Once again, I haven’t written for a while… It was a little tough to follow up a post that still makes me want to cry!

As it turns out, there wasn’t a puppy-vacancy in our house for very long.  One vacancy has been filled by an Australian cattle dog mix little girl, who is probaby around 6 months old, who is, as of right now, still nameless.  I’ve only seen her for a short period of time, when we took Grover to the humane society to meet his potential new sister.  I had to leave for China on the day she was coming home, so I haven’t seen her in her new home yet.  From what I hear, she was very happy the first few days to let Grover be the big brother alpha dog, and he was happy to do it.  Now, however, she’s figured out that she’s bigger, and she’s a herding dog, and has taken to herding him away from where she wants to be (on the couch, on someone’s lap, on the puppy-beds…)  He’s still getting lots of love, though, so no worries there… She has also figured out how to get to, and eat, the cat’s food – yes, the food that sits up on a special shelf so that dogs (theoretically) can’t get to it (not to mention that the only exercise the cat gets is when she has to jump up on her shelf for sustenance).  So, after having a house full pretty mellow elderly dogs and a fairly mellow Schnauz, it should be quite an experience to have a young pup! 

Oh, this is so hard to write, even now!  Last Wednesday was Stormy’s last day with us.  We had him euthanized late Wednesday afternoon.  It was such a difficult and sad decision.  I know that he was in a lot of pain on a daily basis, and was just having a tough time getting around, getting outside, everything.  His vet, Dr. K., as well as everyone else at their clinic, was incredibly kind, and actually thanked us for all the work that we did in taking care of Stormy.  He was always a very good patient, even in spite of all the poking and prodding that he always had to endure at the vet’s office and, even worse, at home on a daily basis.  I imagine him now up there in puppy heaven, running around with his Shadow-girl, and probably hunting some rabbits & chipmunks.  (Although, that’s probably not heaven for the bunnies & chipmunks…)  I know he’s not in pain anymore, and he’ll never have to endure another blood test or shot!

Mom & Dad came down last weekend to visit me and my grandparents.  It was really, really good to see them!  It was so nice to see my granparents too – I wish I could see them more often!  I should, but I’m always afraid of being sort of a nuisance, so I tend not to visit as often as I should!!

One of the conversations we had was about travel, and how my dad’s business travel has always been very rush-rush, with no sight-seeing time at all, and how my grandpa’s business travel was usually all by car, so he got to “see the country,” so to speak.  I was saying that my business travel, so far, has managed to allow at least a little bit of sight-seeing time, for the most part.  I JINXED MYSELF!  Two days after this conversation, I got scheduled for a one day – yes, ONE DAY – trip to Phoenix (where I’ve never been) to learn about archiving.  My flight actually leaves at 6:45 AM, which will require me to leave my house by 4:00 AM!  I should be happily in the middle of some REM or dreamland at that time of night.  Then I get back at 8:40 PM.

One of the major dilemmas posed by this trip is my hair.  And my oral hygiene.  Obviously, for a one-day (yes, ONE DAY!) trip, I won’t be checking any baggage to hold my hairspray, toothpaste, eyeglass cleaner, etc.  However, my hair, which is normally not terribly well behaved anyway, does very bad things when exposed to airplane air.  And with the current restrictions on carry-on baggage, I’m not permitted to take even a tiny amount of hairspray to help rescue it!  I also can’t take toothpaste.  Ick.  I’ll have to pack lots of gum.  Interestingly enough, I would be permitted to carry up to 4 oz. of “personal lubricant.”

I have a new crafty project in mind. 

I’ve been reading a few blogs lately about dresses and wardrobes and sewing and crafty stuff.  I’ve also been watching things like What Not to Wear, talking about the importance of making sure your clothes fit well, and the beauty of having a good tailor.  And then there’s my latest television obsession… Project Runway, where they get to make all manner of fabulous things, all based on a few minutes of sketching time and a trip to the fabric store (or recycling center, depending on the week…)

I also have a few items in my closet that could use some minor (I hope) alterations, especially after seeing the What Not to Wear with the really… er… “top-heavy” girl that managed to find button-down shirts that fit her beautifully after a couple of minor alterations!  My choices as far as alterations would be to save them for my mom (cause you know she’s not busy enough as it is), have my mom move down here and fashion entire closets full of beautiful outfits for me (even more unlikely), pay someone to do my alterations (I’m far too cheap, and I know they wouldn’t measure up to Mom’s work), or do them myself!! Aside from the fact that I managed to make myself one very cute little outfit in the eighth grade, most of my sewing projects have been minor, if not complete, disasters.  BUT I STILL THINK I CAN OVERCOME THAT!  :-)  However, in order to really make this work, I’ve decided that I need a dress form!  (Not to mention, it just seems like such a fun thing to have.)  Again, I could go buy one of those fancy adjustable ones and try to adjust it to my size (do they come that big??), but that would be rather expensive, and I’m cheap.  So, after a little research, I’ve learned that I can make one myself!!  Fun! 

Now, I wouldn’t be able to do this entirely by myself.  The project would require an assistant.  Naturally, since I happen to have a very handy roommate, she would probably be recruited to assist me.  I’m a little scared though.  I was telling her about the different methods I was reading about to make one – involving either brown paper tape or that wonder-of-all-wonders, duct tape.  The brown paper tape one is a little messier to make, but seems like it might be a more practical, and definitely cheaper option.  (I wouldn’t have to purchase MASS quantities of poly-fill to fill out my duct-tape me.)  However, Tina is voting for the second option.  Why?  Not only because it’s duct tape, (and who doesn’t love duct tape?), but because SHE THINKS IT WOULD BE FUN TO DUCT TAPE ME!!  I’m scared. 

