What a Day

Yesterday I took Winston (the new dog) to the vet for the first time. He had already been once before we bought him to get his first booster and heartworm medication but it was MY first time to take him. I went home early from work so I could eat some lunch before driving over there. It had been raining outside and Winston kept coming in and of the doggie door. He was having a blast. It was almost time to go so I was wrapping up my lunch when he came charging through the doggie door and jumped up to get his paws and face in my lap:

Good job Winston, good.job. So, after a change of clothes we headed out the door to drive to the vet. After turning onto the main road I began to smell something suspicious from the backseat, a.k.a it smelled like poop. In my attempts to determine whether my dog had just pooped in my backseat or if it was just another bad case of "laborgas" I looked behind me to check....and drifted onto the median=I am not to be trusted. Praise God there were no signs in front of me and no cars around me and only minor damage to the right tire. And from that point on Winston could have been chewing out the entire interior of the car and I wouldn't have checked. He was on his own. Thankfully, the experience left both of us a little shaken so he laid down. Oh, and he hadn't pooped. 

After parking the car Winston and I walked down the sidewalk and into the door. The receptionist wasn't manning her desk so I was just standing there thinking how it was weird to have a carpeted waiting room in a vet clinic when I realized that I had accidently walked into the "Second Thought" Laser Tattoo removal office (the door right before the vet office)...oops...The good news is that they have bad customer service so I was able to get out of there before the receptionist came to assist me. Whew....The actual visit to the vet went quite well so that had a happy ending. Aside from this mean girl dog who growled at Winston there were no incidents. 

When we got home I decided to start a fire and had a good start when I realized I hadn't opened the flue (yes, again). Quickly douse the flame and yank as hard as my two hands can to get down that flue! Start over.....no fire until my husband gets home because I couldn't get my wet wood to now burn+make dinner+start laundry. 

All good days must come to an end and thanks to Winston's booster shot he was wiped out like I was. Bedtime is always a good time. 

Fall Days

The nights are getting chilly around here and as I mentioned in my last post we were eagerly waiting to use our fireplace. This dream was realized that Saturday night ....just not with the romantic ambience we imagined. My husband had started a fire, and boy was it beautiful, all bright and crackling....until the house started to FLOOD with thick smoke and our fire alarm went off....and we realized we forgot to open the flu......hilarious panic ensued. I stood under the fire alarm, fanning it with a gift bag we had just purchased as my husband threw open both doors and ran from the sink to the fire with glasses of water. We put out the lovely fire and had to start from scratch with our soaked fireplace. Thankfully, persistence won

This month we also decided to purchase a puppy

SO cute, cuddly and incorrigible. Our first walk he kept whining and sitting down. Basically he was not a fan. This should get better with time though, once he gets used to having something around his neck. We took him to PetSmart for his first obedience class....which he slept thru, while the other puppies barked and played with each other. In his defence, it was basically just the instructor answering questions so he didn't really need to be awake. It was super helpful for us though. 

We set up a system so he has access to the yard and his crate inside while we are at work. We put the crate in front of the doggie door so he either goes outside or into the crate. We wedged the open door of the crate into the door so he can't get to the rest of the house. Yesterday Chris and I were greeted as we came home from work by Winston....

Annnd....he somehow managed to squeeze his body under the crate door and had apparently had free reign of the house for who knows how long. No accidents though, so, there's the good news. The only thing he appeared to have chewed the snot out of was our rug in front of the door going to the garage. The corner is basically gone. Considering the mischief he might have gotten into we felt extremely relieved. Basically, our dog is a ninja. We believe we have conquered this problem by closing the inner door and putting things behind it so he can't push it open. Time will tell. Oh my...good thing my husband and I both have a healthy sense of humor....and don't own expensive things.....

I have no doubt that this dog will supply countless stories so stay tuned.

