Sunday Post

Head on over to Seven Dames a Week where I out myself as a major Taylor Swift fan and also tell you where you can get her album for $3.99. 

Sleepy

(Photo Source...and yes, I wish this was my actual bed.)

Oprah recently did this episode on what is normal versus not normal. She would ask a question, poll the audience, and then show what the results were. So I am going to poll the audience: I am tired. All the time. Is that normal?

My day is pretty normal. I wake up around 6:00, I go to work, before I know it its 6:00, I get home at 6:45, take the dogs on a walk, eat some dinner, watch some TV, and fall asleep (if I am lucky) before ten. Only to wake up at 6 and do it all again the next day.

I am not complaining, I would much rather be doing this then what I was doing last year (nothing). The only thing is, I am surprised at how tired I am. Like, beyond tired. As in, it is a challenge not to come home and not go directly to bed. As in, typing this right now my eyelids are drooping (its 8:10).

I guess I am frustrated because I feel like I don't have any kind of a life outside of work. I can't bring myself to exercise after work- I am just too tired! I try to read and I fall asleep. Forget actually doing something social, I can't function. I am way too tired.

Is this feeling normal? I feel like most people are able to have a social life in the evenings. Go to the gym, hang out with friends, stay up late. Not me! If are you one of those people, what do you attribute to your amazing stamina?

October Weekend...

My house was filled with the smell of this yummy pumpkin spice candle...

I made Pioneer Woman's Grilled Chicken with Lemon Basil Pasta (not my favorite PW recipe, but my 24th recipe tried this year which means I accomplished New Years Resolution #5!) 

Sunday Post

I am particularly proud of my Sunday Post this week over at Seven Dames a Week as it has taken a year in the making.  If you are looking a way to pinch pennies, head on over and read my post "Unintentional Cheapskate" and also share how you save money in your life.

Baby Dragon

(*For all of you who follow me on twitter, this post was written last night*) 

Currently I have barricaded myself into my room and am crying my eyes out. Let me start from the beginning.

This weekend was supposed to be a fun SSB weekend. Dan was out of town, and I had big plans to catch up on chick flicks, read trashy novels, and bake cookies. Instead, I worked most of the weekend, Kadira went on a tirade to destroy everything we own, and Dan missed his flight home.  Not exactly the weekend I envisioned. 

Which leads me to why I have barricaded myself in my room.

At around 6:30 tonight I went over to the kitchen cabinet and absolutely flipped shit when I saw this looking back at me:

(Photo Source)

Okay fine, I am exaggerating a bit.  But seriously it really does look like this:

ACTUAL SIZE!!!!

Honestly, I think it might be a baby dragon.  I am not kidding. It is bigger then a lizard so my only conclusion is that it must be related to a flying amphibian, ergo dragon.

In the beginning, I attempted to be brave and kill it myself.  I put a shoe on the end of a long pole, but as I got closer the thing started flying around so I screamed bloody murder and ran out of the room while the dogs looked at me with mild amusement.

I am not totally sure what a panic attack feels like, but there is a good chance that I just had one.  I keep saying "its just a bug, its just a bug" but it certainly doesn't SEEM like just a bug as it flies around the room with its jet like wing span, gnashing its teeth, looking for blood - presumably MY BLOOD. 

So, you know, now I am in the bedroom.  I forced Kadira to stay outside in hopes that she will kill it but she's been kind of worthless this weekend so I do not have high hopes (although now would certainly be the time for her to redeem herself and return to my good graces.)  During my panic attack I called Dan, which did a whole lot of good as he is on the other side of the country.  However, his Mom did come up with a stellar plan to turn off all the lights in the house, open the garage door, and turn on the light in the garage in hopes that it will fly into the garage.  

Either way, in a couple hours I am going to CONVINCE myself that it flew out so that I can exit this bedroom.  But until then I am going to sit in here with my bottle of wine (Thank God for my quick thinking! I saved the wine!) and research bug phobia therapists because seriously...this is getting out of control.

However, if my half eaten body is found tomorrow in my house you will know it was the result of this damn mini dragon flying around my kitchen. 

Not My Thing! Not My Thing!

One of my favorite things about our new house is that it has very minimal outdoor upkeep.  In fact, the only thing it has is a small little flower bed in the backyard which was already perfectly planted and maintained upon our arrival. 

That is until Kadira dug it up.

So my German Shepherd is now for sale.*  Any takers?

Anyways, in an effort to NOT LET THE DOG WIN we decided to create a border around the flower bed.  By "we" I mean Dan suggested it after I started crying and muttering things under my breath like "this dog was the worst decision ever" and "everything we own gets destroyed" and "I wonder if Michael Vick is looking for a new pet."

So we spent like $50 on stupid bricks.

I tried to be helpful until I found THIS:

Then I ran away screaming "gardening is not my thing! Not my thing!" So I went inside and watched Teen Mom.

In the end, Dan gets some major props. It looks great.

Of course, if Dan would just let me sell Kadira* WE WOULDN'T HAVE TO DO THIS and I would be $50 richer!!!

*I would never sell Kadira.  Although she certainly tests my resolve.

Deep In the Heart of Texas...

Today, Dan and I went to the Texas State Fair. As in, I dragged Dan to the Texas State Fair. As in, Dan took a 2 hour shower in hopes that I would give up waiting on the couch for him to get out so that we could go to the Texas State Fair.

Anyways, we went to the Texas State Fair. 

 

(Is it just me? Or does Big Tex have boobs?) 

The fair brought back a lot of great memories from last year at the fair where I waited 11 hours hours to see Oprah (read about it HERE).  Come to think of it, that experience is probably a big reason why Dan was so reluctant to head back this year, as I think that he was mentally scarred from getting so much face time on the Oprah Show last year.

