Almost Time!

Thought I'd squeeze in one more blog before vacation. Also, I may or may not be procrastinating because I told myself I would clean clean tonight. Not just clean - full on clean clean. Including floor mopping, weeding out the funky junk what the crap is that growing on the leftovers from two weeks ago in the fridge, all around scrubbing. I like to do this every year before we go on vacation. Something about coming home to a nice, clean, organized house.

Plus, I have been painting more recently, and being as I do not have a designated "art room" like I did in Colorado, I may have possibly dripped onto the kitchen floor. I have a problem. It seems I cannot create anything without getting something else dirty, no matter how hard I try. Ask my mom what the carpet in my old bedroom cost to replace. =) Anyway, maybe one of these days I'll post some pics of the paintings. I've been in some weird Rothko zone the last year or so. I never really used to have appreciation for Rothko or anyone in that general genre, but I have come to recognize him as a genius of color and have become a pretty outstanding fan. Like most great things in life, you have to understand the history in order to appreciate - if you just take it at face value, it's not going to impress - but that's only because you are ignorant. (Ignorant in the true sense of the word where you just don't know, not ignorant in the insult sense of the word.) Jesse mentioned at some point this semester he has to go to the Nelson-Atkins for some research, and I'm excited to tag along. It's been a while since I've been, and in fact, I have only been to the new Bloch building once or twice. It will be good to go again...though it will probably put me into some funk and cause a struggle all over again with that stupid art monkey that won't get off my back. I miss it. I love it. I hate it. I cleaned out the office the other day - well I should say, I am in the process of - cleaning out the office. Of course, I came across all these drawings and what not...which of course make me question over and over again. The weird thing is, I really do like it, but I also really do hate it.

Sigh.

Anyway, so when we get back, I am sure I will have a flurry of fun photos to post! What am I most excited for...hmmm... Jesse is stuck with me all day every day. Yep, that's the best part. I even like sitting in airports in between flights with him. I can say really bad words and make extremely inappropriate jokes without having to retract. It's great.

Horton and Monkey are boarding for the first time ever. Much harder on me than them I am sure! I am making Jesse do the deed and drop them off. Otherwise, no doubt I will start my vacation in tears. "My doooogggggssss....will they be okay? Do they know I'm coming back? Do they know I'm not leaving them?" I think if they didn't have traumatic pasts, it wouldn't be such a big deal. But, Horton was abused at some point, randomly given away at another, and Monkey was dipped in pesticides and starving when we found her...so I just want some security for my little furry loves.

Speaking of furry loves, I should let them in from the back yard so that Monkey can totally and completely annoy me while I am cleaning because she wants to sniff everything and eat the toilet brush and/or shower loofahs.

More Life in General

I guess fall is right around the corner. The nights have been cool and Jesse is back in full swing at school. I find myself a bit lost without the juggling of classes and work. It used to be that I spent 80% of my evening time writing papers or researching something. Now that I have no deadlines, I sometimes wander around the house aimlessly, trying to figure out what to do with myself. I never knew it, but maybe I am one of those people that likes to stay busy. The dogs get longer walks now days, the house projects are slowly getting caught up, and I've been cooking more, which I guess are all good things.

I was actually hoping to get into some classes this fall, just because I'm a nerd and I like to learn, but none of the classes that I wanted to take worked with my schedule. Maybe next semester. In the meantime, grad school continues to tempt me, but I also really like the idea of being curriculum-less and just taking classes as I please.

Jesse has a botany class right now, which I'm a tad jealous of. Maybe as the class goes on, he will get as excited over microherds as I do. Doubtful, but a girl can dream. Speaking of microherds, mine are super happy. I have frozen 23 bags of tomatoes so far this season, given away lots (to people and squirrels) and there are plenty more out there. Keep working little microbug wormie things and nematodes!

I found a few photos that I had dropped in my blog folder and never got around to posting, so I'll throw them up now.

