I feel like my blog has gotten more bloated than a Microsoft application. I want to write about things that matter to me, like stuff I read in the news or just issues I agree or don’t agree with, or even human behavior, but I feel like I’ve pigeon-holed myself into a “dear diary” blog that pretty much just talks about my boring life. Is it possible to scrap everything I’ve posted before into an archive so that it’s not gone forever, and wipe the slate clean and start fresh? I do sometimes like to look back at what I’ve been up to but I’m really bored with my own blog. I’m really about so much more than hating my job and pets.

This weekend was kind of crummy for a lot of reasons I won’t really get into. Some of them got resolved, but you know, some don’t. It’s the way it goes, I guess. I’m just lucky that I’ve got a great hubby that supports me and some very good friends to help me get through it. I’ve been really itching for a vacation lately, but unfortunately I don’t have the vacation time from work to be able to just get outta town. Weekend getaways are nice, but I feel like I need something more like a month.  I’m going to try and get some more comp time in at work so that I can take a real vacation before September. Even if the vacation is at home. I think my mind needs the vacation most of all. I’m starting a private journal to help get the random thoughts out of my head. Maybe a mix of story writing and just thoughts, so that I can have a creative outlet and maybe it will get me started into writing my novel. And then I can sell it and go on vacation for a month.

I saw this video in church a few years ago and it never left my mind. I wanted to share it because it left a huge impression on me. During our service, when he says “the grave couldn’t hold him” the whole congregation just cheered. It was a moment I won’t forget.

Hard to believe that it’s already April. Or, that it will be on Tuesday. It seems like March flew by rather quickly. In some ways I like that, since March wasn’t a very exciting month. I don’t have much going on in the next little while. I’m pretty much just waiting for my acceptance (or denial) letter from Texas Woman’s University. I’ve got an online info session to go tomorrow, which should be pretty informative. At least I’ll know what to expect if I get into the program. I called today and asked to find out if all my application was received, and they had the wrong social and they didn’t match up my Kings transcript and my maiden name even though I put that in my application. Anyways, me calling made things click for them so I’m hoping that might speed up my application process. They said it would be between 3 and 4 weeks, so I’m looking forward to that! I can’t wait to find out so that we can start making some more definite plans, whichever way that it goes.

I’ll be wrapping up my March reading materials in a couple days. I’m anxious to find out what my total is for the month, but I don’t want to check before my wrap-up so it doesn’t make me rush through books just to get through them. I like to savor books, which is sort of incongruous to reading a large volume of books.

I wish that I had more to say in these things. My life seems more boring in print than it is in actuality. It seems more like I’m too busy living it to do much else. Work is crazy, I’ve been working nonstop lately. Which is definitely made easier with the fact that Facebook and Amazon and many other sites are now blocked by Harris County. I’ve been having to make notes for myself to message people later when I think of something I need to tell them! My new Treo is perfect for that though, I must say. One thing that I’m really glad to announce is that I’m not so miserable at my job these days. I can truthfully say that right now, the absolute worst part is having to get up early in the morning, but few jobs would be able to accommodate my sleeping in schedule. And it’s true, I have a lot less time now to do the things I’d like (read, exercise, cook) but we are saving a lot right now and hopefully we’ll be in a house by January 1st. The plan is to start looking in May, so we’ve got two more months of saving to go right now. I’m really excited about the idea of having our first house. And I’m excited about graduate school.

We’re planning a road trip to Florida in November for a wedding, so I’m also excited about that! Lots of stuff happening in 2008, but none of it just yet, so I need to sit tight until May. Wee!

Well, last night was a little bit better in the sleeping department, but not much better in the “Holy Crap! I need to leave for work in FIVE MINUTES!!!” department. I stupidly forgot to set my alarm last night. I managed to shower, dress, feed the dog and take it outside, feed the cat, get my lunch (and breakfast to-go) ready, and run out the door in about 20 minutes. I accidentally left the door to the apartment open and thought the cat had run outside since I couldn’t find her, so I shook her treat bag and luckily she came running. I was so relieved. Anyways, after giving each pet a treat, I high-tailed it out of there and was only five minutes late to work. Not bad for sleeping in an extra hour and 20 minutes.

The sleep itself was, while better than last night, still not fitful. I kept waking up reaching for Suzi in the night, to make sure she was still there. I pretty much insisted she be under the covers so I could sense when she left. I feel like a paranoid mom, except this baby can get up and walk away and pee on my carpet. Hopefully when Mike gets back tonight things will settle down and Suzi won’t be so restless in the night. I’m so looking forward to Mike coming home and the long weekend ahead.

Ok, so today is day 3 of my abandonment, and last night has to be the worst part. It can NOT get worse than that. You see, when Mike’s gone I don’t sleep very well. Maybe I just feel more secure with Mike there or something, but I sleep way better when he is with me. So the first night I slept very little, then the second night I slept better but the animals kept shifting around on the bed and waking me up, but last night was awful.

