Emails

I know I've been bad about returning emails lately and I apologize.  I was planning on working on them this weekend, but NETboy had other plans.  :-)  I will work on them this week, I promise!

OMG, it's not the same dog, is it???

Wondermutt was groomed on Saturday.  He walked in and I couldn't believe that this was the same dog.   He looks 20lbs lighter and he's all one color now!!  He can see, because his hair isn't hanging in his eyes.  You can see his tumors more, now, and he has a giant skin tag on his right front paw, but he looks soooo much better.  He is going to have to have surgery on his ear, though.  It's completely full and needs to be lanced.  Poor little guy. 

Happy 5 Month Anniversary!!!

NETboy and I celebrated our 5 month anniversary today.  He was absolutely wonderful the entire weekend.  Friday night, he went grocery shopping, which he knows I loathe.  Then he brought everything home, put it away and asked me to go to a movie with him.  We went to a late showing of Vacancy.  We both love scary movies, and I love Luke Wilson, so it was a good fit.  :-)

Personally, I liked it.  I'm not saying it was the best horror movie I've ever seen, but the protagonists were more intelligent that your regular giant-boobs-sex-drinking teenagers/college students.  NETboy didn't like it at all.  It's not a gory movie at all, and he was looking for that.  Plus, as someone who has been in war, he isn't impressed with movie theatrics when it comes to killings. He can't suspend the reality of what he has experienced and make it jive with what happens on the screen.

Saturday, he took the dog to be groomed while I slept in.  He came and home we both did some paperwork.  Saturday night, he made me a delicious dinner and had purchased Boston Cream pie with strawberries on top.  We watched a movie and had some cuddle time. 

This morning, he let me sleep in and then made me a seafood omelet and toast.  Tonight he made me a steak dinner and gave me a funny anniversary card.  :-)  It's been a wonderful weekend.

Couples Therapy

BTW, NETboy and I start couples therapy the in a couple of weeks. And I found a BP support group that I'm going to start attending.

Yes, dammit, I love the footstool, er, dog

Yes, I love the stupid dog. And yes, he is old and feeble, and so I have become attached to something that will die sooner rather than later.

He does have a lovable personality. He's very protective of me, which cracks me up, considering his size. He follows me everywhere - yes, I have actually gone to the bathroom alone, you know.

Wondercat has asserted her authority over Wondermutt. He's terrified of her. Although I keep trying to tell her that she doesn't have to have to hiss at him EVERY time she sees him, she isn't convinced. But, at least they can be in the same room now.

That's not a dog, that's a footstool

NETboy had to go mow the ex's lawn today, When he and the ex were together, they worked with a dog rescue group for a specific breed. If you know me, you know that I believe that little dogs are completely useless. I want a dog that a 3 year old could ride like a pony. However, I know that NETboy really misses the dogs and while he was living in his last place, he couldn't have one. So, I had though about getting him one of these dogs for his birthday next month. However, just to adopt one from the rescue costs $300.

So, he started working on the ex, trying to get her to let him take one of the six dogs he left behind. Of course, she wouldn't let him have his favorite one. But she finally relented and let him bring one home today. Wondermutt will be his name on here.

NETboy walked in this afternoon with Wondermutt and I about fell off of the couch, laughing. This breed is supposed to be 15 lbs, tops. This dog is 35 pounds. It's like it swallowed a couple of other dogs. He's square with a tail and a head. He's literally a footstool with a tail and a head. Not saying he's not lovable, although he's getting shaved sooooon. Stinky dog, and because he was born with a genetic defect, he has curly hair instead of straight, and he also has benign lumps that stick out all over the place. Very nice and gentle dog though. Not a barker at all.

The cat hasn't come out from under the bed yet.

New Show Review: Drive

I watched a great new show tonight, Fox's Drive.  It caught my attention because it starts Nathan Fillion, whom I've loved since FireflyI, although he originally started in soaps.  He is HAWT!!!  And it's from Buffy/Angel writer Tim Minear.  Love him!!! 

Give it a shot.  It has a lot of characters, so far, kind of like Heroes, but it will make sense after awhile. 

