So what'dya know?

I'm actually writing an entry! Thing is, things have been great. They've been busy and crazy, and so wonderful. Of course the dogs do goofy stuff, and I forget things all over the place, and the husband is busying himself with his own self-improvements. Work's busy and I have been relishing every spare minute of life at home away from a computer. There are more things out there to do than I can count! For example, I have got an awesome selection of books from the library and at home that I am never going to be able to push through before they're due. I'm really sorry that it seems I'll miss out on or change my mind about reading a few. Take a look at the stellar lineup:
1. The Bell Jar - for June book club reading.
2. The Shining - I'm listening to this and it's pretty good so far.
3. The Power and the Glory - Graham Greene. I loved The Quiet American, hated The End of the Affair. I've always had an interest in this one, so we'll see where it goes.
4. The Monk - Matthew Gregory Lewis - Orginal gothic-era, fiction pulp of the 18th-19th century.
5. The Prince of Mist - Carlos Ruiz Zafon published his 1st YA novel in English this May. Yes Please.
6. Rebel Angels - Libba Bray - this was a impulse grab. I've been hearing about the rest of the Great and Terrible Beauty series and figured light summer reading.
7. Les Liasions dangereuses - The original Cruel Intentions. :)
8. The Castle of Otranto - A follow-up gothic piece by Horace Walpole, which oddly enough, was just referenced by The Shining. Further proof that I should be reading "classics" referenced in modern day lit.
9. Red November - A Goodreads win that I am planning to begin this week. It's supposed to be reviewed after I'm done, and then I get more books!
10. Getting the Picture - Sarah Salway. This is another Goodreads win that I am sorely behind on. It's short, so I'm trying to push through.
11. I completely forgot also, that I have to pick up Year of the Flood by Margaret Atwood. I had the book checked out for nearly two months and didn't get to it but it's been calling!

As you can see, I am under some serious library pressure. Renewals, yes, but by that time, who knows what I'll be into next!

As far as other areas of life, I spent an hour this weekend renting a cello. I've played violin, recently began practicing again, and have had a long-time desire to play the bigger instrument. Mostly, I just love hearing cello music. I think the tones are gorgeous and now I want to be able to be responsible for those sounds. I figured out how to play an in-tune scale on it and then taught husband how to play. Yay for teaching something I know too-little about!

This week's rave: Daily chore cards. I broke out some index cards, wrote out regular cleaning chores for each day of the week/room of the house, and tossed them up on the fridge. Granted, things aren't all done yet (horrible papers/mail junk everywhere!) but everything seems so much cleaner and more manageable. I didn't even have to clean the kitchen or bathrooms this weekend because they were kept up in little bits during the week. How cool is it that I didn't have to do three loads of dishes in a row because we had filled and emptied twice last week?!

We ended up needing all the chores done during last week because this weekend turned into a, "let's do whatever we want with our time and not clean weekend". It was mostly accidental really. Saturday was filled with morning activities, like eating breakfast, renting the instrument, jamba juice stop, and the library. A quick nap, and then off to meet friends for INCREDIBLE tapas-style Mexican. Really really great despite the packed restaurant. I have never seen a restaurant in the suburbs that packs people in that tightly. We snagged some stools and had to eat at the bar because the people eating at 7:00 had been in line around 3:30-4 pm when the doors opened at 5. That evening turned into games and drinks at their house, and then feeding the puppies a few hours late. Sorry buddies!

Sunday was a day of indecision really. I began ambitiously trying to clean up the nightstands I need to paint, but left them in the garage and opted for a 3 hour nap. We had no food in the house, so we went out to eat and then to grocery store, followed by an evening excursion to see the much plugged (by my husband) A-Team movie. It was decent and fun.

That is all for now. (loooonnng entry.) Thanks for reading, if you made it this far. I'll try to keep things more exciting next time.

Sleeping is for Women. Wait...

This week I can.not. wake up on time. I've either turned off my alarm or hit the snooze for almost an hour. It doesn't help that my body is fighting me. It's saying, "please let me stay awake until after midnight! The other bodies do! They're going to think I'm so lame!" and my mind sort of agrees and says, "I'm sleepy but I'm going to find other things to think about, so body doesn't feel lonely." My concious thought is irritated and ready to strangle mind and body, but that would wind me up and negate the issue at hand. Even now as I write this, I'm finding myself slightly crazy. I haven't been that sleep-deprived. I have found though that my wheelhouse is about 7.5-8 hours of sleep. Going 6 or less for more than a week is stressing me out. I woke up with a cough today, but it could be on account of the continued rain.

