An open gate, blood splattered concrete, and no Shannon

Saturday night, Shannon wouldn't quit barking. That's absolutely nothing new. After living here nearly a year, she still gets offended if the neighbors enter or exit their house. In fact, she thinks she owns the whole neighborhood. If someone walks down the road, that's a problem. If so-and-so three houses down gets a package from UPS, that's a problem. But nothing offends her as much as seeing a loose dog. So it wasn't surprising that she wouldn't shut up Saturday night; we just turned the fan up a notch higher and went to sleep. Well the next morning (yesterday morning), I noticed that the gate leading to our backyard was open. I went out the side door and noticed that there was a trail of blood on the concrete all alongside the house...and Shannon was gone. I was pretty worried. I called her, but no response. So I went out front and there she was--sleeping in the street! I have no idea why the gate was open, or where all the blood came from, but Shannon was fine and I was very relieved!!

Anyway ... I was just getting started on the dishes yesterday afternoon (we had the Elliotts over), about 2:00 pm, when I got very dizzy and my headache got much, much worse. (I'd had a headache since about 7:30 that morning.) It very quickly turned into a migraine and I could hardly even see. I laid down, thinking it would go away after a couple hours, but I ended up being in bed more than 20 hours. (Nat served me supper in bed, and Caleb did dishes!) It was one of the worst migraines I've ever had. I still have a nagging headache even now but it's nothing like it was!

Well, after being in bed so long, I decided to try and get some things done today. First I went to the car wash and washed my car...and then I tried to wax it...but let's not talk about that. (It didn't turn out very well.) Then I went swimming, and as soon as I got home, I changed clothes and went to try on my bridesmaid dress (which is beautiful, btw!). For those who haven't heard....I'm going to be a bridesmaid in Mark and Mercy's wedding!

AND THEN, I came home and cleaned the kitchen, vacuumed, etc.

And that's it for now, people. :-)

All grown up

Make sure you click on the photos so you can see how big she is!

Title? Um, can't think of one

Today was going to be strictly a work day. I knew that right away, because it started out as a "bad hair day"....so I may as well just stay home and mow the lawn, do laundry, etc., right? But things changed when I got invited out to breakfast with some relatives. I didn't have time to take a shower, so I just threw on some halfway presentable clothes, pretended I wasn't having a bad hair day, and hopped into the car. That's when I realized I had so little fuel I probably wouldn't make it to the cafe 2 miles away. So I stopped and got fuel. I finally arrived, probably looking twice as bad as when I started, but we had a delicious breakfast and a lot of fun. I was really glad I went.

And I ended up getting the lawn mowed and the laundry done too!

Now a brief explanation of why I have a photo of shoes at the top of this entry. It's for you, Rach (since you wanted to see what they looked like). :-) Those are the same shoes I got for nursing school, except mine don't have the red trimming--mine are solid white. I also got these:

http://www.dillards.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product
Display?catalogId=301&storeId=301&langId=-1&productId=501337746

[Edit: you will have to piece that link together to make it work.]

Okay, well I guess that's all for now. I got some fresh blueberries so now I want to make blueberry muffins.

Oh yeah, also, the stew/soup I made yesterday turned out GREAT!! We loved it.

Warning: boring post

Here's what I've done today....

I left the house at 9:00 am and went to the chiropractor. He said that something is seriously out of place in my back but he didn't say if he's going to do anything about it. After getting an adjustment, I left for Bay Area. I needed to return something to Burlington, but when I got there they were closed. (They don't open until 10...just in case anyone plans on going there soon.) In the same parking lot there's a Goodwill so I decided to look around in there until 10. Well, they were closed too. So I waited around until they opened, bought a couple things, and went back to Burlington. After I finished there, I went to CVS but they didn't have what I needed...so I went to Wal-Mart and they didn't have it either. I decided to give up, and went to Aunt Jeanne's to return their keys (since I was "babysitting" their house while they were gone). I had lunch with them and then went to Home Depot to try and get a copy of my car key. No success - they said the key was too long. Fine. So I went to Auto Zone. Well they don't even do that kind of stuff. So I tried O'Riley's. Nope, they don't either. In the meantime I went and registered the car, then I went to the bank. Last try...I went to Stanton's to see if they could copy the key...and they did! And then, I went to H-E-B and bought fresh blueberries (because they were on sale). So yeah...now I am tired.

