Drinking leads to more fun

Was able to get three other people to go out with me to BJ's after seminar yesterday. All I wanted was a drink which I had been feeling like needing one for awhile. So I got a berry cider, and Kevin got some sort of beer, and then we got appetizers. After finishing the food I brought out my laptop (not going to leave it in the car) to show her some photo booth pictures that I had taken with Francisca. And then that started us taking pictures, which turned out to be a bit of fun.

I'm happy that the quarter is almost over. Been working on my lab write ups, probably a little more than halfway done. Trying to get them done before my brother comes out on Tuesday for Thanksgiving since I will be his chauffeur to visit people.

Stig is now 26" tall, and still growing. I really hope he doesn't get too much bigger. He's already a large dog. And he will be starting beginners obedience school. He needs it.

Does anyone even read this still?

Well what is going on with my life?

My old computer died, had to buy a new one. My credit card is crying.

Finally done with field trips in marine ecology. Just have to work on the three lab write ups. Need to get them done asap so I don't have to worry about finishing them in December. Almost finished with one and started another.

My brother is coming to visit next week for Thanksgiving. We will be going to San Diego to celebrate this year. So that should be fun.

Stig is all puppy still. Little psycho dog eating all the trees in the backyard. He's too smart too. Opening doors and gates and such. Need to get him in puppy school asap, even though he's 9 months and will probably tower over every other dog in the class. He needs to learn manners, and stop with the biting and jumping on me. It's not cool to be covered in bruises on my arms and legs.

Living and hallway

Flooring is officially done in three rooms now! Halfway done with the wood flooring (two bedrooms and the dining room left). Hallway now has a new light (yay) and popcorn is all off the ceiling and the new texture has been sprayed on.

My mother has made me two floor pillows so now more people can come over and not sit on the actual floor. The tv is now in the living room cable is set up, wii is set up, I'm sort of ready to have people over. Shan came over to watch So You Think You Can Dance last Wed.

I was supposed to be learning how to fish today but oh well I was here to help out with the light.

Now I'm waiting for the dog's laundry to be done so I can let him in the house.

Since I have nothing planned for tomorrow maybe I'll just finish cleaning out my old room and rip out more of the tile.

Life sucks

Why is it that when it seems things are finally going my way I get a cannon ball to the chest and just feel defeated...sigh. Last week I reached the point where I wanted to curl up and cry and be drunk. Of course I didn't do either because I knew drinking really wouldn't have made me feel better.

It would be nice if something actually went according to plan for once. Alas that is not meant for me or anyone in my immediate family. That awesomeness has also been passed on to my best friend.

Maybe the first thing I host in my almost finished living room is a pity party. Why not. I'm sure everyone has something they'd like to go differently, especially now whether it's a job, relationship, school or whatever.

Here's my list of things I'd like to happen:
1. Stig would stop biting me and get all his adult teeth in like a day.
2. Resolve my legal issues.
3. Figure out why guys are stupid.
4. Be truly happy, for like 24 consecutive hours.
5. Get one more room done by the end of June.

Life

So it's odd having a puppy again. He's a vicious little monster first thing in the morning and at night. I am now sporting a bandaid from where he gave me a nice slice from a canine this morning. He got his first bath last week and as you can tell by the picture he did not enjoy it. He does love his peanut butter.




A trip to Petsmart was in order. He is now the proud owner of a puppy teething ring, and a muzzle, which is too small for his apparently giant head. He's grown two inches taller since I've had him (it's been two weeks). So I think I may just go two sizes up in the muzzle so hopefully it should fit him a bit longer while he's still in the biting/chewing phase.



My dad bought him a pool and he enjoys playing around in that a bit. I'm going to attempt to take him on a walk around the neighborhood in a bit, I imagine just down to the corner because he likes to stop and lay down when he's been on the leash before. So baby steps with that.

And I've been using my shower for a weeks now and it's awesome to finally have a working one again. The Stig usually cries in his crate (yup he's getting crate trained, but he knows that it's his happy place when he gets scared and needs somewhere to hide).

Newest Addition

So this is the surprise I was alluding to earlier. Right now he has no name I need a few more days with him to know for sure. He's three months old and has gotten really playful in the last few hours. Guess he needed a short adjustment to his new home first.

Things to do

Wow, I should really update this more often, but I feel like I have nothing important to say. I guess I could just write about my day, but that could be boring on some days.