If He Was Pinocchio, His Nose Would Reach To The Sun

So, The Sergeant has taken to IM'ing me every couple of days to see how I'm doing.  Well, at least, that's what he says.  He told me that he is now undergoing more treatment for his cancer (of which I'm still unconvinced he has).  He told me that he had moved back to Massachusetts and was living in a hotel there. 

This strikes me as strange, mostly because he's talking, but also because how could he afford to do so?  When I posed that question to him, he stated that he was living on unemployment.  Hmmmm.  That seems odd as well, since it's difficult, though not impossible, to get unemployment from one state while you're living in another. 

Beyond all of that, I found something that belonged to him and asked him if he wanted it back.  He said yes and could I please mail it to him in Massachusetts?  Then, about a half hour later he came back online and said, well, I'm actually going to be at the Dayton, OH Veteran's hospital.  I said, really, they would transfer you from MA to OH???  He said, yes, I'm driving down there tomorrow.  Riiiight.

What a dumbass.  He's not getting the item back.  NETboy has taken a shine to the item and The Sergeant didn't care enough about it to take it when he moved out last October. 

I love Rachael Ray!!

And not just because she will have The Furniture Loft's product on it at some point (we're still waiting on an airdate). But because of a story she aired this week.

From the Rachael Ray Show website:

Seeing how the media has glamorized stick-thin models led British journalist Dawn Porter to make a documentary called Mischief: Super Slim Me. Inspired by the film Super-Size Me, Dawn's goal was to go from a size eight down to a size 0 in eight weeks. "What really irritates me," Dawn says, "is how very skinny girls are touted as culturally ideal and perfect. Young women are associating success with being skinny." As a journalist, Dawn's objective was to get inside the psyche of how women feel living inside the body of a size zero. "I want to show that away from the moments on the catwalk or dressed up looking glamorous for the camera, these women are living quite a lonely and miserable existence surviving off of next to nothing."

Dawn quickly learned that the weight loss didn't just affect her body, it affected her mental state as well. "I've always been quite a happy person. I had never suffered from depression before this experiment. I just wasn't able to control my moods and my happiness, which frightened me. I didn't know where it came from. I lost my social life. Basically I just lost the will to live for eight weeks."

Dawn subsisted on 500 calories a day (only a quarter of the recommended daily amount for women). "It was basically no food and lots of exercise." Dawn made it down to a size four before ending the project on her doctor's advice. "My skin was sinking into my head. I had big, dark circles under my eyes. My hair was really limp and dull. I was just gaunt. I also had chronic insomnia and survived on only three hours of sleep a night. I had no white blood cells, no antioxidants and my magnesium levels were low. I was on the brink of collapse."

What she came to learn from the experience and from her numerous interviews with models, media personalities and other size zero women is how common the desire to be a "non-size" has become outside of Hollywood and the fashion world. "When I had to stop the project, the whole issue was encapsulated for me: I lost all this weight, but failed at my final goal, and when other women attempt this, they feel like failures if they don't succeed. In reality, a size zero defies nature. Because of this obsession with the way we look, we live in a world of extremes, either it's one or the other. And really we need to look at ourselves and see where our body sits naturally and work on maintaining that instead of constantly striving to defy it."

Amen to Rachael Ray and this journalist!!! Rachael Ray is an excellent example herself, as it's clear that she loves food and has a curvaceous figure. She is not afraid of having some booty and lives life according to her own particular body-type, not trying to live it to someone else's impossible standard.

 

 

Random thoughts about random subjects....

...if you're in line at the register and they open a new register and say, I can help the next person in line...that means the person who has been waiting the longest. Don't be an asshole.

...there is an awesome website, www.rememberthemilk.com, where you can sign up for free and send yourself tasks and reminders. You can also share your tasks with other member.

...when I was a little girl, I used to wonder what the soap opera people did on the weekends. Really. I mean, did they do the same things we did?

...I love Stephen Colbert and I would so do him.

