Super Grover? Not so much

My day started off good. I woke up in a good mood, BF came in and cuddled me. No, "GET UP woman"..nope. Just good old fashioned spooning. And then licking. Followed by a lot of licking. A LOT of licking. Dang dogs. (What were YOU thinking? Sicko)

So I take my girls out for their daily morning walk. Most of the time they're really good. I'm the chick with the two small dogs. Sigh. No I'm not one of those. Imustcarrymysmalldogeverywhereigo. I'm working on the whole, "I'm more dominant than you. You are a dog. I am the pack leader." Yeah, too much Dog Whisperer. So we're strutting along, getting our walking on and what do I see? A large dog. With no leash. And no owner. Miss Save-The-World here thinks, OOOh, I need to find out where this dog belongs and his owner. We can't have this ownerless dog walking around the neighborhood. You know, ownerless. As we approach this very docile dog with a collar, Ruby freaks out. I mean, seriously. Freaks out. She's barking, which sounds more like a yelp. Or if Spongebob could bark. Yeah. Imagine that. So I'm trying to shut her up, it's like 8am and she is going psycho. I'm grabbing her, trying to get her to sit, shut up, run away..anything. Not working. I'm grabbing her harness, her collar, grabbing her mouth. Nada. So, I grab her harness and pull up. Imagine a nine pound grey Teddy Bear/Grover mix flying through the air thinking she can get this dog, for what reason? I have no idea. Although she is lean. This nine pound beast is strong. And I'm no weakling here. She is one strong mama with a lot of adrenaline.

About this time Juno is getting pissed and starts growling as well since Super Grover won't shut up. And the other dog? Chillin. Thinking this grey-haired curly Spongebob screaming beast is trying to get it. (Can you imagine it folks?) Cue the two bicyclists who have smug smiles on the faces pass us and watch this not-so-much hilarious act unfold in the two seconds it takes them to pass by. Hey, how are you doing? Yeah, keep moving...nothing to see nothing to see.

Grab leash. Tug hard. Drag dogs behind me while stomping home like Mrs. Trunchbull from Matilda. Seriously I was pissed. So we cut the walk short. Ruby still thinks she can pull me around so I'm dragging my two dogs home, hoping no one is going to call the cops on me. "Mommy, can I sniff the..." *Tug* *Drag* "Umm..nevermind"

Yeah, not a way to start the day. And what doesn't help? When we get home and her big tongue is hanging out of her mouth. Looking like my sweet Grover again. And then curls in my lap like nothing happened and kisses me. Sigh.

Here we go again..

So again, my brain is going a mile a minute and I'm stoked to go home. I just bought the new Domino and Real Simple magazines, so I'm feeling like I'm in a design mood. Want to go home and get creative. Or maybe just watch TV. hehe. :)

Anyway, BF is doing better although the ankle is not. It's big and purple and down right painful..although I do believe he's milking it for all that is worth. "Hungee, I need chocolate and In-N-Out Double doubles." "Hungee, I need ice." "Hungee.."

Grr. Seriously, I love to baby people sometime, but now, I'm losing my patience. Is this why I don't have kids?? Lol. At least I can tell my dogs NO and they'll still love me in 5 seconds. :)

So he's sitting at home. While I work. And of course, the first Sat that he takes off, b/c of his ankle... I have to work. WTF? Gotta love it. Oh well, at least he can rest. That boy works too hard.

Still at work and trying to plot my escape. I had an appointment today, unexpected, so I'm not taking a lunch. Maybe if I run real fast, they won't see me. Maybe? But then again, do I care? Nope.

I can't make this stuff up..

50 Cent wakes me up this morning at 5:30..no really, he's my ring tone. "I'll take you to the candy shop. I'll let you lick the..." Anyway, grab the phone..

ME: "Hullo?"
BF: "Hunny, I need you to come pick me up, I've sprained my ankle really bad and can't walk. Just put your robe on and come get me. I'm at Grant and I-10." Me: "Ummhumm.*drool*..Ok, be right there."

