Lazy Sunday Finds

Yesterday I spent the majority of my day on the couch. It wasn't planned that way, it just happened. I know, I know... we've heard this before, right? Well, I promise, this time it was for a good reason. Promise. See, Saturday I finally went to a yoga class with Jon. It was fan-freakin'-tastic! We were both so mellow, we were practically catatonic. It didn't last long as I agreed to help out at a sleep over that evening. A sleep over that involved five tweens and two teenagers. What was I thinking??

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So between extreme sleep-deprivation and soreness, oh and a nasty case of PMS, I spent most of my time bonding to my sofa. I needed to clean, help purge and organize the office, etc etc but, instead I surfed the internet and found some fun websites and a very thought provoking article. And of course, I must share with you all because I love you THAT much! Sharing is caring after all.

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Seductively French- A website and business started by a woman from Arizona who loves all things French. Dangerously beautiful things to look at.

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My French Country Home- Noticing the French theme? This is a blog of a UK expat, married to a Frenchman, living in the country, fixing up her home, garden, cooking, going to brocants, and sharing all of what she sees and does via gorgeous photography. Her garden has actually inspired me to work on our yard and lack of garden; even Jon loves the look of her garden and we've agreed to use it as a template for our home. I'm actually excited and have recruited a friend to help me get the beds ready for spring when fall sets in. If you know me, I rarely get excited by yard work- as in hardly ever. I blame years of weeding flower beds that never looked beautiful, so, what was the point?

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Moving Abroad. The Cons- Technically published today, but, it fits with Sunday stuff so there. Jon and I have been talking a lot about future plans and what not (post about those little gems coming soon), and of course, I love the thought of moving abroad for a little bit and have been throwing that idea out quite a bit. He's a bit more hesitant, which I understand after reading expat blogs and experiencing being a foreigner living in Japan. That article explains what could go wrong with a move abroad, especially a poorly planned one. I wonder what my expat blog friends think though. Is this article spot on? Are they missing something? Are they unjustly demonizing expatriation? Please share your thoughts! I'm eager to hear them.

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Alrighty, I'm off to be productive! So much to get ready before school starts and I'm working full time hours again. Does it ever end?? Love you guys and hope all is well where you're at!! Ta ta!*

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*I can't believe I just typed, 'Ta, ta!' on my blog. It feels so wrong, yet, what else was I going to type? So conflicting... ;-)

Desperate Times...

I knew it would come, I mean how could it not? Working with small children one is bound to pick up a bug or two. Intitially, I blamed my fatigue and headache on PMS, started taking some evening primrose oil for that I realized I was getting a bug. The sniffles are in full swing and so is my mini-pharmacy of homeopathic and over the counter remedies. I definitely need more sleep, but, I'm thinking I may have caught it in time. Which is good, very, very good.

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That said to clear up the sniffles Jon and I decided on Indian food tonight. And what do you know, the bottle of Ghost Pepper sauce Jon bought on Amazon showed up at his house. Being known for its off the charts capsaicin searing qualities I put two drops of it in my Indian food, hoping that would help clear up my head a bit.

This has warnings on it... seriously

It worked, well I'm afraid. I only put in two drops in it as a little goes a long, LONG way. My lips still feel as if the top layer of skin was chemically 'peeled' off, though... which is an interesting sensation. What can I say? I like the spice and I love to breathe through my nose even more. Though I'm sure the smell of this stuff would make most tear up I can say that the burn didn't bug that much! Which either makes me a mutant, just plain weird, or insane. Or maybe a bit of everything?

