Randomness

I should be working on a paper right now, but my brain revolts every time I begin reading another journal article scouring facts and figures. So for now, I'll blog.

It's been a busy, busy month, so this will probably be totally random with all of the stuff that I should have blogged earlier. Here we go -

Jesse's mom and step-dad were here over the weekend and I can't believe, I didn't take one single photo! I had been planning to get a good family photo with all of them, but the camera never even made it out of the bag. Besides that sad fact, the trip was really good. Fast, but good. We introduced Ray to Chipotle and Sonic, and are still currently eating our weight in Canadian candy.

I started volunteering at an animal shelter as a dog-walker a month or so ago and it's been pretty cool so far, though there are many dogs that I really want to bring home with me. Saturday, I went to one of the shelter's annual fundraisers with my mom, Horton, and Abe. Abe actually walked close to 2 miles without his back legs giving out at all. I was quite impressed. And Horton was his usual social self, happy as ever. Since working at the shelter, I have learned that big, black dogs are the hardest to adopt out. I've seen week after week, the little dogs get adopted out so quickly, while the same big ones remain at the shelter. At least this shelter treats them very well and will keep them as long as necessary to find them a home. Any stray should be so lucky as to end up at this particular place over another one. I think that is the only thing that keeps me from crying when I go there, or from desperately trying to find a way to adopt more and bring them home with me.

Fall is in the air, which makes me happy. I have gotten to light cinnamon candles and make apple crisp twice. Plus, Canadian Thanksgiving is only 22 days away!

Elections are also coming up, which is also super exciting. I am very happy to have a front row seat for one of US history's most exciting elections ever. No matter what party wins, we will have a minority in one of the two highest positions. Of course, I have to admit, I will be disappointed if Obama doesn't win. Very disappointed.

Our furnace is officially dead. It died last spring, but we thought it was just this coil thing that needed to be replaced, so Jesse replaced it a couple weeks ago, but it was still broken, so we had a guy out and he told us that the exchanger part has a crack and could leak carbon monoxide at any time, so he wouldn't even look at it further. He basically just said we need to get a new one. So, Jesse's been calling around getting quotes on new furnaces. Right before vacation, Jesse also noticed a leak in the hot water heater, but thankfully, it turned out to just be a broken valve that will be a quick and pretty inexpensive fix. The rest of the house seems to be functioning normally, but nonetheless, things around here are keeping us busy...like the dead tree in the front yard that has been needing to be cut down for months...or the sealant that has been needing to be put on the deck since spring...or the weeds growing in the driveways cracks...or or or...

Jesse is looking at different work options, possibly an educational leave of absence. We are in the middle of figuring out all of that, but hopefully by Christmas, things will be a little less hectic with the schedule. My work is going well, so I imagine that unless something major changes, I will be there at least until I graduate (which is about 243 days or so...not that anyone is keeping track...). I'm still debating about post-graduation options. There are so many positives and negatives to the paths I'm considering, it's hard to decide. I hope time will make things more clear - and I'm sure that if time doesn't make it clear, then rejection letters will. =)

So that is that for now. Lots of exciting changes on the horizon, both in the next few weeks and the next few months.