to you and you

I wish I were one of those people who always knows what to say, especially in tough situations. Lately I have found myself wanting so desperately to be able to say something, anything, that would help, but it seems to me that everything I come up with is just stupid. My heart can feel the things that I want to say, but my mouth and brain just can’t get together to figure out how to do it. I suppose that the best I can do is just a big hug, but that isn’t always possible. And actually, the reality is that there probably isn’t anything that I could say in the first place that would truly help the situation. I feel totally helpless and useless, but I promise that I will continue to try my best to do all that I can.

ok, ok, finally…

Not that these apply to any or all of you…but I had to think of 5 things…

Behold, the Caesar’s Bath meme! List five things that people in your circle of friends or peer group are wild about, but you can’t really understand the fuss over. To use the words of Caesar (from History of the World Part I), “Nice. Nice. Not thrilling . . . but nice.”

1. littering. stop throwing shit out of your car window. put it on the floor of your car or something, and the next time you fill up with gas, throw it in the handy-dandy garbage can that is RIGHT THERE. seriously. it really pisses me off.
2. people who have to be the expert on everything. despite whatever inadequacy you are trying to make up for by doing this, i can guarantee you that this quality you have adopted is not doing anything to endear you to your friends. shut up. you don’t have to always have an opinion — let me restate that — you don’t always have to have THE definitive opinion.
3. consistently bad grammar and/or spelling. it’s not so hard, people. use spell check. read the email once before you send it. remember when to use “your” versus “you’re”. everyone makes mistakes, but just try to think a little about what you’re doing.
4. brand names. don’t get me wrong, i like to be well-dressed and look nice. i shop at nice stores, but there is an extreme case of stylishness that drives me crazy. i really don’t care where you got your shirt as long as it looks good on you. there is no reason that some italian brand name should be a status symbol. you wasted your money.
5. dogs off their leashes. as a person who trains dogs, i understand that some dogs are perfectly under control when they are off their leash – but when i say “some”, i mean maybe 10%. for the average person, this is a dangerous and annoying practice. your dog could get hit by a car. you could lose your poor dog. if you have an aggressive dog, he could hurt someone. if you don’t have an aggressive dog, he could approach another dog who is aggressive and get hurt. furthermore, you annoy me intensely when your off-leash and out-of-control dog approaches mine and interrupts my walk or training session. it’s not tough — put a f*cking leash on. it will probably make your life easier too, because you won’t have to spend 40 minutes trying to get your dog back into the house so you can go on with your business.

i tap andy, bob, and eric.

just a quickie…

…quick update, that is. get your mind out of the gutter!

my voice is coming back slowly, but surely. i went to the doctor’s on friday and she thought i had a sinus infection. she gave me some anti-biotics and they seem to help.

in other news, i am a quarter century old today – and in fact, it is my long-awaited GOLDEN birthday. i have been waiting for this since i was little — and believe me, at that time, 25 seemed VERY far away. however…some day i would like to have a birthday that is not closely followed by other large events, so that it can be a large event in and of itself. for the past few years (including this one), it seems to have been obfuscated by either moving or graduating…but that is the way life goes. birthdays are a little bit different when you are older. that’s ok, though.

another bonus — i have thursday and friday off this week so that we can close on our house and move!!

really, i do.

i want to post. really. but i am just so exhausted, and my brain has no thinking-power left. i want to do the dating test thingy that is going around. i want to do the caesar’s meme thing (on the risk of sounding stupid, what the hell does ‘meme’ mean?) that lindsey has tapped me to do, but i can’t think. what is contributing to this exhaustion, you ask?