Overload

My gawd, it has been ten days since my last post! Egads (I've always wanted to use that word in a blog post) that's too long. I'm sorry my awesome blog friends I promise I haven't forgotten you. I also promise that there has been MORE than enough stories for me to blog about. So what's my deal you ask? Exhaustion. Pure and simple

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I don't know how children manage to collectively go nuts, but, they do it and at my school they do it with a dash extra crazy topped with loony. Yes, I realize they all mean virtually the same thing, but, that is the best description my fried brain can conjure up right now. Last night I went to bed around 9pm. The extra sleep did me a world of good as today I've had one child throw a fit for a solid twenty minutes during lunch, I had to break up two near fights in another class, watch another employee show off a students teeth marks on his arm, and at the end of the day I discover that my friend and co-worker has to have a brain scan to rule out an aneurysm. To top it all off Leo was hyper and Louie's having explosive diarrhea all over the house and I must get him to the vet pronto. Oh not to mention there's the concern that what Louie has Leo may get so I gotta keep an eye on both of them and keep Therapetics informed of what my vet says Louie has.

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Aren't you jealous?

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That's just today people and there's still over eight hours left until the end. And just to let you know today is a pretty good example of what's been going on since last week. One thing after another. It's just nuts and I'm very run down by it all.

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So, I have to miss Leo's training, but, I'm hoping to get my dance class in as I just need something to take my mind off of all this craziness. In exactly one week I'll get to be on fall break and I'm hoping to recoop some of my energy and sanity for that matter.

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In the meanwhile, I'm working to get back into the blogging groove. I have pictures of the new kitten (yes, I kept him), Leo at the fair (no mullet pics though boo!!), stories about this that and the other all ready to be posted. Just bare with me, I'm getting there!

Manic Monday

Leo feeling the adverse sideffects from today. Shh!! Snuck this picture while the kids were listening to their teacher.

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Where do I begin? It wasn't a bad day, it was just- manic! I was given a schedule of teachers to visit and help out for an hour or so. Five teachers in all. Yes, I said five. Mind you this maybe temporary and I've already been told of a change by the principal. Okay.. I'm flexible I can do this I told myself.

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Then I get to the classrooms. Kids are thrilled Leo's there, helped a sweet girl in my first class, then I get to the next teacher. She looks at me like I'm invading her room and I felt pretty awkward as the kids were in the middle of testing. Get to the next class and the teacher was cool enough to let me talk about Leo. THEN, while the kids are occupied with worksheets she asks me why I came to her class. It dawned on me in that moment, these teachers were not told I was going to be there and thus, couldn't plan accordingly. The first class going so well was a fluke, an utter fluke as I got a minute to talk with the teacher while her kids were on bathroom break. The rest were clueless as to why I showed up at their door.

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Ohhhh boy.

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So I go about the rest of my day apologizing to every teacher I had to go to, telling them I would probably be there, but, I wasn't for sure as things were already in flux. I still got to help some kiddos out and that was awesome. Leo did great despite the fact he skipped breakfast and wasn't in the greatest of moods (needy- very needy). Then while I was finishing my day in the office two 'suits' come into the school. I say hi,they introduce themselves, ask for the principal, I tell Principal some folks from such and such are here.

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Heh.

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Those people were from the school board. One was in fact the superintendent who just decided to show up without warning at the end of the school day. FUN! I clock out and get Leo and I outta there fast as I just didn't want to add any undue stress on the principal. So I haul butt to work where that was a whole 'nother series of crazy there. Ran an errand after work, traffic's bad of course, takes forever to get home. I get home and what do I do? Sync my phone and iTunes account incorrectly and erase the language podcasts and learning tools off of my phone.

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Go me.

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Suffice it to say my gin and tonic is pretty strong tonight. My liver may hate me by the end of this week if things stay this way!

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Hope your Monday was less insane than mine!

I Finally Did It

I left my cell [i] phone at work today. I'm actually surprised, usually I leave my cell phones somewhere once a week and I've been able to keep track of it and not forget it since I began my new job. Now I'm sitting at home, no gas in the car, no money in the bank, needing to get Leo to his training class, hoping Jon will read my emergency please-oh-God-can- you-help email and save me.

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Flaking Out- 1 Megan (remembering things that make her life easier)-0

Stylin'

The awesome TracePoo at A Maui Mommy awarded me with the Stylish Blogger Award!! I'm afraid I don't have a good acceptance speech prepared so let's go straight to the rules. I am to share five 'secret' things about me and/or this blog then pass along this award to five bloggers.