My brother and sister-in-law were over a couple weeks back and brought their little dog. As you can see, Horton still loves to sit in the swing with people. Monkey has once or twice, but she can't sit still long enough for it be peaceful, so she generally avoids it. She does like to play with my brother's little dog though, but she and Horton play so rough that sometimes I worry about the little dude. He only weighs 8 lbs. or something crazy like that. Oh, and speaking of weight, we took Horton and Monkey to the vet last week and Monkey has definitely grown. She weighs 14lbs. more than when we first found her. In fact, she is just shy of Horton now, clocking in around 63lbs. Horton hovers around 70 in his old age. He was a trim 65 in his youth, but the vet said his weight right now is good for his age.

Anyway, my brother and his wife are expecting their first little one sometime in late Feb. or early March I think. Seems hard to believe that between our two families, Jesse and I have 12 nieces and nephews, and 3 more on the way! We are looking forward to meeting all of them!

My grandpa had his 25th wedding anniversary a couple weeks back as well. Jesse got the day off work so he was able to come with me, which I was very happy about. It was a nice ceremony, casual, fun, but still sweet and sentimental. This is our self-photo.
I had more photos of this event, but doesn't look like I have bumped any others over to the computer yet. I do, however, have snuggly dog photos to spare!

Nothing Much

I guess life has been pretty mundane lately since I don't really have anything in particular to blog about. I could, of course, always tell you stories about my dogs, but being that I am aware that I am one of those totally annoying people who blabs on and on about them, when in reality, no one thinks they are nearly as cute/funny/fill in the blank as I do, I will try to spare you the Horton and Monkey stories. Man, with the way I am with my dogs, when we do finally have kids, I am going to be totally and completely unbearable. Brace yourself for that one. (Don't worry, you've got plenty of time.)

So, in "outside of dog stuff", what can I tell you?

I got a sweet bike!! Well, technically, Jesse got me a sweet bike. He found a screaming good deal on craigslist for me and now I have a "real bike" with 27 thousand gears that I don't really know how to work and all kinds of stuff like that. If I would just purchase spandex shorts and gloves, I would look like I know what I'm doing. However, I have promised my ass that I will not subject it (or the general public) to me in spandex on a bike. (Although this fall, you will most likely see Jesse on display in some little tighties....apparently, there is just no better pant to run in winter than those arse tight ones...) Actually, when I see people running or biking in those tight spandexy outfits, I always just assume they are really serious and into the sport. And Jesse is quite serious and into the sport, so it makes perfect sense for him to suit up. He is kicking some serious butt in his running. I am very impressed and proud.

Speaking of Mr. Nikkel, he will be hitting the big 3-0 in a few months. (Ah, I can't believe it!) I think this deserves a big blowout, so we have been plotting what we should do. Jesse wants to do something that "makes him feel young". We are tossing around trip ideas, marathons, and some other fun things, but we will have to see how it all works out and how much cash flow is around. We'd really like to take advantage of United while we can, but who knows what the future holds. The airline industry is a shaky one at best. And no doubt trips would be out of the budget if we don't have his passes. We shall see!

Monkey

Monkey is obsessed with lights and reflections. Sometimes it's hard to get her to go outside into the backyard, because the glass on the back door reflects into the kitchen during certain times of day when you open the door, so she wants to stay in the kitchen and chase the light. She'll pounce on the floor, and chase it all around. She is very focused during this process, and once you close the door, she'll sit and stare at the wall or floor, wherever the last place the reflection was seen. I think she's waiting for it to come back. During other times of the day, the reflection stretches out into the backyard, and she enjoys chasing that one as well. I always wonder what she is thinking during these little chases...


(Oh by the way, the sound will be an issue again. We called Olympus and they told us we are going to have to send it in for repair. We are waiting until after vacation to do this though, because we didn't want to risk not having it back in time.)

Boulder or Bust

Back in January when they were bidding vacation days, Jesse randomly booked a weekend in July off, which happened to be this weekend. We have both been feeling slightly bored with day to day life recently and decided it would be good for us to have a little change of pace. So, Saturday morning we hopped on the early flight to Denver and then drove out to Boulder for the day with no major plans. We didn't actually take that many photos, and the ones we did take aren't that great, but here are some none the less.

