Doggie Style

Highlights

2006-10-30T13:32:00.000-05:00

So I'm slacking off on blogging as usual. I thought I better share some thoughts on California before I forget everything about the trip!

First things first, I have come back with a true passion for wine, something I thought I already had, but I guess hadn't truly developed. Out of the entire trip, wine country was definitely the highlight (which is saying a lot since Yosemite and San Francisco were also amazing). More than anything, I learned far more about wine and winemaking than I had imagined, and almost every winery we visited poured incredible wines. I have a renewed interest in continuing to educate myself about wine, different wine regions, how to differentiate tastes and aromas and anything else you can imagine. I should have a lot of practice since I came back with a case and a half of wine and have bought more since I got back (the ones we knew would be available back here, which is a very small percentage).

The one downside to all of this of course is that wine as a hobby is pretty expensive. I have been daydreaming about ways to move out to California and work in a winery tasting room, or as a sommelier at a restaurant. There is a sommelier course offered by an instructor Dave and I have taken classes from in the past. The class is over $400 and I never actually considered taking it, but now I am. The fall class has already started so I have some time to think more seriously about it (and start saving the money!).

Anyway, if anyone is ever headed out there and wants some recommendations on places to go, I'm happy to assist. One place I can tell you to avoid is Restaurant Gary Danko in San Francisco. By far the disappointment of the trip (perhaps aside from freezing temps, snow, and a rockslide on the road to our campsite in Yosemite), exceptional service, but food that isn't always memorable and outrageous wine by the glass prices. Overall not worth the money we spent, which is unfortunuate. Loved San Francisco though, tons of character, very neat place to just walk around. And Muir Woods (another highlight) is not far outside of the city.

I'm about to post a few photos in my photo blog (link on the right) so check it out when you have time. I hope to actually post a good number of the pics soon, but we know how good I am at that!

Anyway, sucks to be back here although I was of course happy to see my puppers, who managed to do quite well while I was gone. If anyone knows of any good wine pouring jobs, let me know!

California here I come!

2006-09-28T14:57:00.000-04:00

So everything is pretty much set, car is rented, airplane tickets purchased, hotels booked, restaurant and winery reservations made. I leave on Wednesday, working until noon, then dropping Neyla off and heading to the airport. Thanks to Dave we're flying Jetblue - bigger seats, direct TV, DIRECT FLIGHT, and a 3rd checked bag (read: case of wine on the way back). AND we're on budget - $800 for everything, except eating and buying wine of course, but even there we're doing well. A few of our hotels have kitchenettes or at least fridges and microwaves so we can save some money on meals.

I really can't wait. For those who want to live vicariously, or just be jealous (c'mon, I'm allowed to be a snot, I don't get to travel that often), here's our itinerary:

Wednesday - Flight out, pick up rental car, quick stop at grocery store and early to bed
Thursday/Friday - Hiking and seeing major sights in Yosemite National Park
Saturday - Big Crush Festival in Amador County - basically we're spending the day tasting huge zinfandels (pretty much our favorite style of wine) at the wineries, including barrel and vertical tastings
Sunday - Sonoma Harvest Festival (are you getting the gist that it's harvest time yet?) - tasting wines from various wineries in Sonoma County
Monday/Tuesday - Sightseeing in San Francisco, including one nice dinner out to either Gary Danko or Michael Mina's (anyone been to either, we're having trouble picking???)
Wednesday-Friday - 3 more days touring wine country (Russian River, Dry Creek, Glen Ellen in Sonoma, and Napa)

I'll regale you with stories of what I can remember when I get back, and pictures as well. I'm really so excited - some of the wineries have some really neat things to offer (beyond wine that is, who knew?!). One example to give you an idea - Mumm Napa, who is known for Champagne, has a gallery of Ansel Adams photography.

I really can't believe it's here. We were definitely scrambling at the end to finalize some plans and we did miss out on appointments at a few wineries on our list, but the good news is there are so many great ones to choose from that it doesn't really matter!

I'll try to blog again before I leave, but it will probably be about 2 weeks before you hear from me again. I know you'll all miss me very much, try not to shed any tears. :>)

Camping and the debut of my new photo blog

2006-09-21T11:17:00.000-04:00

So we made another trip to Shenandoah this past weekend. It was my first trip with both dogs since I adopted Zuri (he did come with us to Maine, but he wasn't my dog yet). We stayed in another PATC cabin, Rock Spring cabin this time. It was very similar to the last one I stayed in, but I didn't like this one quite as much. The major difference was that Rock Spring hut, which is a shelter for thru-hikers was right in my backyard, which was actually cool as I got to chat with a few. What wasn't cool was the group of boy scouts camping there when I got in Saturday night (it's not supposed to be used by anyone except thru-hikers, pretty disappointing that the boy scout leaders wouldn't be teaching them to be respectful of that).

So as you may be able to guess from that info, the trip didn't start off exactly as planned. In addition to that, I somehow managed to overpack to the point that my pack was just ridiculously heavy. I also had the cooler with the dogs' food. I basically had to stop every minute or so to rest or switch hands, cursing myself the entire way. Then, right as I approach the large group of people at the hut, I slip. In case you didn't know, slipping with a large pack on your back scares the shit out of your dogs, which causes them to take off while you are trying to regain your balance. The result was me being dragged partway down the hill, holding onto their leashes for dear life and trying not to fall either (which I managed somehow to do).

Finally I manage to get to my cabin, where the boy scouts have started a fire and are eating dinner at my picnic table - nice! They did quickly clear out and were nice enough to leave their fire for me. Good thing too, b/c I left my stove fuel in the car! Thankfully one thing that was weighing me down on the hike in was the single Sierra Nevada I had put in the cooler. At this point I am ready for it, so I crack that open and sip it while getting a pot of spring water on to boil so I can make dinner and have clean drinking water. While it took a while to get it boiling, it finally did. However, when I went to pour it into another container, I discovered that the glove at the cabin to use for the fire did not actually offer any sort of protection. As the handle of the pot burned my hand through it, I scrambled to put it back on the uneven grate. In the process I spilled half of my water, some of that onto my hand. While I did have burns that hurt pretty badly until the following morning, they were only first degree, no blistering, and thankfully I had added some burn pads to my first aid kit which offered some relief.

After I bandaged my fingers up, I did manage to enjoy my dinner and read for a while before going to bed. It was cold as hell, but I was at least prepared for that and after getting myself out of bed midway through the night to put my down booties on, I slept pretty well. Things did turn around the next morning. We got up and hiked to the car to get the fuel, then I boiled some water (safely, on my stove) to make oatmeal and hot chocolate. After relaxing all morning and reading, we headed out for a relatively easy 3 1/2 mile hike to the highest point in that part of the park, Hawksbill Mtn, where we enjoyed some nice views and chatted with some nice people. Then we hiked back and relaxed for the rest of the day until it started to get dark and we hiked back out.

While I'd like to end on a positive note, I have to say that the weight of my pack caused a recurrence of my ITB tendonitis like I haven't had in years. We hiked out at a crawl, with me near tears at points because of the excruciating pain in my knee (this was after taking anti-inflammatories since I knew what was coming when the pain started on our earlier hike). Thankfully the bath I took when I got home, followed by icing and heavy doses of Celebrex seem to have cleared it up.

So while it might not sound like it, it was a good trip. Every time I go I become more confident in my abilities, which is a really good feeling (even when I'm fucking up, hey at least I was learning). And I am proud to say that I didn't get nervous about bears even one time!

Anyway, that brings me to my second topic, my new photo blog. I decided to start posting photos from trips on a separate blog so visit Neyla the Wanderer to see some photos from this trip. I do still plan to post some from our last trip soon, and of course when I get back from California mid-October I'll post those as well. The link to the blog is on the right, or click here.

Zuri

2006-09-11T11:43:00.000-04:00

Zurich's new name is officially Zuri. Just thought I'd let you, you being the internet b/c no one reads my blog, know.

Inbox inventory

2006-09-07T17:49:00.000-04:00

HOORAY! For the first time in a long time, my inbox has less emails than will fill my screen. I used to keep it this way all of the time, but lately it has been out of control, quite similar to my life. Today I took some time and cleaned it out. Hopefully this is a sign of things to come in other areas as well. Ah sweet inbox.

Neyla has a brother

2006-08-31T10:20:00.000-04:00

Well, Neyla has several male littermates, but now she has a brother at home too. On Tuesday I spoke for a second dog, a male named Zurich (soon to have a new name though). I'll be signing the adoption contract tonight - new toy and treats from the doggie bakery are already at home waiting.

Hopefully I'm going to get some better pictures soon, and will post more then, but here are two pics from his GW page for now. He's the ideal second dog for us, Neyla gets along really well with him and while he's a total sissy, he's smart, food motivated, playful, and just a whole hell of a lot of fun. Hopefully everyone will meet him soon - come visit me in DC if you don't live nearby so you can!

A warm welcome back from the drag queens

2006-08-30T14:14:00.000-04:00

Back from Maine, it's hot as fuck here, and humid too. After crying that it was going to be too cold in Maine, I'm wishing for that weather down here. Actually, I'd like one more pool weekend this coming weekend and then that's good for me.

Anyway, Maine was relaxing as usual. Never long enough, especially given the amount of driving, but still worth it. Unfortunately, with the long, late night drive back and my night out last night, I am exhausted again.

Speaking of...last night was cheetah happy hour followed by drag queen bingo. MY GOD! How have I lived here for 7 years and never experienced drag queen bingo before?! For anyone in the area, or anyone who wants to come and visit, this is where we're going for my birthday in January. Sadly, I didn't win anything (I never do), but Craig was happy to pass along the gay porn he won to me.

That actually brings us to what had to be the best part of the evening, which is that Craig got bingo on the diagnal that was picked based on the way his dick hangs. That's right my friends, the drag queens had a look, determined it hung right, and we then played bingo from the top of the B's to the bottom of the O's and Craig was the first and only person to get a bingo! That just cannot be topped in my book. Although it was pretty funny when Xavier grabbed his dick a few times while giving him a little lap dance.

Guys, don't be scared off - the crowd was primarily straight women, then straight men, then gay men and a handful of lesbians. And really Craig got picked on, a lot. And you can avert your eyes when they play the gay porn dvd to show you what you're gonna win! :>)

Things always come in waves

2006-08-18T13:34:00.000-04:00

So just as things are getting back to normal with my job, as in getting back to being just it's normal amount of "I can't stand to get up in the morning b/c I hate my job" shittiness all of this other shit goes wrong in my life. It's like a freakin' snowball, rolling down the most enormous mountain. Hopefully the snowbelt fucking reached the valley and melted!

Moving past the bad analogies, so the worst of it is that two of my family members passed away last week. My Cioci Ann, who is my grandmother's sister, died Tuesday night. She had been ill for a very long time so honestly this is really better for her, but my grandmother was very close to her so I worry how she will take it. This is also the mother of Maryann, whose husband Bob died recently so it's not so great for my entire family. Then only 3 days later I found out that my aunt on my dad's side passed away. She had been in and out of the hospital for liver problems, but out of nowhere she had a heart attack. She was actually in the hospital when it happened - pretty depressing that they couldn't even help her when she had it there. Unfortunately my aunt and uncle moved to New York a little while ago. My uncle couldn't afford to do anything but cremate her and the service was in NY so it was very weird for me. For a few days I felt like it didn't happen, then on Sunday, with some other stuff stressing me out it all sort of just caught up to me. Anyway, I'm feeling better now, but it is hard to not have any sort of closure, no gravesite to visit in the future, very weird.

Anyway, I had other crappy shit going on. My AC broke right before this wave of 110 heat index days hit so I had to live with Dave for several days. I JUST had it replaced yesterday, weeks after it originally quit working. Fun with home warranties!

On a more positive note, while I had some major problems arise here as well - like I broke my new desk one day after putting it together - I have managed to do some work in my house finally. I emptied out and thoroughly cleaned my spare room, then put together my desk and futon (problems there too) and organized like crazy. I got rid of a lot of shit, hung wall hangings, etc. Now (with the exception of fixing both futon and desk) it's a functional room. I've been getting things organized elsewhere as well, in both the ktichen and bathroom, making space in cabinets, etc. The rest of my house is a wreck, but I'm moving through it steadily. I'm giving a raw diet cooking demo for some GW adopters on the 2nd so I have to have things reasonable by then. It's a good goal.

Other than that, I have one really great thing coming up, which is a trip to Maine. I leave late Wednesday night and will be back Monday or Tuesday. And I'm going home to Pgh this weekend for my grandmother's birthday, which I'm sure will be nothing but stressful. Anyway, that's my life in review. Hopefully my next post is wonderful tales of the CA trip I'm planning. Oh, and I AM working on getting pics from my last camping trip up in a separate blog, I swear!

Vacation - need input

2006-07-21T14:36:00.000-04:00

So my plans to go to France this fall fell through. Instead, I am planning a trip to California, specifically wine country, but I am also throwing in Yosemite and a couple of days in San Francisco. I never thought I'd be able to afford to do something like this - I remember in the past when I couldn't justify even paying the $300 airfare, let alone hotels, food, etc. But when you are no longer going to spend $1000 on a plane ticket to France, it's like money in the bank! Of course, I still can't really afford it as I couldn't afford the plane ticket to France, but I have been boarding dogs to make extra cash and will probably have brought in about that much, if not more, by September. Some of that is already spent, but I'm going to save all of it from now until my trip to help pay for it.

Okay, so onto the actual part where I need input. If anyone who reads this is from that area or has visited, I'm looking for suggestions on things to do, places to eat and stay, etc. Cool stuff that you wouldn't necessarily find in a travel guide. This applies to both SF and wine country. Trust me, Planny McPlannerson that I am, I have plenty of ideas, but inside information is always useful.

In the meantime, I am taking a mini-vacay in a sense this weekend to sort of regroup and get my life back in order. I took tomorrow off from the zoo so I could do yoga in the AM and hang out at the pool for a few hours afterward. Then Neyla is having a slumber party with her pal Tasha while I have my own up in Baltimore. We're having a girl's night out, either at this new outdoor club Aqua, or if the weather is bad and they have to close, at Havana Club for some salsa dancing. I can't wait. I haven't had a night out with my friends like that since, well, since Vicky got married at the end of March (oh my god, how fucking sad is that?!).

Then on Sunday morning I am picking up Neyla and we are heading to Shenandoah overnight. We're spending the night in a PATC cabin (I've mentioned them in previous posts, went to one for the weekend with Craig way back when) all by ourselves. I am using that time to really regroup and regain my sanity. Taking some "how to find out what you want to do with your life" books along and plan to read, journal and just enjoy being alone (with Neyla of course). Monday we'll do a nice long hike, I have a 6.6 mile circuit hike planned out that passes 3, count 'em 3 waterfalls! Will of course take my camera, I'm sure I'll have some pictures to post when I'm back. Which reminds me, I have some great pics of Neyla with her head in a PB jar that I have to download...

