mother was Korean and I asked him once if he knew any Korean or had picked up anything from her.   He replied, “I know how to say ‘I can’t take it any more!”  I thought it was hilarious and immediately pictured his mother screaming that around the house. 

After today, I now see a value to knowing how to scream that in a language others might not understand.

As a bit of a pre-resolution

We are attempting to spend more (a lot more) time at home.  As it has turned out, with B’s family being so close and my family being dual (my dad lives in Chattanooga and my mom lives in Dayton), we are spending quite a bit of our time away from home.  It really wasn’t a problem until recently.  While in the past, we wouldn’t have been expected to see his family on birthdays and minor holidays, now that they are only four hours away, it’s a bit more expected. 

In addition to our recreational concert-going habit that sometimes takes us out of town, this “new” development has really had us spending many, many more nights away from home.  So we’ve decided we need to be really focusing more on staying in during the week. 

While, this might not sound like much of a chore to my kid-having blog readers, to me, it will take effort.  You see, I hate Mondays, no different from the everyone, I guess.  My exception is that I usually go home for lunch, and let the dog out and relax.  This frees me up for $2 pints at Barley’s after work.  While that isn’t so bad, it does cost money (not to mention the cost of the inevitable Jager-bombs)!  If you add up what we spend in tips alone, we could make a new car payment!  (I don’t want a new car, but I’d like to have the option!)  I also enjoy this time with B after work.  Its a de-stressor for both of us. 

Well just repeat for the rest of the week and you’ll get an idea of the problem.  On Tuesdays I work late so he likes to hang with his buddies, prompting me to meet him later.  Wednesdays are like a vacation because my bad day is over already so I can treat myself, and by Thursdays, I’d like to get a beer and visit with my friends.  Well we all know what happens on Fridays.  Now of course, this doesn’t happen every night of the week, but there’s an option and a temptation every night. 

Of course there will be days we go have a beer.  I’m (we’re) just hoping they are fewer.  And truth be told, we do enjoy our home time.  I hate it when we get home at 8PM and I feel like we have so little time for curling up on the couch together winding down the day. 

My life was changed by a train

My life was changed by a train, on a particularly peculiar Monday, immediately following Thanksgiving weekend.  I have every reason to be especially thankful this year.  And I am. 

Ahh, its that time of year

Well, I’ve got the funk.  I think the overly crowded, but beautiful Biltmore Estate, is what did me in.  Everyone and their flu bug were there on Saturday.  And it would seem that someone’s flu bug rode home with me.  Ugh.  I’m so incredibly weak.  To say I’m achy is such an understatement, my skin literally hurts.  I’m going to get this week’s issue finished and crawl back under the covers.   

Sleepy but cute!

“Hi, Aunt Catherine!” 

STOP! Pajama-Time

This time of year, all I really want to do is curl up in front of a warm fire in some cozy pajamas, with a nice (read: cheap) glass of shiraz and a book.  I guess that is natural here with this first gust of cold, fall, weather, except, I don’t really have any cozy pajamas. 

I’m finding myself lingering in the pajama/loungewear department of Target or Kohl’s.  I’ve never really had true “pajamas” (except when I was a kid and my aunt would buy them for me and I HATED it).  I’ve always been more of a t-shirt and boxers kind of person, but when you see the cute, long john matching sets, or the warm fuzzy lounge pants and matching tanks, its hard to not want to own them. 

I picture myself lounging comfortably while looking impossibly adorable, not a belly or extra chin in sight, you know, like the ads in all the L.L. Bean and J. Crew catalogs, “cute guy and girl, laughing hysterically while stringing popcorn”.  Its a strange fantasy, I guess.  Nothing remotely sexy, just warm, comfortable, cozy, safe.  Maybe that is sexy.

I think I am getting old.

There.  I said it.  The reasons for my revelation aren’t so exciting, but I thought that maybe, like ripping off the band aid, I’d feel better if I just said it.

See, I’m trying to become smarter about my money, investments (when I actually HAVE some investments), benefits,  bills, insurance premiums, etc.  I’m even using words like “budget” and  ”deductible”.   I might actually be using them correctly! 

I wasn’t really smart about this stuff earlier in my adulthood.  I was actually pretty stupid about frivolously spending money, having little savings, and not so good to my credit.  Although I didn’t get into a lot of credit card debt (thankfully), I have student loans to repay.  Fortunately, I don’t have too far to go with it, but that’s one of my revelations, start working on my debt and other than my house, working toward zero-debt.   I’ve started setting up my bills autopay which is really nice, since I’m horrible at remembering to actually put the check in the mail, or when something is due.  

Instead of just signing up for whatever insurance is offered, I’m actually looking stuff up to see what best fits my budget (see there, I said it) and my needs.   I’m beginning to wonder if I need the cable package I have since I don’t feel like I watch $100 of TV a month. 

I don’t really think this means I’m old, mostly it just means I was stupid when I was young.  I wish I hadn’t been, but I can be thankful I wasn’t one of those young folks that gets into tens of thousands of dollars of credit card debt and has to file for bankruptcy.   I’m glad I’m thinking about it and working on it now, though.  Better now than even next year, I guess. 

I’m even thinking of hiring someone to do my taxes (although, wait.  Doesn’t that cost money?! :). 

Christmas at the Biltmore

Well, I’m finally going to the Biltmore House.  I think I’m the last person in our area that hasn’t ever visited it.  I’m pretty excited about it.  We’re going next weekend and it will be decorated for Christmas already, so we shouldn’t have a hard time getting into the Christmas spirit! 

We’ll be going with B’s parents.  Officially its his birthday celebration, but we’re really going because I’ve never been.  I feel bad that he’s getting ripped off because its supposed to be all about him!  I think I’m going to take him to a concert later that night to make up for it.  I know he doesn’t mind, but its still supposed to be his celebration! 

I’m just sayin’