It was hazy when we landed, so you could only see the base of the foothills from the airport. Here we are waiting for the shuttle to go get our rental car.

The drive into Boulder. Skies had cleared, so we had a great view driving in.

Just hanging out...

We went down to Pearl Street Mall (a pretty well known Boulder landmark). They were having an art fair this weekend, so we strolled through that for a bit and then browsed a few shops. We split a yummy lunch of tomato/basil panini and summer berry salad. Of course, Jesse opted to take a photo of me just seconds after I had stuffed my mouth with salad...thus the odd smile.

After Pearl Street Mall, we were both super thirsty and craving smoothies, so we searched for a smoothie shop to no avail, and finally ended up at a little coffee shop. We have tried smoothies at a few different coffee shops, and should know by now...they are always gross or artificial tasting. These were unfortunately no exception and left both of us feeling a bit queasy. Ironically, as we were leaving we noticed a smoothie shop just a few doors down....

Our final stop was at the Boulder Running Company. Jesse found lots of stuff to pine for, but ultimately came away empty-handed. (I got lots of good Christmas and birthday ideas for him though.)

One thing we both loved about the culture in Fort Collins/Loveland was the dog-friendliness of the city. Every third or fourth car would have a dog along for the ride, and nearly every other car had a dog gate installed in it. The store Jesse worked at let dogs come in with their owners, and sometimes they would be running around my work as well, and you would for sure see lots of them laying beneath cafe tables as their owners had lunch or coffee on the weekends. Boulder was no different. We spotted dogs all over the place and logos letting people know their pups can come along for the shopping errands.
Perhaps the only thing that could have made the day better is if we had Horton and Monkey along for the ride. =)

One last mountain pic before it was time to say good bye to Colorado again...

Math

This:

Plus This:

Equals This:


Monkey is still learning the rules of the world. We have tried to give her tons of exercise to prevent the above photos! Apparently, this day we failed at that. For her age though, we are lucky we have not had more incidents like this. She is probably even younger than we thought when Jesse first found her. We thought she was about a year old when he found her, but since getting her, she has grown another couple inches, so we're thinking she is probably still quite a young pup. All in all, if she's still less than a year old, she is actually doing quite well in her training. It is funny to watch her as she develops her skills. For instance, she gets SO excited when I get home from work, so she wants to jump. Of course, we do not want this, so I immediately tell her to "sit" when I walk in now. What this translates to when she is excited is "touch butt to ground and LEAP back up". It is generally quite cute and funny, since she does display that she understands what you are asking of her, but she does it in her own crazy puppy way. Next step: the "stay" command!

Vegan Ice Cream: Round One

Ever since seeing the cover of The Vegan Scoop, I have had a one track mind, looking forward to trying my hand at making my own vegan ice cream. Unfortunately, I never located a copy of the book to thumb through. Library didn't have it, and neither did Barnes and Noble. I did a google search for recipes, and for the first time, my dear google failed me. Granted, I was looking for a very specific recipe. Anyway, through all my searching, I browsed probably 50 vegan ice cream recipes, so I got a good handle on the basic themes and important ingredients, and then decided to make up my own recipe from there. I made chocolate-peanut-butter, not really knowing what to expect. Vegetarian products and recipes are very hit or miss, and I assume vegan ones to be even more so. I was pleasantly surprised with the end result, especially considering we don't own an ice cream maker. (Apparently, the constant motion and stirring of the machine is what makes the consistency creamy and not icy.) I used unsweetened almond milk for the base, so it actually has some healthy virtues, like loads of vitamin E and lots of trace minerals. Sugar is the only bad thing in it, and next time I plan to scale way back on the sugar anyway because my only end complaint this round was that it was a little too sweet. But, now that I know it actually works with some success, we can start branching out to other flavors....mmm...