Anyway, I'm also taking Tuesday off. Neyla has her annual vet visit and I have some other stuff like that to do and plan to use any spare time to get work done in my house, but hey, it's another day I'm not at the office. AND it leaves me with a 3 day work week - whoohoo!

So that's what I'm up to. I know I hardly ever blog anymore, but hopefully there are still a few stragglers checking now and then...

Work

2006-07-05T17:55:00.000-04:00

I realized it had been a while since I blogged so I thought I would take a very few minutes to tell you about my work situation so you know why I haven't been. I don't want to get into too much detail - you never know who reads your blog - but I'll give you the gist. It's pretty simple. I nearly got fired 3 weeks ago. I was given some very specific rules that I needed to start following and told we'd meet again in 3 weeks (implied or else).

I take it as a good sign that when I asked my boss today if we were still planning to meet tomorrow with her boss, she had sort of forgotten. We are in fact meeting Friday though, so look for a post late day Friday. If you don't hear from me, that's probably a good sign. Otherwise, I'll be posting asking if anyone knows of any good job offers.

On a totally different note, I had a good 4th of July weekend. Watched the Laurel fireworks from my deck Saturday night with some friends, then watched the Baltimore fireworks from a friend's rooftop deck last night. Baltimore's in particular were very impressive. Also got in some good pooltime, watched a movie I've had from netflix for ages, and did my usual zoo/gw stuff. All in all a nice somewhat relaxing weekend. Hoping for much of the same this upcoming weekend as well although I do need to finally put my house back in order.

Hope everyone had a good holiday.

Camping in Shenandoah

2006-06-22T14:32:00.000-04:00

Due to a stressful work situation, I was really looking forward to getting away to Shenandoah this weekend with Neyla even if it was just overnight and the trip did not disappoint. Dave and I loaded Neyla, Tasha, and all of our gear into the car Saturday morning and headed down to SNP. We entered the park through the Swift Run Gap entrance and since Lewis Mtn campground was full, headed south to Loft Mtn campground. After picking a site and setting up our tent, we drove north to do a 2.6 mile roundtrip hike to Rose River Falls.

The hike wasn't too tough, although there was about an 800 ft. elevation change over the first mile. After it leveled off a bit, the Rose River started to parallel the trail, which gave us a good opportunity to let the dogs cool off and drink some extra water. Of course, as we enjoyed this little stop, we watched a group of kids (hs? college?) trek by us on the trail above. So when we got to the falls, they were all stripping down to their bathing suits and jumping into the pool below the falls. It was pretty clear they weren't going anywhere (did I mention they were screaming the whole time?) so I took a few pictures and we headed back to the car. It did give a nice opportunity to get a more interesting shot of the falls. This one is as someone lands in the water after doing a canonball.

Dave and I each enjoyed a Geary's pale ale on the way back to the campsite (stopping on the way to get some more beer since those tasted so good), then we finished setting up camp, made dinner and hung out for a while playing our Rocky Mountain trivia game that we got when we were in, you guessed it, Rocky Mountain National Park. We thought it would be an early night to bed, but coincidentally a big group of kids (hs? college? and no, not the same ones) were at the campsite next to us and thought it was cool to scream about bugs in their tent at midnight. I mentioned to Dave that I was about to lose it. He told me to ask nicely first. I decided to keep quiet. As they say, if you can't say something nice...

The next morning I was a bit dehydrated so I had a huge headache and Dave was his normal impatient self (sorry Dave, had to throw that in there), but we eventually got it together, got all of our gear back into the car and headed a few miles south to start our "serious" hike. I chose a 6 mile loop that goes along the Big Run Loop and then meets up with the AT where it parallels Skyline Drive. It was hot by the time we started and even hotter when we finished up at 1 o'clock, but the 3 hr hike itself was great. Some pretty challenging elevation changes - 1200 feet down and then right back up in the first 3 miles - but after that it was relatively level and the terrain changed constantly so it was really interesting. I definitely want to go back and do this again sometime when it's a bit cooler and add on the extra mile that takes you past Brown's Gap.

After a thorough tick check and some lunch at the car, we started back to MD. On the way, we stopped at two wineries for tastings, one which happened to actually be open and one which didn't. Of course the one that wasnt was the winery that we took some serious back roads to get to - including dirt roads that were barely on the detail map. In the process though we nearly ran over a dog that was running under our tires as we drove by. At least it was an adventure. :>) All in all, an excellent camping weekend, although I came back even more tired than when I left!

By the way, I finished up my 4 week intro to photography course 2 weeks ago so I am happy to report that all of my pictures were taken with the full manual setting and most of the pictures weren't cropped! I still have a lot of work to do in terms of learning how to take good pictures, but I'm very proud of the fact that I'm setting my own shutter speed and aperture. The only exception is the picture of me and Neyla, but that's because I didn't take it (duh!)

Getting caught up

2006-06-16T14:26:00.000-04:00

Well, getting you caught up I guess. This has to be brief as I'm typing snippets here and there while my program runs. I got a big fat warning about my productivity at work. Don't want to get into it here, but it's not good. So you may not hear too much from me over the next few weeks.

This weekend I am hoping to get all of this off of my mind. Just taking a short trip out to Shenandoah for some overnight camping. Going to head out tomorrow morning, take my time so I can take some photographs and do a shorter hike to Rose River Falls. Sunday morning I'm hoping to do a more strenuous 6-7 mile hike before coming back. Hope for good weather for me, it's supposed to be sunny and low 90's in the nearby town. Generally it's about 10 degrees cooler in the mountains so it could be perfect. Dave and Neyla will be joining me, and maybe Neyla's friend Tasha (Neyla is really hopeful but we're awaiting word from her brother Dave).

Speaking of dogs, my new foster who came in last Sunday is PERFECT. Seriously, out of nearly 50 fosters I would have to say he's the absolute easiest. And really cute to boot. And Neyla really likes him. He better get adopted fast...

Actually I have 2 boarders in about 2 weeks so he needs to get adopted really quickly or I'll have 4 dogs in my house for a week!

One last thing - my pregnant friend (who is due in about 5 weeks) had to go into the hospital today. She will either come home and be on bed rest for several weeks or they will deliver her baby this weekend. Please think positive thoughts of a healthy baby for her and her husband!

Wood ticks, deer ticks, and...??? ticks

2006-06-08T08:41:00.000-04:00

I went to North Carolina this weekend to visit Aaron and his wife Kristin. I had a really nice time hanging out with them and seeing their new house (and the wonderful fence that Aaron did such a great job of installing in his backyard). I also got to meet their new puppy, Piper (isn't she a fucking cutie?!). Puppies are definitely like babies - they're fun when they belong to other people. You get to play with them when you want, but you still get to go home at night and sleep normally (and bite-free). ;>)

Anyway, Sunday Kristin was kind enough to let Aaron and I go galavanting while she stayed home and unpacked boxes from their move. So Aaron and I made the 3 hour drive to Uwharrie National Forest to do some hiking (one downfall to living in Fayetteville imo - no "real" hiking nearby although the Smoky Mtns are only about 7 hours away). We planned on a 7-mile circuit hike although we were in major disagreement about how long it would take us. I was pleasantly surprised that Aaron was right and we were able to manage 15-20 minute mile pace throughout the hike with a few breaks thrown in. We did (through absolutely NO fault of my own - can you tell I know Aaron will read this?) manage to miss one of our turns and ended up tacking on another 2+ miles. So we did 9 miles total and I didn't really even feel tired until the last mile or two. I did discover one major drawback to the hike (aside from almost stepping on a timber rattlesnake, albeit what I think was a young one) and that is, as the subject might indicate, ticks.

Let me insert one little detail here. The book that contained the hike description cautioned us about the abudance of ticks, copperheads and timber rattlesnakes. Once Aaron and I were on the trail our conversation turned to snakes and I asked him what the third snake on the list was, "Copperheads, rattlesnakes and what else?" Aaron didn't remember me telling him and I couldn't remember either. Hey dummy! It wasn't another type of snake, it was ticks. Maybe, just MAYBE I should have considered wearing the pants I had in the car instead of shorts. Nah, that's a shitty idea. Okay, back to our hike...

So the hike is great. We get back, I get in the shower and suddenly I feel a little pinch. I look down and see two specks on my ankle. After unsuccessfully trying to brush whatever it is off, I realize they're not coming off b/c they're ticks that have buried their raunchy little heads into my skin. So I start doing what anyone would do...screaming. Aaron and Kristin were in the laundry room and (silly them) thought I might have injured myself. I let them know it was "JUST THAT I HAD TICKS IN MY BODY" and then resumed my shower. Ah, but then I decided I better look everywhere for these guys. Aside from the two on my ankle there weren't any others on my legs so I searched upwards...more screaming. At this point, I'm out of the shower so with a towel wrapped around me I run out into the house and start telling Kristin where I have found 2 ticks. At this point Aaron comes out to see what the commotion is and suggests burning the ticks to remove them. My response: "There will be NO burning!" After I watch Aaron remove the ticks from my ankles I realize I have to suck it up and do something I never thought I would have to do. I have to remove two ticks from my nether regions. Let me tell you, the ticks on my ankles were I believe deer ticks. It appears the other ones were lone star ticks, which in case you aren't up on your tick info are much bigger. I was totally consoled by Aaron's comment that "those aren't the ones that carry Lyme disease" though. Listen, at that point in time, I would have much prefered to have been diagnosed with Lyme disease than to have to pull 2 large ticks out of my crotch. But I sucked it up and pulled those mothers out. A lot more screaming followed. Seriously, one of the most disgusting things I've experienced. The moral of this story: Wear pants. Tuck them into your socks. Put gaitors over those. Remove all clothing immediately upon completing the hike and burn them all. And do a full body check for ticks and kill the bitches before they can dig in.

Disclaimer: I did not actually want to share the tick story but Aaron and Kristin insisted.

DC's version of fleet week

2006-05-30T15:21:00.000-04:00

This post is too little too late, but I'm posting anyway lest I get more harassing emails from my drunk friend Rebekah (seen in the picture) . Okay, to be fair Rebekah isn't usually drunk, but she was drunk this night (as was I and as we all should be). Okay, onto the actual story...

So DC has it's own version of Fleet week (if you remember that from SATC). Ours is police week. I wasn't privy to this information for many many years, but this year I got a special invite from Rebekah to hang with her and her friend Sara for the annual event. Let me just tell you, I feel sad that I missed out on this for so many years. Basically, the event is a week to commemorate police officers - people come from all over the country and even Canada (again, see picture) - but the event starts with a weekend of drinking and that is where we need to focus our attention.

Picture it - tons of cops in a several block radius, the largest concentration in front of a DC hotel on H & 5th (or something like that, how the hell would I remember the exact address). In front of the hotel entrance sits an RV and in that RV are Bernie (New Haven, CT police) and Bob (Canadian Mounty), along with many of their friends, who are serving up beers and purple vodka concoctions. Now imagine us walking the streets of DC with these concoctions in hand, going in and out of bars with open beverages, flashing the police badges we've "borrowed" at people, basically just doing whatever the hell we want. In other words, if you're partying with the cops, you can't get in trouble with the cops. As someone who doesn't necessarily love authority it was very liberating in a sense. But mostly it was just fucking fun. I can't wait for next year.

Zoofari...followed by a random stream of consciousness

2006-05-18T07:43:00.000-04:00

I can't believe that it's Zoofari again already. I remember blogging about it last year. So Dave and I are doing the "usual" - voluteering for set-up from 1-??? (they say 6, but it's rarely goes past 4). Then we have a place to shower and we hang out until the event starts at 6:30. Every year I say I won't get smashed and then I always do, but I'm gonna say it again. This year I really want to focus on the food - of course that's going to involve wine b/c as I just told people in a wine tasting, wine enhances the flavor of food. :>)

Speaking of, I have decided to become a wine snob. Why not? I'm a snob about a bunch of other things already - exercise/eating healthy (when I'm doing it myself), dogs, etc. - so let's add wine to the list. I've been learning more and more about it over the past year or two, but I realize that to really increase my knowledge - at least the parts that would be useful in my regular life - I need to learn more about pairing food and wine. So that's where I'm going and hopefully some friends are going to do some food/wine tastings with me.

This is some ridiculous rambling stream of consciousness, but since I haven't posted in a while, it's what you're getting. So you may notice the time of this post - 7:45ish - I am actually sitting at my desk. Have been for 45 minutes and have already worked out. I know it's a shocker but I swear I am telling the truth. I actually got up at 5 am so I could be at yoga at 6. I started doing this b/c I am taking a 4 week digital photography course from 7 to 10 on Thursday nights. With the dogs, I need to leave work really early so this works out. And I am telling you, I am totally into yoga.

When I started working out again, I started doing pilates. But I've gradually switched primarily to yoga and I think that's where I'll stay although I may occassionally try to squeeze in Pilates once a week. This is going to sound really lame, but I don't have a better way of explaining it. Coming back to yoga is like finding my soulmate - what I mean by that is that my body and mind have needed it, but I'm only finally finding it and starting to reap the benefits, which include having a toned and much more flexible body, but also being more centered mentally. I truly hope that I'm making a lifelong commitment to yoga. Let this also serve as your official warning that I may turn into a crazy hippie who "practices" every day and someday travels to India to study under the main yogi or something.

Yoga (and pilates as well) have done one other thing for me - they have allowed me to swear off weight-lifting for the rest of eternity. I was never a big fan. Once I'd get into it and see results I'd want to do it more, but it was primarily the results that were motivating me. With yoga and pilates, I get the same result-based motivation, but I also want to be in class. You have NO idea how happy it makes me to say "I don't ever have to lift weights again, unless I feel like it." So I do yoga twice a week, spinning twice a week, and some other cardio (running when my knees are up for it) once a week. If I can, I fit a pilates class or a hike in on Sundays and that is my fantastic workout schedule. I'm rarely unmotivated to get to the gym these days. Wish I could say I was doing as well with my eating, but I'm not doing horribly. After Zoofari I'm going to have a 2 week period where I try to be very healthy and then I can slack off again a bit.

Okay, seriously, I lost you a long time ago I know. Hey, this is my boring life, right? My main source of excitement is yoga. Go figure. Okay, must do some work before I leave for my eating and drinking extravaganza.

A very different weekend

2006-05-04T16:00:00.000-04:00

So my weekend with my mom was really great. I have to admit I get grouchy sometimes when I spend a whole weekend with my mom, and I was guilty of that this weekend. We get along much better than we used to, but we still have issues (mostly my mom being overcontrolling and treating me like I'm 13), which sort of grate on me over time. I'm also so used to living alone that I think spending 24/7 with her just kills me. Despite all of that, we had a really nice time. We had a fantastic dinner at one of the resort restaurants Friday night. Goat cheese-stuffed ravioli, pork with some of the best risotto I've ever had, some great wines (for me, my mom doesn't drink) and cappucino and gelato to finish off the meal.

