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!

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...

Blogging is difficult when...

.... you're halfway moved out of your apartment!

Throw in the fact that we're two weeks away from Christmas (read: Christmas tree, presents, gift wrap, everywhere) and that we're storing wedding gear (read: candles, mason jars, bridesmaid dresses, a lot of decor "stuff") AND that we just bought the new TV (read: the old TV and it's entire entertainment center are sititng in the middle of Mark's dinning room) and.. things get difficult.

Oh, the stress. Oh, the mess.

One big part of marriage is the merging of two households. My household consists of a one bedroom apartment filled to the brim with a lot of knick knacks, tupperware and cat toys. His household is an actual house, overflowing with not only his stuff, but also his roommate's stuff, and now.. half of my stuff. That's a lot of stuff.

We decided early on that we aren't going to live together until we get married. We have our reasons, just like people who choose to do the opposite have their reasons. We almost caved when we first got engaged, but we decided that since we've waited this long, we could surely make it a few more months.

But. My apartment lease runs out December 31 and while I could have renewed it for another six months and everything would have been fine and dandy, the idea of not paying rent for six months and saiving up a big pile of cash sounded a lot better. I am so very fortunate to have the world's greatest aunt and uncle who live just up the highway from me, and who happen to be empty nesters living in a great big ol' empty house. They so kindly offered to let me stay with them until the wedding, sans rent!

So thus, we are moving all of my stuff out of my apartment and cramming it into Mark's house, wherever it will fit. The guest room was our obvious storage space, but lo and behold, we actually will have guests over the holidays, so it's all going into the bedroom and the dining room, more or less. We've decided that walking around the house is totally overrated. Climbing is way more fun.

The plan is to be moved out of my place before Christmas so basically.. this weekend.

Ahh!

What's short and cute and blue all over?

The bridesmaid dresses! And.. they’re here!





I was having such a blah day. I am off work this week and decided to go walk around the mall to perhaps find a new sweater to wear to Oklahoma this weekend for Thanksgiving. I was armed with a whole stack of coupons and hit up the pre-Black Friday sales with high hopes. I did mange to find all kinds of cute stuff, as well as some great deals on a few Christmas gifts that I went ahead and knocked off my list. I was carrying a whole slew of bags with me and stopped to treat myself to lunch at Corner Bakery in the mall food court. I never eat at the mall when I am by myself, but I was feeling especially independent and snagged a single table over by the ice rink and sat back to enjoy my salad.

A cuople hours later, I’m in my apartment, putting away my purchases and stashing some gifts in the back of the closet when it suddenly occurs to me.. where is my Banana Republic bag? I run down to the car, nothing. Look back in all my other bags, nothing. Run back over to the mall, hit up Corner Bakery and EVERY store I went to, nothing. I lost a brand new sweater and dress that I had just bought, without so much as even trying them on first! I went back home and sulked/fumed/couldn’t get over how ridiculous I am for losing something a mere twenty minutes after I purchased it. Nothing could cheer me up.

Until! I was moping around when my phone rang. I didn’t recognize the number so I let it go to voicemail, then checked the message as soon as it appeared on my cell screen. Maybe some honest chap had in fact turned in my lost Banana bag! (I’d left my number with mall security, just in case.) Well it wasn’t my lost loot, but instead the shop where I had ordered my bridesmaid dresses this summer - they were here! She said they could hold them for me as long as needed, but she wanted to let me know they were here and looked beautiful.

I jumped in the car and high-tailed it over to Plano, where I picked up all of the dresses. They. Looked. Fabulous. They might not be the cute LBD from Banana that some random girl out there it sporting courtesy of me (grr), but they are twelve adorable dresses that my bridal party are going to rock come July! Leave it to the wedding to turn my drag day into fab!

It Rained on My Parade

Well, ok. Not on my parade exactly, but on our engagement pic day? Yes, it rained. Hard. And it was freeeeezing. And windy. And if you know me at all, you know I hate the wind with a passion. Sigh. We have to reschedule. For November. Isn't it cold in November?

I was a grump all day yesterday. Mark and I both took the day off from work and spent the weekend up in Muenster, where we were going to take our pics. The weather was perfect Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Then come Monday morning, the temperature drops twenty degrees, it rains off and on for the entire day, and the sun decides to skedaddle. Not exactly the weather we're looking for to create those oh-so-perfect shots. So I moped around all day and cursed the skies. At one point my mom said to me "well let's not let this ruin our day," to which I grumpily replied "it already has! my day is ruined! ruuuuu-iiiiiiinnnn-eddd." (yeah, drama much?). My mom's response? "Well fine, but don't ruin our days too!" Mark got a good laugh out of that one.

Humph.

But we did make the most of our day in Muenster. First, we finally sat down with our florists and talked about what we wanted. Colors, flowers, linens, candles, sticks, lanterns, wood, iron, crystals.. we pretty much want it all! They are going to put together three sample budgets/levels of decor that they can do, and then we'll pick and choose from there. I'm excited to go back and see what they put together for us!

