We Made An Honest Effort

Okay, now it's your turn to judge me. Why? Because with the world at our fingertips, we have chosen to return to Disneyworld. I know, I know.... just hear me out.

We really did make an honest effort to go elsewhere. In fact, we went so far as having reservations at a lodge in Port Renfrew, BC. And we had our days there pretty much planned - Botanical Beach, Juan De Fuca Trail, kayaking, the world's largest fir tree...it would be grand.

So what's the problem with that, you may ask?? The more we added up our activities, our hotel, our rental car, our meals....it got to be really expensive. I know some people are willing to pay off vacations after they are done, but for me, the best way to maximize my enjoyment is to have it totally paid before we even go. I started obsessing about whether or not I'd even be able to enjoy, or if I'd be there the whole time looking at how much each activity cost, and then choosing the cheapest. Maybe I am a tight wad. (That gene is definitely loud and clear in some of my relatives.) But, either way, I just don't like the idea of paying for vacation a month or two after it's long gone and over.

So within a day or two of deciding to go to Victoria, I accidentally stumbled across Disney's website and a couple vacation quotes were just randomly e-mailed to me. (It was all very strange, you know.) Anyway, the point is - it was a few hundred cheaper to go to Disney than to Victoria. (That Canadian dollar is right on par!!) Plus, since we are going in the off season again, we snagged the deal where we can eat free at any of the parks and resorts. That is hard to beat. And since we can rely on Disney transportation, we don't have to book a rental car...and the biggest plus? We just always have such a good time. I have nothing but wonderful memories from each of those vacations.

And honestly, because of that, I'm kind of scared to try something new. Pre-Disney we had nothing but suck vacations.

It began with our honeymoon. (Compliments of us being ignorant about off-season travel.) Everything was closed, which meant all the activities we had hoped to do were also off the table (sand dune hang gliding, bike rentals, kayaking, eating out). In fact, the only restaurants we ate at during that week were Hardee's and this place called Big Al's Diner (where we got mild food poisoning and consequently spent a lot of time hanging out in the bathroom). I think we saw a grand total of 2 other humans during our week long stay, which meant the little island was just dark and lonely, somewhat boring, and kind of sad and depressing. Indeed, I ate a gallon of mint chip ice cream all by myself that week - bought at the only grocery store that was open, who happened to be in the middle of remodeling, so they had about three aisle of stale crappy food in stock. =( I think if we had that happen to us now, we could make it fun and have a good time anyway, but being newlyweds, you just know that the expectation is that your honeymoon will be fun, and you aren't sure if you can just right out say to your new husband or wife "Hey, I can't wait until this week is over!". We freaking wrote our wedding thank you cards on our honeymoon, if that tells you anything about the suck level. Ha ha...now that I think about it, that is really funny. In such a sad little way.

Anyway, later over the first few years of our marriage, we didn't have much cash, so we tried some weekend get aways, and those also bombed for one reason or another. That pretty much summed up the first 4 years of our married life's vacations. So, as you can imagine, we were a little gun shy about vacations in general - you're out the money (which you don't have a lot of to begin with), and you didn't even really leave with good memories. When we decided splurge and go to Disney the first time, we actually enjoyed every day there. We laughed. We slept well. We ate well. We relaxed.

Back to present day - I was nervous in general about Victoria and trying something new anyway (though I do REALLY want to see Victoria), then once I saw the dollar signs just piling one on top of another, I had a momentary freak out where all of life became clear again. I had a vision of fluffy, white clouds, and suddenly, a big mouse in front of a castle appeared and spoke to me. It's all very fuzzy, but he gave me a message...something about the way to the happiest place on earth.

I'm Really Awesome At Judging People And Objects

I'm sorry. I just vomited in my mouth.

Meat Sandwiches In A Can. Because fast food is clearly not convenient enough. We obviously needed to take this one step further.

Props to the dude for creativity. The idea is actually quite genius, but I also have to say - WTF?!

Did anyone ever think that the solution to our society's problem of being "so busy and on the run", is that maybe we should just slow down and cut some activities? It's like when people move because they "outgrow their house" - maybe the problem isn't that your house is too small, but that you have TOO MUCH crap. People all over the world, for ages and ages, have lived in and shared a single room. Your house in North America is not too small. Pretty much ever.