Saturday we spent the day outdoors, biking for an hour and a half at Ohiopyle in the morning, then lunch outside and spent some time walking around checking out Cucumber Falls and the rapids on the river. Then we went to the spa and had some time to enjoy the pool, whirlpool and sauna before getting our spa services. I had an Aroma Body Paraffin Wax. Wow, fantastic! For $150 it better be I guess.

Sunday we toured two of Andrew Lloyd Wright's homes, the more famous Fallingwater first, then Kentuck Knob second. I have to say, I don't really remember Fallingwater although I'm sure I've been there. What an amazing place - it truly is totally innovative even today and I really appreciate what Wright set out to do. This surprised me since I'm not into architecture. I am into nature though, which helps explain it. Anyway, I wish I could live at Fallingwater, seriously, it's awesome.

I have pictures of all of this, but they're on my home computer. Hopefully I'll have time to download them soon and I'll post some. In the meantime, I am driving to Pgh again this weekend. I got bad news yesterday that a family member (my "uncle" Bob, my mom's cousin) died in a car accident Wednesday night. It's really tragic, those of you who live in the area may have seen the news reports (it happened on Rte 19). I feel sad, but mostly I feel horrible for Bob's wife and son. My mom thinks there will likely be a lawsuit as two people were killed when he hit them. It's just a really horrible ordeal to lose your husband suddenly and then have to deal with that on top of it. Anyway, I don't want to depress you with details about this, but since I don't journal anymore, I figure my blog has to be my outlet to some extent. So not what I was hoping for this weekend - will be a rough one, I'm looking forward to being back here on Sunday and hopefully having some time to myself.

I hope everyone else has a much better weekend. I'm heading out around lunchtime tomorrow and will blog once I'm back.

Where the rich people are

2006-04-26T16:29:00.000-04:00

So this weekend my mom and I are going away for our "spa weekend." We decided that instead of spending a lot of money on xmas gifts, we would go away together for a weekend somewhere midway b/w Pgh and DC. Of course, we ended up practically in Pgh and it's going to cost me a shitload of money, but it was a nice idea.

Anyway, we're going to Nemacolin. At least my Pgh friends might know what I'm talking about. For those of you who don't, let me sum it up. It's basically a ridiculously expensive resort for the rich and snooty of Pgh. If this gives you any idea, you can rent a Hummer for off-roading. The spa charges $115 for 50 minutes of massage! I'm sure it's actually a fantastic place. Thankfully, we're staying in a cabin nearby so the lodging is less expensive (and more rustic, which I prefer). We'll be able to do some biking at Ohio Pyle before our spa treatments Saturday afternoon and we're having a really nice dinner at one of the resort restaurants on Friday night. It will definitely be nice to get away and relax. We won't have dogs, and I'm turning my cell phone off!

When I'm a little richer, this is actually what I want to do at Nemacolin. It's a shame my mom doesn't enjoy wine as that seems to be a big thing here, including Friday afternoon wine tastings. I'm not allowed to attend though as we're only doing activities "we can both partake in" (strict orders from my mother). Oh boy, I can't wait!

Online dating...UGH

2006-04-10T15:20:00.000-04:00

Typically I appreciate being single. I'm independant and really fucking busy, to put it plainly. I'm also very type A and have a hard time sharing my space/time. So all in all, being single is generally okay with me. But after 8 months of it, I'm starting to itch for that feeling you get when you first find a connection with someone. So I did the unthinkable and put my profile back up on some online personals. It's only been a week or so, but what a waste. I've found only one person I wanted to email who of course did not respond when I sent one. I came across one other interesting guy when I saw that he had looked at my profile, but honestly, what are you supposed to do there? You know he's looked at your profile, but he hasn't emailed you. That pretty much says he's not interested, right? He didn't have a picture anyway, which is a little scary.

So I don't see this going anywhere. It's the same old same old. I don't want to meet people in bars, I'm very involved in numerous activities, but none typically offer single guys, online personals don't seem to work for me and that leaves me pretty much back where I started - single.

Well whatever, I'll live. In the meantime, I did finally get a picture of me in my glasses to post online so I thought I'd let you all see it too. I know you've been DYING to see me in my glasses (just pretend, for god's sake, throw me a fucking bone - if I can't get a date, you can at least pretend like you care!). Enjoy:

The Schneider's

2006-04-04T14:56:00.000-04:00

My good friends Matt and Vicky got married this past Friday. I have been anticipating this day for month's now and was not disappointed. It was so great to finally see two of my friends who have been together for so long get married and the wedding itself was fantastic - full sit down dinner, open bar all night, cocktail hour with hors d'ouvres, good DJ, the bride's dad extending the party, etc. :>) Of course, I probably drank the equivalent of about 4 bottles of champagne, about half of that with peach schapps added. This led to a very quick downward spiral at the end of the night followed by some vomiting. The following day I made a fantastic recovery though and was able to make it to brunch at the bride and groom's!

Anyway, it was a really great night to share with so many friends so I wanted to post some pictures for you. Obviously the first one is Vicky being walked down the aisle by her dad (isn't she absolutely gorgeous?!).

This is me and the bride - please notice that the bride is in fact asian and yet my eyes are closed more than hers. This is typical for me, and one of many reasons I could never be a model:

And me and my officemate, Emily, who was a bridesmaid:

Is it time to retire?

2006-03-28T10:46:00.000-05:00

It seems like many people's blogs are winding down and Dan even retired his blog. I'm wondering if it's time for me to retire mine as well. I wish I were a better or at least more frequent blogger, but given that I'm not, I'm not sure anyone reads this thing.

Well anyway, this Friday is Vicky and Matt's wedding. I'm really excited - it's going to be the event of the year. Two of my good friends getting married + tons of their young friends + really nice sit down dinner + formal attire + OPEN BAR = the best wedding I will ever attend. Except maybe my own, if I were ever going to have one (seems unlikely though). I found a great dress at Bloomingdale's when I was getting really desparate and great shoes that match (but that will kill my feet, but a diva doesn't worry about pain if they look good, right?) So I'm really looking forward to it.

I bought some fake eyelashes too. I don't know that I have the balls to wear them, or the skills to apply them. Any pointers anyone?

Honestly, I'm really not ready. I bought some new make-up so I want to do a practice run, plus I have to decide what to do with my nails. I have no jewelry and no purse yet. It's only 3 days away, I'm not sure what I'm thinking!!!

Oh. OH! But I will look good in my dress. A mini update for htose of you who have been following my weight loss program. I've stuck to it pretty well and while I haven't gotten to where I had hoped weight-wise, I am happy with how I look. I can finally look in the mirror again without being disgusted. There's still work to be done, but I think after the wedding I can relax a bit and not deprive myself so much and lose the rest of the weight more slowly.

This boring as shit posts really confirms that I shoudl in fact retire, huh? Someone tell me I'm interesting!!! :>P

The good, the bad, and the...well, that's it

2006-03-01T14:55:00.000-05:00

So the bad first - I spent all of last week at home with the flu. It sucked, not only b/c I was sick for the second time in about a month, but b/c I was really sick. The worst part was having a fever for two days. I guess I'm a big baby when it comes to having a fever and frankly, it sucks to be single and away from your family when you're feeling that crappy. Not to mention that this is also the second time I've been sick during the time I am supposed to be getting in shape. Which surprisingly brings me to the good...

Today was the official weigh-in for Dave and I. I knew that I wouldn't reach my goal due to illness - in the end, I actually missed about 3/7 weeks at the gym as a result of being sick. However, I had some hopes that I would get close at least as my pants felt looser this weekend and I had to tighten my belt a notch. Lo and behold, I weighed in at 131 pounds this morning! For those of you who don't remember, I started at 138.5 and set a goal of 130. Given the circumstances, I am thrilled and have decided to reward myself with dinner at Komi as if I had made it. Dave also made his goal (he came in about a half a pound under) so I'm really proud of both of us.

This was what I needed to make my diet and exercise routine a lifestyle change again and I think I've succeeded. That's why I decided to cut myself a break on that last pound and reward myself. I also told myself after 5 pounds I'd get a new gym bag so I'm going to do that this weekend or next. The most important part - I do feel like I look better. Vicky's wedding is a month away, so I'm going to keep plugging along until then. I'm setting a very reasonable goal of 127 pounds (1 pound per week), but honestly, as long as I continue the way I have I will be happy.

So I never did post a picture of my in my new glasses. Maybe I'll wait a few more weeks and then post a picture of a skinny me in new glasses. :>P

Goals...

2006-02-17T13:00:00.000-05:00

LOL, I just reread Tracie's comment and realized she said my goal was totally reachable. I guess we know how I'm feeling right now.

Ch-ch-ch-cha-changes

2006-02-17T12:46:00.000-05:00

I love Tracie's comment that my goal seems totally unreachable. Thanks for sugarcoating it at least. ;>) The truth is, it ended up being closer to 7 weeks (you've changed your mind now, right?) and I thought it was doable because of how bad I was doing prior. Not only was I not exercising and not walking my dogs enough, but I was eating out constantly. Indian buffet for lunch one day, korean the next, pizza hut next...Dinner was a lot of take-out as well. Frankly, I don't even know what I ate for dinner half the time, but I was never hungry. I usually left lunches stuffed. Point being - I ate a lot and it wasn't usually too healthy. Oh, and a lot of Starbucks.

My first week I ate really well and worked out 30-45 minutes/day, 5 days that week. I don't workout on the weekends b/c Sunday is my day off adn Saturday I am busting my ass at the zoo (physical labor so it does count). Anyway, I lost 1.5 lbs, which put me right on track. Then I got really sick and for 2 weeks I had to miss some workouts. I stuck to my eating plan though and still lost another pound or so. I realized I'd have to pick it up to make up for lost time so last week adn this week I have been busting my ass. I've worked out a minimum of 45 minutes per day, really pushing myself, sometimes doing 2 things (pilates and running for instance). And I am still eating really well. I feel like the pounds should be dropping off, but I am at a fucking standstill. Right now I weigh a solid 135. So I have less than two weeks to lose 5 lbs. Clearly it isn't happening.

To be honest, I don't know what the hell happened. Even if I am building muscle, I am burning a lot of calories. I should be losing weight. It sucks. I do see some changes in my body, but nothing drastic. Oh well, I don't really need to reward myself for losing weight by eating a big fattening 5-course meal with wine pairing. And I know you're not supposed to set weight loss goals for just this reason, but it's still a bummer.

Anyway, onto what I really wanted to post about - I got glasses. I've always been attracted to people with the artsy-fartsy looking dark-rimmed glasses so I was kind of excited to get a pair of my own. Except that I have never looked good in any pair of sunglasses. But then I found them - the most awesome 9 West frames that actually flatter my face. SUPER EXCITED. Until I put them on. Nobody told me I'd have to adjust to wearing them. The dr there told me to wear them all the time for a week and suck it up. But really what she should have said is wear them for a week, it's gonna' suck. It really does. Sometimes when I first put them on, I feel like I'm wearing 3D glasses b/c I can't tell where I'm walking or if my feet are going where I want them to. Very bizarre. Anyway, it is slowly getting better. I only got them Wednesday evening. I'll post a picture soon so you can all see how cute I look. ;>)

Neyla Roaching

2006-02-14T14:17:00.000-05:00

So the picture is here, I don't know why it's doing this, but click on the empty thumbnail and it will load.

Not V-day, ME-day

2006-02-14T14:15:00.000-05:00

So for the first time in a long time I have no feelings - negative or positive - about it being Valentine's Day. I am absolutely indifferent. It's fantastic. In fact, when I came in to work yesterday I was totally surprised to realize that Valentine's day was the following day. Not that I forgot it completely. I had the forethought to get my mom a small gift and card at Target almost 2 weeks ago. An unfortunate side effect of that - I'm not usually that good at planning ahead so I couldn't send it immediately and only remembered to send it yesterday. Go figure.

Anyway, so you probably don't know this because I haven't blogged in about a month, but I started exercising again and went on a diet. Dave and I both set weight loss goals to reach by March 1st. If we do, we get to eat at this restaurant in DC, Komi. If not, we each donate $50 to the charity of our choice. So I'm not sure I'm thrilled about announcing my weight to the world online, but really, who the hell reads this thing anyway. So I weighed in at 138.5 and set my goal at 130. In 6 weeks. Yes, I am crazy.

This does actually tie into my valentine's day plans, I'm getting there...In light of this I now cook all of my meals again so yesterday I am looking online for something to make this week. On the homepage of allrecipes is a recipe for "Romantic chicken with artichokes and mushrooms." It's basically a white wine sauce w/artichoke hearts, mushrooms and capers. It's the kind of dish I like so I decided to make it, along with creamy mushroom risotto (low-fat version, don't worry) and roasted asparagus with shallots. And I get to have a glass or two of the sauv blanc I'm cooking with with my meal. I did my grocery shopping at lunch and stopped into the pet store next door and got some special valentine's day treats for Neyla from their bakery. I have a few movies from netflix, or might decide to take a bath with the rose-scented bath confetti I have. Basically, my valentine's day is turning out to be a "Me-day." I highly recommend it to all of you single folk out there. Stop crying about being single and celebrate it - enjoy the fact that we have personal time to make ourselves a nice meal and enjoy it and a hot bath with a glass (or bottle, if I weren't on a diet) of wine.

Go on, get out there, go celebrate your me-day! You know you wanna! :>P

P.S. In the last month or two, my dog has finally decided that roaching is cool. It only took her 2 1/2 years to come out of her shell enough to do it. So I had to include a picture. Isn't she cool?!

P.P.S. Okay, so the picture won't load, will try to load it as a separate post.

Happy Birthday to me?

2006-01-12T16:19:00.000-05:00

Yeah, so the day didn't start off so well. Woke up after my lavish dinner the night before with a big headache, but feeling okay. Had some OJ and crackers, proceeded to have several hours of, let's just call it "discomfort." But I made a swift recovery, picked up Neyla from a friend's house where she had spent the night, and had some Mickey D's. Nothing like that to finish off your hangover.

I did get to the spa, where I had a mini-facial and scalp massage. It was fabulous. Home to shower, watch some TV and do some reading. And Dave was kind enough to go to dinner with me since I was out of food at home.

So the low key day I had planned, just shortened by a little vomiting. Sigh.

Anyway, just a quick update. I have work that has to get done and I've procrastinated long enough I'd say.

Happy New Year!

2006-01-04T15:25:00.000-05:00

I hope everyone had a fun NYE. NYE has always been one of my favorite times to go out and celebrate (read: get hammered), which is not normally my thing. This year I decided to keep things a little more low key since I had friends coming into down and had my own soiree. It was wine and cheese themed, but we had some really good food- a tuna sashimi that Dave made, sauteed mushrooms on crostini, these fabulous roasted artichokes stuffed with red lentils, and on and on, as well as plenty to drink, good music and most importantly good conversation. I really had a nice time and hope everyone else did - I could have used a few more hours before midnight actually arrived, but what can you do? Better than being bored to death. :>P

Anyway, things are nice and calm with the holidays gone, but not for long. This weekend starts another crazy week for me. This Saturday and next I have holiday parties for Greyhound Welfare, then Wednesday is my birthday so I'm going out to a fancy dinner (conveniently restaurant week always falls around my birthday so i get to take advantage of it), Thursday I'm having dinner with some GW friends, including Rebekah who is in town from Boston, and Friday Emily is hosting a dinner party for me. Turns out it's kind of nice to have friends from so many different places - makes that birthday weekend extravaganza a bit easier.