Somehow, Husband woke up at the same time today and helped me out so I could leave within 15 minutes of me waking up. After he let the dogs in, he sorrowfully announced that our little veggie plants were not strong enough to withhold torrents of rain yet and all got washed out of the pots and planters they were in. I couldn't bear to look. Honestly, by the time I left, I'd forgotten about them already. We do have some green beans planted in the mini-garden but I'm pretty sure I'm not cut out to be outside ever, including to do things like taking care of plants without killing them. I actually put them outside figuring they'd been indoors for a good two months and it really was time for them to sink or swim. Unfortunately, they did both, literally.

I keep promising a book review entry, and that will make me happy, but I type really loud at work and I better tone it down now. Much more work-typing to do yet today. Perhaps the best way to avoid this said work will be to fall asleep on my keyboard.

Embracing the Awesome

There's so much to catch up on and talk about and very little time to do it this week. For one, I've started to finally love and accept both of my dogs. It was rough-going with Charlie for a couple of months and finally, after four months and 1 and 1/2 sessions of obedience class, I feel like he's my dog and I'm beginning to understand him. He, it seems, is also growing up and has started to trust and accept us. Always good for a creature who lives in your house. Isn't that weird? That we allow these little furry creatures who can't speak, to share our dwellings? As much as he irritates me by grunting in my ear every 4 seconds after I've first hit the snooze button, I'm alright with him sticking around.

He failed as an alarm clock this morning and I woke up 15 minutes before I intend everyday to walk out the door to work. Traffic has sucked by my house for inexplicable reasons all week, and I have to drive a circuitous route to get back on track (my head automatically cues Chris Farley doing this Matt Foley-style). I remarkably didn't leave any later than usual (which still makes me about 5-10 minutes late) and chugged my first caffineated diet soda of the day. I had not the time, or desire to drink any coffee, so D.Pepsi it was at 7:30 am. Gross.

Work has been okay, but busy putting together an award application which we probably have no real chance at receiving. It's good to try though, and I can use what we did at a later time for other projects. Nothing like being told 4 days ahead of the deadline for application that you need to coordinate a project that has been released since February 1st. Aside from that, everything has been going fine.

Hopefully, the week of awesome will continue today. I've skipped the gym for three days now, in favor of other stuff thatmakes me happy. Allow me to illustrate by making lists:

Monday: Ditched the gym and instead went to a music store looking for violin accessory pieces that have worn out. That mission was a failure, but I ended up with a new scales book and music from Phantom of the Opera. Score. Ventured to the library where I picked up an intro to fiddling, my held copy of Nightlight, hilarious-looking parody of Twilight, and the gigantic doorstop of a book, Under the Dome. (I've been "reading" it on audio but I like to supplement.) I'm actually really liking it and can't wait to get back to it. I THEN went home, and found Charlie's bed dry! (He pees when I come home because he's so psyched) I took the dogs for a walk to make them smiley (they really do smile!), then I played my new music as the dogs joyfully barked at and jumped all over each other. I tossed some dinner together and happily drank the last glass of wine and danced around my kitchen to super cool itunes I just added. That genius playlist is my new favorite thing. I literally told my husband when he came home that my day was awesome. Watched the hockey playoff; our team won in a nail-biter. Cool.

Tuesday: I went rollerblade shopping and ended up buying two pairs. I found the second pair much cheaper, so I'm taking the other back. Went home to the puppies, who were again pee-free (yay!), played some more violin, and plopped down for some Glee while dinner baked in the oven. Sadly, husband came home right at the end and mocked the rendition of Turn Around being performed in a ballet studio. It's singing while doing ballet! How could I not like this?!

We caught up on other tv shows we'd missed during the week. Fab. I also managed to do laundry as we did this. An example of my awesome ability to multi-task! I also called my California friend and stupidly decided to talk waaaay past my bedtime- still a fun bonding experience.