This year was different though because last year we were so tired after Oprah we didn't do anything. This year we got the true fair experience. What does that mean? Well let me tell you. 

 

It means lines.  Lines to get into the parking lot. Lines to get on the shuttle bus to get taken to the fair.  Lines to get tickets into the fair.  Lines to get food tickets. Lines to get the food. LINES LINES LINES LINES!!!!

Speaking of food, the fried frito pie won this year for best fried food and it was beyond disappointing.  BEYOND.  In fairness, if I known that frito pie included chili I would have been skeptical from the beginning.  Want to know what was delicious?  Fried cheesecake (shown above).  Sadly, the line for fried beer was way too long.  We'll have to try that one next year (assuming I can get Dan to go back after experience Oprah AND all those lines.) 

My favorite part of the fair is all the animals.  Which is why I got so excited to go into the (cough, kid's) petting zoo. Plus, I heard it had a giraffe and I LOVE GIRAFFES! The place was packed and I was forced to knock over about ten five-year-olds to be in prime giraffe feeding position.  Initially, I was a bit distraught because the giraffe was ignoring everybody and eating his fence on the other side of his pen.  So I decided to start speaking telepathically to the giraffe (stop judging) and the next thing I knew the GIRAFFE WALKED RIGHT OVER TO ME AND STARTED EATING OUT OF MY CUP!

PROOF OF MY TELEPATHIC GIRAFFE CAPABILITIES!!!!!!

I was beyond thrilled.  All the five-year-olds were enraged with jealously.  They huddled around me to try and get the giraffe's attention but the giraffe only wanted to eat from me!  Then it happened.

The giraffe started eating my purse!  My very expensive purse that I had fears about bringing to the fair anyways.  All the kids started yelling "its eating your purse!" and laughing and being evil.  I kept trying to move the giraffe's head but that motherf@#$@ was strong and just kept eating.  I finally broke free from the mob screaming "its somebody else's turn! Somebody elses turn!"

I felt like it was a good lesson in sharing. For the kids, of course.  For me it was a lesson in why I don't bring designer purses to the fair (my purse survived unscathed. BARELY. Although, It now smells a bit like giraffe saliva).

Sunday Post

Head on over to Seven Dames a Week to read about "Things of a Materialistic Nature", and consequently, my favorite wallet.

Consciousness: that annoying time between naps. ~Author Unknown

Book 18: Game Change by John Heilmann and Mark Halperin

Game Change by John Heilmann and Mark Halperin is an inside look into the 2008 election.  I remember when this book came out, and it causing quite a stir.  I always wanted to read it but somehow, forgot.  That was until we were at Half Price Books with one of our friends recently and he picked it up.  This inspired me to download it on audible and I am so glad that I did. 

It was my "moving" book.  You know, the thing you listen to while you are packing and hauling and unpacking and placing.  I was entranced the entire time.  It was just so damn interesting.  They got such insider knowledge! If you were into the 2008 campaign it a must read.  I wouldn't say that the book favors really one candidate more then the other, but I did feel like there was an interesting handling of Hillary Clinton's campaign.  

Has anybody else out there read this book? I would love to hear your thoughts!

Everything Happens for a Reason

"Everything happens for a reason."

It is a phrase you affirm to people when things are really bad, right? When you can't tell them WHEN or HOW things are going to get better, just that it WILL get better, because "everything happens for a reason."

This was the phrase I was telling myself over and over again as I tried to hold back tears on the train ride back home. That is the problem with public transportation, after those long days where everything goes wrong, you can't just get in your car and let out one hell of a good cry. Instead, you have to sit in a cramped space surrounded by a ton of people while trying not to think about what is making you so upset.

It was a rough week. Bad news news kept coming, and it showed no signs of stopping. First, our lease extension feel through (and OH THAT'S A FUN STORY called "how not to negotiate contracts with two lawyers.") Then we had 12 days to find a house. We spent all of one Saturday searching for a new house that was in our price range and not in the ghetto. Out of about fifteen houses we found one. I wasn't in love, but I liked it enough, so we put in a rental application on Monday.

Monday afternoon we got really bad news. News that wont be shared on the internet, but trust me, it was bad.

Tuesday I got a message from a relater saying that another family had applied for the house Sunday night, but if they didn't put down a deposit the house was ours.

Wednesday we lost the house.

Thursday plan B and C feel through.

Friday we asked our landlords if we could stay in our house for another month. Oh how bad did that hurt my pride, and believe me, I have a lot of pride.

So there we were. Practically homeless reeling from really bad news and losing the house. Then "...for a reason" kicked in.

The leasing company put our house on the market and we were getting 5-10 showings a day. Do you know how invasive that is? Especially when you have two dogs?

So we thought we might have to move into an apartment. It wasn't a great option with a 75 pound german shepherd but at least we knew we could a nice place near the City.

Randomly, we decided to go view this house we had our eye on, but we had passed over because because it was not going to be available for awhile. I didn't have much hope in the house. It was cheaper then a lot of houses we were viewing, so despite the fact that the pictures looked amazing, there had to be a catch.

From the second we walked through the door we knew it was all over. To say this is our dream house would be an understatement. It has all the amenities we could ever want and is close to downtown. I don't know how else to describe it then to say that it is a "diamond in the rough."

From the day we moved in life has just been so much better. It is ridiculous how much stress and time our old house consumed. Slowly, but surely, good news came and we made it through the storm. just like everybody kept telling me we would. And you know what? It all happened for a reason. Even the really bad news that shall-not-be-mentioned.

I have been MIA trying to get the house together (i.e. getting internet) and working long hours (but I am not complaining! So thankful to have a job I enjoy!). However, I am back and hopefully will start blogging more regularly. But first I have to tackle the 1000+ posts currently sitting in my google reader. Yikes!