And that's my day so far. I am now going to make Red Lentil and Potato Soup.

Ciao!

June 6 through June 14

For those of you who silently groaned, no: I am not going to detail everything that has happened since June 6.

Friday, June 6: Went to the doctor at 8:15 to get the results from the TB screening; then I went to Froberg's Farm and bought loads of fresh fruits and vegetables, as well as dried lentils and beans. Went home and put fruits and veggies in refrigerator. Afterwards I went to H-E-B to buy things which can't be bought at Froberg's. I was very pleased to discover (probably I just never noticed before) Seventh Generation brand toilet roll--made from 100% recycled materials, no dyes, and whitened without chlorine bleach. After leaving H-E-B, I went home (again!) and unloaded all the groceries and put everything away. Then I went to the county building to register the Del Sol in my name. No success because their machine was down. Then I went to Rudy's Auto Service (the *best* mechanics) to have them check something out on the car. AND THEN, I went to Wal-Mart to buy cheese cloth and a big glass jar so I could grow my own sprouts (or should that be "sprout my own...."? Do you "grow sprouts" or "sprout something"?). After that, I went to Kroger's to buy pita bread (which no one else seems to sell). By the time I got all my errands done, it was noon or so. That's when Mercy called and said she was coming to visit me!! So she came over and we had coffee and tea and muffins...and a great time.

A little after Mercy left, Caleb and Nat arrived home from work and we immediately left for Houston because we'd been invited to some friends' (the D's) house for supper. We had a wonderful time. We sat on the patio out back, by the pool, and barbecued. After supper, some of them played table tennis.




We visited until past 11 and got home well after midnight. It was fun, though.

On Saturday (June 7), I got a phone call saying that my uniform had arrived. I picked it up...and posed for Caleb:

My uniform consists of a navy blue skirt and navy blue top and a white jacket.

Monday was a pretty relaxing day--I went swimming and I can't remember anything else....

On Tuesday I went shoe hunting. Before anyone starts screaming that I don't need shoes, let me explain. I have to have very particular shoes for nursing school: solid white, closed toe, closed heel, flat, leather, professional-style shoes. Pretty strict. And pretty hard to find anything nice, given those qualifications. Well I went to Mall of the Mainland, and starting at one end, I went in every store that sold shoes until I had gone to the other end of the mall. I finally found the perfect shoes--at the very last store in the mall!

Wednesday was spring cleaning day. Okay, not exactly. I was preparing for visitors who were coming (the following day) specifically to see the house. It was my grandma (on my mom's side of the family), an aunt, and two cousins. They hadn't been to our house yet. Anyway, I spent a good bit of Wednesday getting the house all tidied.

On Thursday my visitors arrived, exactly at 11:35. We had quite a nice visit and went to one of my favorite restaurants for lunch. They left at 2:50 pm. Btw, when we were at the restaurant, a lady at a neighboring table sent back her margarita to the kitchen FOUR times for "adjustments"....or rather, she requested a brand new margarita each time. Crazy.

Friday morning, Grandpa and Grammie came and we had coffee and donuts and a lovely visit, as always. That afternoon, I went swimming. And then in the evening, Caleb, Nat and I went to Grandpa and Grammie's and installed a new/used A/C unit in their living room. After we finished, we "dropped in" at Aunt Terry's...right in time for supper! We had a nice time.