My bathroom shower is almost done! I'm sealing the grout tomorrow so I should be able to take a shower next week. So very excited about that.

I have exciting things happening next week, but I'll share my big news later. Also on the agenda for next week is a trip to Huntington Library/Garden...I don't even know what it's called. Just a nice little outing to enjoy plants...I'll probably be looking for whatever animals I can find. I should take my binoculars to do birding, I bet my friends would enjoy that.

This weekend I'm going to the water district for their annual water awareness day, which I was never aware of before. They must be good at publicity. Just want to learn about what breaks we can get for using native plants and faux grass.

Take me out to the ball game

Went to the Angels Red Sox game yesterday and had lots of fun. Had a group of ten people (mostly biologists!) who went. Sat four rows from the top in the second to worst seats. They really weren't that bad. Good crowd of fans, lot more Boston fans than I expected to see. No animosity between fans that I saw (guess Angels fans are just a bit more grown up than Dodgers fans).

At least both sides of fans weren't afraid to cheer. So it was lots of fun to cheer for the Red Sox when they were doing well. I could do without the stupid rally monkey though. Save it for the end of the season. That thing is so annoying. I don't want to see video of a monkey hopping or spliced into movies.

The pictures to the left show d ray trying to take a picture through binoculars (hilarious), Kimme and me (showing off my red sox shirt), the final score, and the red sox celebrating after winning.

We stuck around after the game (probably for over an hour) to let all the people leave the parking lot so we wouldn't be stuck in it and to see if we could get anyone's autograph. Which we did! I am now the proud owner of a Hideko Okajima autograph (#37 on the Red Sox). And I snapped a picture of Allison with him.

Goodbye little man

Unfortunately the time has come for me to say goodbye to my beloved little dog Rascal. He died this morning (just two weeks after Goofy died).

He went downhill pretty quickly, since Friday. I thought it was the change in temperature that was slowing him down, but he never recovered to his old-self. This weekend I hung out with just him trying to make him comfortable so that he could be somewhat at peace. He gave me one last kiss on Sunday and I knew that he would go soon.

Yesterday was just bad, just a shell of his normal behavior. He couldn't use his hind legs so he'd try to walk and give up. He wouldn't eat anything I offered, no turkey slices, no hamburger. He was drinking water but even I know that you can't survive on water alone. My dad told me that I'd have to consider taking him to the vet, but I really just wanted him to pass away at home where he was comfortable not some foreign vet examination room.

Today I was waiting for my dad to show up so that I could call the vet to set up an appointment but he died before my dad got here. The tears have been on and off since then. When my dad got here I let him know before he walked in and he broke down. Rascal technically was my dog but he was bonded to both my dad and me. It was more emotional since we just did this with Goofy. I know he's not in pain anymore, but he was my constant companion since I was 11. It seemed like he'd just live forever.

After Goofy died my mom and I would reminisce about all the stunts he would pull. Rascal didn't really do anything all that bad, that was more of Goofy's thing to cause trouble.

When Rascal was a puppy (and I was still in 6th grade) he got into the bag of puppy food and ate so much that he would cry out in pain if we touched his side. Cue to my mom and I driving to our vet and then being told to go to an emergency clinic in Montclair. Cue to Rascal puking in the back seat on the drive to the vet and feeling all better once he gets examined. All we needed to do was put him in the back seat and rock the car, all better.

Rascal was seriously the best dog I will ever have. No other dog could compare to him. He was the most affectionate dog I have ever met, he was loyal, he knew that I was his mom and would wait by the door for me or lay in my doorway to protect me. He loved when I would treat him to a cup of milk or a slice of cheese.

Now I'm just sad that I have no pets to greet me when I come home. Just an empty house filled with memories.

Back to school

The new quarter has started and I think it will be way less stressful than last quarter. Just taking the Friday seminar series class. Most of it will be molecular...yay, not really but I guess it could be worse.

Going to the Angels Red Sox game on Saturday afternoon. Can't believe we got nine people going, I was hoping for five.

My dog misses Goofy. He doesn't adapt well to sudden changes so he's not eating now which is bad since he's lost weight as he's gotten older. I can now lift him fairly easily. At his biggest (some would call overweight...but he was never fat he has big bones...seriously) he was 60 lbs (probably high 50s), last trip to the vet (his favorite place ever) he was barely 40. He selectively eats cheese, I have found that giving him lunch meat works. So as of now his diet consists of turkey slices. I'm just happy that he's eating. He's weak right now so he always wants to be laying down and kind of walks and then plops down wherever he was standing. He ate more today than the past few days combined. So I'm hopeful that he'll eat a little more each day.