Randoms

On Monday my husband and I were FINALLY able to sell our leather loveseat. It had just been hangin' out in our garage since we moved and we were really ready to sell it so we could fit both cars in the garage, oh and get money=bonus. There were at least 6 people who inquired about it and then we never heard from them again. There was even one lady who called and said her daughter would be by to pick it up after a trip to Lowe's.....nope. I could see that going down: Elderly Lady: "I found you a sofa!" Daughter: " What? Mom, no, I don't want to buy that sofa." EL: "Yes you do! It is nice, I spoke to them already. You want to go pick it up tonight while I watch the kids?" D: "Whatever, sure." Meanwhile at the Garcia house......

 And.....no one....

Thankfully we finally got a legitimate call over the weekend and the sofa is gone.

Last night I decided to try a new recipe:

Italian Pepperoni Quiche. It was delicious. 2 hours and two tummy aches later we realized that possibly this meal was not for us.....looks like we are having peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for lunch instead of left overs.....unfortunate. I am still not sure why our stomachs were unable to effectively digest this dish when we eat pizza just fine but, oh well....As a side note, can I just say that easy open has never meant it is easily opened, EVER. The frozen veggies you use for this recipe came in an "easy open" bag....which I had to cut in half....with scissors. I can't be the only one....

The weather this weekend should be much cooler and I think we will actually get to light a fire in our fireplace! Basically, that makes my whole weekend. Also, I can finally wear all of the fall outfits I have been planning in my head over the summer. Again, I can't be the only one.....

On Sunday night we met a few more of our neighbors including a 13 year old girl who informed us that we didn't need to worry about the people that speed through our neighborhood because her dad knows who they are and "he shows up on their door step with a baseball bat." Oh good....I feel better....right.I am assuming she is not serious. Although, I too get angry at the speeders, but, still.....

Happy Friday!

Cafe Girl

So, I just had an awkward moment...really several minutes. This week almost everyone at work is in Dallas at a client conference. That means all of the painting and construction to the third floor of our office building is happening while they are out. The powers that be also thought it would be the perfect week to build a short wall...right where my desk was.

I moved all of my stuff over to another desk, but that obviously did not remove me from the sounds and smells of the construction going on directly behind my new location. In an effort to avoid a paint high, I relocated to the cafe on the first floor of our building. I have been sitting down there at a corner table all week and actually kind of enjoying the peace and quiet.

Apparently my movements did not go unnoticed. Unbeknownst to me, the finance people, that also sit on the first floor, have been wondering who I am. Today while I was sitting down there for lunch (I had a temporary reprieve because I am watching the front desk today) someone from finance came up to me, and with real concern in his voice, asked if I had a desk. OMG. After I had explained my situation he told me that they had been talking about me in finance and wondering who the girl was in the cafe.

I am now the "cafe girl". I guess there could be worse labels.

Some New Things

Well, it has been a very busy month in the Garcia household. We moved. Better yet, we moved into a house. OUR house. As in, we own it (technically this “owning” thing will take place over the next 30 years, but who wants to hear about that?). Last week I worked half days each day so I could go home and pack and clean. Then, when Chris got home we would eat dinner and pack and clean. I had not been that physically tired since I volunteered at a summer kid’s camp for a week.

We signed the paperwork on Friday, August 23^rd. As we were filling it out I pointed out that the zip code listed for our new home was 65807 and Google maps said it was 65802. I was told that 65807 was the zip from the postal service and it was what was provided by the previous homeowners so it was correct. I was still inwardly questioning. I was also upset considering I had spent over an hour changing the address for the DMV, my credit card, my magazine subscription, etc. Not looking forward to doing all of that over again. I had also put 65802 as my forwarding address for the United States Postal Service. Great. That afternoon I decided to start with the USPS. I got online, changed the zip and hit submit. It was automatically changed to 65802. 3 more tries and the same results. 2 zip code look ups with different ways of typing in the address and the results were the same. So, guess what:

Unfortunately, that also means we had to go in and sign ALL of the paperwork again. Kind of a joy kill.

Being tired and moving does not do good things for my mind. On Monday morning we make it to the stop sign at the end of our street when I remember I forgot my fob to get into work. We turn around, C opens the garage, I run in, grab it, run out and we head for the end of the street. We aren’t even past the mail box before I realize I forgot my glasses. Repeat. We finally leave. I start freaking out about how I am making us late. C informs me that I need to relax. His actual words were, “We’re fine! Gosh, you’re a basket case.” True.

