Rascal's One Month Anniversary Today

I can hardly believe it. And I've walked him *e*v*e*r*y* S*I*N*G*L*E **morning** yay us!!!

I'm still all fat and out of shape -- but I can feel the difference!! I'm thinking I'm going to give up my Curves membership and joing the YMCA - they have a pool and reclining bicycle thing -- I can feel my knees not doing too good, and swimming, water aerobics and cycling will all help not put weight on my knees. I love Curves, but summer in Arizona ... well, it ain't pretty and I'm not tolerant.

Right now the weather is perfect -- it was 44 low last night, and will be about 80 today -- 80 is warm for me, but the mornings are sooo beauteous!!

We Watched "Eight Men Out" last night - 1988 movie about the Chicago White Sox Scandal of 1919... a little confusing -- which makes me look stuff up, not a bad thing. John Cusack, David Strathairn, Charlie Sheen, Christopher Lloyd, D.B. Sweeney -- great cast. I enjoyed it -- himself thought it was just okay. We both think that if most baseball games could be as exciting as movies depict, it would be less like watching paint dry.

It is official - I have a new job! I'll post more on it later - but I'm stoked! Still part time, 20 hours a week, a little more money, and lots of projects to take on!

I had NO idea....

That "Thursday 13" is a world unto itself!! Visitor Ensie (whose blog I visited) linked this site in her blog -- and a whole new world has opened up!!

Taken from the Thursday 13 FAQ page:

• Thursday Thirteen is a community of folks who go around visiting and linking others, and leaving links. You’ll see that with the code in place and your participation, your blog traffic will increase, people have the opportunity to get to know you - and what they see on your Thirteens will most likely determine whether or not your blog becomes a regular stop for your visitors.
• The Thursday Thirteen is popular because it works. I can’t tell you how many people I’ve met myself that I wouldn’t have met otherwise. It. Works. Don’t cheat the system, and it won’t cheat you.

Thursday Thirteen

There's a blog I read that has a "thursday thirteen" and I like that -- random stuff about the week...

[1] I might be changing jobs

[2] Rascal's one month adoption to our family is this Saturday. Holy Moly.

[3] I think I may be having a different Easter Dinner at a friend's -- eastern european traditional food... I'll let you know how the beet, horseradish & sauerkraut goes!

[4] Firesigns... think that's a good name for a quartet? (Vonnie -- shhhhh! ;-)

[5] Did a sing-a-long with the seniors on Wednesday -- it was fun!

[6] The jewelry (paper clay pins) class with the seniors on Saturday also went really well!

[7] 13 unique things... not easy.

[8] Went to the 4th Avenue St Fair on Sunday afternoon -- two hours of walking - I only bought cinammon cashews for my adorable himself, because he gave me $15 'pocket money' -- I'm pretty broke right now and that just warms my insides!!

[9] Didn't go to church on Sunday, anywhere -- can't afford the gas to my regular congregation... and am ambiguous about going 'back' to my 'home' congregation.

[10] Didn't clean my house Monday morning -- and am feeling rotten about it. Promised myself I'll be consistent, otherwise Rascal Hair is my newest fashion accessory.

[11] Tuesday I sang for a friend's neighbor's mom's 75th birthday - "I Surrender All" (or, in our hymnal "All To Jesus I Surrender") and "Amazing Grace" - a cappella. The mom had seen Faith Hill sing 'I Surrender All' on Oprah, and has gone crazy looking for a recording, she loved it so much, only to find Faith Hill hasn't recorded it. She said I was every bit as good as Faith Hill *blush* It was really really neat - and I wasn't nervous at all at all...

[12] Went to my first Tucson Girls Chorus Board Meeting monday night -- ooh yeah, that's what I did all day Monday (!) -- I'm doing PR/Marketing and I wrote my first Press Release since college. yeah, it took me awhile :-)

[13] I'm so proud of myself for walking a minimum of a quarter mile every morning with my doggie. Most mornings are half a mile, and Tuesday morning we did a mile (I thought he was a bit knackered!). I found out about this google site, which brings up a map of what zipcode you enter (i.e., my neighborhood) and you can figure out walking distances -- gmaps pedometer! It is WAY COOL! And saves me from driving around the neighborhood to see how far I've been walking! I saw it in a recent issue of Real Simple Magazine.

wow... it gets easier as you go.