...I love Pride and Prejudice. I especially love the 6 hour BBC version with Colin Firth. But I gave the 2.5 hour version a try the other night, the one with Keira Knightley. Don't get me wrong, it was well done. But somehow, it felt LONGER than the 6 hour version.

...when I was 12 or 13, I forgot that my mother's car was parked in the driveway. I rode my bicycle out of the garage and straight into it (I was looking down at the gears). The bike ended up on the hood of the car; I ended up on the very top of the car. Miraculously, the only thing truly hurt was my pride.

...I loved the same boy from 4th grade through senior high. He loved me as well, but he wouldn't date me because of my weight. He married a woman who looks almost exactly like me, overweight and all.

*&^%$#@ Van

Yesterday I was out running errands, as I was finally feeling human again. Plus, we were out of groceries. I found out that behind Target is a mall! Woot woot. Not the best mall I've ever seen, but still a mall. There was also a Chipotle nearby and a Walmart for NETboy (he's so great in other ways, I suppose I can afford him a few flaws, such as shopping at Walmart - which is about the way they treat their employees and their other practices more than anything.)

I had driven around, looking for a bank, as I needed to cash the check my boss had sent to me. Then I needed to find my bank, in order to make a deposit. Well, by the time I did that, NETboy had texted me that he was on the way home, so I ran out of time to go grocery shopping. I was on my way home and then it happened: the van made a high-pitched whining noise and then something snapped and fell out of the bottom. It was still running, so I continued to drive and hope for the best.

Yes, I know, I suppose I should have stopped and looked for what had fallen off, but I was too afraid to pull over and look, as I didn't want to get stranded. I have AAA, but I was still in an unfamiliar place. So, I kept driving. I noticed that the battery light was on and then I noticed that steering was an issue.

I called NETboy; as an engineer, he can make anything work and knows a lot about cars in general. At first he thought it was the alternator. This freaked me out, as we're pretty low on money right now. The movers and the deposit on the apartment was a lot of outflow in a short time. He told me to try and make it home, but that the battery would not last much longer.

So, I had to make several turns using my own strength, as the power steering was gone. I made it home and he took a look under the hood. Turns out it was the serpentine belt, which isn't that expensive....however, it took a gear with it and we're not sure how much that will cost.

On the plus side, I don't have to drive to my job, so that isn't an issue. But it sucks to be stuck without a car. Monday, I'll have it towed and get the news on what this is going to cost. Blech!!!

On a happier note, NETboy finished moving in today. I just can't even explain how content and peaceful I feel when I'm with him. I've never had that before. Poor darling, he had to go into work at 4 and is still there, 7 hours later. We still need to go grocery shopping. Not going to happen tonight.

If I could find a use for snot, I would be the richest woman in the world

Ugh, still sick. Worse today than I was yesterday. NETboy seems a little bit better. He brought me Chinese for dinner tonight and gave me TLC. He's so good to me. :-) He moved more of his stuff in. We watched the news together and he headed back to his place. Just a couple of more days and he won't be going back there.

Things that I love about the new apartment: The view, the balcony, the larger windows and more of them, the dishwasher, the washer and dryer, two full bathrooms and more room in general. Giant walk in closets in both bedrooms. Plus, even though we have someone above and below us, it's fairly quiet. The way the apartments are set up, besides our floor and ceiling, we only have one common wall with another apartment on our floor and that's the kitchen/master bathroom wall. So our living room and bedrooms don't have any common walls and that makes it nice.

Things that could be better: The appliances are older, as are the cabinets. The windows are single-pane. The a/c doesn't work. Also, the vents are in the ceiling, so I keep turning up the heat and it doesn't help, as it's not coming down. The kitchen only has 3 cabinets above, but there is a lot of storage otherwise.

For the first time in 17 years, I am learning a new city. I haven't ventured out much, as work and being sick have kept me home. I did go find Target, which is a mecca for me. :-) Steak N Shake and PetSmart are near Target, which are more of my favorite places. Tomorrow I need to go out again and get some more groceries, if I feel up to it.

