Puppy Love

I'd just like to take a minute and say, "How sweet is Murphy when he's asleep? With that ear over his eyes?" Sometimes I wish he would just stay sleeping all the time. And then I remember how funny he and Guinness are when they're awake and playing together. Goodness, for as much as I complain about these puppies, I sure do seem to like 'em a lot! They're definitely more fun for me than Sophie was. (Meanwhile, I always hate saying bad things about Sophie. I mean, she was one of the sweetest dogs ever, super smart, wouldn't hurt a fly. She just brought out so much negativity within me. And, though I knew she would never hurt me, I was kinda afraid of her. She never really viewed me as a "master" and she was as big as I am. Plus, I've been on the recieving end of a pet freaking out and turning on you, and I did not want to experience that with a 70 lb pit bull. So I try to avoid negative Sophie comments, but at the same time, I would be lying if I said I wasn't completely and utterly glad that we found her a better home.)
Ok, that's all for now. Have a happy day!

Man-Eater Update

I'd like to take this time to post an update of the Man Eater. It has begun to bloom. If you notice, the top of the stalk is way up at the very top of the picture, and it has those little nodes growing off of it. Yay for giant Man-Eating cacti.
Meanwhile, sorry about the quality of the pic. It's SOOC, and as my computer at work doesn't have photoshop I haven't yet adjusted the levels on it.

The Boys are Back in Town...

*Sigh...* Well, my hiatus is over, back to the reality of Louisiana summer. Already, I can tell it's going to drive me over the edge this year. Hopefully I can hold on. See, the thing is, I don't mind the heat , and the humidity can be kinda bothersome, but I can get past it. What gets to me is the bugs. They're everywhere. Now, I used to have a mild dislike of bugs, which grew a little to a great distaste for bugs, now... they completely freak me out. I think it's the OCD in me. I can't stand that they're everywhere, and I can't control where they're going, and no matter what I do, they're always there. The cover my porch at night when we have the light on. They infest the grass (later on I'll post pictures of the 4 inch long grasshoppers). And worst of all, they somehow make my house their home. Now, don't get the wrong idea, I'm not talking big bugs (well, not inside, outside, yes, but not inside). The bugs that come into my home are little teeny tiny gnat-like flies. They drive me crazy. I mean, I can handle one or two of something, but these things... it's like they can only appear in droves. I'll go to bed one night and leave a single dirty dish in the sink. The next morning there are hundreds of these things all over my kitchen (seriously). Josh and I have pretty much come to the conclusion that they lay all their eggs in the pipes to the sinks (they lay their eggs in water), and then anytime it warms up at all and there's any food for them, they all hatch. All of them, all 20,000 of them. And getting rid of them all is nearly impossible. I mean... I guess I could take the trash out everyday, but that seems kinda excessive (and obsessive). And, don't get me wrong, I'm not the worst house keeper ever. I mean, I don't have bugs because we're gross, it's just part of living in a 50-year-old hand-built house outside the city in Louisiana. SO, I guess I'll just have to accept it... But ugghhh... right now, all I can think is... dear goodness, thank you that I'm moving north. As much as I LOVE hot weather, I don't think I can handle many more summers filled with bugs. Somehow growing up in West Texas, I didn't develop the immunity to humid-loving creatures the way my husband did...

Half Way There, Livin' on a Prayer

Ok, here we go, two down! Well, two that I have pictures to prove it. Look at that nice clean pile of dishes, and that totally comfortable, sit-in-able chair :D. Now, I swear my kitchen table and my island were clean when I woke up this morning, but somehow between 7 this morning and now, something terrible happened and they are once again covered. I think it may have something to do with a little project that I'm working on... More to come later :)

I am Ashamed.

In an act of utter unabashed honesty, I'm posting four SOOC photos of the disaster hole that my house currently is. I do this not for any reason other than that the one thing that desperately needs to happen tonight/this weekend is a complete home makeover of the cleaning sorts. Therefore, if I post these pictures for all the world to see and do not follow up with an update in the way of a clean home soon, then I will never live it down. SO, here it is in all its glory, the pile of clean, folded, and not-yet-put-away laundry taking over my chair, the random things (yes those are my shoes) covering my kitchen table, the dishes which fill my sink on seemingly a never-ending basis, and my randomosity covered island. So, if all goes as planned, you will soon see my home as it was intended, clean and not disgusting to all who enter.

Sad day...

Today I fully intended to post updated pictures of the man-eater (it's finally stopped soley growing the stalk and is now actually blooming), but I've run into some technical difficulties...
So... a while back our dog (at the time), Sophie, ate the USB connection cable for my camera. I was sad, but I accepted it, moved on, and stole the one that belonged to Josh's camera. Then, about a month ago, our puppies chewed through that one too. I was sad, but I accepted it, moved on, and just started using our memory card reader. Now, this is all fine and good, except that our memory card reader is one that I purchased while I was in Rome, and while it's great at getting pictures from the memory card, it's not best ever at deleting images off of the memory card once they're on my computer. This is kinda annoying, if only because it means that I have to manually delete all the pictures from my camera, one at a time. The other reason that this doesn't work super awesomely is because on occasion, I will grab my camera and start taking pictures (of the man-eater) before realizing that I never put the memory card back in after the last time that I uploaded photos. This wouldn't be a big deal except that for some reason, Josh's camera (which I have since claimed as my own since it fits in my purse way better than mine) seems to have some sort of inability to transfer pictures from the camera's memory onto a memory card. It's fine going the other way, but not so much onto the card. This poses a problem (as I'm sure you can see). So this morning, I decided to suck it up and just buy another cable on my way to work. It was 7 AM, so the only thing open was WalMart, which was fine, because I was so sure that they would have the cable that I need. Here's the kicker, though, apparently our cameras need a special kind of cable that most other cameras don't use. So the only options for me were 1) buy a $50 multi-connection cable or 2) buy a new camera. Now, I am currently saving up to purchase a digital SLR. I do not yet have that chunk of change available to me, so that is not a good option, and whether it's out of bitterness, regular ol' common sense, I knew intrinsically that I could not bring myself to pay $50 for something that I knew in my heart of hearts should really only cost me $15. SO, I said to myself, "ok, here's what we're going to do, we're going to go to work (so that we're not ridiculously late), and order the cable from Amazon for a normal price.

The Realization

I was in Dallas this weekend with Jenn. It was perfect. She's leaving soon, and so I really needed to see her before she set off on the next phase of her adventure. I always love visiting her, and it's always a welcome change when I leave this place. I've been trying so hard to accept this city, and just be ok with being here for the next six months. Most of the time, I'm ok, but then I go somewhere else... We went to Whole Foods this weekend. I miss Whole Foods. We had Jamba Juice. We ate at Pei Wei. It was like everywhere I turned, we were going somewhere else that is non-existent here.
So now, I'm back, and needless to say, I'm having to work really hard to not be miserable. Josh brought me breakfast at work this morning. I just wanted a multi-grain bagel with cream cheese. Well, first, they don't have coffee shops around here that carry bagels, let alone bagel-centered cafes, so he had to go to the grocery store and just buy a bag of them, which was fine. Except that he got there, and the grocery store doesn't carry multi-grain bagels. It's not a big deal, but it's just one of many examples of the lack of options in this city as far as health-foods go. I guess I'm just so totally ready to be out in a different part of the country. I'm aching for a different culture (I know it sounds dumb, but the South really does have its own culture).
Oh well, I'm sure I can last until we move. I mean, I've lasted over a year already.
At least my job is pretty great.
Ok... Time to get over it, and remember happy things...
sunshine
working out
mailing packages...
Ok, I'm better :)