I am actually in an all-around low-key mood and didn't plan for all of this stuff, but it's nice to have friends who care enough to do all of this. In keeping with the low-key mood thing though, I've decided to do something I've never done in the 6 years I've worked at IMS. I am taking my birthday off! I haven't totally decided what I'll do yet, but I think I'll take the dogs to the dog park in the morning (after sleeping in and staying in bed late), then maybe watch a movie at home. I'm thinking that afternoon I'll get my haircut and maybe get a facial, which I've never done before. Or a massage. Not sure yet. Wish I had more money. Hope my fam sends some good b'day cash. ;>)

Anyway, I recognize that this post is boring as hell, as most of my posts are, which is why no one reads my blog anymore so I'm gonna go. Happy new year everyone!

Not so happy holidays

2005-12-27T14:15:00.000-05:00

I regret to report that my Christmas weekend at home didn't go so well. Not because I didn't get good gifts or anything like that, but because my mom's dog TERRORIZED my dog the entire time to the point that Neyla couldn't come downstairs in the morning if Molly was there without shaking. I won't go into boring details - let me just say that it was really traumatic for her and really stressful for me as a result, not to mention the constant yelling that was going on b/w me and my mom (at the dog's, not at each other). By Sunday it had really taken it's toll emotionally. For those of you who don't have dogs this might seem silly, but trust me, it was terrible.

Anyway, aside from that, I did enjoy seeing friends and family although my visit was really brief. I'm going to be the first to list off my gifts. It's a pretty small list this year, which is fine with me, especially b/c I really like everything (well almost everything) that I got. So here it is:

- Underarmor wicking shirt, 2 prs of sock liners, and 2 prs of really expensive hiking socks with built in liners (all from my grandmother although my mom picked them out - by far the highlights of my family gifts)
- From my mom: A Walk in the Woods (which people have been recommending), a cello CD, a chia herb garden, and a brookstone travel hairdryer (this is the gift I'm not thrilled about, but it's worth keeping)
- From Aaron and Kristin, a 3-season Columbia tent (VERY cool) and "bonus gifts" (hand me downs from their house) - a small backpack and some other camping supplies
- My dad just gave me money and my grandmother supplemented with a check as well. Those are going to a photography class I'm going to take (haven't picked one out yet)
- From Dave - a wine journal and a cheese knife set, both very cool. AND...the best gift of the year...

this CD.

I hope everyone had a great holiday. Stop by to listen in on that CD very soon.

Happy Holidays

2005-12-22T14:35:00.000-05:00

So finally my friends are blogging regularly again and I've dropped off the face of the earth. I'm headed out of town tomorrow to celebrate Christmas with my family so this post is going to be a huge list of random updates.

First and foremost I have to proudly announce all of the things that I finally got done this past week:

#1 - I have my bedroom back!!!!!!!!! Painting is done, including doors and trim (which I did myself). Door handles on closets and bedroom door were all changed (by me) from brass to antique silver. Outlets, light switches, phone jack, and plates were all changed (again by me) from same yucky brass to clean, crisp white. Electrical problems I created trying to change outlets myself were fixed (not by me). All furniture is back in the room (in a slight variation from earlier) and bed is made with my favorite sheets, comforter, and blankets. It looks fantastic and I can finally sleep through the night without back or neck pain.

#2 - After finishing my bedroom, I proceeded to clean the rest of my house (spare room excluded - that room should no longer be considered a part of my house anyway as it's apparently a black hole). I straightened everything up, vacuumed, dusted, mopped floors, cleaned countertops, did laundry, etc. It sparkles.

#3 - I finally decorated for Christmas 2 nights ago. Because my bedroom furniture was in my living room up until Monday, I never got a tree. This late in the game I decided against it as I remembered what it was like to put the lights on it by myself last year (although it did end up looking quite nice as you can see in this picture). Anyway, instead I went to Target and got a tiny tree (for the bargain price of $5.99), which I put gold foil garland and red/green ball ornaments on. It's sitting on my bar surrounded by all of my presents (see #4 on list of accomplishments). Since I didn't have a tree to put my favorite ornaments on I came up with other creative ways to hang them. Some are hanging from my chandelier, which I decorated with fake greens and pine cones. Some are hanging from the top ledge of my TV stand. Some hang from door knobs, etc.

As a result of numbers 1-3, I LOVE coming home again. I walk in and just look around and relish the sight. It is not right to be displaced from your bedroom when you have such a small home as it is, trust me. Anyway...

#4 - Last night I wrapped all of my gifts (which means I finished my Christmas shopping). Oh, and christmas cards (yes, you will get one) were sent out on Tuesday and Wednesday of this week as well.

Phew, I think that's the majority of it. It is a huge relief to have a clean home and to finally have time to enjoy the holiday season. Tonight I'm going to this drive through light show in Columbia with my friend Emily, her boyfriend Stan and her son Colin (oh, and her black lab, Blake). Then Dave and I are opening our xmas gifts when I get home. Then it's off to the 'burgh, although I do have to work tomorrow morning.

Oh, I wanted to tell everyone too - if you haven't seen The Chronicles of Narnia, don't walk, RUN to the nearest theater. Well, at least if you were a fan of the books. Overally my friends reviews have been that it's good, but I thought it was fantastic. For me, who has loved those books from childhood into adulthood (and who has read them many many times), this movie is the actual realization of the book. I was actually moved by how well it turned out. I hate to say all of this and have you be disappointed, but I am just in love with it. After avoiding Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, and Star Wars, I am now going to be suckered into seeing a series of book-based movies on opening nights. :>) Also saw Shopgirl (good) and Walk the Line (awesome) recently. Brokeback Mtn is on my list, as is Rent. Oh, and my mom said The Family Stone is hysterical so that's on there too.

Anyway, more than anything, I wanted to say happy holidays to everyone. I hope it's a relaxing time for everyone and that you enjoy your time with whoever you're with - your family, significant other, friends, yourself, and I will talk to you when I get back.

In Memory of Roo

2005-12-08T10:56:00.000-05:00

I know most of you won't know who I'm talking about, but Roo - a GW foster dog for 4 months who was only adopted by his foster parents a week and a half ago - passed away last night. He was only 2 1/2.

Roo had had breathing problems while with us as a foster, but up until his adoption we hadn't figured out the problem (we actually thought they were allergies and the meds were helping). Then suddenly his symptoms came back. Yesterday, less than a week later, Roo didn't make it out of surgery. They were able to identify a very virulent form of a bacterial infection coating all of his organs. According to the vets he may have had it for a long time.

I feel so sad at the loss of Roo (who I did know as Melissa and I went to a greyhound festival in Lancaster for the weekend together and Roo - who was her foster at the time - came along), but mostly I feel sad for Melissa and her husband Nick. They cared for him for 4 months as their foster dog, but only had him as their own dog for a week and a half before they lost him. And most of that time was spent doing tests, surgery, etc.

They did have a few days with him before the surgery where he was on pain meds and therefore back to his normal self. They spent a lot of time with him and even let him sleep in bed with them so at least they had those few days - even so, the situation is horrible and I really feel for them.

I just found a pic of Roo - he was a huge (90 lb) gorgeous boy, with a wonderful outgoing, bouncy personality. He definitely gave Melissa some challenges as a foster dog, but he was the kind of dog who was worth the extra work. The picture doesn't do him justice. You can check out his lineage and racing history here:

http://www.greyhound-data.com/d?z=R3xFQR&d=erubial

Long time, no posting

2005-12-06T11:48:00.000-05:00

I hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving holiday. I really enjoyed my time at home, which is somewhat surprising. I wasn't sure I could last 4 days without arguing with my mom at all, but we got along quite well. We even had an afternoon of lunch, shopping and a movie that was quite nice. Unfortunately the weekend had a crappy end.

My car was loaded up and we were about to leave when some neighborhood dogs came by. I brought Neyla out to meet them. She was doing just fine with both, but one of them - the shepard mix - was a bit nervous. I thought everything was okay when suddenly he just attacked Neyla. I'm really grateful we were able to pull them apart as quickly as we did as she could have been hurt a lot worse, but even thinking about it now scares the shit out of me. We had a really traumatic day at the E-vet followed by a few more days that were tough, but she is okay now - she's just missing a chunk of her ear. We get staples out on Thursday though and it doesn't seem to be bothering her anymore.

Anyway, here's my girl being a goof this morning while I took her picture. The ear facing the camera is the stitched up one, although you can't really tell as it all blends in. She's still my gorgeous girl - and she's a trooper.

Nicole Kidman wants to save pandas

2005-11-21T15:12:00.000-05:00

So Nicole Kidman came to the zoo and got a special behind-the-scenes tour. It was on a weekday so I wasn't lucky enough to be there, but one of the cheetah keepers, Wayne, got to give her a tour of the cheetah exhibit. Anyway, apparently she saw the panda cub too as I read in an article that she now wants to save the giant panda. Afterall, "there are only 1000 left in the wild." I'm glad she's inspired, honestly, it's just kind of funny to me that she sees a baby panda and suddenly is going to do amazing things to save pandas. I guess I shouldn't bitch, that's one of the main reasons zoos exist - to excite people into conservation.

Anyway, enough about that. I really wanted to share my own pics of the panda cub. I saw him last weekend - the pics are through glass so the coloring isn't great, nor are the pics themselves. But he's not on public view yet so this is a sneak preview.

Really quick update

2005-11-18T11:47:00.000-05:00

Not much going on, I have a foster now who has SA, which is the one thing I cannot handle - it's like being in jail. Go to work, come home and don't dare to leave again lest he decide this time is the time he wants to bust out of the crate. Anyway, may miss my friend's Trivial Pursuit party tonight as a result, which will suck.

Okay, so I mostly just wanted to post cute pics of Neyla. She's gorgeous!

And sometimes demanding - this reminds me of the Obey the Greyhound sweatshirt I have.

Today's forecast: Clean air

2005-11-09T11:44:00.000-05:00

Well I was originally just going to post a mini-review of The Weatherman, which I saw this past weekend. But I just read an article that PG County (where I live) has passed a ban on smoking in all bars and restaurants as they did a couple of years ago in Montgomery County. I also read a similar ban was proposed in Howard County, although I don't know if it has passed or not. Anyway, I am thrilled! Ecstatic actually.

Honestly, I don't understand why so many of my friends still smoke. I guess I figure at our age we're really old enough to understand the consequences. I know my opinion pisses my smoking friends off and I know some people find it easier to quit addictive habits than others, but please, if you aren't even trying to quit, stop and ask yourself why not?!

Okay, so that was a sidebar. Onto my movie review -

While this movie definitely isn't another adaptation, it's also not a totally mainstream film, which is a good thing, but I don't want you to be surprised and dislike it as a result. Overall, some very humorous moments, although it's not a story that moves quickly at all times. Acting was great, good character development, and Nick Cage is sexy again. Dave wasn't as enthusiastic as me, but I'd say it's worth the $10.

Dear Margarita,

2005-11-03T13:35:00.000-05:00

Dear Margarita on the rocks with no salt,

Why are you so delicious? And why are you offered for only $2.50 as a lunchtime special at a Mexican restaurant not far from my office? Do you not understand that drinking you decreases my productivity, which could ultimately lead to me losing my job? Do you not know that the warm, fuzzy feeling you give to me should be reserved for evening, when I can increase the warm fuzzy feeling with another of you, and then another, until the warm, fuzzy feeling has turned into a healthy buzz that causes an unhealthy inability to stop myself from drinking yet another and another?

Please Margarita with the oh so delicious tangy zip of lime and Tequila, please stop encouraging me to drink you during business hours.

Yours,
Jen

Toes? Who needs them?!

2005-11-02T10:52:00.000-05:00

So Neyla and I survived our camping trip to Shenandoah although I almost lost a few toes in the process. Hey, here's something interesting - did you know that it snowed in Shenandoah last week? Yes, that's right, it snowed. I had trouble finding a place for my tent that wasn't snow covered. NICE! So here's the rundown...

Saturday I get a late start, and don't realize that my campsite is
60 miles into the park. 60 miles on Skyline drive takes a LONG time. Despite the fact that I am speeding down the road passing slow drivers who refuse to pull off and risking killing many, many deer, I do manage to stop to take some pictures. This one is of Old Rag (you might recall I hiked this 2 weeks ago). The sun was setting behind me and the sky was gorgeous. The picture doensn't quite capture it.
After my 5 minute stop, with fingers nearly frozen I hop back in and recommence my race against the sun. I couldn't pass up another photo opportunity though. This is by far my favorite picture of the weekend and well worth the numb toes and added stress my dog suffered since we didn't make it to our campsite. Instead we stopped at the one before it, Big Meadows, which is the most popular. It was pretty full and as a result, my dog wouldn't get out of the car the entire night until it was bedtime. It was good for me though as I quickly discovered after just barely getting my tent up before dark (at least I can do that much) that I cannot build a fire to save my life. I had to enlist my "neighbors" for help.

Without getting into too much detail, let me just say that the evening was pretty miserable. The night in the tent had its own problems, but I woke up to a nice day, a little chilly (around 50), but sunny. When the campstore opened I got 2 hot chocolates and sat at my campground reading for a while. Then Neyla and I took a 4 1/2 mile circuit hike that passes by the 3rd highest waterfall in the park (South Falls). We had lunch at the base of the falls where we got a little misty we were so close. The hike itself was really nice and the leaves were GORGEOUS along Skyline drive so it was all worth it in the end.

Here's my cutie by the way, who while afraid of many things is an excellent hiker. She set a pace that I pretty much couldn't keep up with. When I couldn't take it anymore, I'd force her to stop long enough to catch my breath, but she'd be pulling at the end of the leash the whole time. This made the last 2 1/2 miles, which were all a steep incline, pretty tough:

I'm off

2005-10-28T16:54:00.000-04:00

I'm off to finally take my camping trip to Shenandoah with Neyla. Well, I'm off tomorrow, after the zoo. Tonight I have to drop off my fosters, pack, and stop at a couple of outdoors stores. But it will all be worth it when I am freezing my ass off in my tent. Wish for good weather and pretty fall leaves for me.

My new fantasty

2005-10-27T16:17:00.000-04:00

My mom was telling me about her weekend at Deep Creek. She did a conference and part of it was an exercise where they learned to communicate using horses. They spent several hours at a horse barn working with the horse of their choosing (no riding, it was all about using body language to get the horse to do what you want). Anyway, I immediately started daydreaming about working in a horse barn.

Clearly I am miserable at my current job. Clearly I want to work with animals and would take almost any job where I could. Clearly they don't pay you $60K to work in a horse barn. So what's a girl to do? Seriously, someone help me. Despite all of the things I like about my life I am miserable b/c my 40 hr/week job keeps me from having the time I'd like to do the things in my life I enjoy. Not that I even work that hard. Help!