Weekend Happenings

I had started a post over the weekend and never finished it up....so I'll just post some photos and give a quick recap. Jesse and I had an entire day off together on Friday! (Rare with our work schedules.) We went out for lunch and then took the pups for a 3 mile walk/jog which they thoroughly enjoyed. (So did we.) Saturday I walked in a parade for the shelter. (My mom has recently joined me in volunteering there, so she walked in it as well.) Jesse and I skipped fireworks that evening. They are nice, but really, you've seen one show, you've seen them all. Anyway, then came Sunday, where good news was had - one of the dogs who has been at the shelter for about 3 years got adopted! There is a rag tag core group of dogs that are there week in and week out, so it is always so sweet to see one of the "regulars" find a home. In any case, that is the short version of my original intentioned post!

On Diet

This summer I hit number three in vegetarian adventures. By now, it fits into my life style pretty easily. It definitely took a few months of learning how to survive in a culture that emphasizes meat as the main dish in every meal, knowing how to field questions from well-intentioned, yet ignorant people, and figuring out how to handle social situations - ordering at restaurants, going to friend's houses for dinner, having people over here for dinner, etc. While those things are generally no longer an issue for me, I do find myself feeling unexpected delight when I come into the company of other vegetarians or vegans and knowing they just know. Always, always when people find out I'm vegetarian, the question is "Why?" and usually, they have an opinion on it. So, there is something refreshing in being in like-minded company, especially when it's something that manifests as much as food issues do. As such, I have recently been super excited as Jesse has been making a noticeable number of casual remarks about taking the plunge into vegetarianism himself. Albeit, his reasons are different than mine. He is primarily interested in it for the health benefits, while I was more driven by the idea of compassionate consumption. (Though I can't deny I have really enjoyed the health benefits that come along with it.) Anyway, Jesse recently reserved a copy of The China Study, which a pilot recommended to him a year or two back. I guess it's a comprehensive study on nutrition, taking into account plant-based vs. meat based diets. I may steal it from him for a bit and have a little read myself. In the end, he may not ever choose to become a vegetarian and it is a decision that is fully his either way, but I am quite excited about the possibility of it!


As for me, I still mull over veganism quite a bit. Outside of food, I try to live a vegan lifestyle anyway, but diet-wise, dairy is the main thing that keeps me from making the leap. Cheese and milk in particular. Thankfully, we've been able to find sources for both that let me happily purchase without feeling like I am compromising. I'm to a point where I will probably try to eat vegan while out and about, but not at home, since I can control the source of our food at home. I know that will prove to be difficult, especially in social settings, and the odds that I will be able to do it 100% are slim. For instance, at work the other day, they saved cheese pizza especially for me, which was super considerate and thoughtful of my vegetarianism. Obviously, I'm not going to turn it down and say "Actually....I won't eat that cheese.", nor will I make my poor friends suffer more as they try desperately to figure out what I can eat when we come over. So, as with most things in life, do the best you can with what you have when you have it. At this point, I'm just going to be more mindful of it when I do have control over my food. As such, I've been wanting to expand my vegan recipes. I've been browsing cookbooks. Top of my list so far is The Joy of Vegan Baking, The Vegan Scoop, and The Vegan Table. Ironic that two of my top three are dessert-based! Actually, I often enjoy the process of baking more than the end result. (Though cookies aren't a bad destination.)

Still Playing with the New Camera

I really like the new little camera Jesse got me. We discovered the video mode....which just happened to be while we were at Sonic - could there be more perfect timing??! Jesse decided we should do our own Sonic commercial. (Not sure if the real ones are airing in Canada or not.) Anyway, I love how I am holding my cup with the logo so perfectly placed, though I'm pretty sure the real thing is a lot funnier than we are. Nonetheless, here you go - the first video taken on my new little camera.