So I throw my glasses, some pants, and some flip flops on and stumble out the door with the girls. As I'm driving, I'm thinking...hmm. Driving while sleepy. TOTALLY not smart..but it's all for the cause.

As I'm driving BF keeps calling.

BF: "Hungee (his pet name for me..cute, huh?), I hurt my ankle." ME: "Yes babe, we're on our way to get you. We'll be there soon." BF: "K. Bye." 10 mins later. BF: "Hungee, my ankle hurts. I hurt it. I'm at the Hampton Inn. K, Bye."

Please keep in mind this is as I'm driving in my glasses (which I never do) at 5:30 in the morning (bye bye 2 extra hours of sleep) with two dogs on my lap who love to stick their bodies out the window with one in particular who likes to bound from seat to seat. Conclusion? Death just laughing. Biding his time. Probably in my back seat.

Finally I arrive and my big 260lb boyfriend hobbles to my car...and when I say hobbles, I mean "you might as well have cut off his leg." And here's the brilliant seriously-i-can't-make-this-sh!t-up story.

He woke up this morning to get a permit for his car (just one of those 3-day permits) and he used up all of them so he couldn't drive. Our lovely POS money-sucking truck is in the shop. Again. So he decides, heck, let me walk the 15 miles to work.. oh did I mention that it's on a HIGHWAY.

So he starts walking and trips in a hole and severely sprains his ankle. So here is my poor Shrek-like BF hobbling down the frontage road. Up pulls a hippie (his words, not mine)smoking a roach and asks if he needs a ride. BF "Yes, please. I need to get to I-19 and Ajo." Roach-smoking hippie: "You're not going to hurt me, are you?" BF: "HAHAHHAHAHAHHHHAAahHahaHaaahHA. No."

She takes him a few miles down the road and that were I pick up the rest of this story. Why couldn't he call me and tell me to come pick him up when he couldn't get a ride? Because he's a tough and rugged man and he doesn't want to be one of those types of people. Sigh.

Since he's a disabled vet, he went to the VA hospital where the doc told him that he would have been better off breaking it. Nice. And that he needs to keep his weight off of it for three days. Oh, but the place to get crutches? It's closed. Nice.

Sigh. So now it's time to go pick up my stubborn old man. His requests for reducing the swelling? Chocolate. Arizona Green Tea. Cheeseburgers. Pizza. and Nuts.

:) I love him.

Your Daily Laugh

Money money money.. MOOONNNEEEY

For the first time in my adult life I am making more money than I ever have, living on my own, and paying my own bills. Being fair, I've been on my own for 7 years, but I was married so we had two incomes.

Interestingly, we didn't have much debt because I watched it like a hawk and loved paying the debt off. Before we moved back to the States last May, we were a couple grand in the green and none in the red. After moving back, it's been a constant struggle. First I had a job, then I was laid off. I didn't use my credit card ONCE while I was laid off and really pinched my pennies. I was doing so well once I finally had a job but guess what happened? My debt went up, up, up. WTF?!

So now, I'm struggling to be debt free yet again. I want to be able to save money to buy a new car in a few years and put a down-payment on a house. I just don't understand how I could be so irresponsible to get back in this position but I'm hitting it head on.

I've been searching the net for ways to reduce spending. So you're thinking, well, duh. Just stop. Yeah, it's pretty easy to do that, but I'm going to go back to the way I used to handle debt. I think the main problem is that I'm paying rent. BOOM $600 down the drain on the first of the month and that, well, sucks. I'm trying to find my groove with my new found income so I'm floundering right now.

Here are my own tips and hopefully they can help you achieve a debt-free lifestyle. Obviously most of these you've heard before, but this works for me. If you have some good tips to share, please do. I still haven't managed the dreaded "B" word (budget) but I'm going to try, yet again.

• Pay yourself first. Always allot at least 10% of your income into a high interest savings account like ING Direct.