My shower is probably 75% tiled, so hopefully in a few weeks I'll actually be able to take a shower, since I have to allow time to grout and seal. I've primed most of the dining room, but need to move the large computer desk and the stack of wood to finish. The bff is going to help me paint and do the chair rail and stuff to make it look complete.

RIP Goofy

Yesterday morning one of my dogs died. It was my brother's dog, Goofy. He was such a special dog. Had lots of little quirks to him, and we all thought he'd outlive us all. He ate so much crap he shouldn't have: rocks, wood, plastic, razors, books, decks of cards, purse, Halloween costume, plastic liner of the shower and the cord of a plugged in fan twice.

He really was a special little dog. He didn't go in the kitchen for probably six or seven years. He was scared of the noise the ice maker made, the toaster, the oven, the timer.

He was very lovable, when you caught him in a good mood. He was afraid to bite you and we all experienced first hand.

Luckily I was home with him when he passed away. We think it was of a stroke, I don't think he was in pain. He wasn't crying and trust me if he was in pain he would have been crying. I was petting his head as he died.

I knew something was off with him from the first time I saw him yesterday, he was just off. I called my mom to let her know and she called my dad to come over. But 15 minutes later he died, and I was crying as I called my dad. My mom kept calling me to check up on me and I just started crying all over again.

Now it's just weird to be home and not have him prancing around. Rascal knows something is up. He seems sad. And when he goes in the front yard he stands by the gate waiting.

I'm now on the lookout for a new dog. I had told my mom that when one of my dogs died I'd get a new one relatively soon. And with Rascal being 14.5 years old I know that he doesn't have forever. So I just want to start the transition sooner rather than later.

Too much thinking

My bff is back from her honeymoon. We hung out for Betty night on Thursday and she gave me my souvenirs from Paris and Belgium. Have a Eiffel Tower shot glass to add to my growing collection. Belgium is apparently known for their lace (who knew?) besides chocolate, so she got me an apron with Belgian lace. I showed it to my mom and she was like this is an apron you never use. So I need to find some pretty hooks where I can hang up the aprons I can never wear (two because of they are white). My bff also brought me back some chocolate in the shape of male genitalia, so yea. She showed me what she bought for her brother, obviously female shaped chocolate. I think it's quite funny though. I have naughty chocolate in my room.

Lately I've felt like I was a grown up. I'm old enough to be the licensed driver in a car with a permit driver (crazy!). I don't know but I've felt like I've been in a somewhat good place in my life. I have a job (not a career obviously, but it works for now), I'm still chugging along with school, still having ideas for what my project could be.

But then talking to other people it's like I'm reverted back to high school. How many people do I know that are married, have children, and I'm just here. Obviously I don't want to be married right now, and children never but I don't know. What happens when I'm still chugging along and I have nothing to really show for it? I mean yea I sort of have a house, and I get a lot of input in the changes that are happening but besides that what do I have? Two dogs? A 16 year old car? I come home to an empty house and it makes me sad sometimes.

I know I'm just wound up now. I don't like when people tell me to relax because that's not helping me in anyway. My family is still dealing with a lot of things so really telling me to take a deep breath doesn't help us out. In time things will return to where they need to be but that is probably years from now.

And of course when I do try to do something fun, it doesn't end up happening. I think I'll just quit planning things so it doesn't fall on my shoulders to make sure things run smoothly.

I wish I could just go away, anywhere pretty much and just be. Just get away from all the responsibilities I have, making sure everyone is ok, making sure everything is running smoothly at work. I just try to let go and for once in my life act young. I've never acted my age. I was always the little 40 year old, never did anything wrong, didn't get in trouble at school (except for the time I kicked a boy in the shin, but he kicked me first). I just want to not worry about things, let loose and have fun. Don't think I could do it though, I'm always worrying about something.

Woot

School is done with for the quarter!

Word of advice never take a class about plant physics. That final was brutal. Like seriously. I'm glad we all kept the tears in.

Going to the zoo this weekend, yay. Spring break will probably consist of working, and doing stuff to the house, painting, hopefully my shower will be done (fingers crossed!).

Lot's of stuff to do in so little time.

Maybe during the spring quarter I'll be able to fly out and visit my brother on the east coast. Hit up Jamestown or D.C. or something like we had talked about before.

Why?