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1. This probably isn't 'secret' persay, but, I don't know exactly what I want be. I have things I want to do, and a basic mantra of give to others what I can, but, that's about it. I think it's because I've wanted to be so many things I am just not deadset on being in a particular career field. Or I simply can't make up my mind. Or.. both. lol

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2. I loathe, LOATHE folding laundry. Washing laundry, putting it way, heck even ironing doesn't bug me. Folding it and hanging it on the other hand- blech.

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3. I want to do something different with this blog, but, I'm stuck on how to do it. I love the template I have, but, I would like to have links to an about me section, that sort of thing. For the life of me I can't figure out how to move forward with this without completely destroying the nice template I have now.

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4. I used to have a bit of a speech 'issue'. There were just certain words I couldn't pronounce when I was little. Soldier was one of them. In fact, an elementary school friend sat me down one recess and had me practice saying soldier, and shoulder. I finally grew out of that. It was as if my brain and mouth just needed to line up on a few words.

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5. The first language I ever learned wasn't French nor Japanese, but, Spanish. I went to an after school program once a week when I was seven to learn basic Spanish words. What turned me off from continuing to learn espangnol was my, still to this day, tone deaf brother singing "Des Colores" around the house ad naseum for a class project. The Spanish words were so mutilated by his singing I thought the Spanish language sounded too harsh and abrasive. So, when I was in Jr. High I decided I would learn French instead. The rest is history. (Though I want to learn more Spanish now, especially since I am at a school with a high hispanic population)

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I pass this award to...

1. Annelise @ a box of crayons

2. Sarah @ Our Sunnyview...

3. Sara Louise @ Sara in Le Petit Village

4. Clouds @ Pink Clouds and Polar Bears

5. Jana Faith @ Everyday is Your Runway

I Have Joined the Cult

Picture from techknots.com. I don't have my camera during this babysitting gig, so thank you Google images for doing the hard work of searching for me!

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I feel like I should begin chanting, "One of us!" to everyone now. Yesterday, right before I was to meet with the mother of the twins I'm babysitting this weekend, I got a call from the AT&T store down the street. The wonderful lady gave me the good news, new iPhone had arrived. It was as if the heavens had opened up and the angels were singing, 'You have an iPhone!'
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Naturally I headed there asap, the mother didn't even mind I was going as she too is an iPhone owner (told ya, we're a cult). So I got there and of course there were two people with complicated issues ahead of me. Ten, somewhat agonizing, minutes later I was called and I nearly skipped over to the counter. My little, sleek phone came out of it's package and into my dirty hands (I smudged it!! Sadness :-P).

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I canNOT put this new thing down. It's next to impossible folks. I knew I would like one and would be hooked quickly, but, the this is some seriously strong punch we're talking about here. One little taste and I was immediatly addicted. Jon too has donned the robes of the iPhone cult (he switched over to AT&T and we're bundling our phone packages together and splitting the difference). Last night we were playing Words with Friends, a scrabble like game, right next to eachother. We haven't played a real board game together, ever, and here we were happily tapping our little screens and bonding over the experience.

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See? It's not so bad. Come join us. It will make you 'happy' :-P*

*Mind you I have complete respect for anyone who doesn't want to or can't get this phone. It's just fun to pretend to do the whole cult recruitment peer pressure thing. Really fun in fact. ;-)

Test Of Shame (aka the drug test)

Thank you Dilapan for showing so well what I had to stare at today.

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Let me preface this story with I should've known it was going to be one of those days when my French [coffee] press sprung a leak from a crack in the glass. This afternoon, Jon graciously offered to drive me and Leo to the clinic where I needed to take my drug test so I can be gainfully employeed. Naturally, because like it said it was one of those days, we went to the address I memorized where there was no clinic. Thanks to Jon's new, shiney Iphone we quickly cleared up that we needed to be on N. Sheridan not S. Sheridan. Way to look at the address Megan! We got there and thankfully they were not busy. After some initial confusion about Leo (look at the vest people!) I filled out my forms and nervously waited. Yes, I was nervous because I like to be nervous about things that I have no reason to be nervous about.