It's The Little Things

I was driving home from the shelter this evening, and as I exited off the highway, I saw a turtle in the middle of the road. Thankfully I didn't hit it, but I knew his chances of making it across the road alive were slim to none. There was no safe place to pull off on the side of the road because there is no shoulder at this spot, so I drove a bit further and pulled into a business drive a little way down the road. I didn't really know what I was going to do, but I felt like since I had seen it, I should do something. So, I turned off the car, got out, and started running back down the side of the road, through the middle of weeds, thinking how stupid I must look to cars passing by, and watching the turtle, looking away each time a car drove by, because I knew I couldn't handle seeing him get squished right as I was on my way to move him. So, I made it to the point in the road where he was and ran out when the cars were clear to move him. I was a bit nervous picking him up, because I didn't know if he was a snapper or not, and I had Jesse's voice ringing in my ears, Turtles are notorious for disease. (We recently had a turtle discussion when we saw one walking the dogs the other day.) Anyway, I went a little deeper into the weeds, to try to make sure he didn't turn back around and get right back on the road. As I was doing all of this, I was also thinking about how I often see creepy people walking this stretch of road and I was a little nervous just walking out by myself. Of course, on que, as I turn around, there is an old rusty pick up truck stopped behind me with two guys in it who look....hmmm...I'll say "weathered". They both look serious and yell "Are you okay?" and I look right back at them, smiling like a big dork, and say "Yea, there was just a big turtle in the middle of the road that I wanted to move.", thinking about how they will either a) think I'm a stupid fool or b) perhaps jump out, kidnap me, and then brutally murder me. Instead, they both smiled and said "That's awesome!". So, I started jogging back to my car, and they drove away in their truck. I was relieved that I hadn't been kidnapped, so I was all happy jogging back to the car. Then I realized that they had turned around and were coming back. They slowed down again and yelled out "Hey, just want you to know, that's really great. Wish there were more people like that." and then sped away.

Of course, I smiled like an even bigger dork and kept running. Every once in a while, you have some exchange with a stranger that reminds you that the world isn't so bad after all. I also thought about how stupid and judgemental I had been toward them when I first saw them. You never know what package kindness will arrive in. Many cars passed me, but they were the only ones who stopped to see if I was okay. And then they were kind enough to stop again just to tell me that they liked what I had done.

Ahhhh...warm fuzzies.

Sweet Memories

I was bummed about the fact that we seemed to have lost all photos of our first ever house together in the move a few years ago. Yesterday when I got home, Jesse told me he had something that would make me very happy, and sat me down in the front of the computer to pull up the photos of our old house! I was very excited! The photos he found even included the ones he took the day we had the inspection done (before we closed and actually owned it). I had forgotten how nasty ugly it was when we bought it...and oh the horror of cat urine! We both joked that we don't know what we were thinking buying it. We had to remind ourselves that we were trying to buy for less than 140k, it was the middle of the housing boom, and most houses we looked at in our price range were literally crumbling off their foundation. This house was terribly ugly and wretched stinky, but since most of the stuff was cosmetic in nature, we snatched it up.

I had forgotten what all we did to it and the many long days working on it. One time I even fell asleep against the living room wall, holding a reciprocating saw in my hand. That was the night we were putting in the wood stove...if I remember right, it started snowing shortly after Jesse got all of the holes in the ceiling and roof cut, so the snow was just falling right into the living room. In fact, I believe at the point I fell asleep, Jesse was on the roof and I was waiting for him to come back down so we could start putting in the pipe. As I dozed off, I remember telling myself to stay awake, and thinking a) not smart for Jesse to be on the roof while it's snowing and b) not smart for me to be holding a reciprocating saw while feeling so sleepy. Somehow, we managed to get the wood stove put in that night and didn't have any trips to the ER. We also painted every square inch of wall and ceiling in that house. After that was done, I remember one Friday night, turning to Jesse and saying "I think we should paint the house this weekend!" (meaning the outside) and off to Home Depot we went to pick out paint. The next day I painted all day while Jesse was at work, and somehow managed to lock myself out of the house in the process. I remember thinking about how I could pee in the shed if I really had to go before Jesse got home. To this day, we still joke about the grand idea I had to paint the house in one weekend. Or the image of the Daytona loaded up with hardwood planks. There was 500sq feet shoved in there because we didn't have a truck, and we couldn't afford the delivery fee. Man, we did so many projects, and we did them all with such ghetto flair. That little hatchback served us well though. It was a very sad little car if I do recall. I remember driving behind Jesse one day, whom I could barely see through the thick black smoke, and praying that the Daytona didn't spontaneously burst into flames and kill Jesse. It lived through that day, and finally died on a mountain. Rest in peace, little buddy. Perhaps it is in used car heaven, right next to the beloved Dodge Aries. Anyway, we (and our cars!) worked hard on that house, and by the end of our time there, it had definitely become "home".

