A Very Good Year

Before I announce my resolutions for the next year (and subsequently set myself up for failure), I am going to give myself a pat on the back for a year pretty well done.

• I made sure I was not passed over for training or field work, and thus ensured a raise.
• Lobbied for and got said raise.
• Found a very cute and very affordable house to start our home in.
• Got to a good place with my parents and my sister.
• Came up with the best present ever for my in-laws.
• Got all insured.
• Won a lawsuit on my birthday.
• Fattened up two dogs and a kitten.
• Restarted writing on this here blog.
• Found out I’m going to be an aunt next summer!

Random

• The TSO concert was a lot of fun, and, of course, rocked my socks off. I have never before seen an electric flying V violin. Note to the female singers: I know you’re trying to portray a rock image, but please rethink your costume choice. I do not need to be able to see up your skirt as you squat on top of a tier pulling on a high note. Nice black thong, btw.

• My office is dead today, and I still don’t have enough leave for me to be comfortable taking off the whole week. Due to the deadness and lack of coworkers, I brought my sewing to work with me. Don’t judge me, there’s only so much internet surfing you can do.

• Speaking of sewing, I have crossed the line of sanity, I think. In an effort to be crafty, I am embroidering my dogs’ names on stockings. I want to do stockings for David and me, but I didn’t come up with the idea until this weekend, which would definitely not be enough time to complete before Christmas. I’m justifying the stockings with the reason of “practice.” That’s why I am embroidering “Ginger” at work in metallic thread. Practice.

• We have gotten all our presents purchased and David is wrapping them at home right now, because my present-wrapping looks like the work of a fourth grader. The only stress is if the presents that we ordered last week will be here by the time we need to leave Wednesday.

• I was told I was beautiful by the quik-lube oil change guy last week. He still charged me $40.

• I made these empanadas for an office party Friday. They were fantastic and not too hard to make. They definitely stood out among all the dips and candy.

• We are furnishing and replacing stuff in our house piece by piece, and it’s starting to finally feel like ours. We still have great need of wall decorations, but slowly, this house is less of a place to stay and more of a home and sanctuary. Next on the list: a new mattress. And, damn, those are expensive.

Merry Christmas to all, and to all, many cocktails!

Eight Days Until Christmas!

I have found the secret to maximizing your holiday enjoyment: get your significant other a present they have to share with you. Taking them out for dinner and a movie, getting them a really awesome electronic that goes in a common area (ex. new desktop computer, new Blu-ray player, new piece of furniture, etc.), or taking them on a mini-vacation are all things they have to do or share with you. In my case, I got my husband two tickets to go see Trans-Siberian Orchestra tonight. Not only is TSO one of his (and my) favorite groups, I’m getting a dinner of sushi and a night in a hotel out of this whole deal. Pretty good for his Christmas present, isn’t it?

In other news, apparently I rock at picking out presents for people, or David is either really terrible at thinking of ideas or really lazy. I like to think it’s the first option. I know it’s not laziness, because he’s going to be scouring stores this afternoon to look for the last two presents. This is after I picked out his parents’, sister and brother-in-law’s, grandparents’, two sets of aunts and uncles’, two cousins’, another cousin and his fiancée’s, and his friend’s present. (Wow, that is a lot of apostrophes. I hope I used them all correctly.) And they all kind of rock, by the way. So if you don’t know what to get for a loved one, just ask me. I’m the Gift Whisperer.

And as an addendum to last week’s post, Alex disappeared yesterday morning and scared the hell out of me. I didn’t know how attached I was to my dogs until I thought one of them might be gone. We don’t have a physical fence, just an electric one that keep them in during the day and when we’re gone overnight, so there’s always the possibility of them getting hit. We live on a very rural road (there’s only a house or two past us), though, and they don’t chase cars, so I was never too worried about it. More so, I was worried about them getting shot or attacked. Perils of living in the country. But luckily, she was waiting on the back porch when I got home and was very grateful for the turkey pepperoni in her bone. I’m definitely not looking forward to the “look up and they’re gone” aspect of parenting. This is why my parents kept me on a leash. A lavender one.

Meet my dogs...

This is Alex.

I adopted her as a graduation present for my soon-to-be-husband in May of 2007. We were told that she is a Lab/Pit bull mix, but, except for her whappy tail, she has absolutely no Lab in her at all. Instead of fetching, she prefers to go get whatever object you threw and then run away from you, grunting all the while in ecstasy as you chase her. Alex hates getting wet and refuses to retrieve things that are thrown into ponds. If the ground is wet, she actually prances a little bit to keep her paws from getting too wet. She is extremely friendly and has never met a dog or person she doesn’t like, including the owner of the dog down the road that latched onto her throat and missed killing her by fractions of an inch. Alex still wags her tail at him when he comes by. She’s apathetic about cats. She has the absolute worst smelling farts, and she likes to expel them in her sleep. She grits her teeth when she eats crunchy things, so she looks like she’s either smiling or constipated when she eats dog biscuits. She is super fast and does not turn on a dime. She greets me every night with something in her mouth (it could be anything from a rock to dead mouse to the neighbor’s son’s boot), tail wagging, and grunting and whining for all she’s worth. She does not like to come when called; instead, Alex likes to head for traffic. She does not like celery. She puts her nose up to the vent while in the car and snots all over it. She is knee-high and thirty-five pounds. She ate the moss out of my amyrillis pot last night.



This is Ginger.

We picked her up as a “free to a good home” in the paper in August of 2007 as a playmate for Alex. She was absolutely spoiled rotten when she came home with us and had to be retrained that dogs do not sit on the couch, eat off the table, or drink out of our glasses. We think she’s some sort of Terrier/Hound mix. Several people have told us she looks like a hunting dog. She points at leaves, it’s pretty cute. She loves to jump in water and will choose to swim across a pond instead of finding away around it. She sounds like she is possessed by demons when she rolls around to scratch herself. She likes to sleep across my legs when we let her on the bed. She can catch treats mid-air from almost any starting position. She can follow commands from across the yard if you have a piece of food in your hand. She likes dark beer. She still growls at the owner of the dog that attacked Alex. She takes a while to warm up to new dogs, and usually won't play with them unless she feels left out by Alex. She is extremely protective of Alex, yet sometimes tries to protect us from Alex. She and the kitten are good friends; when the kitten was new, Ginger and she would sleep together every night. They still share hay occasionally. She is fairly timid in new situations, but will follow Alex anywhere. She heels very well. She plays fetch very well, in that she waits for Alex to go get the toy, then steals it from her to bring to us. Her jaw extends from her face when she's play-fighting (think Alien). She will eat anything. She is also knee-high and thirty-five pounds. She attacked and was frightened off by the self-opening trash can lid last night.

They are very good buddies.