• Attack the highest interest rate and pay the most money on it. I have two credit cards, one with zero percent interest for 18 months and one with pretty decent interest rate. I pay a little above the minimum on my zero percent interest and throw a big chunk at the higher card; why put a lot towards something that won't accrue interest until after 18months? The plan is to pay it off before that period is up and the extra money on my other card will lower the balance.


• Tithe. I donate money every single month to one of my favorite animal charities, the ASPCA. I know, you're thinking, if you want to pay your debt off, aren't you better putting that money towards your debt and THEN to charity? Uh uh. I always believe you have to give to receive and to know that my money every month will benefit animals, I'm willing to make that sacrifice.


• Do the envelope trick. I ALWAYS pay with my debit card, I love it and couldn't live without it. The problem with that is one doesn't see where the money is going and it is a lot easier to spend. By labeling envelopes such as "Groceries" and "Fun Money" you put the cash in the envelopes allotted for that month or two week period. When the money is gone, it's gone and you have to either wait till next pay period or learn to spend more wisely. When I was married we gave each other $40 for two weeks. This counts for snacks, magazines, clothes, etc. Once it's gone, it's gone. It will really make you think twice about buying that magazine.


• Look for ways to make money and I don't mean open up a lemonade stand. Gone are the days were people sold items on ebay for money. Now don't get me wrong, you USED to be able to make money on there, but now that executives have become so greedy, it's no longer the way to make quick cash. Craigslist on the other hand, yes. Why is Craigslist better than ebay IMHO? Well first and foremost, it's free! You can list your items on there as long as you like at no charge to you and no stupid fees. Another benefit is that you don't have to wait for payment or ship the items out, you have the person come pick up the item for you. Most cities have a Craigslist, check it out, list your stuff, make some cash.


• Really think about an item before you buy it. I mean overnight, not five seconds later. If you still want it after 48hours, then buy it. But giving yourself some time to think about an item, it allows time for you to reflect on what you're looking to buy.

I hope this helps! I'm excited to be debt-free once and for all. Onward and upward!

Best,
LL

mage source

Cruisin along I-10...

So peach picking wasn't madness. But it was delicious. We loaded ourselves up on peach pancakes and proceeded to pick peaches (ok, enough with the 'p's, i got it). We ended up getting a little discouraged because the peaches were all picked over so we got some apples, one largely disfigured pear that somewhat resembles John Kerry's face, and some delicious fudge. mmmm.

We drove along I-10 with the windows down and made our first stop at a gas station in BFE, Arizona where for miles we saw signs that exclaimed, "What is The Thing?" With you know, font that is supposed to scare us into submission to check out whatever this "Thing" is. And of course, we stopped. :) Well, it was $1 admission per person and what is it? Ha! I'm not telling, you can drive past the millions of billboards and drive to BFE, Arizona aka Dragoon, AZ and find out for yourself.. just be careful not to let the taxidermied Jackalopes and ginormous buffalo head get you. Yes, it is one of THOSE types of gas stations.

There are two sides to Apple Annie's, the orchards and then the produce. Driving an additional six miles @ 5mph down a dirt road (BF: "but the lady said it was only a few miles down the road!" ME: "yes, but when you're driving 5mph, it takes a long time!") we finally arrive. Sweating in the dry AZ heat we proceed to walk around and grab our buckets and buggie and pick the hell out of some fresh veg. $37 later we walk away with fresh watermelon, garlic, tomatoes (most of them green..yum), zucchini, yellow neck squash, eggplant, sweet corn, and a massive yellow squash that is bigger than a newborn, we're tired, sweaty, and sticky but dammit it was all for the cause.

Got home and BF immediately passes out on the couch watching TV and I spend the next two hours cooking up pounds of ratatouille and fresh vegetable soup. Sweaty and tired and sick of cleaning and cooking, I plop on the couch.. well, squeeze my way on the couch, thinking, yeah, I can watch my shows. NOPE. BF wakes up and takes the remote. Thanks again, babe. Did I tell you that you're the best and most thoughtful BF ever? No? Oh, ok, nevermind.