I heart the West!

2005-10-21T14:31:00.000-04:00

It's that time folks. Time for me to throw out a picture or two from my trip. These are full size, so if you click on the picture you should be able to enjoy them in all of their glory. :>) If you'd like to purchase prints, magnets, mugs, etc please contact me for prices. LOL. Hope you enjoy.

Landscape Arch at sunrise. One of my favorite pics, especially b/c we got up at 5:30 a.m., yes, that's correct - AM - to hike in in time for sunrise:

A lioness with her cub at Denver Zoo:

An elk with her yearling in Rocky Mountain National Park - it was early in the morning so there was a lot of fog:

We did a hike past Bear Lake in RMNP that passed several fingerlakes. This was the second of three:

Stealing from Dan...

2005-10-20T13:54:00.000-04:00

The last post on Dan's blog reminded me of something I've been thinking about. I'm taking my second class at the zoo, the first was Conservation Quandries, which was a really interesting class where we'd read articles about conservation issues and then spend much of the class discussing them.

So I was really excited to start this class, Cats in Crisis, dealing with management and reproductive issues in endangered cat species (including of course the cheetah). However, what I've found is that the class, which is taught by PhD's who spend their time mostly in the lab, is all lecture and no discussion. It's also a lot of technical info, including data tables and graphs, which I can certainly appreciate on some level since I am a biologist.

The point though is that mostly it bored me. The lecture, the data, the information (although to be fair much of it was old hat b/c I know cheetahs pretty well by now). I was sitting in class feeling like it was a bit of a waste when I realized that it really wasn't. I've been wavering again. Thought I had decided to apply for a position at the zoo as a keeper, but then started to wonder again about grad school. This class has absolutely cemented for me that I do not want to spend my days in a lab. I want to be outside, interacting with the animals. That doesn't eliminate grad school, just allows me to focus in more on where I really want to be.

And how could you not want to be around these cuties?

2 of Zazi's 6 month old cubs exploring:

Zazi and her 6 month old cub Arara on the lure courser:

Hiking

2005-10-20T13:28:00.000-04:00

So perhaps I've mentioned that I've been hiking quite a bit since I got back from my trip. The trip made me remember how much I love being outside camping and hiking, and how little I've been doing it. So every weekend I've been going somewhere. Yesterday I joined some coworkers and hiked up to Old Rag. It's a 7.2 mile circuit hike with lots of steep uphill and plenty of rock scrambling at the end. Needless to say, my out of shape body is in some serious pain. Anyway, telling you all of this only to be able to share some pictures since Molly was kind enough to give me instructions. So, this one is the view from the top of Old Rag and the rocks we just scrambled over.

And this one is a sunset picture from my trip to Mason Neck last Saturday. Dave and I took Tasha and all of my dogs and hiked for about 6 miles:

I'll write another post and put a few pics from my trip out West in. Want to see how this goes first.

2005-10-18T10:14:00.000-04:00

So I've been back from vacation for weeks now and still no online photo album. I have NO time to do this shit b/w my leaking roof and all of the Tivo'ed shows I have to watch. Where does the time go?!

So I need help - can someone give me the "Adding pictures to your blog for dummies" rundown? I'll save the vacation ones for the album, but I have some from this weekend that I'd like to share and I figure it's about time I learn how to.

Not much to report really - the roof saga continues. I got a bit hopeful yesterday when the property manager finally responded to my certified letter threatening to sue. He was very nice and told me he felt the construction company who was supposed to fix my roof should fix the internal damage as well. Of course, all hopes were dashed when I talked to the owner of said construction company and he told me he would only patch my drywall. No painting, no carpet cleaning, no carpet pad replacement, no fixing the molding so I can shut my french door, no insulation drying. I'm not asking for everything, and I'm definitely not asking for lost wages, pain and suffering, etc., which I will if I sue, so give me a break. He can't even paint?!

The situation is absolutely frustrating. I'd like to avoid a lawsuit, but I also don't have a couple thousand dollars to put toward fixing this damage. Anyone want to throw some money my way?

I'm drowning

2005-10-10T12:01:00.000-04:00

Metaphorical? It very well could be, but in this case, I'm being a bit more literal. As in, my roof is still leaking and after 2 1/2 years of it, it's finally decided to cause water damage to my bedroom celings, walls, and carpet. Shocker! The best part (hard to pick from the many choices, but I'll try) - when I made a request for a 4th visit from the roofer, my property manager assured me that "it would be fixed at no cost to me". The roofer called, said he'd come out, then got injured and didn't. Apparently he didn't feel it was necessary to let me or the property manager know that he couldn't make it. Frankly, I think things are going to get really nasty really soon (can you say lawsuit?).

Neck hurts

2005-10-06T17:20:00.000-04:00

This job is killing me slowly. Just wanted to share.

Busy rest of week/weekend ahead. Tonight is wine club, and Aaron and Kristin may be stopping at my place on their way to Scranton to crash. Sometime this weekend I may actually get to see Emily (NOLA Emily, not my omate who I see every day - duh). Saturday morning is zoo as usual and then in the afternoon Neyla and I are going to Shenandoah NP to camp overnight. Sunday we're going to do a 5 mile roundtrip hike to 2 waterfalls, then head home. I've been camping with dogs before, but never tent camping and never by myself. Let's hope I don't get attacked. Not with my vicious killer dog with me.

Anyway, I am determined to start blogging more. Next week. I swear.

Word verification is on

2005-10-03T14:42:00.000-04:00

An official apology for the extra step if you want to comment on my blog, but I was sick of the spam comments. So now if you want to say something, you'll have to do that silliness where you type in the word you see. You know, until now I never understood why you had to do that. So I get it, but I'm still not sure why the word is all swirly and hard to read. I mean, if the spam is automated, that shouldn't matter.

Anyway, I am back from vacation (obviously) and am working on sorting through and commenting on all of my pics (don't worry, picking out the good ones for an online album). It's gonna take me a while though. Between Dave and I we have about 1000 pics to get through and this is a crazy week. But I promise, it will be worth the wait.

The short version of the story for now - it was an awesome experience. I love the West, want to move out there, and am so sad for all the wasted vacations to Florida when I could have been exploring Arches National Park or something equally awe-inspiring. If you haven't been out there, GO NOW!

Fucking blog motherfucker

2005-09-16T16:47:00.000-04:00

So I typed this LONG-ASS post about my upcoming vacation and a few other things. Clicked on post, page wouldn't load. Hit back, post was gone. So what do you get? NOTHING.

You're probably screaming for joy actually. Or if you knew how long that post was, you would be. But I'm bitter. Very bitter.

Anyway, I'm leaving Monday for a 9 day cross-country trip. Shocked? Well that's not surprising since the only way you could have known was my lost/deleted/wrongfully taken from me post about it.

Yeah, so that's what I'm doing. I'll be back on email on the 29th, but I'll be trying to finish up this work project that's due the next day. That's right, a work project that's due the day after I get back from vacation. Nice, huh?

I better post this before it gets too long and I'm bitter when I lose this too. See ya.

NOLA

2005-09-02T11:39:00.000-04:00

I have a lot to update you on, but I have to talk about this first. I have been listening to the news coverage on the whole hurricane Katrina situation on WTOP news radio, but I have not been watching the news or checking stuff out online. Yesterday afternoon, in yet another attempt to procrastinate I started checking out major news sites and looking at slideshows. I am going to seem like a pussy, but I sat here and cried and cried. Then, just when I'd think I was okay, I'd see a picture that would get me going again.

Part of the reason I am more emotional is because an old college friend, Emily, has lived there since we graduated. Thankfully she's safe (and her dog and friends are too), but I can't imagine what it feels like to most likely have lost all of your possessions and to see the city you've spent the last 6 years in destroyed.

On a grander scale, what is wrong with our government? We are not a third world country - why are American citizens hiding in flooded homes with little or no food or water left, afraid to leave lest they be shot?! Certainly I do not understand the logistics of getting relief workers into NO quickly so maybe they really are doing everything they can, but that seems unlikely. Somehow, they need to do more!

Seriously, some of the pictures I saw...people trapped on a roof who had written (with white paint?) "Water is rising, please help", a woman next to her dead husband - he had lung cancer and ran out of oxygen, a man holding his baby, next to the body of a dead woman he's uncovered for the cameraman - at the convention center - I can only assume she died of starvation or dehydration. Have you really stopped to think about it? What it would be like to one day be going about your business and 2 or 3 days later to be fearing for your life while you see people around you dying, all the while knowing you've lost your home and all of your possessions?

From the AP:

In Washington, President Bush admitted "the results are not acceptable" and pledged to bolster the relief efforts with a personal trip to the Gulf Coast on Friday.

"We'll get on top of this situation," he said before setting out, "and we're going to help the people that need help."

Uh, too late?! Why does he need to receive horrible criticism from the country before he gets on shit? It's really despicable if you ask me.

Okay, I have to stop b/c I am just getting more and more pissed off. I'll post this afternoon about more happy news, although it's hard to type about my upcoming vacation when thinking about this situation.

The Edge of Reason

2005-08-22T13:29:00.000-04:00

Okay, so I'm really at a lost for post titles anymore, so I'm using that one since I watched the movie last night and because that's pretty much how I feel these days. By the way, I thought that movie sucked, absolutely sucked. The only part that made me lol the entire time was the fight between Colin Firth and Hugh Grant. Although I do have to say that just plain old looking at Hugh Grant makes me think slimy sleazeball, but when he tries to seduce Bridget in his room I almost died from wanting him so badly. It might be worth owning just to watch that scene over and over...

Anyway, focus...my main purpose was an update. I guess the major thing is that a cheetah keeper position at Wildlife Safari, which is a drive-through wildlife park in Oregon became available two weeks ago. I have my 3-month lifeplan (don't know who I've told about that) where I have to make progress in each area of my life each week. I actually have everything broken down into tasks and put on a calender, talk about total anal retentiveness. But I'm pretty much an all or nothing type of person so it's effective.

So anyway, I'm makign progress with my resume, but it's not done and this posting becomes available. I've had a pretty hectic life these last couple of weeks so I am STILL not done. I'm going to try to finish it tonight and send everything out tomorrow, but I think I've waited too long. It's okay I suppose - I'm not really ready to pick up and move cross-country all of a sudden, but if I could move in 2-3 months, it woudl be an awesome opportunity. I'll tell you more about it if I ever send the resume in and hear back from them.

Other than that, trying to get a bunch of shit done, including learning photography before my vacation mid-September as I wanted to buy a really nice digital SLR camera, but I don't know the first thing about photography. The camera will be courtesy of my refinance, which is currently in progress. Do you know that I've made about $100,000 in the 2 1/2 years since I bought my condo. The real estate market here is absolutely ridiculous! It's amazing how life sort of works itself out for you. I mean, the only reason I bought a condo was because I wanted to adopt a greyhound and the only reason I got involved with Greyhound Welfare was because I was going to foster a cat and GW's dogs happened to be listed on the SPCA's website at the time. And my love of greyhounds is a part of what led me specifically to cheetahs, rather than other large cats, and now I think I'm going to devote my entire career to conserving them.

I definitely don't believe in god, but I do think there's something out there that's sort of universal, pushing us along. Maybe just some type of energy. Sounds a little too new-age for "normal" people, but I do think there's something going on. Anytime I think about that, it reminds me that I really should be doing yoga. That's about as deep as it gets for me these days, sad, huh?

Okay, I am in desparate need of a nap. I'm hoping the boss heads home early so I can too. It's so gorgeous outside I could use a nap by the pool, but did a little too much of that yesterday with no sunscreen on the legs and of course, the legs got burned a bit. I'll settle for a nap inside with the windows open and the fans on.

Update time - it's a big un

2005-08-01T15:37:00.000-04:00

Let's just get right into it:

1-Craig and I broke up last weekend. I've been holding off on posting b/c I didn't really feel like talking about it. Doing quite a bit better now although I still have my moments. In a nutshell, it was a "pre-emptive strike" - he ultimately made the decision, but I was getting there myself and I'm in agreement with him. The whole thing feels very weird though b/c we both still really like each other and miss each other's company. Since there was no serious falling out or no reason to really dislike each other, it's harder in some ways. And god am I going to miss the...well, you know.

2-I have been really stressed out this past week b/c I have a ton of stuff weighing on me - financial decisions, career decisions, all topped off with being dumped. So today I made one huge decision, which is to refinance (I was considering many things including buying a larger home). Unfortunately interest rates have gone up in the 2 wks it took me to make the decision, but I am hopeful they will go back down so we are waiting. It will be much better when I've actually settled on the refinance but I already feel better.

3-I've made some serious decisions about my career as well. I've decided that if a job opens at the zoo that I want them I am applying and if I get it, accepting, no matter what I have to do. To make it work I will either have to live with a friend, get a roommate, or convince IMS to let me work part time from home, but somehow I will make it work. I'm also starting a conservation class at the zoo on Wednesday. It's only 3 weeks, from 6-7:30 on Wednesdays, but I'm hoping being back in a classroom will give me an indication if I shoudl also be pursuing grad school.

4-I do have some serious work cut out for me in the next few months - completing the course work for the afore-mentioned class, finishing my resume and completing a full smithsonian application (ridiculous amount of work), cleaning out my spare bedroom and painting it (a HUGE task), getting some GW tasks accomplished, and cleaning up my credit report to name a few. I guess it's a good thing I no longer have a boyfriend.

You know what? I have had a really tough time sleeping all week b/c this stuff has been weighing on me. I don't think I've had that happen since college. Hopefully this week I start sleeping again with at least one less thing (the refinance) weighing on me.

Okay, this was a very serious post. BOOBS!

Bottom line movie reviews

2005-07-22T15:05:00.000-04:00

Not much else going on so I thought I'd share my opinions on some movies I've seen this week:

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Johnny Depp disappoints slightly, and initially I was sad to not hear the original Oompaloompa song, but the new oompaloompa renditions more than make up for it. The movie is definitely creative, darker than the last one, but still not that dark, a little slow at times, but all in all just visually entertaining iwth a few hysterical moments thrown in.

Bottom Line - If you didn't like the first one, you probably shouldn't bother, but if you're a WW&tCF fan, then it's worth your $9 to see it on the big screen.

Wedding Crashers - I have one word: hysterical! The movie disappoints a bit when it turns into romantic comedy sap at the end, but the first 2/3 of the movie is constant hysterical laughter. I've heard that it's like The Big Lebowski in that you either love it or hate it, but frankly I don't see how anyone coudl hate it. Also, gratuitous boob montage early on that I could have done without, but many will enjoy it I'm sure.

Bottom Line - It's a bit out there at times and a bit slow at the end, but the laughs in the first half+ of the movie make it well worth it. This is one I will buy.