Ahhhh, little house...

how I miss you and all your sweet, ghetto, sweaty, stinky, cozy, loving memories...

Still fixing it up...

It is the perfect morning. It rained last night, so everything is nice and cool, the birds are singing, and all nature is quiet and content. I just came in from picking a pound and a half of sugar snap peas, Jesse's favorite garden veggie. Hopefully we will find time to relax today. Yesterday was a busy work day. Our replacement windows arrived, so we started in on that project. We also bought beadboard for the ceilings in the bedroom and office when we ordered the windows, so we started putting that up as well.

In keeping with our house projects theme, we measure the level of difficulty by the swear scale. Putting in wood floors = 3 sh*ts. Gutting the bathroom = 8 d*mns, 7 sh*ts, and 1 b*tch. Yesterday I was cracking up, as the scale officially tipped. We had a record number of f bombs, too many sh*ts to count, and many sons of b*tches. The project is not even done yet, and it is by far my least favorite. And judging by the colors flying out of Mr. Nikkel's mouth, I think it's safe to say he feels the same way. (In fact, for the record, of all of the "colors" that flew yesterday, I was only responsible for one. Not that I can blame him though, as Jesse really was doing most of the work.) The first window we started on had a lot of wood rot around it, so Jesse replaced most of the frame while I hung out in the other room and assembled a new desk for the office. The rot of course did not help, nor did the fact that our new neighbors had hired a professional to install replacement windows on their house on the very same day we started in on ours. That dude worked significantly faster than we did.

The first window we started on (well, actually Jesse did most of this by himself). Lots of wood rot in the frame....booooo....

On to the next, which went a lot faster, but still had some issues.
Nailing in some new flashing.

This is the reason we bought beadboard for the ceilings. You can't see it very well, but the old popcorn ceiling is alive and well in our office and bedroom. (Thankfully not the rest of the house though!) It is also starting to chunk off in random places, and may or may not contain asbestos. Putting up wainscot to cover it seemed a lot easier than doing an asbestos test and ripping it all down, then repainting the ceilings. Plus, if the test was positive, what a bugger that would be with masks, suits and the whole ordeal while doing the demo. You can also catch a small glimpse of the brass and glass light fixture straight from 1982 in this photo.
A self-photo taken while I was bracing up the paneling and Jesse was nailing it in. After the first failed attempt at holding the beadboard up while one of us nailed, Jesse created "the swooper". It is basically a t-shaped brace (which I am holding). The idea was that I would "swoop" under the paneling to raise it up and hold it in place while he was nailing to relieve some of the weight. Swooping action is much easier said than done, however, and I have the bruises to prove it.
We only got two panels of beadboard up, and the trim is still not back on the windows in the office. Plus, we have some major cleaning and organizing to do in there. Once we are finished completely, I'll post some of the after photos. Don't hold your breath though, because it may be a while before we get around to finishing it. We still have 5 more windows to install and beadboard for the bedroom. And we are debating about repainting all of the trim.

Poor little Horton was scared all day. Since we got him, he has always had a major fear of windows. I don't know what happened to him, but at some point, something very bad involving windows went down. When we first got him, you couldn't even adjust the blinds without him literally trembling in fear. I have never seen a dog literally shake in fear besides Horton with windows. I hate to think of what he went through or what those people did to him. He has come a long way since we first got him, and you can even adjust curtains in his presence now. But, there is still some sort of fear reaction in him, and yesterday was all just too much for him to handle with completely removing windows. Needless to say, he stayed as far away from the action as he possibly could.

Monkey was a different story. She wanted to be close. She decided it would be a good idea if she collected all of the toys she could find on the floor and line them up nicely on her bed. She did it so precisely in a neat little line.