After leaving the florist, we decided that since we didn't have to go home and get all done up for our e-pics, we would road trip it to Denison to check out A-1 Rentals. We wanted to look at linens and try to pick out some colors. It didn't take both my mom and me long to realize that we of course LOVE the super-expensive, $30 each linens. Go figure!

So the weekend wasn't a total bust, but I am still bummed with-a-capital-B that we didn't get to take our pictures. For now, it's still on the To Do list.. and I'm sure ready to start crossing things off!

Reasons I Hate Living in an Apartment: #712

The people who are currently living above me are loud. Really loud. Are they walking around wearing scuba flippers up there? I can hear them pounding around up there all hours of the day and night. Are the constantly dragging very large pieces of furniture across the floor? Hammering nails into the walls at 2 AM? Running laps around all 700 square feet of living space? I've started either keeping the TV turned up very loud or having my iPod plugged into my ears at all times. Which means I miss a lot of phone calls, but at least I can choose what is blasting in my ears.

End rant.

My weekend of absolutely zero plans other than laying around and perhaps painting Mark's kitchen didn't quite go as planned. Friday afternoon Mark's best friend from college called to let us know he was in town for a wedding and wanted to hang out. We were already discussing making dinner at home and heading up to Home Depot to look at paint colors when this little call threw a wrench into the whole plan. We still hit up the paint department, stared at the 1,000 different squares of color for about 20 minutes, finally blindly picked two and got samples, took them home and put them up in the walls and then Mark mowed the lawn while I feel asleep. Since we didn't hook up with his friend and his GF that night, we made it a point to see them Saturday. They were staying at the Gaylord out in Grapevine, so we met them up there and spent about six hours at the hotel's FABULOUS pool with a beach bag full of illegal cans of beer ($4.50 per drink at the bar? no thank you). We left with great tans and no desire whatsoever to pick back up the paintbrushes (although we do have about 5 different patches of colors on the walls currently: picking a color is so hard!) We went to bed early with plans of hitting up the paint department early this morning to makeup for our lost time.

But then, this morning when I checked my email, my friend and fellow Bride to Be had emailed to see if I wanted to go to the Dallas Bridal Show today. Woo! So I sent Mark on his way and told him he could paint the kitchen ANY color he wanted at this point, and I met Laura for lunch and an afternoon of DJ's, Latin Cover Bands, Cake samples galore, balloon arches, veils, free drawings for a wedding day makeover and about 280 different chair covers. Whew. It was really fun and also quite exhausting. By the last row of booths, our bags of giveaways and brochures were so heavy that we had the drag them out and we avoided eye contact with every vendor we passed. I did manage to sign up for a "free" facial from a Mary Kay consultant, create a registry at Bed, Bath and Beyond (with nothing on it yet?), and enter for a chance to win a Bachelorette Party at... get ready... Texas Motor Speedway. Oh joy. Laura informed me on our way out that she was giving everyone a fake phone number. Hmm. Smart.

But really, the bridal show was fun. I felt like I was a part of this exclusive "Bride to Be" club and like all the girls there had that same happy engagement glow. Plus, I did find some really cute bridal boutiques that I hadn't even heard of before, many of who I for sure want to go check out for dresses. And the lady at the LuLu's booth even snuck Laura and I one of her coveted coupons, even though she swore they were only for referrals. I think we smooth talked her pretty good :)

When I talked to Mark earlier tonight he hadn't made any paint decisions yet. He figured I needed to come be a part of the final decision. But one thing we do know - our little kitchen project will involve some chalk board paint. Stay tuned for that one!

Again..

Today was a rough morning. It started with the rain. If you live in Dallas, you know what I'm talking about. This wasn't just your everyday summer rainstorm. This was a serious torrential downpour/thunderstorm/lightening storm that lasted a good 18 hours. The last thing I wanted was to climb out of bed and go to work in this weather! But.. I did. I took the "late shift" at work today (8-3, as opposed to the 7-2 I've been working this week) so I needed to leave by about 7:40. I put on my raincoat with the hood and packed my purse into a bigger canvas bag so it wouldn't get drenched, opted to change into tennis shoes instead of my standard summer uniform flip flops, and grabbed a frozen meal for lunch out of the freezer. I was getting ready to walk out to door a little after 7:30, to allow for some extra time since I knew traffic would be a mess, when I heard a weird sound. I went to investigate and discovered that water was leaking down from my bathroom ceiling! Like, big time. I paniced. Threw some towels on the ground and watched them immeadiately get soaked, then ran to get three different pots to start collecting the water. I called my apartment office and got the machine.. they don't open until nine, but if this is an emergency, I can leave a message and someone will be paged or something. I looked at the waterfall coming out of my roof and opted to leave the message. Then I called the office to let them know I wouldn't be in on time, since I had to empty out the rapidly filling pots every five minutes or so.

About twenty minutes later, a maintenence guy comes and looks at the flooding water and overflowing pots, then tells me he has to go get a screwdriver, he'll be right back. I'm thinking.. you didn't even bring your tools?! He comes back and opens the panel above my shower, where he determines the water is coming from the bathroom above me. He leaves again, this time for about 30 minutes, and returns to tell me it was a leak from the unit above mine and that he confirmed with the resident up there that he took a bath this morning at about the time the water started flowing down on me. Uh.. gross. Some stranger's bathwater poured all over my shower, floor, towels, rug, everything? I'll be doing some major bleaching when I get home today!