Wednesday: I had to attend a meeting for work about ten minutes away from my BFF who just came home from 9 months performing on a cruise ship. Since the meeting was in conjunction with my lunch hour, I called her up and she and her husband came out to eat with me. We went to this great little sandwich place and ate al fresco. Nothing like good friends, conversation, and sunshine to break up your workday. The dude wearing a Mexican flag and shaking a maraca helped the atmosphere. (It was Cinco de Mayo.) I didn't make it back to work on time, because they were re-paving the only road I used to get to the meeting, an hour away. I had to "re-route", meaning me being lost in an area that doesn't label street intersections, and swearing quite a bit at this fact. I really hope they don't record audio or something in the company car. Finally returned to work (on a low low gas tank) and proceeded to finish out the day in semi-relaxed fashion.

Little did I know that my pain-free feeling my body was experiencing was about to go away. I headed home and immediately put on my new blades and wrist guards. I made it about 4 feet down my way-too-sloped driveway and due to this new terrifying feeling, tried frantically to break. The break on my skates was so new, it did nothing, and instead, tripped me so I fell backwards while still sliding. I somehow burned up the inside of my right elbow and feel on one side of my butt. I'd rather have a bruise than a broken tailbone. I managed to get up, embarrasedly chat with my neighbor, then skate up and down the block for another five minutes. It was rather painful scraping pieces of asphalt out of my arm, but I've been bandaged and fixed up pretty well. Showerfresh and ready to hit the town, I took Charlie to obedience school. He was pretty adorable and great at heeling, but also somewhat awful at doing the things he was supposed to. 3rd game in the hockey series was on, watched and then was pretty much passing out by midnight.

Today, I plan to Zumba, and return those expensive blades. I'll be back later with a massive book review entry. Altogether this week, I've been composed and utilizing the odd combo of can-do and laid-back components of my personality. I generally like it but can't see this lasting forever. Let the awesome continue.

April...Fools?

Today has just been weird. Work was okay. Left early for a dermatologist appointment. I am pretty certain that due to my high-risk very light skin, I am prone to hypocondriasm when it comes to my skin. It had been at least a year since my last skin check, and since then, I had found multiple new moles that I assumed would have to be the start of something more serious. Doctor visit was one of the shortest I've ever had, and was out of there in less than 40 minutes. She said that as long as I continue to be smart about sun exposure, I can last a long time before worrying about contracting melanoma and other varieties of skin cancer. I promise it's a lot less gross from here on out, unless you like a good animal poop story. With two dogs now it seems that I accumulate these frequently and still counting.

I came home to drag Izzy to her annual vet visit. Everything there went fine short of some waxy build up in her right ear. She got three-year distemper, rabies, and an annual bordatella and everything seemed dandy. Went back home, and let Charlie out. He didn't even pee in his bed once today! Then he made up for it by standing at the back door and letting the tide roll in as I attempted to put on his leash. I let the dogs play as I attempted to transplant our GIANT green bean plants from the starter tray to bigger pots. This was a project in itself and I did not realize until it was too late that the shots from the vet turned Izzy's stomach and she was going to do a #2 in a not-so-great way. Too late, I realized, as I rushed to grab our poop eater from underneath Izzy's butt, that the deed was done. Too late, was I, to prevent what amounted to baby poop literally covering Charlie's whole head. Too late, was it to grab Izzy and wholely prevent the two dogs from playing and inevitably brushing up on each other. One dog to clean was enough. I got Iz indoors, and let Charlie carouse as I pulled out the hose for the first time this year. He was too smart to stand in the volcanic spray of the hose, so I got to carry a dog with a dripping wet, poop-head into the bathroom from outside. He got his first bath in our already plugged with hair bathtub. He almost fell and from then on, he stood meekly and let me attempt to get the soap I doused him in out of his piles of fur. He hops out, I let him play outdoors until I finish potting those darn plants.

6 months? Really?

I suppose I will defer to the the extremely lazy excuse: I've been busy. You know, bought a house, did the holidays, got a dog, job busy, etc. I certainly plan to come back but for now, the bug had dissapeared. I just wanted to pop on to say how busy I am. I cannot get by without creating lists of things I need to do. For instance, I just finished a work duties task list, and now I need to make a list for the things I need to do for my personal life before I really forget. I'd update here but I'm planning on being productive still today at work. Caio.

Everyone and Everywhere All At Once

Dear Reader,

Please excuse thisinquiringmind's tardiness. She happens to be forgetful as well as busy these days. She will bring extra snacks for the kids next week.

Sincerely,

Ms inquiringmind's Mom.