Busy Day!

Cleaned house - termite guy here for inspection - PR/Marketing meeting for Tucson Girls Chorus - mom here - watched "Stranger Than Fiction" with Emma Thompson, Will Ferrell, Maggie Gyllenhall, Tom Hulce (didn't recognize him... you know, the guy who played Amadeus in the movie "Amadeus"...!!) -- good film, I liked it :-)

Rascal isn't settling down with people in the house - he's barked at my mom the entire time, unless she's sitting at his level... on the couch, outside... weird. He's only been here two weeks, and his 2 1/2 year life before us was full of upheaval, so maybe it is just that he needs more time to be sure that no one will be taking him away...

Before I die...

.
Here's just a beginning of the list:
.
.
Write a book (published would just be a bonus, really)
.
Record a music CD (of my own music, of other people's music... not picky)
.
Be an expert (or just really really knowledgeable) about one thing, or one person (or both...?)
.
Be an barbershop arranger

It's 93 degrees

... and I've turned my A/C on. Happy St. Patrick's Day

ugh.

What brings me joy here and now

Our Dog * organizing * fresh coffee * hot showers * cool mornings * scrapping * meeting new friends * new challenges * a shiny sink * oatmeal for breakfast * Hershey's "Take 5" candy bar * early morning walks with Rascal * unexpected handmade cards in the mail from friends *

One of the worst movies I've seen

Is "Run Robbie Run" -- himself put it on the list to come to the house on the recommendation of Dusty from work... for a bad movie it was mostly well-acted, and had some big cameos (Jeff Goldbum, Ben Stiller... and the pain of watching this wretched movie was slightly worth it to see Mandy Patankin's part... but only if you're a MP fan.)

Rascal's Foster mommy came to visit today - and everyone is so happy he is here -- he's happy, she's happy and we're thrilled. PLUS -- she has three boxes of stamps, inks & goodies for me to "foster mommy" while she and her hubby remodel their house. How fun it is to have new toys to play with!!

Tomorrow I'm getting together with some gals from my chorus to see if we are potentially right as a barbershop quartet -- a local one. I'm excited.

Cutest Rascal Picture Yet

I mean... how can you resist this face?!

Gave him his first bath today... we didn't get terribly clean because he wasn't feelin' the love... but he stood pretty quietly, and liked the rubdown... and he didn't go immediately and roll around in the dirt (like some other dogs I've had in the past)... so I'm going to call it a success!

I also vacuumed floors, caught up on laundry, did significant cleaning damage in the kitchen, started marinating steak for dinner... and sort of cleaned up the pile of paper on my desk -- not hugely clean, but at can glimpse my desk now, rather than assume that is what is holding up all the crap sitting on top :-).

Watched "The Prestige" last night - Hugh Jackman, Michael Caine, Christian Bale, Scarlett Johansson, and even David Bowie. I enjoyed it a lot!! I couldn't predict the end, which is something I appreciate :-)

Off to re-arrange my craft space...

The Week --

Well, we've had Rascal one full week today. He's awesome. We've gone for a walk every morning, and I've been up at 5:40 am twice this week -- knowing that by 7am it is too darn hot for me to be walking, I've been going to bed at reasonable hours which means less tv, less computer, more dog. That is a good thing. We went to the vet for our first visit/introduction/wellness check that is required by FAIR ~ even the vet said we lucked out and got a great dog!!

He seems to be 'quite content in himself' - as himself says... which means he like to hang out in the yard, he can get a little hyper twice a day -- all our bolster sized pillows have been moved to safer locations... since he's king of the house we have to be trained, don't we? He got a hold of an odor eater from himself's shoe, and my slipper was in the living room one day -- but no damage (whew!). He'll sit, and seems to have calmed down a little in the licking department -- he doesn't think we really serious when we're going to bed -- he'll come in and check to make sure we're not faking him out... it's kinda funny... now that he's stopped jumping up on the bed to make sure we're not faking :-)

I got on the treadmill yesterday morning after our walk and walked for 30 minutes - yay me! And this morning I got on and after 12 minutes it bleeped and went dead... so have to have himself come have a look.