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I was called back and was it a nice, matronly, female nurse assisting me? Oh no, no, no! It was a cute, male nurse with tattoos and who had a look on his face that screamed, "Dear God, why do I have this job???' Which of course made it difficult to joke around with him to ebb my nerves. I mean seriously, this guy was a Debbie Downer, or Danny Downer... or whatever. So I was asked to put my purse away where it would be locked (I had to watch this btw). Then he said to wash up to which I stupidly replied, "Just my hands?" Right, okay, in my defense I was nervous and really not using my brain. But lordy did I feel silly when I realized what I had said.

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So I get my cup and then shown the bathroom where first Nurse Tattoo Edgy meets Depression About Job Choices dumped a blue liquid in the toliet. I looked at the whole deal rather dumbfounded and I can only imagine the look on my face when he told me not to flush the toliet, pee to this line on the cup, and the more the better. Alrighty then!! I did my business, prayed it was enough (it was), dabbed off, and very deliberatly did NOT flush the toliet. I opened the door and nursey boy was not there. OMG I had to walk down the hall, open cup, to the station?!!? I did it with my head somewhat held up and made it with no accidents, splashes, or major embarassments. Well, aside from the whole having to walk around with my urine on display in a cup.

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If that ordeal wasn't 'fun' enough I had to stand there while Mr. Why God am I the Pee Nurse [cute] Man signed a few forms, poured the cup into a tube, and then asked me to initial and date the sticker label that sealed my sample. Yes, I had to initial my own urine in a tube. Woo hoo. Then to add the cherry and sprinkles on top of this load-of-fun-cake I had to stand there and watch him take a small sample and put it into a quick result tester deal. I was watching this all, having NO idea what colors meant what. I swear they do this to make you scared so if you are dirty you'll just confess to it right then and there and save them the hassle of testing.

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No surprise everything was negative. However, I did have to look at the form to confirm this because Nurse in a Major Life Funk said nothing to me. Just gave me the form, told me they'd fax the results to the school district, and have a nice day. Well, no, he didn't say have a nice day... hell, I don't even know what he said I just got out of there as quickly as I could without seemingly like I really, REALLY wanted to be out of there. Because I did, but, I needed to save the last shred of dignity I had left.

Unlike this guy. No dignity there. All credit goes to pissinginthecup.com

Let's not even go into what work and after work had in store for me. Like I said it was one of those days. At least the new Chinese food place and the gin were all very good.

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It's the little things that help.

"I've Got Sunshine"

The ever lovely and wonderful Annelise from box of crayons awarded me with the Sunshine award today!! Woot, woot! Rules are to list seven random facts about me and then I will pass the love onto three other wonderful bloggers. And away we go!

1. I have a morbid fear of being buried alive. If this weren't rediculous enough I developed this fear from watching a soap opera when I was younger during summer break. This is why kids NEED (yes I said need) cable folks. If we had had Nicklodeon while I was growing up I would've been watching cartoons all day instead of rediculous plots on soap operas which have scarred me for life.

2. I am a bit of a speed reader. Not like lightening fast, but, I get through books fairly quick. I've been able to do this since I first started reading around four. In fact, my mother once told me to read slower as she was tired of having to frequent the library so much so I could check out more Nancy Drew books. The downside of this ability is when I'm typing or writing something out I tend to miss typos and errors a LOT. Thanks to this blog I've been working on proof-reading several times as I realized I had a lot of typos floating around my entries. I may become a better writer because of this. Well... we can hope right?

3. I LOVE languages. Languages are fun to me- like puzzles (I love those too). What better way to gain insight about a culture than to learn its language? I really hope to learn more Spanish, as well as, German and Italian. Maybe I should buy Rosetta Stone as I have no idea how I'll have the time to learn them all!