A few quick updates about my latest reads and the best of my life:

We're approved for the loan on our new house. We are just waiting for the "final-final" approval and a set date for the closing. The attorney we chose has been a huge headache and I would not choose them again if it can at all be helped. I'd tell her to skip the closing if it didn't mean we'd eventually be homeless and out hundreds of thousands of dollars. Just saying.

I am planning on taking some dance classes starting next week. Part of me is psyched that I will be refreshing all I know about dance terminology for use in my dance judging; the other part of me is nervous that my body will collapse on the floor the first week, going, "why? why would she do this to me?!" Seriously, it will be good exercise, and I've been meaning to do it for years now. It's not ballet, but I'm willing to explore new/re-visit old territory. Dance judging conference/training begins this weekend. I get to spend all three weekend days learning how to talk into a tape recorder while simultaneously taking in 650 bits of information within 3 minutes and then frantcially scoring before the next song starts. It's gonna be great! It makes speaking difficult sometimes when you are so caught off guard by all of the things needing work that you cannot possibly communicate fast enough. And that brings us to our next point: my lack of communication about the awesome books I've experienced recently.

One, I gave The Great Train Robbery by Michael Crichton a shot. Husband has been pushing this book for at least a year and telling me how great it is. I do admit. The story was fascinating; real people, pulling off an extraordinary mega-crime over the period of a year in mid-19th century England. I half & half'ed it on audio and reading. As irritated as I was that the book binding broke, I was equally amused that the audio narrator made the main character sound exactly like Jason Staham, of action-movie fame and husband's man-crush.

Two, Dogs of Babel, by Carolyn Parkhurst is by far, the most depressing book I have ever read. I almost hesitate to write about it here. While beautifully written, it is extremely haunting and I did not care much for the discussion of death on every other page, or the intensity of describing mutilated dogs at various points in the novel. If you can stomach those things, you're good. I'd say it's worth the read, but I sort of wish I could un-read it.

My two recent FAVORITES: Winterdance by Gary Paulsen (about the young-adult author's decision to just get a team of sled dogs together and go run the Iditarod race.) The tale is non-fiction and absolutely incredible. Very funny, informative, and at times, sad. It was an easy read that I couldn't put down. So good.

Second (or fourth of all) was my read of Catching Fire. This is the second book in The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins. Even being crazed for Twilight at one time last summer, have I never been as entralled with such a quick-paced, well written adventure book/series. The writing is impeccable, makes you aware of each character's mannerisms, behaviors, & characteristics without over-explaining, and the story is fascinating. Basically, in The Hunger Games, a post-distaster North America airs a fight to the death between 24 kids, 12-18 years old that takes place in a set-arena until one victor remains standing. A sixteen year old girl fights for her life in the arena when she volunteers to take her younger sister's place. Catching Fire continues the story after Games ends. There are love stories, triangles, identity searching and some gore. These books have everything to make your life exciting for a few hours, at least.

On the flip.

Under and Outside of the House

Greetings and Salutations! As I recall, I left you stranded in the kitchen, therefore we will proceed to the dungeon downstairs. Not really. It's quite nice but we've got a couple of plans.

The view to your left as you walk down the basement stairs.

And the view to your right.

This is the family room area to the left. The photo below looks back into what they have set as a gym area and a connecting door waaay back there to the storage room. Planning on removing at least some of the red, not sure where yet. The boring stuff: Our laundry room and water softner. It has more shelving space built in on the right. The utilities are all enclosed in their own room near the stairs across from another storage room. The Packer half-bath in all its glory. We asked if they'd take the wallpaper down before they left but we didn't get any takers.
Get ready to party because the bar and the pool table are staying with us. The poster of Brett Favre on a Harley is sadly leaving.

Let us mosey on back upstairs and out to the yard...

This is the side entry into the back yard. The fence is coated chainlink, so it should not rust. Neighbors have a solid wooden fence.

That's our shed way back there. Some bugs were crawling around it but no damage. I love the tree because it shades almost the whole yard and we shouldn't have to worry too much about it falling on the house, since it leans away. Small brick patio to the deck. The kitchen door is on the right, some seating is attached to the deck behind the hedge but we've got to majorly trim the bushes before anyone could fit there.

So that's it. The end of our journey together and just the beginning for a young couple. Some work to be done, but no major projects to tackle. Thanks for looking and we'll let you know when the housewarming party is!