Racoons, Dreams and Lucy (aka nothing all that exciting)

Don’t get used to this many posts in a row! I am still trying to catch up from deserting this for months! (and my week has been busy and I want to crash so the more I can get done pre-weekend the happier I’ll be) This is me being proactive instead of being a procrastinator. Weird isn’t it?

I love where I live. It’s really conveniently located to all sorts of restaurants, shopping, downtown is a straight shot, and the airport is 12 minutes away (yes I timed it) BUT it feels like its in the country. There is a neighbor right by the yard with the pool (and Im not sure if you guys remember their dogs that yap constantly. I haven’t silenced them yet….) but other than that I cant see neighbors. I love it… in the daylight. At night I am much more leery. Once I came home to a raccoon standing in between me and the front porch. Thankfully it didn’t like me and SCALED THE FENCE to get out. SCALED. Argh. This morning was almost worst. If I see one of the bear sized raccoons I just kinda watch it and go about my business. This morning though I didn’t see anything moving. I just heard it. I just heard that creepy rustling of leaves in the side yard and the scurry of paws on the porch behind me. You all are most likely rolling your eyes and saying it was just the breeze. NO! There is a difference between leaves being gently rustled by the wind and BEING TRAMPLED BY PAWS. Maybe now I see the gun appeal…. ;)

The war Pool vs. Anna has officially begun. There are a large tree worth of leaves in that pool. I go skim them out each night (while attempting to ignore the yappy dogs). Im losing the battle right now. I am so OCD when it comes to pool. I carefully skim each and every leaf off the surface of the pool (the bottom is atrocious…). I then put the skimmer away, turn around see three BRAND NEW leaves happily floating along. ARGH. It happens everytime. Its so frustrating but then again Im outside in a tee shirt and sweats, cleaning out a pool… not shoveling 5 feet of snow and having the plow drive by right after. So… cant really complain!

I have started the Day One journal post thing. Im on the fence about it so we shall see how long it lasts. The sad part is that it took me 2 days to figure out how to publish a post. I need Jessi in my life more! She knows all of that cool stuff! I am going to do it for a bit just because it took me so long to figure out.

I want to do this so badly. I want to hurl myself down a track of pure ice, face first. Even if I don’t make the team (I mean come on… probably wont) I want the chance to try it. I keep saying that I am going to go take the test… maybe I should work at it and just do it. You only live once right? The only thing I have going for me is that I am (or used to be) fast so the sprints wouldn’t be that bad. Right?

http://www.teamusa.org/USA-Bobsled-Skeleton-Federation/Recruitment/Combine-Test-Dates

Jury duty….. Not sure how to sum that up. I learned a lot and it was really interesting. (and nice to get out of work for a week!) It was a murder so I felt like I was in a Law and Order episode complete with a medical examiner (who I saw in Target the next day), CSI people, detectives, police, and a weapon. It stills needs a post of its own.. so perhaps next time.

Lucy is going to the doctor today. She has TWO recalls out for her since… forever ago. I think the first one was right when I got down here. Oops. I have finally found doctors for me here as well. I have been a slacker on that front. Next is finding a dentist and then I think I will be all settled here. Oh dear… does that make me a Texan?

Sorry that this was boring. Falling asleep in my cube isn’t really helping. I hope you all have a great weekend. I don’t have any major plans which is actually nice. I need those kind of weekends sometime. I do have a date… with Laurie! (on the phone) I am so excited!!!

P.S My photo is from my first ever NBA game (the Spurs). I had NO idea who/what the Spurs were before coming down here. Now I can name... two players and that is only because my favorite co-worker has two cute boys Duncan and Parker. Anyways... it was fun. I like the atmosphere. I still dont love basketball but going to a game a fun! It is hard to find a picture for my posts when Im not living in Britain/Rome!

212 Days in a Very Small and Brief NutShell

July 29th…. That is the last time I posted my blog. 212 days!?!?! Where has the time gone?  So much has happened in the last 212 days. I don’t even know where to start! I am sure that I will leave stuff out but I will hopefully remember to over everything in the posts to come. The daily posts just weren’t working so I am aiming to have a weekly post to keep everyone updated!

A brief list of things that have occurred since the last time I wrote…. I ran a 10k (and hated it after mile 4. I really hate running), I went home in Sept, Christmas happened, Aunt Thora died, took a trip to NYC, got a kitten, set off fireworks, assisted in putting someone in jail for 40 years and gained a nephew!

See that ridiculously cute baby??!! (please note that I did use this picture with permission) That is my new nephew Dominic! He was born on Feb. 6th and I couldn’t be more excited! Im biased but that is one.cute.baby. Good work Adam and Katie! I cannot wait to meet him on March 26th and begin the spoiling! He is going to be showered in clothes(at least up until they stop being cute. Then is all Katie), Legos, Star Wars toys, books, Hotwheel cars, playdough (so he can eat it) and anything and everything that makes tons of noise! J Basically I am going to make him a big of a nerd as I am! He has the spot of honor as the official picture of the post since he is the most important thing that has happened in the last 212 days! (and that is saying something!)