I was cleaning up some stuff on my camera the other day, and came across this picture from the A & W in (I think) Vail.  It struck me as funny.  Can’t imagine why.

“Whoever it is that uses seatcovers, it would be nice if they flushed them.”

Once again, I’ve gone a really, really, really long time without writing.  As some of you know, just shortly after my last post, I managed to crash my roommate’s truck.  And, I just happened to do it while she was staying with her mom who was in the hospital.  Not that there’s ever a good time to wreck a car, but I really don’t know how my timing could possibly have been worse.  So, I’ve spent much of the last few weeks feeling like the absolute biggest loser in the world (WORST… ROOMMATE… EVER…).  Every time I’ve felt like writing something, I’ve felt like it’s either too frivolous, or too serious, or too… something.  Tina’s actually been incredibly kind and understanding about the whole thing.  But what I’ve noticed is that feeling like a loser almost turns into a self-fulfilling prophecy.  I think I’ll be a much more useful, enjoyable, functional person if I get rid of that feeling, and in turn, I won’t feel like a big loser anymore!  :-) 

So, I’ll be writing much more often, about whatever goofiness crosses my mind!

I figured out (at least part of) the reason that I’m so bad at updating this.  (I haven’t yet figured out why I have such difficulty picking up the phone and calling anyone, or even writing a letter or a thank you note – if you have any insight, let me know!)  I read quite a few different blogs on a regular basis.  For the most part, all of these blogs are written by people who have some expertise in something – pop culture, music, gadgets & technology, shopping, fashion, makeup, and even dressmaking (among others).  I, on the other hand, am not an expert at anything.  I know a little bit about a lot of things, but I don’t know a lot about anything in particular.  I have a head full of random details about a wide variety of subjects, but that’s really only helpful when it comes to Trivial Pursuit. 

I probably have some good stories about work and the people there, but I’d kind of like to keep my job…

Grrr.  I’m still fighting with my internet connections.  My wireless router appears to be pretty dead, and my cable modem will only let me connect one computer at a time.  So, I get one connected, then start playing around to get the other connected, then I break everything.  Then I do it all again.  And again.  And again.  And again.  And again.

On a funnier note… I generally don’t think of myself as one of those crazy pet ladies with a house full of 27 cats and 15 dogs.  However, my 3 little beasts conveniently all ran low on food at the same time this week.  So, there I was, walking through Target last night, with 40 pounds of Stormy dry food, 40 pounds of Grover food (they were out of the 20 pound bag!), 10 pounds of Dog kitty food, one case of Stormy canned food, and for good measure… a 10 pound bag of kitty litter.  That is over 100 pounds of pet supplies!!  I attracted some interesting looks, and it wasn’t for my cute shoes… 

I’ve been very bad at updating this little blog!!  Sometimes, it’s really just for lack of anything remotely interesting to say.  I have a list of blogs I read on a regular basis, and there are so many people that are writing interesting stuff.  And they all seem to really be experts at something.  I think that might be part of my problem – I know a little bit about a lot of different subjects, but I’m not an expert at any of them.  Jack of all trades, master of none, right?

What I’ve been up to:

• Work – I spent the entire day today working on this problem, developing what I thought was going to be a terrific solution to a problem.  Really – it was such a great idea in my head.  After I got all the development done and started testing it, I realized that it definitely fixed the problem that we were trying to fix.  However, it would have completely crippled another process.  So – at around 5:15, it was back to the drawing board – literally.  My gigantic whiteboard is no longer full of fun random pictures and sayings – I actually used it for work today, and mapped out my next “great” idea.  It’s too bad they don’t make those fun smelly markers for whiteboards.  I LOVE those things!  The bonus of all this failed development work is that I think I came up with something that will work better for the users anyway.  It’s a lot more initial work for me, but… it’s a learning experience!  Wish me luck!  If it doesn’t work, you’ll probably hear the screams and keyboard-banging from wherever you are.
• Golf – I took the lessons, and I keep trying to play.  I’m so terribly inconsistent.  One day I’m incredibly horrible, then the next day I’m just a little bit awful, and the next day – incredibly horrible again.  I think my new clubs are broken.  I’m actually playing in a tournament (I know!!!  How ridiculous!!) in a couple of weeks.  It’s a work tournament they do every year (best ball, thank goodness!), and I’ve finally gotten up the nerve to join in on the fun.  I’m going to make such an ass of myself.  I hope my team doesn’t end up hating me.
• Beads – I’ve been on a little beading “binge” lately – I’ve been quite prolific over the last few days!  A while ago, a friend sent me a link to these, and I finally tried making my own versions over the weekend.  You should have seen the Radio Shack guy’s face when I asked for resistors in different colors, and told him I didn’t really care about the function of them – they were for a “craft project!”  I was fully intending to post a picture tonight, but…
• Fighting with my wireless router – I spent nearly three hours tonight trying to make my wireless network actually work tonight, sitting on the wood floor, leaning against the brick fireplace hearth (since the routers are hidden inside the entertainment center).  Comfy!  I think it may actually be dead.  Hopefully Circuit City has something fantastic on sale this weekend.  Or tomorrow.

More to come another day!  Hopefully tomorrow!  Maybe I’ll have some pictures to show you all.  (And maybe I’ll be able to post from a different room in my house, unconstrained by the ties of a wired internet connection…)