Two Dogs and One Cat FOR SALE!

Ain't that the truth?

Last week, the cat puked on the bed. So at 9:00 at night I had to wash the comforter, sheets and mattress pad. And the comforter is so big it won't fit in the washing machine and I don't want to pay for dry cleaning (this is the THIRD time he has puked on the bed) so I wash it by hand in the bathtub and then hang it up in the shower to dry. Oy. Why must he always throw up on the bed?! He never even sleeps on the bed. He's hardly up there at all. Except when he feels the need to get sick.

Not two days later, we come home and one of the dogs has peed in the hallway, on the carpet. Argggh. We've been leaving the dogs inside every day this summer since it is 107 outside. They are (usually) very good about staying off of all carpet in the house. This has been the rule for years. But I guess when they have to go to the bathroom they just can't go on any of the tile. That would make too much sense. They have to go on the CARPET. Ahhhhh!

THEN. Later that same week, we come home from work and I walk in the house and smell something. Uh oh. I was for real too scared to look. I made Mark walk around the house and find the source of the smell. Yeah. Dog poop, on the carpet, in our bedroom.

The animals are trying to run me out. I keep telling them, "you're lucky you're cute." Or YOU would be out of here!

Sunday Fun Day and Two Special Pups Turn Ten

I've spent some serious time this morning cleaning out my closet(s) and attempting to clear some space in them so I can actually see my clothes. I have waaaay too much stuff. And not because I shop a lot (although I do kind of shop a lot) but because I am so bad about parting with clothes. I always think I might still wear something, even if I haven't worn in in the past four years. But I did manage to fill up two large shopping bags full of clothes to donate. I sorted out the still nice/not so old/in good condition clothes from the very worn/faded/super out of date stuff, and I'm going to try my hand at some buy-back stores later today. If I walk away with 20 bucks in my pocket, I will be happy!

While I've been digging through closets, Mark did indeed start the retiling project this weekend. We (I mean HE) are ripping out the linoleum in the two bathrooms and laundry room, and today he is going to start laying the tile in the laundry room. So our washer and dryer are currently in the entry way to the house, so I guess I won't have to worry about laundry for a few days!

Today our two labs, Maggie and Jordan, turn TEN years old! We took them swimming at the lake early this morning (before it got TOO hot!), then Mark gave them both baths so they could be fresh and clean for their big day. Still on the agenda for this afternoon is a trip to Petsmart to pick out some new birthday toys, and I think I'll either make them some sort of dog friendly treat (oatmeal cookies?) or else just give them a big scoop of peanut butter tonight.

I don't have too many pictures on my computer right now, but here's a shot of the Birthday Girls and their two cousins (Finn and Stella the German Shepherds) earlier this summer. They are sitting up on hay bales at my parent's house! Happy Birthday Maggie and Jordan! You are seventy years old today. Old Ladies.

Cousin dogs!

Just for fun: Laura, Kristen and me in San Antonio a couple weeks ago.

Grumble, Grumble

I'm sitting at home watching the Today show (did you know I don't work Fridays [in the summer?]) feeling blah. Feeling like I should go to the gym. Feeling like I shouldn't have just eaten that monster cookie for breakfast. Thinking I should finish unpacking from our trip a week ago. Thinking the bathroom really needs to be cleaned. Wishing I had a pool to go to today.

Blah.

Also, I was really looking forward to sleeping in nice and late today, but then there were these hot air balloons flying over the backyard and the pups just kept barking and barking and barking. Who is taking a hot air balloon ride over McKinney, Texas at 6:30 AM?! But, I'm awake now. So I guess I'll get ready for the gym. And then unpack. And clean the bathroom...

A Pug In a Peacoat

Umm... this could be the cutest thing I've seen in a long time! Or how about this little guy in his trench coat?

RoverDog

Must get small puppy, asap. Oh wait, I already have two labs who have taken to eating out of the cat box. Scratch that.

All Dogs Go To Heaven

We lost a very special part of our family this weekend. Abby, my parents little border collie, was hit by a car yesterday. I am so heartbroken. She was a sweet girl and will be missed so much. Her brother Banjo, who has never spent a day without her by his side, is just as sad as we are and wondering where his best friend has gone.

It's so, so hard losing a pet.




We love you, Miss Abby.