Oh, did I mention this was all AFTER BF woke me up at 5:30 am? And no it wasn't a crawl in bed, gentle, "hunny, time to get up for peach pancakes, we need to get going so we can make it out there in time. look how beautiful you are in the morning, and your breath? smells like fresh cut roses." kiss kiss cuddle cuddle.. it was a "Get up woman we need to get going. Girls, (in reference to the dogs) get mommy, wake her ass up." Ahh, men are so sweet!

Peach picking on a brisk summer day? It's MADNESS!

For some reason right now, I'm really giddy. Yes, I just said giddy. I don't know why but my brain is going a mile a minute and I'm really excited about something and I just don't know why. Perhaps it's because it's Friday and I'm going to pick peaches on Sunday?!?! Did someone say All-you-can-eat peach pancake breakfast? Why, yes. I just did.

There is this really cool family-run orchard called Apple Annie's Orchards in Willcox about 1 1/2 hours from Tucson and I'm super excited about going. BF and I had planned on going to pick pumpkins for last Halloween, but we never got around to it. This weekend is MY weekend and I'm dying for some fresh air and the peach pancakes. :) It's outdoors and with cheesy tractor rides around the property, I'm positively cracked out on excitement.

It reminds me of the Will and Grace episode where Grace is just starting to date Leo (Harry Connick, Jr.) and they mention that they want to rent bikes and go pick pumpkins. Well, Will and Grace, being ever so lazy are shocked when Leo has taken it upon himself to rent bikes and equipment for the trip. ("A pumpkin picking bike trip on a brisk fall day? It's madness!") Well, if you love Will and Grace humor, this is one of the funniest episodes. I guess that's what I'm reminded of when I think of going to pick peaches on this family farm. It's madness! hehe. Ok. I'll stop now.

Anyway, I'm in a good mood for the first time in a long time. I had I-Hop for breakfast (courtesy of work) and a Dairy Queen Blizzard for lunch. Bad? Yeah, but it tastes sooo good. This day has turned into a good one for sure; a week ago today I was preparing myself to put Duke down and now that he's gone, I have such peace about his passing and know he's in a much better place (even though he's there without me).

I have lots I want to accomplish this weekend; you know, watching all my shows on DVR, jumping on my trampoline, thrift store shopping...and I'm hoping I can get it all done, if not, heck, I don't care! I'm eating peach pancakes damn it. YAY!!!!

Photo from allposters.com

Oh, horoscope, you speak thy truth!!!

On my Facebook page, I have the horoscope application. Ok, so I'm not a DIE HARD Imustreadmyhoroscopeeverysingledaytodeterminewhatmydayisgoingtobelike. But I like to read it to see what my day MAY be like. :) hehe. Today my horoscope reads:

"Restlessness and impatience may overcome you throughout the day, and others will wonder what's really bugging you. You could be very demanding and difficult to please now. You tend to feel like progress is too slow, and you are tired of waiting for the things you want. Try and have a bit of patience. "

Oh, how this is so true. I'm patiently (ha!) waiting for my background check, fingerprints, and drug test to go through so that I can have the position I have longed for for seven long months. As each day passes it brings me one day closer to that position, and one day further from being at this joint. Interesting that this was brought up..

Everyday I resist the urge to just walk in my boss's office and slap my two week notice on his desk WITH a large stupid grin on my face I might add. Then proceed to box up all my belongings and dance out of here like Mary Poppins with my carpet bag and umbrella.. clicking my heels together as I prance to my car and heck, I might even bring my umbrella. Nope, not to fly away but to knock some people on top of their heads and tell them to shove it.. ok, rant over.. but you get the point.