The other very important thing that has happened is the arrival of my new best friend… 4 paws and a lot of fur. It took me quite a bit of arduous pondering but I finally named my kitten Watson. Most of you already know of him and have been bombarded  by pictures of the cutie on Facebook and Instagram. He keeps me company in this big house and I can now attribute every weird noise to Watson. A giant thud? Watson. A weird scraping noise? Watson. Walking noises in the night? Watson. (he stomps like a Clydesdale.) The unnerving part is when I attribute a noise to him and then I realize he is laying next to me on the couch! It works out well though. I love how curious he is. Every piece of food I get out get sniffed and tested. Its probably bad but I let him try everything that isn’t listed as dangerous to cats. He loves ice cream, spinach, lettuce, anything meat (he doenst get that), carrots, french fries, chicken nuggets, cheerios, tuna, whipped cream and cheese. (he doenst get to eat all of these things. He just tries incredibly hard to swipe them). He hates hot sauce, fizzy water, cucumbers, coffee, bread and ranch dressing. See how short that list is compared to the likes? He is a good buddy… entertaining for sure!

(this is Watson wanting to try bubbly water... he hated it)

I had my first jury duty experience. I had been called before but that was in Mayville and all I did was read all day and then went home… so that doesn’t count. Basically this experience needs a post of its own so look for it later!

Life has been busy… but in a good way. I am not in love with my job (that isn’t a secret though!) I am getting used to my cube farm (is that good or bad?) but it is either so quiet that I have to out headphones on so I don’t go crazy OR it is so loud and annoying that I have to put headphones on. Thank goodness for music! After work I walk with the aunt/workout, watch the Gilmore Girls on Netflix and read. I have decided that I am 25 (ok I didn’t decide that… I know that I am) and I shouldn’t be feeding myself like a college kid. I am trying to get better and cook more instead of throwing pasta on the stove or chicken nuggets in the oven!

I still stand by my previous comments that Texas and the majority of its inhabitants are crazy. All of the stereotypes are true. (obviously they do not apply to everyone) Guns…. I just don’t get. I understand hunting stuff. Go shoot a deer and eat it. Im ok with that and having guns for a legit reason. Having crazy guns because you may need to bunker down in your home for some reason … I don’t understand. I’m sorry but in that hypothetical and unrealistic situation I don’t think a 9mm or 40mm with your 100 rounds of ammo is really going to help you all that much.

I cant believe that I am going to say this. Please don’t send me hate mail after this statement… I kinda, slightly, a tiny bit miss the snow. I know! Crazy! But I miss the cute outerwear. Scarves, mittens, boots, and coats. I LOVE coats. Peacoats, puffy, spring jackets and quilted ones. I don’t even have a coat down here. I left them all at home at Christmas. My “coats” are now zipup sweatshirts. How sad is that? I miss the look of snow. (definitely not the scrapping ice/snow off of my car at 6am) I don’t even drink hot cocoa anymore. Its very sad. The weather here is boring.. it is cool, warm or HOT. It rarely rains. It is funny though how my “cool” is everyone’s “freezing”. One time there was an office panic because there was a CHANCE it would be around freezing and then there was a 40% CHANCE it would rain. I know that there aren’t salt trucks but there was a slim chance of both of those happening and people were stopping at the stores in case of the bad weather. It is entertaining J

Just because I haven’t written in forever doesn’t mean my life is normal. The cows still catch me doing really awkward things. The cow below witnessed my post-workout dance party. After runs I usually take a lap around the one driveway on the ranch. It is nature-y and I BLAST my music. Its pretty awkward because I am convulsing in the middle of a field. I tend to hit cacti and scare wildlife. (The deer are my friends though. Although I told my 11 year old cousin that and she said “Your friends run away from you? That’s not good”… well played. Anyways it’s a great way to finish a run and I was dancing/convulsing in a seemingly empty space and I turn around and see this cow… Just standing there. It was eating and seemed to have stopped in mid bite. Not kidding. Just stopped.. forgetting the food and just giving me a blank stare. These cow encounters happen all the time. Pretty sure they think I am absolutely crazy and with the data they have they are completely right!

Five years ago on April. 20^th 2010 I flew home from my study abroad in Rome. It was the second most depressing flight of my life. (it was the most depressing up to that point. The worst was my flight home from London. Pretty sure I teared up walking down that walkway to the plane) Well I am SO SO excited that on 4/18 mom, dad and I are going to ROME!!! I couldn’t be more pumped. My mouth is already watering with anticipation of the cheese, pasta, pizza, blood oranges, tomatoes, chocolate, gelato and yes… WINE that I am going to eat/drink. I already have a list of stops/stores/and things that I have to re-do. Dad has been to Rome (but missed a lot of stuff) but this is Mom’s first time so it will fun! I may not get on the plane to come back!

Ok this hasn’t even scratched the surface of the last 212 days! I am going to try this thing called “One Day”.. it is an online journal so you all can stalk me on that. I think Ill post to facebook so keep your eyes out! And Ill try to update my blog on the weekends. Probably Sunday evenings! So no nasty grams until after Sunday if I missed a post! I miss you all! And I know that I need to be WAY better at keeping in touch so I am really sorry! That is on my “goals” list as well as feeding myself like an adult!