Speaking of my trip to Target: I know, I am the last person who should judge someone else's looks. But really, there should be a law that if you're not that attractive, you shouldn't drive a convertible. I saw this guy in an expensive convertible at Target. Does anyone else remember that corpse that they used to take around on shows? Like That's Incredible!!! ? That's what he looked like. Mottled skin, about 150 years old, and a giant....comb-over. Yeah.

I actually did accomplish a little unpacking today. I haven't been able to do much because of work and then just feeling shaky and weak with being sick. But I started unpacking the kitchen. I love my Longaberger dishes, but they take up a lot of room. One cabinet is just plates. Oy!!

NETboy said that the Pittsburgh company called him back today to schedule a face to face interview. I told him to go for it, but he said that he's going to tell them it can't work. He doesn't want to uproot me again, which is sweet. I just don't want him to regret it.

Greetings from Cleveland

Hello my peeps. Sorry it's been so long since I've posted.

Let's see, what has been happening?

Well, work has been crazy-busy. We had a call from a woman who wants to furnish a hotel. I set it up and Jason met with her in our showroom in Chicago. She ordered $38k worth of furniture. Big yay!!! Then NETboy and I went to Chicago this past weekend to meet Jason and his wife. We had a great time, but it was a lot of running around.

This was a big test for NETboy and me, as this was our first trip together. We did very well. Loved the hotel in which we stayed. It was an Amerisuites that is being converted into Hyatt Place. 42" Plasma HDTV. King-sized plush bed. OMG!!! Loved it. Sunday morning NETboy let me sleep in and when he woke me up, he had already packed everything up and was ready to go.

The only bad thing about traveling with NETboy is that his diabetes forces us to pull over about once an hour for him to relieve himself. Yeah. Have I mentioned that I drive like a man? I only stop if I can't hold it for one more second. I'm good for at least 4 hours straight and sometimes more.

Oh, wait, there was one other thing, but I think we resolved it. That was when I was doing my part of the driving and he kept saying in a panicked voice, honey, honey. I crossed two lanes of traffic and stopped the car. I told him that my father had spoken to me like that when I drove and that I wasn't putting up with it from him. I got out of the car and told him he was driving all of the way home. Also, I reminded him that we have a trip to New Hampshire in the fall and that he will need to change his attitude if he wants me to help drive.

The best part is that we get over these little things so easily. We were upset for about two minutes and then we let it go. I love that about our relationship.

Monday morning, I was up bright and early, ready for the movers. I recommend them - Mr. Mover. They did a great job. It was even $300 less than I was originally quoted. I arrived at our new apartment around 1ish and I got to work. Not on unpacking, but on work stuff. NETboy came over after work with a load of his stuff. He isn't fully moving in until Saturday, as he just can't get the time off of work this week and he wants to do it his own way. We had a nice dinner together and then he headed home.

Today I ventured out to the nearest Target. It's a nice one, although set up completely different from any I'd been in before. However, both NETboy and I are sick. We both are having stomach issues, sinus issues, and are both running a temp. He wasn't going to come here at all tonight because he was feeling so badly. However, he surprised me by coming to try and give me TV.

Our cable wasn't able to be installed until Saturday, so yes, dear readers, I have been without TV since early yesterday morning. I'm okay, really I am. I watched some ABC stuff online. Wish CBS would do that with my soaps!!! NETboy has a device that allows you to watch TV on your computer as well as record it. However, it couldn't get a signal here.

It was so sweet of him to come over when he was feeling as badly as I was. And let me tell you, you know you're in love and/or at the beginning of a relationship when you still want to be intimate even though you're both running fevers. :-)

So, I'm still at my new place, enjoying it. My mom asked me if I was lonely and the truth is, no. I haven't even had time to unpack, let alone be lonely. Work is busy and I feel like crap on top of that, so no time to miss Columbus.

Speaking of which, we might be moving again in a month. NETboy had a phone interview with a company out of Pittsburgh today. It's a $35k per year pay raise. I can't ask him to pass that up, not when he worries so about money. I can do my job anywhere, so I told him that if they offered it to him, we would make it work. We would have to break our lease here.

I told him that we would pray on it. If it's meant to be, then that's where we'll go. My heart and my home are with him.