4. When I was 10 years old I wanted to become an Olympic figure skater. I adored Kristi Yamaguchi and wanted to be just like her. Though I prefer to make my dreams happen, I am glad I didn't pursue this one. Though every now and then I still like to jump around and pose like a figure skater. It gets really bad during the Olympics.

5. From the time I could walk until I was about 14 years old I was severely knocked kneed and pigeon toed. Apparently I'm rather hypermobile in my joints and thanks to genetics my hips and knees are loosey goosey. My old ballet teacher told my parents I would never be a good dancer in part because I was so 'floopy'. My cousin had the same issue and he got inserts put into his shoes and now he can turn out like nothing else. My parents told me to just walk straight and now I struggle with turnout in Irish Dance. I swear I'm not bitter... well not THAT bitter.

6. I shouldn't be allowed to go to competitive sports games. If I'm rooting for a team I morph into a maniac fan. I will scream (never obsenities mind you), I will jump up and down, wave my arms etc. As long as it's not past that line of extremely rude I will do it. I got layrngitis this way once when the TU basketball team was competing in a tournament.

7. I scare, very, VERY easily. My brother took advantage of this while we were growing up. He often jumped from around a corner to scare me and he succeeded in doing just that. I will literally be pinned to the ceiling if I'm scared. This is why horror movies must be watched at home, with the lights on, or else I would get kicked out of a movie theatre for all the screaming I would do watching a horror flick. I'd like to think it's because I am just a passionate person with intense emotions. Yes, that sounds a lot better than I'm just a scaredy cat doesn't it?

I pass this award to...
Lovely @ Lovely in Lux
Caitie @ A Cait's Life
Sarah @ The Start of Something New

Sometimes I Wonder...

This is what my fortune cookie told me tonight:

"Do not worry about holding a high position; worry rather about playing your proper role."

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Sooooo appropriate to what I'm going through right now. And when you add "in bed" to the end of that statement it just adds a bit of extra fun to it. Which once again, is totally what I need right now.

The Morning After

Don't you just love it when the high of a great moment comes crashing down?? Leo's sedatives wore off and oh-my-GAWD has it been a bumpy ride this morning. Here's the breakdown:

8am- Wake-up to barking. Yell 'Quiet', 'Wrong', and 'NO' repeatedly and try to go back to sleep.

8:30am- Barking hasn't stopped. Yell at Jon to take the dog out and drug him with Benedryl. Attempt to fall asleep. (Keep in mind I was up half the night with cramps and thus really wanting more sleep- sorry male readers for the tmi)

8:45am- Jon takes care of dog and goes to work.

8:46am- Barking starts up again. Put pillow over head and pray for sleep.

9:45am- Barking continues, as it has for the better part of nearly two hours. Decide sleep isn't going to happen, get up, take dog outside, kennel him, and get coffee and breakfast.

10am- Coffee made, dog begins to whine. Take dog outside. Feed dog, give him antibiotics, put back in the kennel, get on laptop.

10:15am- Whining and barking continues and replies to comments on blog continue to be interrupeted; about every five minutes. Begin to loose sanity.

10:30am- Dog won't stay settled and whines. Create elaborate leash system in hopes that he'll lay down next to the couch (on the leash as per doctor's orders) and settle down.

10:45am- Leo won't settle. Put him on the couch (yes I have to lift his 70 plus pound body myself) in hopes he will. Decide to give another dose of Benedryl hoping the combo will take him down.

11:05am- Dog still won't settle and makes multiple attempt to launch himself off of the couch (BIG no-no). Call Jon begging for more Benedryl (we're out) and in the middle of the conversation throw the phone down as the dog makes another attempt to kamikaze like jump off of the couch. Remove dog from couch and carry him over to the the floor pad praying, pleading for him to settle.