A Long Weekend

Happy Post Easter! How excited am I that I am still off from work? I cannot argue with a four day weekend. Today I will be watching Whose Wedding is it Anyways, all day. And eating the entire contents of my Easter basket. Here's a little peek into my holiday:

I was off Friday, so I met Mark for lunch at Houlihan's. Yum. It is my favorite. This was the first time I'd ever eaten lunch there. They have this deal, like a pizza place - get your lunch in 15 minutes or it's free. They actually put a little digital timer on your table and start it after you place your order, so you can make sure they don't go over. We had a Free Entree coupon from Mark's birthday (join their email list), so we got out of there for about $15 and we even ordered TWO desserts! How I love you, Houlihan's.

Friday evening I met the girls for Happy Hour at Gloria's. It was just warm enough to sit out on the patio. Always a good time.

Saturday afternoon Kelly and I drove up to Muenster. When we got there we hit up the shops and I got two adorable new shirts (love shopping with Mom!). Both are tie dyed. I am all over this tie dye trend. I LOVE it. Then we went back home to start Bake Fest 2009. We made: Sundae Pie, brownie bites, cut out cookies (butterflies and Easter eggs), pumpkin bread and cupcakes. I do not know why we felt the need to bake so much. It's not like there was anyone else but us there to eat it all!? And, to make it worse, once we were knee deep in these projects (because yes, we did them all simultaneously.. you should have seen the line for the oven), Mom realizes that some sort of strawberry shortcake spilled in the fridge and had dripped all the way down. Everywhere. You know that gooey jarred strawberry stuff that you put on cakes? It had spilt on the top shelf and run down everything, collecting in the two drawers at the bottom of the fridge. Sticky. Thick. Red. Messy. On everything. Every salad dressing. Every bagged salad. Every vegetable. Every fruit. Every leftover. Everything. So we cleaned out the entire refrigerator as well.

Mark came up Saturday night in time for dinner. He brought his two dogs and they wore out the puppies. All four slept in the garage that night, during one of the loudest thunderstorms I've ever heard. My bed shook from the thunder. The family watched Marley and Me that night. We all cried and hugged our pups an extra time that night. I also brought Gus up for the trip because I have been having major guilt issues about leaving him alone at home so much. He usually does really well at my parents' place. This time he was on freak out mode and walked around the entire time whining. Cat whining is quite annoying.

We all made it to Easter mass Sunday morning, dressed in our Spring time best. Even though it was cold and overcast, we forged on. We crammed in the packed church and sat behind a family with four little girls. They were a handful to say the least. The youngest fell and smacked her head on the wood pew, twice. There were a lot of tears during that service.

The Bunny came when we got home. I got the Ped Egg (so appropriate for Easter, yes?) and Mark got A Barrel of Monkey's. Random? We feasted on pot roast before hitting the road back home. I rode up with my sister so I could ride back with Mark. We didn't think this plan through. Because with his two dogs, my cat and the two of us.. it's not really physically possible in his car. So we rode back with Gus in his carrier on my lap. At least it was a short-ish drive!

Last night I watched The Sound of Music on TV. Perfect ending to an Easter weekend! Mark had NEVER seen this movie. He was quickly annoyed, as I knew every single song. His roommate was also amused and laughed out loud at me. Many times.

This morning, I knew I had to take my car in because it's been leaking something all week. The thought of having to spend more money on my car, 5 days after the new tires, was making my physically ill. I got an oil change at Wal Mart last week. We checked the oil level this morning and it was basically completely empty. So I was ready to fight with Wal Mart. Demand that they fix whatever they did to cause this to happen and fill me back up with oil. I went in with my game face on. They took a quick look at it, told me the lid of plug or stopper or whatever hadn't been tightened all the way. Took all the blame. Fixed it up for me and REFUNDED me for the oil change. They even refunded the flat fix they did as well (which we know did no good). It was icing on the cake. They were so apologetic and told me to drive safe as I left. I love when people are nice. It made my day. So I took the $50 they gave me back and got my car inspected down the road. Please let that be the end of all things car for the year.

Now I'm hanging out at home, enjoying the end of this long break. I've got some fun things in store this week. Mark's test is two weeks away, and then we'll get our old, stress-free lives back. Can't wait.