So -- the dog is helping us be better adults, which is good.

We watched "The Intrepreter" last night with Nicole Kidman & Sean Penn -- really like Sean Penn. The acting was excellent, the story a bit on the weak side... but entertaining, and that is what it is all about! Himself rented 'Flags of our Fathers' and watched that night before last.

Still waiting is "The Prestige" with Hugh Jackman, "Finding Neverland" and some movie a guy at himself's work recommended, "Run Donny Run" -- so we'll probably watch a couple tonight.

Counted up how many pages I've scrapped - 48 since the beginning of the year! Not all of them are done, or journalled -- but now that I think (I *hope*!) I've got all the pictures developed I may be close to finished 2003! It may turn into 3 volumes -- ack. I've set a goal of 40 pages a month for my client... and am thinking if I continue to do the page kits for my own personal scrapping to travel with -- then I can do client's scrapping during the week - 10 pages a week isn't outrageous...

Yesterday I helped with a Youth Rally for church - helped kids check in on Friday night - then was one of 3 adults that went and did an ice cream social for a low-income/senior government apartment complex. The activities they have are all done by volunteers that live in the building (over 400 residents), and I'm hoping we'll be able to get the church youth group involved with a regular volunteering to help out with their parties etc... stuff like decorating, helping cook, clean up and serve food, along with visiting and just hanging out. We had 7 kids, and we served 79 folks -- and I think the kids had fun, I know I did.

Of course, I obsessed over what the kids and other youth minister guy were thinking of me - was I too bossy, was I being a micro-manager, was it going well enough and was anyone blaming me for anything... Maybe this is why I am intimated by this generation's kids -- they're smart-lipped, not kind, and with my sucky self esteem it doesn't help me think better of myself. I usually feel miserable after hanging out with kids -- whereas I always feel fabulous after hanging out with the older folks.

After we came back I hung out with a gal who was on the older fringes of the youth group of my church growing up (same town, different congregation at the moment, but I'm planning to going to my old congregation this morning)... and we just cracked ourselves up -- but then I was sort of at a loss, so I went and sat at the Pepperdine table (the organizer of the youth rally had contacted Christian Colleges to send her stuff - so we had ACU, LCU, OCU, Harding, Cascade and maybe some others) and talked to some kids -- told one talented musician if she wanted to be a professional musician she should start researching music conservatories...

Then the singing started and I sat at the back -- knew some songs, didn't know others, felt completely isolated - thought I probably did it to myself. I was going to stay for the concert, but then found out the concert would be more of the singing -- and I wanted to hear better singing than that (I can be a real snob, eh?!) -- and I was feeling very teary and emotional ~ and hadn't told himself that I'd be late - told him I'd be home around 6pm - so I left... cried most of the way home and couldn't really tell anyone why. I just kept thinking I feel so "Less Than" -- and couldn't resist myself with the thought "I Am Enough" -- my leftover mantra from 'Starting Over' - miss that show!!

But yet it was a good day -- weird.

Called himself to see if he wanted something from the grocery store before I got home - and he thankfully said "Pizza" - so I got pizza, ice cream, yogurt, soda, bagels (I was starving in the store...) and chips ahoy cookies -- cuz they sounded really good. Then we ate pizza, watched 2 1/2 men (love that show -- Jon Cryer is the perfect foil for Charlie Sheen -- the whole cast is awesome), then ice cream and the movie. And asleep before 11pm -- yay!

So why I was all sad and weird I'm not sure -- my inner committee obviously was being negative and I wasn't really noticing, perhaps? Trying to please everyone instead of just God?

And the treadmill went dead this morning -- but himself just got up and looked at it and the cord that connects to the machine had come loose... at the time this morning though I knew it was SATAN!! Trying to get me to fail -- because I was happily walking along at 2.5 mph -- had only been on it for about 12 minutes... relieved that it was something minor - yay God :D.