11:20am- Since Leo continues to whine take him outside for the fourth, or fifth?, time. Walk around outside for 20 minutes, in the 95 degree, 100 degree heat index, weather hoping he'll wear out.

11:40am- Come inside from the heat, sweaty, and cramping, and loosing it with the dog who won't listen.

11:45am- Dog continues to whine. Take him outside again. He lays in the grass- proceed to mini-'Dear God why are you doing this to me????' breakdown.

12pm- After lots of water put the dog in the kennel and start coping by vacuuming.

12:10pm- Still vacuuming as it's good therapy. Yes, I do realize how OCD and neurotic that sounds.

12:15pm- Realize the dog has been quiet for a solid 15 minutes!! A first in the past four hours.

12:30pm- Sit on the couch, dare to open the laptop again, and realize the dog is fast asleep (one would think after having two doses of Benedryl within the three hours this would've done the trick earlier, but, hey at least we have something now). Thank God and beg forgiveness for loosing it.

12:40ishpm- Blog about the morning.

Happy Tuesday everyone!!

Ha ha!!

I had to, and by that I mean do it then or be majorly inconvienced, get my driver's license renewed yesterday. Why do visits to the tag agency always make me nervous? I get this irrational fear they're going to tell me I can't get my driver's license renewed, or there's something wrong. Not to mention the dreaded waiting period at the DMV causing me to miss work or something. However, not only did I completly plan my time correctly for a trip to the tag agency, but, I also managed to take a GOOD, yes a good, picture! Check it out!

How did I manage it? I honestly don't know. I did add a bit of extra eyeliner and bronzer in hopes that I wouldn't look washed out. But, really I just think the camera gods were smiling upon me yesterday. Now the trick is to live up to this picture in four years when I must renew again. At least I have some time to think about it! ha!

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ps- ignore the birthdate on there will ya? :-P

Gross... Just Plain Gross

I went to OK Mozart today, taught some cool people to dance, danced for some people, went home because of some serious fatigue and other issues, and was going to type up a post about it. Then I had dinner, and realized as I was preparing my second soft taco that the salsa had mold in it.

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Mold. I had just put this salsa all over my first soft taco.

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I ate mold. Never in my life have I seen mold in salsa and here I was staring it down and feeling my body begin to 'sour' on the inside.

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Suffice it to say eating mold, consuming a lot of anti-histamines, rushing to the bathroom, thrwarts any blog post about dancing at a major music festival. Dontcha think?

Goodbye Friday... I Hardly Knew Ya

I am currently on a babysitting gig until Sunday evening. As in the full time, take 'em everywhere, feed them three meals per day (plus snacks), get them cleaned, keep them entertained, and put them to bed at a reasonable hour deal- oh try to keep them from killing themselves, that's important. Whhheeee!!! I'm a bit worn out and in my frenzy to keep kids occupied, work (how I got things done is a wee bit beyond me), run errands, drop Jon off so he could go on a work float trip (the b*****), and keep Leo focused- yeah I forgot today is Friday!

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I was going to write up a post showing off some cool stuff I took pictures of in Dallas, but, apparently my computer doesn't jive well with the whole plug-in internet thing right now. Snob. So, you'll have to tolerate some more non-picture post action from me. Oh and the whole, "Wow, this psuedo-full time mom job is cuhrazy!" stuff too. I love you moms out there, serious kudos to you all!

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Oh and there's a positive development with work ordeal. I don't want to say anything just yet (gotta make sure you know!), but, I'm fairly happy with the results. Thanks again everyone for your advice on this!

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Okay random Megan signing off for now! 'Nighty night folks!

Hang In There!

My dear awesome blog friends, I am sorry I have neglected you!! Turns out May decided to be a crazy month and throw up all sorts of work and personal situations. I am surrounded by stuff to do and I literally feel like I'm losing at an epic game of whack-a-mole. Please hang in there with me and I will try to get back to a more regular blogging schedule. I miss you all!

Lots o' luv,

Megan

The Week In Review

This Week I Have:

- Helped to manage a successful recital for the studio I work for. My students were awesome, btw, I was a proud piano teacher.