Once she had her toys lined up in a row, I joked to Jesse "Isn't that a sign of autism in children?". (Monkey is a bit crazy.) No sooner had I said than, and we turned around to find her eating paint chips off the paint brush. She's not doing herself any favors in the joke department. (Don't worry, I took the paint brush away from her right away.) Actually, for as much as we make jokes about her, she's actually very smart. She just needs a job to do, or else she'll find one of her own...like lining up toys and eating paint chips. This is one reason I think she would enjoy agility, (which is still on my list of things to sign up for).

Anyway, the weekend is flying by much faster than I would like.

Later today I'm off to the shelter. I am heavily campaigning for a third (possibly fourth) dog. Jesse's question every time, is "But when will it stop?" and my answer is always "300 lbs." =)

New Camera

For graduation, Jesse got me a new camera. Now I don't have to lug around his big guns cameras anytime I want photos. I have been taking the new little camera around with us so that I can test it out. So, here are some of the first ever photos taken on it...none of which are good, but fun nonetheless.

He's Back

Jesse is back from Calgary, after running his first half marathon. You can see his results here. (Do a crtl+f to find him.) Not too shabby considering he had a very serious halt in training due to hernia surgery. Way to go Hernie!!

Food Inc.

I become increasingly passionate about the way we "do food" in America. As such, I am eagerly anticipating the release of Food Inc. in June. Please go see it!!

Life Lately

Lots of action around here lately. Jesse has been to Canada and back, but will be leaving again later this week for round two, which also happens to include his first half-marathon. Unfortunately, because of his surgery, he probably won't be able to run it as fast as he had planned. I'm bummed that I will miss his first race, but plan to be there with bells on for his first full marathon this fall.

Otherwise, we decided to forgo the garage conversion in favor of the less fun, but probably more responsible window upgrade. I think this was in part due to making a budget sheet at which point we realized we have no where near enough money to do the garage conversion. It's on hold for a later, more wealthy, date. Anyway, we ordered replacement windows yesterday at Lowe's, and I'm actually getting pretty excited about them. I hope to see a nice dent in our utility bills and I think they will make the house a bit cleaner looking. The old window panes have had nothing short of 500 coats of paint, which as you can imagine, does not leave the cleanest line. I think new windows will be cheery and clean, plus money saving, and tax crediting. Not a bad deal. So our big focus house-project-wise is on the windows and smaller details to get what we already have in top shape - finishing up some trim work, paneling in the flaking, potential asbestos ceilings in the office and bedroom, and organizing the messies. We figure by the time we are done with all of that, then maybe we can think again about doing the conversion.

In other happy news, we booked vacation!!! It sometimes seems hard to justify spending in a week what you would normally spend in two or three or four at home, but over the last couple years, I think we have both realized the value of annual vacations. One of the few times of the year when you really get away from everything and are able to actually give the other person your full attention with no agenda except relaxing and having fun. So, I am super excited to be going back to none other than Disney! When I called to book, she asked for my name and then said "Oh yes, I see you here in Mickey's address book." =)

Since booking, I have forced Jesse to sit through vacation video re-runs. Poor guy.

Anyway, I am seriously contemplating taking agility classes with Monkey. Well, agility or freestyle. I haven't decided which yet. I think it would be a lot of fun, and now that I'm done with school, I have some time for new hobbies. Plus, Monkey could definitely use a channel for her energy. Horton does not care to participate, though he did tell me that he would be happy to come and watch.

Oh, also, I officially said no to grad school. The dept. head said she understood my decision and that she hopes I can come in the future, so at least it was a positive no.

I guess that is about it. I'll have to get some photos on here soon. It's been a while.

Canuckless

I am without Canuck for the time being. Too bad, because the weather is perfection for a fire pit. I am tempted to make one for myself, but it seems kind of silly to make it just for me.