Gotta get showered to get to church :-)

Sunday Morning with Rascal

I got home last night from the crop around 1:00 am -- Rascal announced my arrival ( I could hear him bark a couple times as I pulled into the driveway and walked through the gate... good dog!), and barked a couple more times as I unlocked the door and came in. Very happy he announces people approaching. We also brought a friend over for himself to look at her computer, and Rascal was leery ~ when he rolled over on his back for his belly to be rubbed, and T rubbed his belly, she was then okay. :-) And really, aren't we all pretty satisfied when we get our bellies rubbed ;-)

So I got on the computer for a little while after setting up the coffee maker - Rascal had disappeared, and as I sat down to the pc, I see his head pop up from the couch. So he found his bed okay.... *hee hee*

This morning I woke up before the alarm, got up and got dressed and took Rascal for a slow walk around our street. By the time we got home he was completely peed out... male dogs are different for me -- I'm not used to the way they pee and walk at the same time... ick. And now the neighborhood dogs knows he is here.

He had knee-cap surgery 3 1/2 weeks ago - just got his cast off a week or so ago. His foster mom didn't know what caused the floating kneecap - he'd been in a kennel for at least 3 months and FAIR (Foundation for Animals In Risk), the organization we adopted him from, rescues animals from the humane society as well as strays and "Found" animals and they never put animals down. They must have just rescued him within the last month or so. He's been neutered, microchipped, has a 3-year rabies shot, and his other shots.

When we walked into Petsmart, which has FAIR come in with a few animals every Saturday from 10am to 3pm (or something close to those hours), we both spotted Rascal and knew he was the dog for us. The dog in the kennel cage next to him was barking non-stop and being kinda hyper in his cage, and Rascal was just laid back, nonchalant and not letting the chaos get to him. We watched a lady come put a pink tag on the outside of his cage, and both of us thought that meant he was spoken for. I went over to read more closely what it said, and it was just his information (Name, weight, age, breed, personality & special needs if any). The lady who had put the tag on the cage starting talking to me, and she was his 'foster mom' who'd taken care of him after his surgery, and had had him for over 3 weeks.

It was hard for her to leave, you could tell she loved him... I don't know if I could foster animals like that, it would break my heart! She just raved about him as just a love of a dog -- and he is. He isn't needy -- but every 15 or 20 minutes he'll come over to whatever I'm doing and need a pat or attention for a few seconds, then happily goes on his way. Perfect. Helps me keep track of time, but isn't whining or destructive with the attention his needs.

He doesn't know how to walk on a leash... right now it is more 'going for a pull' for me - he's 60 lbs, 2 1/2 years old, a Lab/Shepherd/Pit Bull mix. We loved his name so just need to get used to it.

He slept through the night, was happy to see me when I came into the living room and said good morning -- nice his nose wasn't in my face at 6:30 am :-) Though once he came back inside from going outside, he nosed himself up... *hee hee* -- so himself was up early (7:15 am or so).

I think after church I'll give him a bath... we'll see.

Meet Rascal!

More details later... but we love him!!!

Random

I think we're going to get a dog tomorrow... we've been talking about it for awhile.

I'm the newest board member for the Tucson Girls Chorus -- and already have some projects and tasks to work on.

Thought today that hub and I should have our own Residential Care Facility for Seniors (non-medical) -- it is a 24/7 business, but we have a house that would work, and I have the heart for it, and the senior market is the business to be in.

That put me back thinking about taking my singing and crafting to the smaller private senior care residences as a job... again, have the heart and passion for it -- and even the business resource to ask for advice. And no one is doing it. And there is a huge need for it.

Superman Returns - I like the idea of the movie, and I like the actor who had such big shoes to fill. But it was so freakin' LONG!! Holy Cow! But it was dark... and I'm talking about literally dark -- the red cape isn't really red, it is a maroon... it looked like it was trying to be all moody like the Batman movies -- c'mon... it's SUPERMAN.

I got two pages scrapped on Tuesday -- and have high hopes for tomorrow - will give himself a chance to bond with the dog while I go crafting and scrapping.

My knee hurts, and my ankle hurts, weak-like. Haven't been to Curves yet. Haven't walked on the treadmill yet. Times gettin' shorter...

sleep now.