But, hey, if staying too busy to drive through McDonald's, let alone cook a meal in your fat big house is your thing, then by all means, eat your canned sandwich heart out. And good luck with the botulism and heart attack thing.

My First Official Sewing Project

Despite coming from a long line of sewers, (I have three generations of quilts in my home), the sewing thing has never really been my thing. Not that I haven't tried. I have. Our living room in Colorado was graced by curtains I made myself. (A peek behind the couch would have revealed that one of them was about 6 inches shorter than the other, but who's measuring, right?). I've also tried pillows. And blankets. And all, in one way or another, were really, really defunct. I even remember once trying to hem a simple pair of old sweatpants. I believe the episode ended with me in tears, and Jesse finishing off the hem line. Sewing a straight line, as it turns out, is not as easy as it sounds. With this in mind, a year or so ago when Jesse and I were on one of our "simplify" kicks, I decided to sell my machine on craigslist. Truth be told, I have not missed it.

Enter my current job. For the last year and a half, I've been living in a very black and white numbers-ey world. It's been a pretty radical shift for me, fresh off working for an interior designer and taking art classes. My job feeds my left brain really well, but I have to admit, it's made my right brain very, very sad. I decided I need to make an effort to get some art and creativity back into my life, so the other weekend I went to Barnes and Noble and spent some time browsing the art and craft books, hoping to get some inspiration. Not much came of it, except the realization that most crafts require at least basic sewing skills. Sigh.

A day or so later, I asked my mom if I could borrow her machine and went looking for a really simple project. Maybe, I told myself, my previous failures were due to starting off with projects that were too hard. (Those pillows and hemlines are a real bitch, ya know...trouble for even the best of sewers no doubt.) =)

Anyway, I found this link for a "15 minute dress" and it met all my requirements - cheap, easy, lots of photos, and step by step instructions. This afternoon I went to Hobby and Lobby and got my supplies - two bandannas, and some ribbon. (And some felt because I thought it would be fun.)

And.....it actually worked!!!! I was so stinking excited!! (Never mind the fact that a dress for a 3 year old girl is utterly useless to me at this stage in life.) Also, don't mock me just because I only had to sew 4 straight lines.

Here is my end product. It would probably look cuter if I had ironed it...oh well. That's another thing I don't do well.



Anyway, if you happen to have a 3 year old girl, this really was easy. It wasn't quite "15 minutes" of easy for me...more like 30, but still...

While the Dough Rises...

I'm having a wild and crazy night sitting on my back deck, waiting for my bagel dough to rise. I can't decide if it's pathetic and lonely, or if I'm just cool and independent. Many (okay most) of my evenings lately have been spent alone. I never realized how much I rely on Jesse for social time. Most of our social activities are with other couples, so, when my other half is gone, I guess I'm a bit stunned at what to do when it comes to things like Friday nights. (Jesse is gone for work or school every evening except Tuesday.)

The obvious fact is that I need to expand my social ring (or just kick all husbands out of it), yet a part of me is pretty content just sitting around with my dogs. Does that make me doubly pathetic and lonely? Perhaps the hipper, cooler version of an old cat lady??

Whatever - cat lady or not - I am quite enjoying my bagel dough and back deck evening. (Though my dough is not rising as fast as I'd hoped.)

So, while the dough rises, here are thoughts on life, things we've been up to, and all that kind of goodness.

I'll begin with the obvious. I hardly see the Canadian formerly known as my fiance anymore. It kind of sucks. And the weird thing is, it has a strange of way of straining the times when I actually do see him. I don't know if it's pressure - like you feel that you must absolutely enjoy the time because you know it's rare - or if it's that when you finally see each other, you spend the first half of the time catching up on the mundane - paid that bill, got this done, if you finish the trim Monday morning, I'll finish the caulk Monday night type of talk. Not so much a barrel full of monkeys on the fun scale. The recent conclusion we came to regarding this nonsense? Vacation.

We originally planned to skip a vacation this year for a couple different reasons, but are feeling the regret, so I spent my "pre-bagel dough" time this evening looking at finances and seeing if we can wiggle out some cash to have a little get away. We have also been brainstorming ideas and trying to decide where to go. Of course, Disney must be on the list. That's a given. Other contenders include San Francisco, and Victoria. Victoria is leading the pack at this point, but Mickey also has a way of drawing me in at the last minute. (I swear, they must pump crack cocaine into the air. I freaking love it there.) At the same point, Victoria is alluring...I'm in the mood for some hippy eco hug the trees respect nature type of vacation, and that would be a great place for it. I have even been looking into staying in a yurt - and consequently, mulling over the idea of building our own yurt complete with a compostable toilet. (The Nikkels have an "a bit extreme" problem, no?)