If anyone has ever worked in an environment where everyday you think.. I hate it here.. yeah, it's time to move on. And I'm soooo ready to move on where I can thrive. Anyway, I pretty much feel like the guy in the cartoon.. hehehe

image from http://www.motivationalplus.com/cartoons/stress_finger.jpg

Coping with the loss of a pet

My beloved Duke has lymphoma. I adopted Duke back in England when he was six years old along with 2 other cats; from day one, he has been my baby. His beautiful black and white fur and a gorgeous white "smile" that he has makes my day brighter. After taking him to the vet after having a weird spell, they told me that they found a large tumor in his stomach. Well after $900 worth of tests and x-rays, he was diagnosed with lymphoma. I didn't know what to do and after getting support from a number of people from craigslist, yes, craigslist, I decided to let nature take its course. I can't tell you how hard it has been, knowing that my baby is slowly being taken away from this horrendous disease is just incomprehenible.

He still has an appetite, thank goodness, still wants to cuddle and do his normal routine; holding the shell of what used to be Duke is INCREDIBLY hard, he is just bones and losing weight faster than I could imagine. I picked up steroids for him at the vet which I have been told will shrink the tumor and make his life more comfortable. I know the day will come (and it's approaching fast) that I will have to make that decision to put him down, but I don't want him to go. I know it's selfish, but the thought of coming home and not ever seeing him again or holding him or hearing his meow, is too much to bear.

I'm gradually doing better (yeah, right) and the more I talk about it, the easier it is becoming. I'm trying to find the best way to have him put to sleep and I know for sure I'm getting him cremated and keeping the ashes in an urn until my other cat, Toddy, passes away. I found a small silver paw that is on a chain and can hold a small amount of his ashes. I know a lot of people would roll their eyes at that but I don't care. I've had him for seven years, he is MY baby and is a part of my life forever.

I guess knowing he is going to pass away as opposed to waking up one morning and he is gone, is a lot better, I've been able to prepare myself for almost 2 months now. I just don't know how I'm going to be once it's finally done. Relieved? Devistated? Crushed? Probably a combination of the three.

Watching my gorgeous baby waste away is so difficult so I know the time is coming for me to have him be in a better place, and I will be happy for him and know in my heart he is in heaven.

Still, trying to prepare for this just plain sucks.

Stay-at-home...wives??

As I was browsing the Internet today, I found myself in CNN's Living section, which is one of my favorite places on the site.

The article entitled "No kids, no jobs for growing number of wives" talks about the growing population of women who are opting to stay home and take care of the household. No, these aren't stay-at-home moms (SAHMs), these are women who more often than not are highly educated and have decided to forgo their careers to become homemakers. Interesting. I look at these women and wonder, are they happier? What are they sacrificing? Do they get lonely? What do they want with their lives? Are they taking a break?

I myself went to school for six years in order to HAVE a career. Many of those years I did have part-time jobs, but when I decided I wanted to focus directly on school, I quit and stayed at home. Yes, I did love it sometimes and really miss it occasionally. I cooked 95-percent of the time, I cleaned a lot, and worked out constantly. It really was nice to be able to get things done and have time left over to do other things, like studying and going to school. I looked forward to my husband coming home so that I can spend time with him and talk about his day.

Now, I work 40 hours a week, have a hard time setting appointments around my work schedule, spend not nearly enough time with my dogs, and avoid doing chores (like mopping my floor) because I'm tired. I don't work out besides the Pilates DVDs and dog walks in the morning and my idea of cooking is making a smoothie or stopping for a sandwich on my way home (called-in ahead of time, of course).

Ideally, I think this is the perfect set-up, being able to stay at home.. heck, if one's husband encourages it, why not? I think this is successful though, and only successful (in my humble opinion) if one has a strong friend base and a hobby! Otherwise, from experience, one will go NUTS!! You have to get out and do things and have some fun in order to stay sane; one can only mop the kitchen floors so many times!

I could debate this all day, but when it comes down to it and I had the opportunity to take some time off, I would snatch it up in an instant..and then a few months later, would promptly find a job.