Mondovino - This is a documentary about the globalization of wine. The film is long and it strikes me that they could have edited it quite a bit so that it was your standard film length. Despite that (and the fact that I passed out drunk during the last 20 minutes), I learned a lot of interesting things about the wine business. And it's heightened my interest in tasting more Old World (European) wines.

Bottom Line - If you're not into wine, this probably isn't for you. Otherwise, it's worth the rental. Just fast forward through the shots of people's dogs.

"I won't be hungover tomorrow"

2005-07-22T11:20:00.000-04:00

Those were my exact words. You know what's coming of course...I am SO hungover. I did the little dance this morning - you know the one - you're sitting in the bathroom with your pants around your ankles and the garbage bag in your lap b/c you're not sure what's about to happen. When it came time to force myself to get into work b/c it was SO late, I proceeded to get dressed and feed the dogs. It went something like this:

- put on bra, shirt and deodorant
- lay curled up in a ball on the bed for 2 minutes
- change underwear and put on pants
- lay curled up in ball on bed for 2 minutes
- wash face
- toilet
- put dog food in bowls
- 2 minutes curled up in bed
- finish making dog food
- 2 more minutes in bed, 2 more minutes in bathroom

Finally I fed the dogs, grabbed my purse and left. Got a plain bagel and a coke from Einstein Bros and by the time I got to work was feeling much better. Things are still a bit "off" and my head is pounding, but I'm gonna' make it. Anyway, sorry if that was too graphic for any of you, but I know you all feel my pain.

Seriously, how old do I have to be before I quit doing this? Anyone have any ideas on that? Is there a magic birthday where suddenly you wise up?

An update finally

2005-07-20T14:41:00.000-04:00

Well I've been feeling really badly about not blogging, but since none of my friends were either I felt slightly justified. But in light of their recent updates I figured I better get to work. If anyone is even still reading. I think in an effort to be efficient, I'm going to go list-style like Molly and Dan did. So here we go:

1) Craig and I nearly broke up this weekend, all basically over a text message although it of course wasn't really that simple. We're back to normal, but I'm not confident this is going anywhere. Too many obstacles, the main one being difficulty communicating.

2) I have had multiple GW-related crises recently. Last week I found out that an adopter's greyhound attacked one of her cats. I had been working with her about 2 months ago on getting to the point where the grey could live with her cats. Things had been goign better so I hadn't heard from her when all of a sudden he just went after one of them. The cat had to be put down.

3) The most recent crisis was today. One of our fosters got loose (not his foster mom's fault) and she could not find him. I spent my whole morning coordinating the search efforts with a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach b/c this dog is brand new (off the track less than two weeks), nervous and unlikely to come to people, and in an area surrounded by woods and busy roads. But I got a call about a half an hour ago that he was found. HUGH relief for me. I am having a stiff drink as soon as I get home from work.

4) My job sucks. This is nothing new. Although you might be interested to know that my 6 year anniversary is in 2 weeks. Picture Munch's The Scream and you know how I feel about this.

5) My grandmother's 90th birthday is in 5 weeks. My mom and I decided to plan a party for her together. My mom is driving me up a wall calling or emailing me several times a day with ridiculous questions. For instance, last week she called me 3, yes 3! times from the party store to discuss color themes with me, then to tell me she had changed the color scheme b/c she found different cups, then to tell me she was done shopping. God help me.

6) 2 weekends ago I went to the first of two family weddings. It was actually a nice time overall although boring as hell toward the end. I really enjoy my extended family though. I'm looking forward to seeing all of them at my grandmother's party too, and then again at the next wedding in September. Anyway, on Sunday, before I drove back, my mom threw a little party to have over these friends of the family who I grew up with. I hadn't seen some of them in 10 years. It felt really good to reconnect with them and to find out that I actually like them as individuals, not just because I used to know them. And some of them have family right here in Laurel and Columbia so hopefully we're going to stay in touch.

7) I apparently can't really type a list, this is more of a book segmented into parts, but whatever. If you don't like it, kiss my ass, right?

Anyway, I hope everyone is doign well. I will try to blog more regularly now. Hopefully there won't be any more crises for a while!

Camping continued...

2005-06-27T15:15:00.000-04:00

Unfortunately my blog didn't like my link to the pics so it cut off the rest of my post. I had to leave work and now I don't remember what I said. Who wants to retype their entry anyway. So basically, if you want to see pics, email me and I'll forward the link to you. If you don't know my email address, well then you shouldn't be looking at them anyway I guess.

Camping recap

2005-06-24T15:20:00.000-04:00

So our servers are down today, which means I can't access any of my work and therefore can't do any work. Despite this, our company has told us to stay here in case someone calls to discuss work. So it's 3:21 and I am just waiting for my boss to leave so I can catch a few minutes at my pool before it gets too late. In the meantime, I thought I'd give you the lowdown on camping.

For starters, the cabin was much nicer than I expected based on my last PATC experience. It was very homey and more "user-friendly" in that we had to worry less about bears, had a garbage can and a drain inside the cabin, it was bigger, brighter, etc etc. Basically, it was REALLY nice. I could definitely see staying longer than a weekend there.

You can see pictures that sort of recap the whole trip

Off to the woods I go

2005-06-17T11:54:00.000-04:00

I'm out of here to go camping. Thrilled with the weather today - hope it stays like this. Have a great weekend everyone.

Vivid dreams

2005-06-15T16:33:00.000-04:00

I had some really memorable dreams last night, not sure why. But they all seemed pretty obvious to me, I mean why I had them. One of them was about the zoo though. It was the 2nd of my very lengthy zoo dreams that involved me being in direct contact with wild cats. It must come from my increasingly strong desire to work at the zoo rather than just volunteer. The whole thing was actually very weird, but too difficult to explain if you aren't familiar with the zoo.

One thing to note, I was there in my pajamas, and specifically in the ones I was sleeping in. I wonder if that's related to the fact that I could remember the dream so well. As in, I was somewhat conscious so something from my real life entered into the dream???

Okay, back to being bored as hell at work.

Shop 'til your fingers are tired

2005-06-14T16:48:00.000-04:00

I know, I know, two posts in one day, can you believe it?! I have a problem and I'm hoping that sharing it will stop me from doing anything stupid. Basically, I'm a sockaholic. All of a sudden, I am obsessed with buying hiking and walking gear, mostly socks, but I also invested in a new pair of hiking shoes earlier this week. And I'm not talking any old socks, but $15/pair Thorlo socks.

Before you judge, let me tell you that I walk the dogs for an hour a day, plus I'm on my feet working hard for 8 hours at the zoo every Saturday, plus I enjoy some hiking now and then. And these socks are like having pillows on your feet. In terms of value, they're worth the money. And I truly do believe in paying for a higher quality item if you're going to get a lot of use out of it.

For instance, I was just telling someone how I thought I would die when I found out the bikini I wanted (after trying on about 144 other suits) was $95. But I bought it anyway and 3 years later I am still wearing it (and loving it).

So anyway, these socks certainly fall into that category. It's just that when you add it all up, I've spent quite a bit of money. And I just caught myself lookign at these trail running socks on backcountry.com and thinking, well, they're on sale...

AT here I come

2005-06-14T11:25:00.000-04:00

So this weekend is a big step for me and the old man - we're going camping in Michaux State Park. PATC maintains about 30 cabins along the Appalachian Trail, mostly in or near Shenandoah National Park. Some of you might remember that Rebekah and I stayed in one on the 4th of July 2 years ago. We packpacked 4 miles each way to the cabin - most including that one and the one Craig and I are staying in this weekend are primitive cabins (no water, electricity, etc.) and many have hikes in.

Anyway, this time our cabin is actually near Gettysburg, PA. Only a .2 mile hike in since Neyla is still recovering (although doing well) from her injury that happened when I visited Dan in October (!). We're going up Friday and staying through Sunday afternoon. Saturday we're planning on doing a 3 mile circuit hike that hopefully Neyla can handle. Otherwise, it's hanging out in a cabin with no one else around. I'm planning on drinking some warm liquor straight up if necessary as it could get boring. :>P

Okay seriously, I'm a bit nervous. That's a long time with no tv, movies, etc. - just me and Craig. Keep your fingers crossed for us. This could make or break us!

People who live in glass houses

2005-06-07T11:50:00.000-04:00

Well I was just getting ready to bitch at Dan for not having posted in so long when he finally did, but I realized I better post myself before I get yelled at (b/c I KNOW you all miss hearing from me SO much). I suppose if my life were more interesting you might. Life is pretty uneventful lately - work, zoo, Craig, Greyhound Welfare, yada, yada. I did get to go the VA wine festival this Sunday...

It was hot as hell for starters, which meant drinking a lot of white wine because I just couldn't take anything warm. This, in turn, meant a lot of sickeningly sweet white wines because VA, frankly, doesn't make very good wine. With the exception of Barboursville Vineyards, which does very well. I also liked a chardonnay or two, which is uncommon - one in particular from Stone Mountain vineyards (all steel-aged of course). I also had some crappy chinese food and a funnel cake (yum).

Perhaps the most shocking event of the day - I bought a cowboy hat. We all know I look like crap in hats, but the heat and sun were unbearable so I sought refuge under the wide, frayed brim of a cowboy hat. They were selling them at the bargain price of $39.95 (not like they had a captive audience or anything), but I managed to talk the guy down to $34.95 + tax. With these negotiating skills, you'd think I'd be the next Apprentice.

So anyway, now I have to wear my cowboy hat to anything and everything. I'm going to have to wear it to work even. :>)

Oh, I almost forgot perhaps the funniest aspect of the entire day. Dave brought his mp3 player along, which happens to have a mic, so we recorded our notes on all the wines we tasted in mp3 format. I listened to them yesterday, and while mine were thoughtful and informative, Dave's went something like this:

"Sucks a bag of dicks"
"Rebec winery, Resuck"
"Stone Mountain wines, stone mountain suck"
"I'd drink it off a whore"
"Chrysalis, Chrysuck"

Nice.

Worst first date ever

2005-05-31T15:42:00.000-04:00

My friend Molly's tale of a recent date prompted me to share this - some of you have already heard it, but it's still fun. So I participated in a night of speed dating once. I signed up as moral support for a friend, but with an open mind as I was also single. My friend then backed out, but luckily was able to find someone I knew to take her place.

So Jenny (this replacement friend) and I head off to our night of speed dating. Generally speaking, lots of cute young woman and a bunch of men you'd probably expect - 30-somethings, balding, office attire, plain looking. Basically, nothing special. There were a few cuties, who were off-set by the few old creepy dudes who slipped by the age limit radar.

Anyway, if you've never done anything like this (save yourself the time and don't), then you need to know that the women stay seated and the men move from woman to woman. You have literally 2 or 3 minutes iwth each guy and then, bam!, the next one is in front of you. You're taking notes, trying to remember who teh fuck is who and if anyone is actually funny or cute or it's just your imagination (foreshadowing here).

At the end of the night, there was one guy I wanted to email (he was the hottie, although nothign panned out as we really didn't have anything in common). And then there were some guys that I thought were interesting and decent looking. One of them contacted me, we talked on the phone (still interesting and funny) so we made a date.

On his suggestion, we met for Ethiopian food - he happened to pick what is now my favorite Ethiopian restaurant, but this is actually not a good thing. If you don't know, you eat ethiopian with your hands. Not a good first date choice. Not to mention that he showed up 15 minutes late and sweaty because he ran, yes RAN, from work.

Lest you get confused, this guy is not a runner. On the contrary, he was 30-something, balding, wearing office attire, & plain looking. Clearly I had not done a good job taking notes the night of the speed dating.

So anyway, I'm eating my sweat-laden food and hoping the date gets better when I realize that he is also not 1) interesting or 2) funny. It seriously amazes me how different a person can be over email or on the phone than they are in person.

From there we went to a little bar down the street that had live music - turns out the music was really good, but the seating arrangements forced me to be right next to him. By now his stench was overwhelming. I got out of there as soon as possible. He walked me to my car where he of course asked if we could go out again. I think I actually said no right there rather than making excuses and having to send the crappy email later, which I'm quite proud of, and that was the end of my speed dating experience.

I have to say, that had the potential to be the best first date ever, coincidentally picks one of my fave restaurants, then we happen upon some great live music. The bottom line is it's clearly about who you spend it with more than anythign else, but guys, a general tip - don't suggest crazy ethnic food for a first date and most importantly, don't show up late and/or sweaty.

Bill paying

2005-05-24T16:00:00.000-04:00

Does anyone have some fantastic system that helps you get your bills paid on time? Before you answer, let me clarify - I need a system that not only helps me to stay organized, but that actually motivates me. If this bill paying system happens to also be a handsome dark-skinned man that walks around in some boxer briefs, well, I guess I'll just have to deal with that. Know of one?

Okay, seriously, I don't want to talk about my inability to pay my bills. Instead, let's focus on the good news. My boss is out of town for 2 weeks so I am getting a shitload of stuff accomplished at work that is, of course, not work related. I like being productive - I wish I could remember that on the days (most days) that I feel lazy and therefore, am not productive.

On that note, I have 4 things left to accomplish today and not much time - actually, not enough time. So I better get started!

Oh, btw, don't think I haven't noticed that my blog is horrendously boring. I swear my next post will be about sex - fantastic, hot sex.

Total gluttony

2005-05-20T11:02:00.000-04:00

There's nothing like total gluttony to push you out of a depression. Last night's Zoofari was by far the best I have attended thus far (this was my 3rd year). The food was better than it's ever been, the wine pourers were generous, the rain held off, and I had a fantastic foot massage for $6 + tip.

Some of my favorites this year:

Teatro Goldoni - a something and cherry basted pork rib. Yes, I ate pork and it was so good I went back and had a second one.

Tuscana West - a mushroom ravioli in a butter sage sauce with black truffles. YUM! You just cannot go wrong with a butter sauce. Went nicely with the Hardy's chardonnay from next door. Not a particularly special wine, but a bargain at $7/bottle.

100 King Street (owned by the Corn Exchange) - the restaurant is opening soon. They served a mushroom mix with a bit of grated parm on top. Sounds simple, but it was perhaps the best thing I ate. Had seconds on this one too.

Ritz Carlton, Pentagon City - Well of course you can't go wrong with the Ritz Carlton. They were serving a crabcake with a cilantro lime remoulade. Need I say anything else?

Michel Richard Citronelle - vegetable risotto. Mixed reviews on this one, Dave didn't like it, but I really did. He's not a fan of risotto though and was really full by then anyway (I practically forced it down his throat). So I stick with it being a winner.

Kinkead's An American Brasserie - Mushroom filled phyllo pastry with some delicious sauce. Not a standout compared to the above dishes, but still a winner.

Dave also gave reports on some very delicious pieces of lamb. Judging from the line to get it, it must have been good. We also tasted some other very good wines, including a reserve Riesling from Jacob's Creek.

I have to say that Zoofari is by far the highlight of my year. Think of a wine festival, but with samples from over 100 of the best DC restaurants with live music in a setting as fanastic as the National Zoo. And all I had to do was tape tablecloths and skirts to tables for a few hours.