Anyway, yurts aside, I really have no idea where we will end up on vacation. I just know we could really use some time together!

Hopefully this will take place during Jesse's break between semesters. Vacation and finishing the garage. Whatever happened? We used to be so fast with our home projects, and now it's like we lubricate our power tools with molasses or something. Or maybe it's that I spend a lot of house time undoing all the dogs have done. And by dogs, I mean Bean. He ate our couch - really jacked it up. Why not? It looks just like a $500 chew toy, right? We have increased the walks he gets, and increased the training he gets. Seems to be working well, just wish we would have been a little more proactive to start with - like when he ate the throw pillows and blankets... The other night I caught him eating money. I pulled two slobbery dollar bills right out of his big old chomper. He has been our most difficult dog to date. I used to judge people who had dogs who ate things. I thought the owners clearly were not exercising their dog enough, or providing enough mental stimulation, and they clearly did not understand a dog's needs. Well, that's what I get. (Bean ate the couch after a 4 mile run.....chose it over his bazillion stuffed toy treat puzzles and chew toys...) Needless to say, I have realized, some dogs just eat everything. Apologies to all the people I judged. (And let me tell you, I think it was a lot.)

Speaking of dogs, last weekend was incredibly rough at the shelter. Long story short, a dog named Hershey came in a few months ago. Hershey's family had her since she was a pup. They had her for 8 years. They decided they didn't want her anymore. She was no longer convenient in the middle of a big move they were doing. So, while the kids were at school, the parents dumped Hershey at the shelter (and planned to tell the kids later...great idea, eh?) Anyway, Hershey consistently broke my heart, week after week. She just seemed so confused and sad at first, and she hardly ate a thing. Slowly, she seemed to be coping better, but she still just didn't seem right. I usually get to the shelter first on Sundays to unlock everything before all the dog walkers get there, and I'd often sit with Hershey. She'd just plop herself on me, unfolding her body like a puddle over me. Just so relieved that someone was there with her, someone was petting her and touching her. I love all the dogs there, but she is the only dog I have ever prayed for there....from the first day I met her, I prayed she would find a good home fast. Something about her just really sucked me in. In any case, imagine my complete delight last week when she got adopted! And adopted by one of the shelter volunteers no less, so it was a wonderful home! Enter Sunday afternoon... I found out that midnight Sat. night, Hershey had a long seizure. Her owner took her to the vet ER immediately, but in the end, they had to euthanize her. The vet said she had horrible cancer and most likely would not have even made it another two weeks. It broke my heart. The poor girl - I wondered if she'd been having seizures every night at the shelter and no one knew....if her old family dumped her not because of the move, but because they knew she was sick and didn't want to deal with it... it was just heartbreaking. And the woman who adopted her was another shelter volunteer, who had just recently lost her old dog, so double heartbreak on her. Add to all this, the fact that we had a lot of dogs recently get returned to us. (Someone adopts them, and then weeks, sometimes months, or years later, they just decide they don't want them anymore, so they bring them back.) It was just a rough day at the shelter with a lot of sad stories. I couldn't hold back my tears when I heard about Hershey, so I opened cans of dog food and filled up bowls with kibble the best I could with my watery eyes, then tried my best to suck it up for the rest of the evening so we could all do what needed to be done for the other dogs. I know I love animals and value them more than the average person does, but I would like to think that humanity is decent enough that we could at least acknowledge that dogs are living, breathing creatures who depend on their owners for all of their care and they are not disposable. Even if you don't believe it for the sake of the animal, believe it for the sake of tax dollars going toward animal control, for the sake of the humans who work in animal rescue, for the sake of public health and safety. Dogs aren't books or old jeans to be tossed out once read or used or worn. I could go on and on ranting about how the care of animals enhances not just the animals, but society and humanity in general - I'll try to spare you. The point of the story is - it was a rough time at the shelter and I'm hoping for some new hope and good news this weekend.

On that note, I am going inside to check my bagel dough, and it better be doubled by now!

Biking With the pups