You might remember this isn't the first time this has happened to me.. oh no, I flooded last summer as well. Sigh. I am so ready to get out of this apartment!

Ouch.

Somewhere on Highway 82, about 40 miles east of Lubbock, this little incident occurred. Can I not catch a break?! To make it worse, once I finally got to town and had the guy at Discount Tire take a look at my spare to determine if I could drive back to Dallas on it (negative), he informs me that it is only a matter of time before my other 3 tires meet this same demise. So, $855 and a few tears later, I am sporting four brand new wheels.

Being a grown up sucks. The countdown to Happy Hour tomorrow has officially began.

Why I HATE the Wind.

Can't you just hear me complaining?? (Click on the pic for a zoom in view).

Phlem-y

Saturday morning, one day into my official Christmas vacation, I woke up with the World's Worst Cold. My throat felt like I was swallowing knives and my entire face was consumed by gigantic, swollen sinuses. Mark and I were headed to Tulsa that day for a graduation/birthday party for a college friends of his, and I had strict orders to be at his house ready to hit the road by 8:30 AM. So I stopped by CVS and spent close to $30 on Tylenol Cold, Chloroseptic throat spray and cough drops. Fast forward to that evening and I am all but dying in a house of 20 people who are trying to re-live their college days. Some of them were still awake (and drinking) at 5:00 AM. Oh geez.

Sunday morning we hit the road (in 14 degree weather!) and drive back to Dallas and head straight for the Care Now. I wait about an hour and see a bitchy lady who is angry that she went to medical school, only to work at a primary care unit that is open on Sundays and four days before Christmas. She assaults me with the Strep Throat Kit (seriously. she held the swab stick like she was in a fencing match and shoved it into my throat as if she was jousting with a knight) and runs some tests. Outcome? It's not strep. Just the World's Worst Cold that is draining into my throat and growing bacteria. She writes me a prescription for penicillin (yes!) and tells me to take Mucinex with it. Just like on the commercials where the little green glob families are living inside of you? Yup. That's what's going on in my throat. I've been on the drugs for a day and a half now. Let's just say it's a lot of nose blowing. As long as I'm feeling better by Christmas, I'll deal with it. Everyone who steps foot into my parents' house is immediately handed a Vitamin C tablet.

So I'm up in Muenster now. It's been almost two days and I haven't showered yet. I love being here and having nothing to do. Nothing but rest and get over the WWC and listen to Christmas carols on iTunes. We ate dinner tonight at the kitchen table with the entire family for the first time in who knows how long! Sure it was KFC chicken in a bucket, but it felt like home to me.

Grumpy Old Men

Today as I was leaving the gym, I needed to stock up on allergy medicine and opted to swing by Walgreens, rather than fight the traffic at Wal-Mart.  I zipped into the small parking lot and saw that almost all the spots were filled, except for one right in front.  However, an ugly maroon pick-up truck had parked way over the line, leaving a very slim space in which to park.  Normally, I would have circled around the back and skipped this space, but I was in a hurry today and decided to squeeze my way in.  I used to live at The Villas at Katy Trail, which has the world's smallest spaces, so I was a pro at parking in small spots.

I get my car parked, open my door a fraction and let is lightly tap the pick-up truck.  Then I do the crazy dance of trying to sideways squeeze my way out of my car, sucking my tummy in, while I curse the driver of the maroon pick-up under my breath.  Just as I am finagling my way out, I hear a raspy voice shout, "thanks for hitting my car!"  I look up and there is the Grumpy Old Man glaring at me as he walks across the parking lot.  I resist the urge to roll my eyes and say curtly, "Sorry.  You parked kind of close."  Grumpy Old Man then starts rambling off about his new paint job.  I look at his truck that must be at least ten years old and isn't shiny or gleaming and looks nothing like it was recently painted and opt to completely ignore him as he continues on with his rant.  I walk right into the store, avoiding eye contact and get into the Walgreens.  It then occurs to me that GOM is probably keying my car right now, but oh well.

Some people.  Humph.  

Sigh

Here I am. Back at work. Missing this suite that I spent some quality time in this weekend.

Only add the entire snack asile at Sam's mixed in with those white vases and a fully stocked bar in that nook behing the table.

Who else is feeling my pain?

Blowing in the Wind

What's blowing in the wind you ask? Pollen. And grass. And pet dander. And who knows what else. It's making my life miserable. I have had allergies all of one time in my life. This week makes time number two. One day I'm so stuffed up, I can't breath out of my nose. The next day my skin is dry and whenever I scratch it, a nice red splotchy rash appears. And my most favorite, the past two days my eyes are red and itchy to the point that I want to take them out and scrape them, then pop them back in. I bought some Claritin, but I still only feel about fifty percent. So I can't do much other than wait for it all to blow away. Hopefully, Gus isn't part of the problem.