And then today! Joseph and Carolyn and Julia and Jenna came over. Carolyn had to get my measurements because I've been asked to be a bridesmaid in Mark and Mercy's wedding. So Joseph and Carolyn and the children had lunch with us and we all had a nice time.

And then I barbecued two huge slats (is that the way to say it?) of spareribs!! Yummy.

So that brings me to....right now! I need to go take a shower and get ready for bed!

Two more photos, tho. One is of the first tomato I grew (kind of an old pic because my tomato vines have produced many more tomatoes since then!)...and the other is the beginning stages of a sandwich. You can see the tomato slices - nice and red!




One more thing...in case anyone is wondering how the lentil sprouts turned out. Well, it was a success! I recently made something with them, and Caleb and Nat both said it was one of the best things I've ever made!

Okay, I guess I could blab a lot more but I will spare everyone.

Thanks for putting up with me. :-) Bye!

sprouts, anyone?

I know, I already "blogged" today. But I'm really excited about an idea I've come across. This week I have been hard at work, planning a new menu. Compared with the average American, we already eat pretty healthy. However, I want to make some changes. So my idea is to grow my own sprouts (well that's just one of my ideas)! This website has easy instructions: http://cookingthehardway.wordpress.com/2008/03/22/sprouting-sprouts/

And then, once I have sprouts, I can make stuff like this (whole wheat pita bread stuffed with avocado, cucumber, bean or lentil sprouts, etc. Photo taken from website listed above):

So there, that's one of my ideas. If anyone else has some ideas they want to share, feel free to leave a comment!!

The story of stuff

Today I visited www.storyofstuff.com and watched the video on the front page. I'm not sure that the creators meant for it to have this effect (since I am sending more stuff to the landfill), but I was firmly convinced that I have too much stuff. So I promptly began going through closets, cabinets, etc. and getting rid of STUFF. I pulled a particularly heavy box off the closet shelf (no, I didn't use all the proper lifting techniques. Yes, I will probably be visiting my chiropractor again very soon.) and discovered (or re-discovered) that it contained just about every card and letter I've ever received in my life. Dozens and dozens of letters from pen-pals that I don't even remember being pen-pals with; letters from friends who are now married and have children (they would be rather embarrassed to see those letters now); lots of fancy envelopes decorated with gel pen doodles and shiny stickers. Mixed in with all those letters was a single sheet of college-ruled paper, every line filled with incredibly messy handwriting. It was a letter from me--I don't know why it didn't make it into the mailbox. It went something like: "Dear -------, How are you? I am fine. How are your animals? Mine are fine. How is your family? Mine is fine. What is your favorite subject? Mine is math and P.E. What have you been doing? I have been playing outside. I got to go. Write back soon." It's a good thing it didn't get sent. That is the most boring letter I have read in my life! I have no idea why anyone would have been pen-pals with me!!! And yet, there they are--in that box--hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of letters. Most of them end with "P.S. You are my best friend." That's nice, but where are all these people now?

On another note, I took Shannon for a ride in the country. I put the windows down and took the top off the Del Sol so we could get a nice breeze. She didn't seem to appreciate the view--or getting windblown. In fact, within about 5 minutes she was curled up in the seat - asleep. So much for that. :)

Anyway, back to my "spring cleaning."

too many addresses?

I have to admit I was super tired when I woke up this morning. Don't think 6:30 has ever arrived so quick. Did all the normal morning stuff, and at 8:15 I went to my doctor for the physical. I also got the tuberculin screening started. Have to go back on Friday so they can determine the results. Then I went and got my second round of the MMR vaccine. And now I've just been working on the form for the criminal background check. I was filling out the online form just fine and then I came to the part that said "list all previous addresses for the past seven years." No problem--I listed seven addresses (yes, I've lived somewhere different every year for 7+ years)...but when it came time for the 8th, there was no place (no little box) for it. So I guess they decided I had lived in too many places. Eight addresses in 7 years would look a bit dodgy. I bet I'll fail the background check. ;-) JK.