This past weekend my parents came to help us finish moving the big stuff and organize our stuff. Basically, my mom made my living room look like Pottery Barn=I may never move anything, ever. Just kidding….maybe….

 

Other highlights:

·         Ripping chunks of paint off the walls removing our whiteboard from the kitchen wall in the apartment----Having the apartment manager not notice/care…whew!

·         Driving all the way to Clever for Chinese food only to discover the restaurant was closed for the holiday

·         Discovering Rocco’s Italian Restaurant in Republic because we were too hungry to drive back to Springfield. (It is really good)

·         Killing the spiders that waited to come out until it was MY turn to shower.

I had a moment when we took the last item out of our apartment. 2 years. We grew a lot together in the last 2 years in that apartment, just as we had in the previous 2 years in our first apartments. In this apartment C lost his job and we watched God provide a temporary job for him immediately and a permanent position right when we needed him to have one. God brought a new job for me when I needed it and throughout the year provided the money to make up for the pay cut I took to work in it. Then, God provided a pay raise for me. We suffered disappointment, anger, sadness as well as happiness and deep, deep joy. I am so excited for this next chapter in our lives; I know that God has greater things in store for us!

That Doesn't Look Right.....

Hello faithful readers!

Last night things were going a little wrong in the kitchen. Every week I plan a menu and shop accordingly. I find this saves frustration and keeps things a little cheaper at the grocery store. It also helps me to not give in as often to the impulse to eat out since I already know what I am making and I planned it because it sounded tasty. Last night's dish was stir-fry. I also decided that it would be nice to try to make corn muffins from a recipe I "pinned" during our Daniel Fast. Now, I promise I followed the recipe, step by step. I didn't have any unsweetened almond or rice milk on hand (let's be serious, we aren't those people) so I used the same amount of my 1% milk and substituted clover honey for date honey(not even sure what date honey would look like) and called it even. The recipe then told me to stir until smooth. So, I stirred....uhm,  "smooth" was not happenin'. What I had was what appeared to be a bowl of yellow sand with corn in it. Not wanting to mess with the recipe by adding stuff I decided to just bake the muffins and see what happened. Needless to say what I baked turned out to be corn sand muffins. Bread and butter anyone? YES.

We also managed to get chicken juice all over the floor. We placed the chicken on the Foreman Grill and when we turned around the melting water from the now melted ice that was on the partially frozen chicken breast was now mixing with the natural chicken, er,stuff, and dripping onto the floor. Ahhh! E-Coli is dripping on the floor!!!!! Well, not really, but still....GROSSSSSS!!!!! Disinfect!!!!!

I also managed to spray myself in the face with Soy Sauce. Excellent.



Thankfully, dinner was quite tasty and I am eating the leftovers for lunch. :)

False Sense of Security...

I just had one of the most horrible experiences of my life. And yet hilarious at the same time. I was sitting in the cafeteria watching a PBS video on the Freedom Riders. My lunch was almost over, and really I should have stopped, but I was just waiting for a good stopping point. As I was about to see what how much time had passed so I could start there next time when a HUGE something dropped from above me and landed on my laptop. I immediately shoved my laptop away from me and moved the opposite direction…forgetting that I still had headphones in my ears and they were plugged into my laptop. In the process I had shoved my empty plate onto the ground, praise God it landed right side up…I had eaten left over pasta…After I had removed the headphones I calmly checked my work email on my phone so if anyone came in they would think I was just checking something on my phone before I gathered my things. The “thing” was a humungous cricket. Somehow it managed to get flipped on its back when it crawled off my laptop. There it was…kicking its little legs, trying to turn over. I pulled my laptop slowly away in case any sudden movements would make it flip over and jump at me. Then I gathered my plate and paper towel off the ground. I walked calmly away, leaving the gross thing still struggling on the table.

 

I have no idea how loud the sound was that I made when it fell on my computer. I didn’t scream…but I definitely made a sound. Also, I am SO thankful it didn’t fall on my head. There would have been screaming if that had been the case. OMG. I still feel a little shaken up.