-Recieved a blog award (which I need to spread the love-promise I will get to that)

-Gained three new followers! Hi guys! Welcome!!

-Danced on and off for four hours Tuesday

-Nearly sprained my ankle

-Popped a bone out of place* after nearly spraining my ankle.

-Despite that jumped higher than I ever thought possible!

-Danced Wednesday in spite of the pain in my foot- *sidenote, learned about the bone 'misalignment' two days later.

-Started and finished or nearly finished a ton of projects at work.

-Picked up a virus along the way.

-Had a successful training class with Leo!

-Cleaned the house- yes while still sick, but, hey it had to be done.

-Ohhh... aannnnndddd signed a lease to a new home. Yes, that's right, my roommate and I are moving out of our cute bungalow house. And yes, you're right, I totally owe you a story about that! I promise it's a good one.

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Yes, I have gone through all of this and NOT blogged about anything! Nothing other than a quick mention about Leo's progress. I am a sad excuse for a blogger! I apologize over and over and over and over again. Do know that I love you all and I want to share all that has gone on. I miss bloggin' and hope you have missed me a bit too.

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Be back uber soon! Garunteed!

7 Quick Takes

My aunt does this on her blog and I've always wanted to try it out. So here it is, 7 Quick Takes! ie: random stuff that's happening and/or on my mind.

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1. It is 80 plus degrees today. I must get my car's a/c fixed soon the way the temps are going at this rate.

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2. I have put off too much at work and at home. Starting to chip away at the to-do list and getting organized- finally.

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3. Easter weekend is happening at an unfortunate time as I MUST run errands this weekend or risk derailing next week. I think I have some time management issues.

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4. Time management issues? Okay, one more thing to work on. I can do that.

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5. Finally laid out my concerns and thoughts about Europe, our relationship, future etc to Jon yesterday and was surprised at how well I slept the night after saying all of that. Obviously keeping things in that long does not for a happy Megan make.

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6. I have Irish dance class tonight and my toes are already aching at the thought of learning more hardshoe techniques, drills, and sets. That's okay though, because I will totally be cool once I learn how to do it. (btw those Riverdance kids make it look easy! I was so misled)

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7. Where has all the blogging gone? I miss hearing from everyone on a regular basis. Hope everyone's doing alright! I keep refreshing my blogger dashboard to no avail. (Though Lovely wrote a post yesterday that is fab- you should go take a look.)

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That was fun! Must be this random again sometime.

Unexpected

While spending some time on the couch- I swear it's because of allergies, not laziness- well okay maybe a little laziness is in there, but, mainly allergies I swear- Louie began whining at me to go outside. I didn't want to get up, but, Louie broke me down and I opened the back door to let the puppy dogs out. Much to my surprise I saw this...

Two ducks just chillin' by the pool. I ran back inside to grab the camera, 'cause that's what I do, and rushed by the pool to snap some pics before the dogs noticed.

"Why hello there Mr and Mrs Duck. How are you two doing today?"

Of course this little photoshoot was brief as the dogs realized there were actual live ducks, not toys, nearby. There's Daisy making the first move of attack.

This one's a bit blurry, sorry about that, but, look at Louie. I didn't know it was possible to have one's legs be at that angle without falling over! But, then again I'm a klutz so.... yeah.

And so off went our unexpected visitors. I hope they swing by again for another day by the pool. Doubt it, I'm pretty sure ducks keep some kinda 'don't go there' list which means this house with it's four dogs and three cats would definitely be on it. Ah well, I certainly enjoyed their brief visit!

Current State of Things

Currently oh so sleepy and tired. Had friends over last night, got to bed later than normal, and then slept like crap. Today my back and some of my ribs hurt which I think happened when I had a severe bout or two, well okay it was three, of the hiccups. The picture above reflects what I'm doing right now, sitting on the couch, occasionally closing my eyes, and being an utterly useless lump.