And since blogs are boring without photos (who ever said that? I would like their name and address), here's one of the Del Sol, and another of the Del Sol + the Integra, with matching Fat5 rims.

ummm

I just couldn't think of a title for this entry. Suggestions welcome.

Today was good, though not particularly eventful or successful. I went to the chiropractor. Got the necessary vaccine information from the nursing department. (I don't have to have the varicella vaccine if I can remember what month I had chickenpox. Anyone remember? Was it when Joshua was born, or a couple months afterward? I do need another round of the MMR one.) Tried to get a vaccine but the computer was still down, or something like that. Went to the gym. Played racquetball. Went swimming. Washed the Del Sol. Yep, I got the car last night! AC maintenance guys came out and pronounced everything in working order. Watered the lawn. Watered my tomato plants. Washed a load of clothes (now I need to hang them out to dry!). And that's about it so far. Sorry, no pics today. And now I am waiting for Caleb and Nat to get home. No one will answer their phone, and they are late! Okay, bye bye for now.

the beach

A couple photos from a day at the beach. I recently got some work done on the car (I feel like I've said all this already. Am I repeating myself?), and was told to drive 50 miles before getting the car inspected. I decided to go to the beach. Well, the "check engine" light came on right as I was leaving the beach. The next day, I went back to the mechanic (this time with Shannon in tow) and he replaced some parts and told me to drive another 50 miles. So I went to the beach again and Shannon (and I!!) had a blast. In the end, the car passed inspection...but the day after I got the sticker, the check engine light came on--again! At least I got the sticker in time.

My day

Well I started out with a list like this:

• Check on student loan with Smart Financial
• Call about job at kennel
• Call Jimmy about car
• Check on financial aid at ACC
• Check with nursing department about vaccines
• Get varicella vaccine
• Go to Scrubs & More and order uniform
• Register for CPR course
• Return Kristi's call
• Go to bank

I attempted 9 of the 10 things listed, and was successful in 5. That's only a 50% success rate. The job at the kennel was already taken. No vaccines today because of computer problems (didn't know they give vaccines via a computer. JK). The director of the nursing department is on vacation. ETC. Maybe tomorrow will be better. HoWeVeR (I *hate* it when people do their words like that. Really, people, how annoying can you get?!), I ordered my uniform!!! And I registered for the CPR course (for July 12).

On Friday I went to the gym. I am ashamed to say that it was my first time to go back since graduation. The good news is that I am still able to lift the same weight. After I worked out, I played racquetball for the first time, with people I didn't even know. It's an extremely fun sport, in spite of the *very sore muscles* the next day. I'm trying to talk Nat into playing with me. Since he works Monday through Friday at Schlumberger, and Saturdays at the car wash, he never has time for me. :-( But in all fairness, I must mention that he played tennis with me on Saturday afternoon, because the gym was locked.

Saturday night we had supper with some friends in Houston. I don't know how to spell their last name but it starts with a W. Probably, since this is a public blog, it's not advisable to include names anyway. After supper we walked 1/2 a mile to a lake (photos below):

Above photo is of Caleb talking to Mr. and Mrs. W. at the lake

Pardon the poor quality. While the camera on our phone never takes fantastic photos, it's really, really un-fantastic when it comes to taking photos in the evening.

I'm supposed to pick up the Del Sol tonight. Exciting. Hope it's a good car! I think Del Sols are just about the cutest car...and I'm so glad I'm getting a black one. Now Caleb and I, and Nat, will all have black cars.

Went to the chiropractor today. Hadn't been for about a week and was really feeling it! My back was a lot better afterwards, but I've had a migraine coming on for about an hour now. Just had a cup of hot tea in hopes of warding it off a little longer.

Lately I've been going over to my Aunt Jeanne's house to swim. They have a nice pool and it's so refreshing to hop in on a hot day!

Guess I should go. I checked around on all the blogs and hardly anyone it's updating theirs. Where is everyone? :-)