Why is that when it reaches the end of the quarter, my body likes to have no immune system? I've been sick off and on for a few weeks and last night it came back and I'm feeling it today. Really annoying.

I've been trying to find more soil papers that aren't crap but it seems like they all are. We didn't do a north-south slope, so that doesn't apply. We are in coastal sage scrub which sometime goes with the paper, but we didn't compare rainy season to dry so it's like oy what the hell can I use from the paper. I think I could slip in UCLA basketball is awesome and he'd be happy.

I'm also trying to study for my practical, I think I know Coleoptera, most of the Lepidoptera, some of the Hymenoptera and one of the Diptera at this point. Going to open lab (again) tomorrow to try to look at the stuff one last time before the practical on Tuesday afternoon.

Why is all this crap due at the same time? It's really annoying. Evil conspiracy by professors to make their students run ragged right before finals.

My BOT 499 gave me a nickname, Smirky...does it apply to me at all?

P.S. watching a show on BBC America, Should I Smoke Dope?

Whoops

I kind of stopped posting. Well stuff happens.

My living room is all painted! The baseboards are up, the doorway molding is up. Just need some flooring and crown molding. And then put some stuff up on the walls, and then I can do Wii Bowling Night! Yay.

It will happen...eventually. Hopefully sooner rather than later. We'll see though. I don't want to do it until the house is mostly done.

Ok got to be productive and actually do school work.

Three day weekend

Yay for holidays. No school on Monday. Well I still have school work to do, but at least I don't have to actually go to campus. Or work!

My living room ceiling is done! Walls will be painted tomorrow, and then hopefully the floor will be going done shortly thereafter. Can't wait for the house to be done. My parents are coming over tomorrow. My Mom will be doing the painting while my Dad and I go out shopping for tile for my bathroom. Hopefully I can find some that I like. Then I'll have a shower again.

Now I have a huge headache that I wish would go away. But Friday Night Lights new season is on now, yay! It's only been forever since it's been on.

Favorite Days

Anyone else remember the days in elementary school when they would bring school buses onto the field so you could practice jumping out of the different emergency exits?

Best day ever.

I was talking about it with some people and only one of the two got to do it to. That was seriously the highlight of the school year. Well besides actual field trips, because riding the bus was fun as long as you didn't do it every day.

Update

Well as of yesterday, Gus went to mouse heaven. We would have all preferred that we could have set him free but he refused to go in the live traps. He had a nice home for over a year and it was time for him to go.

School started on Monday, and I've already had two labs canceled and a lecture for next week canceled. What can you do? I do miss being in school when I'm on break but it's nice to not have to worry about deadlines. Taking two classes this quarter, one may be a bigger pain in the butt then the other but I'll try my hardest in both.

Learned a new trade today: soldering. Not quite good at it, but it got the job done. So all is well.

Have to work the next two days (along with school in the morning tomorrow). Then the weekend, yay! Maybe I'll do something fun, but I imagine probably not. Maybe I'll talk Joe into going to a movie we both want to see before noon so we can go for six dollars.

We'll see. Well I need to finish reading article so I can finish up my write up. Don't want to wait until the last minute to get it done.

New Year

Well my bff is now officially married. There were no tears during the wedding, there was laughter though. Went pretty smoothly, besides me ripping off part of a toenail when I put my shoes on. And my bff's mom taking a stumble down some stairs and bruising her side.

It's just weird to think that she has a husband. Didn't seem like it really hit her until we were getting ready that day. And when she said the word husband it looked like she wanted to vomit.

The night before it was the two bridesmaids and the bride at a hotel having a mini last single night together party. Just a few drinks each, and some late night Thai delivery. Got maybe four hours of sleep then had to take a shower using the broken handle (which is super fun by the way). Went down for some breakfast, switched rooms. Waited for the hair person to come, make up person. Then the photographer came and he took pics of the bride first then the three of us together. Getting mad at us for not getting into it. So I started doing some Zoolander stuff which he liked. Then we had to grab our stuff and head out to the house so we could meet up with the guys and take pictures (didn't happen because they were late, so we took them after the ceremony). My escort didn't throw me in the pool like he kept hinting at.

My parents and I stayed until just after 12am (weird hearing auld lang syne in spanish). Well everything was in spanish that night. I understood parts of it. It was just a long few days, and I was cold and ready to get home and sleep in my bed. Since then I've either been lounging around or at Joe's house watching football.

Don't want to start school on Monday.