Stu

2005-05-19T08:44:00.000-04:00

I got a call around 3 am yesterday morning from the vet at the hospital where Stu was letting me know he had passed away. It was somewhat unexpected as I had visited that evening and we had discussed discharging him. We decided to wait until Wednesday to be on the safe side. He was doing well all evening and then suddenly, one of the techs noticed he wasn't breathing. He was already gone at that point.

So yesterday sucked. They did a necropsy and no obvious reason for him passing. We'll have some more info from tissue samples in a couple of weeks, but we may never know. This whole ordeal was really sad and difficult due to the ups and downs.

Just wanted to share.

On a more positive note, today is Zoofari so I am off shortly to volunteer all day, then drink and eat as much as a I can in a 3 hour period. Have a good day.

A little candy

2005-05-17T13:52:00.000-04:00

Well I know you're all suffering from withdrawel at this point so I thought I'd make a quick post. Well actually, I thought I'd post my excuse for not posting. We had a dog get on the truck to come down here perfectly healthy and get off extremely sick. He's been in the ICU of a specialty facility (where Neyla had her kidney ultrasound done) since yesterday and is finally improving. He may even come "home" in the next day or two.

Anyway, you can read his story here.

This weekend and this week thus far have pretty much been about the dogs and not about the sleep. Last night was the first night I got a chance to catch up a bit. Hopefully tonight, after I visit Stu, I'll get a little reading done and then get to bed early.

Oh, Thursday is Zoofari. If you don't remember from previous years, envision me stuffing little tastes of food and samples of wine down my throat at incredible speeds for about 3 months, racing from booth to booth as the evening wraps up and restaurants start to close down. Good times!

Crash

2005-05-11T15:04:00.000-04:00

I'm not much of a movie reviewer, but I don't have anything else more exciting (not that this is exciting) to blog about, so why not?

Pros:
All star cast, including some of my personal faves - Don Cheadle and Thandie Newton
Much higher level of entertainment value than I expected, including a few twists and turns
Keeps you on your toes because there's a lot going on

Cons:
Sometimes hard to keep up because there is so much going on; also leaves some characters undeveloped
Doesn't necessarily present any shocking or new information in terms of race issues

Bottom Line:
It's an entertaining Hollywood style movie, but if you're expecting a deep movie on a tough issue Hotel Rwanda style, you aren't gonna' get it.

Side bar: The theater wasn't packed, but I found it interesting that I was the only white person in there. And of course, I was there with my black boyfriend. I expected a more diverse audience (everyone was black, not just non-white), especially since the movie doesn't deal with only black/white issues, but arab, asian, & hispanic stereotypes. Oh well, it was a Tuesday night.

Grey's Anatomy

2005-05-10T14:17:00.000-04:00

If you aren't watching it, it's time to start. There are only 2 episodes left this season, but it's not too late. Sundays @ 10 p.m. on ABC (channel 7). If my recommendation isn't enough, Sandra Oh is in it.

What is it with goddamn men???!!!

2005-05-06T16:08:00.000-04:00

So I'm dating Craig right? And somewhat surprisingly, I'm really finding I like this guy. Well someone should have told me to wait until the 3 month mark because apparently that's when men finally let their guard down and the real shit comes out.

I guess I should have known it was inevitable that the flowers would stop and the farting would take it's place, but I didn't know that these changes would also be accompanied by game playing and immaturity. Yes, that is the real issue - you think you've found a rare one. A man who is actually mature regardless of his age, someone who can communicate and will treat you right.

WRONG!

I'm starting to think it's a myth that such a man exists.

In a nutshell, last night, after some bickering, Craig decides that he's mad at me because I've left him to sleep on the couch (I had not, but that's a separate story). So what does he do? Come into the bedroom and ask me about it? Stay on the couch? No, those might seem likely, but instead he calls me...

from his car...

in my parking lot...

telling me he's not sleeping on the couch so should he stay or go home?

I tell him to come in and talk about it, but he's locked himself out. So I unlock the door. He comes in and asks for a flashlight. Why? I ask. He's locked his keys in his car.

Now frankly, the keys thing was an accident, probably because he was upset, so I won't say anything else about that. But please, why would you call me from your car? That is total bullshit.

I thought this morning I might have an email apologizing (no, we did not work this out last night b/c he was really pissy and I refuse to fight) - nope. Just an email chit-chatting about his morning and then he asks "What happened last night?" Now do you really want me to answer you?

By the way, the sleeping thing - I thought he was asleep on the couch, so I got ready for bed, turned the lights out, etc. and got into bed. No, I was not going to let him sleep there, but I had to make a phone call so I decided I'd do that first. I was actually on that phone call when he beeped through from his car. Turns out, he was never asleep. It begs the question, why were you laying there with your eyes closed while I did all of this stuff except to bait me?

So it's probably not all that big of a deal, not worth all the energy I've put into bitching about it today, but this is all from the man who has stated repeatedly, "I don't like games." Honey, you have a funny way of showing it.

From 0 to 4 in 30 seconds

2005-05-04T11:50:00.000-04:00

So I've been watching an adopted dog, Francis, for 2 months now. She goes home tomorrow. I'm not particularly attached so no big deal, but I don't get a foster until the 15th. That's a long time for Neyla to be dogless as she tends to get really nervous without another dog around.

So I posted to my group offering to dog-sit any fosters that needed it. Suddenly, I don't have one damn day without another dog in my home and will often have 3 (and one day maybe 4). All I can say is I am one crazy motherfucker.

The good news, I am watching my old foster Todd. Only overnight, but he is one of the more recent loves of my life. If Neyla had bonded with him at all, I would have had to adopt him. So I am REALLY excited to be watching him.

Okay, Indian buffet calls...

A huge accomplishment

2005-05-02T14:37:00.000-04:00

So I went out for Vicky's birthday Friday night. And I managed to drink, have a good time, and not be hungover when I woke up the next morning! WHOO-HOO.

I know, impressive, huh?

Anyway, it was a good weekend, although virtually sleepless. I am exhausted right now and not sure how I'm going to get work done although I desparately need to. I guess it's time to wander down and get some coffee. Hope everyone had a good weekend.

Life is good

2005-04-29T15:22:00.000-04:00

I took the day off from work yesterday to go out to CRC, the zoo's research facility in Front Royal, VA. Craig was going out there so I asked if I could tag along. We had a really nice day. It was gorgeous outside, warm, partly sunny, cool breeze. The campus is beautiful with great views of the Shenandoah mountains in parts and I got to schmooze with at least one important researcher out there (side bar - when the cheetahs move out to CRC, Craig will work there. I also hope to work there as an animal keeper if a position ever opens).

Anyway, after we came back, we changed, drove into the city and had margaritas outside. Then we went to a National Geographic photography event where the photographer showed slides of his photos and gave some history behind them. The photographer was fantastic to listen to and had a really neat perspective on cheetahs and other wildlife in Africa.

All in all, it was a really nice day and I had a really good time with Craig. Tonight I'm heading out to Baltimore for Vicky's birthday. I'm spending the night so I can go to her football game the next day. Tomorrow night seeing Sin City with Craig (will let you know how it is) and going to his soccer game Sunday morning. Aside from the weather, should be a great weekend. Even tutoring will be good since it's my last session with this student!

Hope everyone else has a great weekend. Maybe sometime you'll consider blogging about it. Or anything really. Or reading mine...

Best Ranger

2005-04-26T15:45:00.000-04:00

Aaron competed in the U.S. Army Best Ranger competition this past week. It's an honor in and of itself to be a Ranger at all and even moreso to be chosen to compete in this competition. Even so, more than half of the teams don't finish the 60 straight (sleepless) hours of hard physical labor and skills tests that are involved. Out of the 25 or so (?) teams that started, only 11 finished and Aaron's team was one of them. He and his partner placed 10th. All of the winning teams had competed before, some several times, but Aaron and his partner had not.

I'm really proud of him. He is a machine. Aaron - if you are reading this, you are a machine. :>P

Do you want a lime with that?

2005-04-22T11:49:00.000-04:00

So last night I guest bartended for a Greyhound Welfare happy hour fundraiser. I had a blast! Ever since I waited tables in college, I've wanted to bartend, but never got around to it. Unfortunately my schedule now doesn't allow for it, but I would love to. I had so much fun. Of course, that could have had something to do with all of the shots the bartender was making for us, but I think I would have had fun despite that.

Although I sometimes wonder if I could do it all of the time as I think you end up doing a lot of drinking. I'd probably get really fat from all of the alcohol. Or turn into an alcoholic. Yeah, maybe not such a great idea afterall...

Cocktails

2005-04-15T16:43:00.000-04:00

Well Molly took my quiz, so I took hers. Here are my results:

Jennifer, you're a Comfort Cola

No doubt about it, you're as refreshing as they come. You're the unique type of person who can be dropped into a room of strangers and walk out with a whole new set of friends. Yes, you're that cool. You probably don't have any pretenses, and you stay true to yourself in all situations. Not only is it great to be you, but also you're definitely a bonus to be around.You've got that down-to-earth quality that gives everyone permission to be themselves around you. That's a great and rare gift. You're an uplifting and grounding person, and you're fabulous in any situation. So maybe it's time to treat yourself to a cocktail that suits your sensible style.

Good news, bad news, happy news, sad news

2005-04-14T13:21:00.000-04:00

Well I shouldn't really say anything until the official press release, but no one reads this blog anyway, so let me just say there's good news in the Zazi department. More on that once the press release is out. I will give you a hint though if anyone remembers the days of singing School House Rocks in college - # is the magic number...

Onto the sad news. An adopter who I had been in contact with over the past 6 months because we were having similar lameness issues with our dogs emailed me this afternoon to let me know that they had to have her put to sleep yesterday. I am really devastated by the news. She was only 5 and he had had her for less than 2 years. I am really grateful that Neyla got better, but I remember having thoughts that I might lose her (when the kidney issues popped up in addition to the lameness) and I remember thinking how unfair it would be to lose a dog that young that soon. So I really feel for Jeff. So everyone with pets, go home and give your cat/dog/ferret an extra big hug tonight.

Quiz Time

2005-04-13T13:59:00.000-04:00

It's been a while since anyone has posted a quiz, so it's time to find out what kind of coffee you are:

http://www.yournewromance.com/coffeequiz.html

I'm a little disappointed with my results b/c 1) I would NEVER drink a peppermint cappucino and 2) this is only about half right (incorrect items are highlighted for your convenience):

You Are a Peppermint Cappuccino
You're fun, outgoing, and you love to try anything new. However, you tend to have strong opinions on what you like. You are a total girly girly at heart - and prefer your coffee with good conversation. You're the type that seems complex to outsiders, but in reality, you are easy to please.

Lord knows I am NOT a girly girl and I am definitely NOT easy to please. Ah well, at least the coconut mocha I'm drinking is delicious.

TiVo

2005-04-12T16:45:00.000-04:00

Well, I broke down and had Direct TV w/TiVo installed last week. Today I spent a solid hour, if not longer, looking at websites for various satellite channels (for those of you who don't know, I haven't had cable for about 3 1/2 years), finding shows I want to TiVo. I have a list of about 20 shows and this does not include all of the normal "local channel" shows I already watch and have set up for TiVo to record already. This is sad.

I am happy to report though that I haven't watched much TV since I got it - in fact, I'd say I've watched less, but that's only due to my motivational burst discussed in an earlier post. And Sunday night, when I finally had some veg out time, instead of watching 2 hours of crap leading up to the show I wanted to watch (Grey's Anatomy), I watched a National Geographic show on maximum security prisons and a Sherlock Holmes episode.

Okay, so Sherlock Holmes isn't really educational programming, but most of the shows on my newly created list are from Animal Planet, National Geographic, The History Channel, etc. Plus, I no longer have to watch commercials - EVER! Do you know how much time that will save me over the course of my lifetime?!

Anyway, I think it's ultimately going to be a positive thing. Let's hope so as I had to sign a one year contract. And let's also hope I don't get in trouble with my condo community for installing the dish on an 8 foot pole. I didn't think about it at the time, but in retrospect, I do think I recall the property manager telling me that isn't allowed. It's a shame that the pole is in full view of anyone who might use our community pool this summer. Hopefully no one out there is overly bitter about their inability to get Direct TV reception in their own unit and decides to report me!

Today's the day

2005-04-12T11:35:00.000-04:00

Today was supposed to be the day that I got a lot accomplished at work. I stopped at Einsten Bros for some fortification (skim mocha and a schmear) to ensure that I started work immediately.

But it looks like that ain't happenin'. Instead, today is going to be the day that Zazi has her cubs. She's been due any day for a few days (if that makes sense) and today it's clear the time has come. She's pacing around a lot and is clearly very agitated and I do believe I saw a contraction earlier this morning (cheetahs roll around on their backs when they're having contractions).

This was confirmed by an email from C. this morning. He says they're coming today or tonight. Anyway, this is very exciting. So I'm not doing any work - I'm just watching Zazi on the webcam all day.

Spring Cleaning

2005-04-11T11:40:00.000-04:00

I have had the most productive week - and particularly weekend - in some time. It is amazing what you can get done if you just get motivated. Last week, I totally cleaned out and reorganized the closet I have for storage out on my deck. This included unstacking and restacking the probably 1/8 of a cord of firewood I have left. I also bought some utility shelves that I put together and put in my closet so now everything is neat and accessible. It's the perfect display for my new gardening gloves that I've actually used twice already for repotting plants (yet another thing I accomplished). :>)

Then this weekend, I rearranged all of my living and dining room furniture (my spring arrangement - much more open and airy) and cleaned - I mean seriously cleaned - from top to bottom as I moved furniture. I also did about 8 loads of dog laundry, with only a few more to go before I'm done with that!

I need to clean my bathroom once I'm done with that and my kitchen as the spring ants are back, but my next big project after that is my spare bedroom. That's a tough one as I've been using it as a sort of storage space for the past two years. But I just bought a small chest-style freezer to store chicken for my dog in and I'll be keeping it in there, so I want to totally clean and reorganize. I'm also considering painting that room. My last big task will be to paint my bathroom and buy all new fixtures. What do you guys think of a bright (not too deep/dark) turquoise/aqua color for my bathroom? With stark white on the woodwork to contrast and brushed nickel fixtures?

Anyway, listen to me, I sound like the happy homemaker. It's shocking really. I wonder how long this motivation will last...

Aprils Fools!

2005-04-01T10:56:00.000-05:00

So I didn't even know it was April Fool's Day. Until I came into the office and my phone started ringing. I answer the phone, "Hello...hello..." but no one answers. For maybe the 5th time, my officemate has taped down the plunger on my phone so I can't answer and she's calling me from her desk.

She thought it was pretty funny.

At least this time I caught on right away.

Off to the 'burgh

2005-03-25T14:57:00.000-05:00

Well, despite my best intentions to avoid it, I'm off to Pittsburgh for the weekend. I'm not looking forward to the drive home. Frankly, it's about an hour too long without traffic and as many as several hours too long with traffic. This time, rather than rushing out of here to try to beat traffic, I'm trying a different strategy. I'm going home, taking a nap, feeding my dog, eating dinner, and leaving AFTER traffic. Hopefully there will be no one on the road while I'm driving tonight.