Wow that makes me seem rather boring.

Despite the urge to stare blankly at the tv and become somewhat devoid of all feeling,I finally decided to blog, convincing myself you all were dying to see how Leo is growing and what he's doing. 'Cause you are right? As you can tell, he's quite the adorable mutant. His weight is steadily climbing towards the forty pound mark (he's almost 14 weeks btw). I feed him Eukanuba, the reccommended portions, and just grows and grows. At least he still has that precious puppy face. He really is a sweetie, quite the cuddle bug too. He's rather smart and able to do things, except for when I take him to our one-on-one dog training lessons at Therapetics. Ha! All bets are off when we're there and he acts absolutely wretched. Friday he was actually barking in my face despite every mean voice I could conjure up and two 'time-outs' (yes, I put my dog in time out and the little toot still threw fits!).

Did you know dogs could throw hissy fits? I haven't really experienced this before so I was quite beffudled. Naturally he hasn't done anything remotely close to a fit since, so I dunno. I think I just need to work on training a bit longer at home and not get so intimidated when I'm in front of people. I don't want to sound too mean you know? Afraid that may come across wrong- I bet he can sense that. You think? I mean I know children can be quite capable of smelling weakness and thus test every boundary possible. Perhaps puppies do the same too?

Either way I'm probably the one to blame. Greeaaattt.... feeling really confident about this puppy raising thing lol. Let's not even begin on starting a family, I don't wanna. And as long as I put my fingers in my ears and scream, 'Lalalalalalala!!!' I don't have to think, talk, nor hear about it.

Yeah I know. I'm real mature huh?

The not so little cutie, looking extra cute, while probably plotting his next fit to show what a horrible 'mom' I am.

Despite what feels like a stepback or two, the one-on-one sessions have been a success. I've learned more to address how Leo needs to learn in just a day than three sessions with the before mentioned trainer, dubbed, "Drill Seargant Jane". It's a major relief and the director wants me to write what I went through down and send it in an email for documentation. After going through some guilt (because I really do like trying to get along with people!) I really don't have an issue with this as I realized the last thing this amazing organization needs is volunteers being so frustrated with the training they quit. I will play my small part in helping this organization grow even if it means calling someone out on their teaching methods. Not what I expected, but, hey life sometimes asks you to do the unexpected right?

In other news, work is going well, and I've been loving Irish dance class and am trying to get to more classes in the week. It's just too much fun, a great way to forget what's going on in the day and just workout and focus on dance, and not to mention I have some of the nicest classmates in the freakin' world! One of them is actually allowing me to hitch a ride to a feis in Dallas and share the hotel room so I can go see what this whold dance competition thing is about without having to spend a whole lot. Another classmate has lent me an older pair of ghillies (softshoes) so I can get used to them and not dance on the tile floor barefoot and so on and so forth.

Hmmm... guess I'm lucky huh? Despite the drama, the ups and downs of daily life, I can't help but look over this entry and think how lucky I am to have all of this going on in my world. Weird huh? Now, if I can get my taxes in order and somehow get to travel abroad this year things will be golden. Alright, so I can't help but wish for a little more. Keeps one motived right?

In Brief

Oscar is doing much, MUCH better! Thank you all for the kind thoughts- each one was appreciated.

Watching a friends cat- Runco. He can't stand the dogs, but, gets along with Mina. It's been interesting to say the lease.

Jon's grandmother passed away a couple of days ago. Funeral is Saturday, and I'm probably not going. Mixed feelings about that.

Last week of lessons- kids getting ready for Christmas and the holiday break has been very draining. But, teaching them Christmas/Holiday music has been a lot of fun.

I'm sick. Sinus infection. So today I took the day off and am taking drugs. Hopefully recovery will occur soon. I'm optimistic.

Am gearing up for some serious Christmas baking next week.

Oh and I haven't bought one single Christmas present. Not uncommon for me and I'm positive I'll get those done before Christmas Eve day- which would be a huge accomplishment.

And how are you doing?