Marchy

Happy March. Where is this year going? I had a really great weekend, until about one hour ago when I started thinking of everything that I have coming up this month and it made me start to freak out. I was trying to read Book Numero 3 of the Twilight series, and my mind kept wondering to all kinds of things. Such as: don't forget to fill out the (incredibly long) paperwork for my visa to go visit China.. what should I get Mark for his birthday later this month... I must make myself get to the gym this week, no matter what... where on earth can I host a party for 200 people on a Saturday night in Dallas for less than $25 per person (work. they give me impossible tasks.)... i need to do laundry. unpack from my trips last week. buy catfood. bake a cake for our (2 year!) anniversary later this week. run the dishwasher. clean out my closet. pay the bills. research a digital camcorder to get for our trip (note: suggestions?? anyone?). AHH. So I finally gave up on Edward and Bella and tried to knock out some of the smaller items racing through my head.

Before all this jumble took over, I had a really wonderful weekend. Friday night Laura and I went to the Mavs game and had such a fun time. They were playing the OKC Thunder, so not only did we get to see a brand new team play, we got to see Texas's FABULOUS Kevin Durant. Except that he got hurt 5 minutes into the first quarter and didn't play the rest of the night. Laura and I were much too involved in conversation to notice this happen, and kept wondering aloud all night why he was never playing. The BF explained to me later that night that he sprained his ankle early on and was out for the entire game. I'm sure those around us thought we were GREAT basketball fans, seeing as how every few minutes I was all "Why isn't Kevin Durant in!?" The game was great though, and we did intently watch the entire 4th quarter AND overtime. And, the Mavs won!

Yesterday Mark and I drove up to my parents' house to see their two new puppies. They just picked up Abby and Banjo, 7 week old border collie puppies. They are quite possibly the cutest things you will ever see. They are sweethearts. The entire fam was home as well, including my brother and (still) unemployed sister. We played a Battle of the Sexes Cranium match last night, which was a lot of fun. Girls won, of course. We were rocking at the Creative Cat. Mark had to act out Titanic at one point, during which he stood on a kitchen chair and re-enacted Leo's "I'm the king of the world!" moment. It. was. classic. On a side note, I watched Titanic late night Friday AND early Saturday morning on TBS this weekend. How I love you, TBS.

We decided to just stay the night in Muenster, so we scored a BBQ lunch with the family today, and then drove back home. I dropped Mark off at his house so he could get in another 4 hours of study time. He is studying to take his PE exam in April. I will spare the explanation of what this is, other than its a very long, hard test which, once he passes it, will make him a "Professional Engineer." What does this mean for me? Very little hang-out time during the next two months and a stressed out BF who has to spend hours every night after work doing sample problems and reading a very large text book that cost him a very large sum of money. Hmm. Kelly and I decided we'd start delivering "Meals on Wheels" dinners to his house, to make sure he is at least still eating.

Gus and I are trying to stay warm in my cold apartment. The 83 degree weather couldn't stick around for the weekend. It never does! I'll end with a picture of the new puppies. I realize this is a very bad picture, but have you every tried to take a picture of two puppies? They don't exactly stop and pose for the camera!

Annnd blogger put the picture at the beginning of the post instead. Whatev. I'm not going to try and move it! Goodnight, friends!

Labor Day

Labor Day weekend was spent in Bartlesville, visiting Mark's parents. On Monday morning we made a quick trip to Stillwater, to surprise my sister. I called her boyfriend and coordinated with him so that me, Mark and his dogs showed up at her door for lunch. After some OK Mexican Food, we took all the dogs swimming at the lake. Mark's two labs learned to swim here when he was in college, and we were going to teach Wes's dog Finn to do the same.

Turns out Finn is a big baby! He can do all sorts of tricks, but he was too scared to ever jump off the dock into the water. He would wade in until he couldn't touch anymore, then he would turn back. After an hour of trying, we finally gave up! I guess he's just not meant to swim!

Take a look at the video I made that sums up our afternoon at the lake.


Swimming Lessons from Amanda on Vimeo.

Birthday Girls

Maggie and Jordan's Birthday from Amanda on Vimeo.

Maggie and Jordan turn seven today! Here they are eating their birthday cupcakes last night.. and showing off their excellent "stay" skills!

Snow Days

It's close to 70 degrees outside. The top story on the news for the past two mornings has been the "Artic Blast" that is coming to town tomorrow night. Everytime there is a chance of snow or ice around here, they call it an ARTIC BLAST. Watch out for the ARTIC BLAST. Better not drive during the ARTIC BLAST. School is canceled due to an ARTIC BLAST.

At least I hope that is the case later this week.

I could use a snow day. Then maybe we could play like these little snow dogs. I'll keep my fingers crossed!