I hung up the phone with Mike at around 10:30ish and I think I actually fell asleep pretty quickly. I later woke up to some scuffling, where the dog was trying to jump back up on the bed, which was odd because she usually sleeps through the night, but since she had been out and about I needed to check and see if there had been any accidents. Of course, there had been. I was so angry, I took her over to the spot and yelled at her for being a bad dog, then I told her to go back to bed (which she did – she may be bad, but she’s not stupid). So I had to clean it up because urine stains are easier to get out when they are fresh. I went back to bed, but my blood was boiling and it took several hours just to calm down, and the rest of my night was either dreams of Suzi having more accidents, or waking up paranoid because I couldn’t see where she was right away. I got about 2 hours of restful sleep last night.

When I got up for my shower, I put her in the cage because I don’t trust her, and I must not have put the latch on properly, because she got out and had ANOTHER accident! So I did the whole “bad dog” yelling thing, and stuck her in the cage. She only came out long enough to go out (not that she needed to…) and eat. After that, I stuck her back in the cage. I may end up putting her there all night tonight. I need some sleep! I only got to work early because I just couldn’t stand to hear her whining.

So if this is what that other person was going through, I guess I can understand why she wanted to get rid of her. If we don’t get her into some obedience classes or train her properly, I’m afraid she’s going to have to go away. My carpet is going to be completely yellow in a matter of months, and I’m going to be much more irritable than I am now. It’s really too bad because she is sweet when she’s behaving, but that isn’t often enough. The only reason that I’m lucid at all right now is that I took a mini-nap after I caged her for 15 minutes, and felt rested enough after that to drive to work. Oy. I just want some sleep!

Mike and I are just having a relaxing weekend here at home. I’m currently watching The Man in the Iron Mask, that I received from Netflix. I just felt like watching it. It’d been many years since I’d seen it.

So the weekend so far has been a flurry of cleaning and shopping. We did our Sam’s Club and our HEB shopping trips today. I got a new book, the latest Sophie Kinsella. I’ve already started and I’m liking it already. All her books are good, the only one I wasn’t crazy about was Undomestic Goddess. Anyways, we picked up some things we needed, and some other things we didn’t really need. We’ve got food for the dog, the cat, and for us. And a new alarm clock! So that will get me through my weeklong abandonment that’s coming up. We also got some new Starbucks chocolate thingys, that are so awesome. They are called “Caramel Macchiato Truffles” and they are just awesome. AWESOME.

So the weekend hasn’t been very eventful, but sometimes that’s good. It’s nice to just chill out and get things accomplished around the house. It doesn’t give me much to talk about though. I’m sure I’ll have more adventures in the days to come.

Last weekend we had such gorgeous weather, and then it had to go and turn all cold again. I’m sure most of you reading this are probably either covered in snow or not far removed from it, and probably raising angry fists at me, but my advice would be to move south. More south than Texas, though, apparently! Last night it dipped back into the 30s and I’m very chilly this afternoon. I would be sitting in my car right now, reading, but I keep forgetting my book at home. I need to just pick one to take to work and leave it here. I’ve got a couple in the car, but I’m not really interested in those ones right now. I haven’t really been keeping up with what book number I’m at right now, but I should be getting close to 20. This month has been a slow month: first off, it’s shorter than all the other months by a good 2-3 days, and secondly I had my GRE. I’m hoping for better stats in March. And warmer weather!

So the news is out that we are maybe adopting a puppy (er, well, she looks like a puppy..). We are currently halfway through our week-long trial, and things appear to be going well. The only problems I’ve noticed are that she is a little stinky – and a bath didn’t help – and she enjoys getting into the garbage. And she loves table scraps, and I think it’s too late to try and break her out of that habit. She is ten years old after all. I posted a picture on my Facebook account, and I’m going to try and get a few more up on my Google image hosting thingy so that everyone can see her. Her name is Suzi, and we have no idea what breed she is. Definitely a little Chihuahau in her, and maybe some Pekinese. She looks like a tiny Golden Lab with a smooshed nose. She’s got a lot of energy and is generally happy, so we’ll see how it goes. Alley is starting to warm up to her a little, we had both of them snuggling with us on the bed last night; Alley was in the middle of us and Suzi was curled up next to me. It’s a pretty full house, but I’ll need the company after Mike abandons me for a week next month.

Hope everything is well with everyone!

A lot of times I get asked how married life is, or what it feels like to be married, so I thought for Valentine’s Day I would come up with a few.

Being married means:

• finding socks stuffed inside the couch creases or under the bed.
• having someone to come home to every day.
• not closing the bathroom door when you shower so you can keep a conversation going.
• that you are always a five star cook.
• someone to sing with in the car on long trips.
• sharing a Harry Potter book because you can’t wait till the other is finished with it.
• someone to hold you when you have a bad dream.
• someone to remind you when you haven’t done your share around the house.
• someone to blame when the cat throws up (again).
• always having someone to go out to dinner with.
• having a best friend around 24/7.

Happy Valentine’s Day!