1. i lost my voice when i went out of town last week, and it has not really returned. whoever has stolen my voice, please give it back. it is extremely frustrating to try to live and work and make phone calls without much of a voice. it is also tiring – i have to push out twice as much air as normal in order to get any sounds out.
2. in addition to losing my voice, i am beginning to feel pretty sick. i have a doctor’s appointment this afternoon
3. we are closing on our house in less than a week. while this is terribly exciting, it is also terribly stressful (especially given the fact that i have no voice to make the calls i need to make). cleaning, packing, moving, organizing, signing things…..zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.
4. work is hard and it is tiring to have constant committments every week. there are also many things to coordinate to prepare for my ‘working at home’ stint.
5. i have to go to a horse-related event tomorrow. while i am glad to spend time with the people i am going with, i think they have underestimated exactly how difficult it will be for me to be around horses again. i am anticipating a mental breakdown.

so really. i am not ditching you. i want to post…and i will…someday.

much love for craigslist & eBay

Craigslist rocks. Seriously. Thanks to Rochelle for making me aware of this awesome site. Yesterday someone posted an ad saying that they were giving away a queen mattress & boxspring for free, to the first person who could pick it up. I emailed the lady, and it turned out that she lives very close to my parents! So, love for mom & dad, who went to pick up the mattress set and will store it until we move next week. All we needed was a bedframe…until I went on eBay today and bought a brand new one for $30. The seller lives up in the cities, and we’re going to pick it up this weekend. Hoorah! Now we have a guest bed, for a grand total of $30. Yes, I am a bargain shopper.

much love for craigslist & eBay

Craigslist rocks. Seriously. Thanks to Rochelle for making me aware of this awesome site. Yesterday someone posted an ad saying that they were giving away a queen mattress & boxspring for free, to the first person who could pick it up. I emailed the lady, and it turned out that she lives very close to my parents! So, love for mom & dad, who went to pick up the mattress set and will store it until we move next week. All we needed was a bedframe…until I went on eBay today and bought a brand new one for $30. The seller lives up in the cities, and we’re going to pick it up this weekend. Hoorah! Now we have a guest bed, for a grand total of $30. Yes, I am a bargain shopper.

4/12/75 – 4/9/05

Erica sent me this picture of Sage a few weeks ago.

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…growing up! 

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My little puppy is… 

ketchup…

…or actually, catch-up. wow. i am hilarious.

i am a supermodel
last night i experienced the world of the model. i had a mask treatment done to my hair, and it was styled and “funktified”. someone else did my makeup, complete with the smokey-eyed model look. it was actually pretty cool – i wish i could replicate the look myself, but i’m pretty sure i won’t be able to. despite all the primping, for the first time in my life i really felt old. i was definitely the oldest model — the other girls were in college or highschool. they were mostly all the string-bean type (except for one “normal” girl, and one who was…disproportionate, to be kind). it was hard not to be self-conscious, especially when you’re walking down a staircase in front of about 100 people, with a TV camera on you. it was cool though – probably a once-in-a-lifetime experience. and hey, i got my hair dyed for free. it looks awesome, by the way.

home
in other news…we move in 2.5 weeks! we are beginning to get packed and start on our massively long cleaning list. our landlords are insane and expect us to do things like buy new burner pans for the stove, remove & wash all the heating vents, wash out the inside of the dishwasher, and replace all the broken light bulbs or be charged $5 each! i mean, come on! i definitely believe that you should clean and leave a place in good condition…but this all seems excessive to me. looks like we will be busy for a few weeks to come.

work
i think work is going somewhat better. i feel like i’m getting to know more people, and that helps things a lot. i had a revelation last night that may seem pretty stupid to a lot of you, but it was like a light-bulb to me. networking allows you to know more people on whom you can call upon to get answers to your questions. i had always viewed networking as knowing more people to increase your status and allow them to call on you to get a job done. i like networking a lot more now that i realize it can help me reduce my feelings of idiocy.

dogs
i am starting to get excited about my trip to south carolina at the beginning of june. harley is coming along very well with her scent discrimination exercise (she has to find which little dumbell is the one that i touched, out of a set of 12 dumbells). she is funny — she really enjoys doing it. i think she likes the challenge. teego is doing well too — he is starting to get the hang of all this training stuff. for a 10 month puppy, he is doing great.