I went to lunch with my mom and then spent the afternoon on the back deck reading O magazine. There is a section this month all about animals, and one story in particular was about a lady who had to put her dog down. Of course, it made everything with Abe so fresh again and the waterworks started pumping, so I decided I needed to get out. I loaded up Horton and Monkey to take them for a little hike, but we needed gas first, so we made a quick stop at QT. This total macho motorcycle man pulls up at the pump opposite of me. Long hair, black leather, dark sunglasses. He says, "What are you doing with those dogs back there?" and I tell him we're going for a walk (mind you, this is all within 10 minutes of me reading the article and crying), and he says back to me, "I just had to bury my dog this morning. 14 years together." Lump in throat - check. So, we had a little chat about his dog and I told him about Abe, and we both agreed how hard it is to say goodbye. By this point, my plan to cheer up wasn't going so well! Anyway, eventually, we (as in me and the pups, not me and motorcycle man) made our way to a park by the river and had a nice three mile walk. I am not sure who enjoyed it most...cheered me right up, Horton was proud to pee on everything that stood more than two inches off the ground, and Monkey was convinced everyone had come to the park just to say hello to her.

Anyway, when we got back to the car, I had a voicemail on my cell phone from the dept. head at SFSU. Finally have a grad school decision! I gave her a call back, and was offered a spot with a nice stipend, but some of the details are complicated and I won't get into it all here. I had told myself I would say no, but it is proving to be harder than expected. I mean, I still think it may be best to say no, but I just didn't expect it to be this difficult to turn down. Anyway, I want to take a day or two to think it over and be sure that I am sure on my no.

In any case, for now, that's life without the Canuck.

Fun Gift

I received a fire pit last week as a graduation gift, which I am very excited about. My mom helped me assemble it, while Jesse looked on and laughed. (So what if we installed the doors upside down the first try??)



In any case, it was pretty warm out that day, but I insisted we try it out anyway.




We had a wood burning stove in our house in Colorado, so we were pretty good at lighting fires there. Since it has been a while though, I was very rusty. It's ironic...wildfires start all the time, yet when you are purposefully trying to start a fire, it proves to be more difficult. Anyway, I (er, okay....Jesse) eventually got it started.

Since that first day, I spent the week hoping for a good opportunity to use it again. That finally came last night, when it started to get cool as the sun was going down. My mom and Rich were down for a visit, so we busted out the stuff for smores and roasted marshmallows. I have no photos - but trust me, it was a perfect blend of sticky plus yummy.

Processing

When Jesse takes photos and eventually fills up his card, he downloads the photos to a folder called "card dump 5/08/09" or whatever the date is. The folder is jumbled up, with random photos from all kinds of events.

I feel a need for a card dumping of the brain.

Here are some sentiments from my head that I've been thinking a lot about the last couple weeks. Metaphorically speaking, some are stupid snapshots, some are accidental photos of the floor because the camera just happened to bump your thigh while you were walking, and some are formal, taken with a soft box and all. Here we go -

One of my professors once told me that my art is, "So you - subdued yet excited." That is how I feel tonight.

Regret. I should have learned more Spanish when we were in Nicaragua. I am not sure if I am more embarrassed or ashamed that I spent 2 months there and the only thing I really learned was how to order ice cream. So ethnocentric of me.

I miss Mr. David Curtis, the world's best sociology professor, and his thoughts. I have a huge craving for some good discussion in my life. I am thankful for Jesse, who has stayed up late with me a night or two to discuss spiritual matters.

I am still not sure if I am "healed", "have forgiven", whatever you want to call it, from experiences at Mercy Ships. I think it did deeper damage than I realized. I am actually pretty jacked up. And that doesn't really even bother me. I don't know if that is good or bad.

Does power corrupt or is it just coincidence that mostly slimy people come to power?

Sometimes I feel like I lose who I am in light of who I wish I was. Maybe it is just the human tendency to take for granted everything which is familiar and close, including yourself.

I have gained a new appreciation for women's lit. The dialogue is witty, so much social commentary between the lines. It makes me want to check out all the books I can with work from Sojourner Truth, Maya Angelou, and Phillis Wheatley. People have such beautiful things to say if we will only let them.

I still miss Abe. A lot.

I am excited to have some free time. Now that I am done with school, I can finally go back to learning for learning's sake. I hope I can get into a figure drawing class this fall.

I miss traveling, but I don't know why.

They say three things remain: faith, hope, and love. I have hope. I have love. But sometimes I don't know if I have faith.