Unfortunately, I'm home Saturday and part of Sunday and then it's the same thing all over again, except that I'm guaranteed traffic on the way back. FUN!

All of this to attend a bridal shower for a relative's fiance I don't know and see my mom, dad, and grandma briefly.

Well, it will be good to see them for even that little bit of time. It's just exhausting, and stressful for Neyla. At least it will make my family happy. Hopefully I manage to stay awake for the drive and the multiple cups of coffee I'll need to do so don't give me explosive diarrhea.

On that note, have a good Easter if that's your thing. Otherwise, enjoy your weekend!

CCF Africa

2005-03-23T10:01:00.000-05:00

Is my blogging never good enough? Damn?! :>P

Alright, so the Cheetah Conservation Fund, or CCF, is one of the world's leading organizations in cheetah conservation. They're located in Namibia, which has the largest remaining population of cheetahs in the world (~2,500 out of 12,000). They have a volunteer program that I'm applying for. I would work with them for 2 weeks, then spend about a week travelling (think safari) before returning to the states.

I think it's pretty much a given that I will be accepted because of my experience with the zoo (Craig actually went there himself last year, although not as a volunteer of course), but you never know. And of course, I have to get that application in first!

So that's that. You can learn about the organization here. And in particular, learn about what I'd be doing and see tons of great pictures here.

Full recovery?

2005-03-22T13:58:00.000-05:00

Well, first and foremost, Neyla has made continual improvement over the past couple of weeks. She is now able to hold it for about 8 hours, but not more, and her water consumption has gone down drastically. We checked her urine last week and it looks like her kidneys are working. So I'm hoping over the next few weeks that we continue to improve until she's back 100%. In the meantime, she is loving the nice weather and we've actually been taking some short walks with no limping (knock on wood). I would be so relieved if she was better in both areas.

As for me, I was forced to take a break as Foster Coordinator for GW. Apparently I was doing a shitty job (I was) so I didn't have a choice. This all coincided with Neyla's kidney problems so I was not a happy camper for a little while. Anyway, Kopal and I have worked through it and I'm hoping to make a full recovery in that area as well. In the meantime, I am trying to finally get my resume and CCF application finished so I can go to Africa!

Anyway, that's it. My life is pretty uneventful lately. It does look like Zazi, another female cat at the zoo, is pregnant. There's no way to know for sure, except that she's huge and is obviously prego. The question is what happens when she has them - will she eat them or not? Anyway, she's due in about 3 weeks so it should be exciting. I actually got to see her breed this time too so I'm really excited.

Okay, I'll stop boring you.

Can I get some air?!

2005-03-18T14:14:00.000-05:00

So C. is out of town this weekend. I'm actually looking forward to the time apart - absence makes the heart grow fonder, right?. Unfortunately I wouldn't know because C. apparently misses me so much he has to call or email at every opportunity. He's only been gone since noon yesterday and already we've talked on the phone 3 times and emailed once. HELLO?!!

And I just know he's going to call me tonight, tomorrow night, and sometime Sunday. My omate thinks I should say something. We just had a conversation about this type of thing a week and a half ago. What do I have to do to get it through his head?

Okay, so I'm being a little harsh. Afterall, I'm not complaining that he doesn't call me enough. He's a great guy. It would just be a shame if I ditched the great guy because I felt suffocated.

Help?

Here's the explanation

2005-03-05T11:42:00.000-05:00

Well it's good to know I still have one reader. To be honest, I've been meaning to post - if only to explain why I'm not posting - but I just haven't had time. But Dan's comment got me to do it finally. :>)

Neyla has actually been sick. After months of lameness and then her funky toenail growing in and her chewing it off, I thought things couldn't get much worse (or more expensive). Until last weekend when I noticed she was drinking like a fiend and having accidents b/c she needed to go out every 1 to 2 hours. So we went into the vet and did bloodwork.

A week later, and after many vet appointments and tests (including a $365 ultrasound), I have a diagnosis: acute kidney disease/failure. We suspect it's caused by a bacterial infection - a tick-borne disease or something called leptospirosis. We're waiting on bloodwork results to confirm or deny that. The lepto may be as much as another week.

So in many ways, this diagnosis is a good one. She doesn't have any tumors or any chronic kidney problems. There's a chance for full recovery assuming we've caught and treated the source of the problem in time. There's also a chance that permanent damage has already been done to her kidneys or that we won't figure it out and she'll get worse.

I wouldn't have wanted to post about this except that today we had some decent news. Not getting my hopes up, but we reran her bloodwork and her kidney values had come down a little bit (which is a good thing) and she's been able to hold it for a bit longer the past two days.

So anyway, please keep your fingers crossed for a full recovery. She's only 6 (well, will be on Friday) and the thought of her living with kidney problems indefinitely is really discouraging.

Anyway, I think life will start to get back to normal now. This week I was only in the office a grand total of about 12 hours. Otherwise, I worked from home in between vet visits. And now I have to make up all of those missed hours by sending out work this weekend - FUN! I am going bowling with C. tonight. Both of his sisters live in the area and are coming so it's a sort of not-meant-to-be-a-meet-the-family-meet-the-family event. Wish me luck on that one!

Monkeys riding greyhounds

2005-02-24T11:42:00.000-05:00

I'm not kidding you, it used to happen. Read about it and see a picture here.

Crazy shit man.

Take out and make out

2005-02-17T11:02:00.000-05:00

So I had another date with C. last night. I believe this was date 6. We were supposed to go to a photography exhibit, but he dropped the ball on getting tickets and then it was sold out (he lost some points in my book, but I'm (mostly) over it now). Anyway, so instead we got take out and watched...well, started to watch...a movie. About an hour in, we just finally gave up and turned it off - I'm sure you can imagine why (and if you can't, because you're a total idiot, please reference my blog title).

Anyway, my whole point: isn't it great at the beginning of a relationship when things are for the most part pretty innocent and you just make out for hours and hours? If nothing else, it makes me feel young again (not that I'm old, but you know what I mean). It's nice when for a brief period things are not complicated by "adult" things like sex and talking. :>P

The funny thing is I think I always think that this time around the fun making out stuff won't stop, but it always does, doesn't it? Maybe that's because I've only been in failed relationships. Anyone out there in a successful long term relationship (let's go with 2+ years) who still makes out like a school kid every now and then (with your significant other and not some guy or gal you're having an affair with btw)???

I answered my own question

2005-02-15T11:06:00.000-05:00

I went on an H&M shopping spree last night and got everything on my list - black pants, some cute new tops, and bras and underwear! I love that store.

Panties (really a post for girls only)

2005-02-14T14:02:00.000-05:00

Does anyone (Molly???) know a good place to get nice bras/underwear for cheap? I went into Victoria's Secret at lunch today to check out that new non-padded push-up (which, by the way, still has a lining that makes it feel padded so I think it's a crock) and the prices were ridiculous. I already knew VS was expensive, but the bra and underwear together (yes, I bought them despite all of this) were $70!!!!!!!!!

I am most likely going to return them when I get my common sense back.

Anyway, suggestions anyone.? Target sucks lately and I am desparate to get rid of all of my hole-riddled undies.

Valentine's Day no longer a massacre

2005-02-14T11:36:00.000-05:00

I got really excited a couple of weeks ago when I got an evite titled "Valentine's Day Massacre." It was from my single friend Sean and was an invite for a hold 'em tournament this past Saturday. I felt relieved that I wouldn't have to plan my black v-day party, but would still have something going on this weekend. Turned out I was pretty tired, went out early and headed home to watch Collateral with my dog, which was all good.

Anyway, this morning - actual Valentine's day - I woke up not even remembering what day it was. I actually think that's a fantastic development. I think it demonstrates how comfortable I am with my single status, right? Although when I got into the office and remembered, I was actually a teeny bit disappointed b/c I didn't wear my v-day socks. I mean, you can only wear those once a year so it sucks if you forget to put them on, right?

Anyway, the whole point of this post...I got an email from the receptionist telling me I had a delivery. So I wandered down to the lobby and there, waiting for little 'ol me, was a beautiful flower arrangement from C. The card said:

Happy Valentine's Day
Thinking of you
C.

And just like that, my v-day was massacre free. I might even let someone cut in front of me on the way home from work and not curse or give them the finger.

Chime in music lovers

2005-02-11T14:11:00.000-05:00

So I just spent $70 on some CDs. Who knew a little lunch trip could be so expensive. Anyway, I mostly bought jazz CDs, plus Beth Orton's Pass In Time.

The reason I bring this up - I consider myself a "classic" jazz lover, think Ella, Miles, Louis, Nina Simone, Billie Holiday, etc. Even so, I know very little about jazz and I own very few CDs. Recently I dug out my old CDs (and a Billie Holiday tape, yes, that's right, a cassette tape!) and thought to myself "What a shame that I don't listen to this type of stuff more often."

So I am determined to educate myself a bit about jazz and expand my collection. This includes figuring out what types of more contemporary jazz I like so I can go to live performances. This is where you come in.

Any favorite artists or discs (old or new) that you have, please let me know. Anywhere online where I can listen to music for free, send me a link. Any CDs you want to burn, send them my way. I'm happy to return the favor. I just bought an Ella/Louis CD, Nina Simone's Anthology and a Billie Holiday 2-disc set.

Job satisfaction plummeting

2005-02-11T10:53:00.000-05:00

So my internet connection has been down at work for the past day and a half. This morning they announced a temporary fix, which isn't fully effective, but at least I can blog again! Hallelujah!

Having said that, not much to blog about. My foster Todd went home last night. The couple who adopted him is great (young, good looking, really nice). But I was sad to see him go. Every once in a while there's a dog that really just fits in and Todd was one of those. But I have my handsome Monell around so I didn't have to be fosterless at all.

That's all I guess. Sorry, this was really boring.

Blog happy/spend happy

2005-02-07T16:56:00.000-05:00

I went to Old Navy at lunch today (in the midst of "all this" dating I realized I hate my clothes) and quickly dropped $75. I did get a lot of stuff, but the clothes there are total crap and will probably shrink or fall apart after about 2 wears.

On the opposite side of the spectrum, I bought a top at BeBe - can't even remember now why I actually bought it, I think for my friend's Christmas party - a sort of special occasion. I couldn't believe I dropped $60 for a tiny piece of material, but I LOVE the shirt and have now worn it 4 times.

So it dawned on me, it's not necessarily a bad thing to spend a lot of cash on an article of clothing if it's something you'll wear more than once. I usually get some cheapo shirt at Rave for $20 that I wear one time, then think is outdated. So by buying this Bebe shirt, I have actually SAVED myself money. What a great revelation!

No kidding!

2005-02-07T15:48:00.000-05:00

So I'm getting a little fired up. Have you ever thought about how "child-rearing oriented" our society is? When you really think about it, our society discriminates against adults who choose not to have children. Since I plan to remain in this category, I'm a bit irritated.

A minor example - one I've always complained about though - my company subsidizes our health insurance. We have several options - a single plan, a couple plan, and a family plan. And wouldn't you know that our company subsidizes the couple/family plans more than it subsidizes my plan. Why? Because those plans cost more? But those families have CHOSEN to have children. I've chosen not to.

I have chosen to own a dog. I don't get money to pay for her care, nor do I get to use my sick leave when she needs to see a doctor (while parents can use their sick leave for dr's visits for their children). How is that fair?

People also receive additional tax credits for every child they have. Not to mention that we pay taxes to schools, programs, etc. - all related to kids. Personally, I see the benefit of having a good educational system in my community and I'll gladly donate my grocery store points to buy computers for school kids, but I don't get why parents just get money from the government for having a kid.

Maybe I'm missing something here. Anyone?

Datee #2

2005-02-07T15:44:00.000-05:00

So I had my date with Salon.com guy yesterday. I'd use initials like Dan, but since there's only one so far, we'll just call him Salon guy. Anyway, he is really cute and lived up to my expectations in terms of what I learned over email. We have a nice 2 hr chat over coffee (well, I had coffee; he had juice).

It's pretty clear there's no long-term potential here, but I think we could manage a few fun dates before things fizzled out. Basically, he's very free-spirited, which is refreshing, but it's a bit too much of a contrast for anything long term.

He did ask as we were leaving if I wanted to get together again. Of course I said yes. So we'll see if he follows through on that. No biggie either way.

Anyway, just had to fill y'all in. :>)

Wine club

2005-02-03T15:31:00.000-05:00

So tonight is the commencement of a wine club a few of my friends started. I'm hosting the first tasting at my place. We're tasting the "big 6" - riesling, sauv blanc, chardonnay, pinot, merlot, & cab sauv. I got a book from my mom for Christmas that will lead us through it. I'm really excited about this as I am really into wine and always want to learn more. Now I will have people to learn with.

The funny thing is, I am surprised by how many of my friends are interested in doing this and am wishing we had thought of it sooner.

So I encourage you to go out and form your own club, whatever your interests - wine club, beer club, chess club, sex club, you know, whatever. You might be surprised who shares your S&M interests.

Cheetah Cam

2005-02-02T10:19:00.000-05:00

So this weekend I got to see the cubs playing with their mom in the yard. I took a bunch of pictures and C (guy I went on date with) sent me some zoo pictures. They are all in a Snapfish album here.

Also, the cheetah cam is up so you can spend your work days watching them play here. Just scroll down until you see the camera.

Trust me, you don't want to miss this stuff. They are C-U-T-E and are growing fast!

Short and sweet

2005-01-31T14:27:00.000-05:00

I have to be quick, but I know you're all waiting with bated breath...my date was great! One of the best first dates I've had. Trying not to get carried away, it was just one date, but I was very pleasantly surprised. He's already called me and asked me out again. Trying to make plans to meet up with Salon guy as well. That's right folks, Jen is back in the dating ring! Look out!

Total dissatisfaction

2005-01-27T17:24:00.000-05:00

That's what I have from my job. Seriously, 5 fucking years. When I sit and think about that...

Anyway, it's not like that's news. The difference that has led me to total discontent is volunteering at the zoo as a keeper aide since November. If being a zookeeper isn't exactly what I want to do with my life, it's damn close and would be a great interim job until I get to exactly where I want to be.

I heard some news that may mean a position could open up at the cheetah exhibit where I volunteer. I would LOVE to have it. There is one MAJOR problem. I can't continue to live like I do if I take that job. I would have to sell or rent out my condo and move into a total shithole. Or somehow find a roommate who would want to pay a lot of money to live in my spare bedroom, which is really a den and doesn't even have a closet.

My plan was to try to get a job at CRC out in Front Royal when the cats moved out there, but that could be a long time from now. If I did that, I could potentially telecommute part-time to make up for the salary discrepancy, plus it's much cheaper to live out there.

I don't know what to do. If I hadn't established this lifestyle for myself in the first place, I wouldn't have this dilemna. God, I would be so happy working at the zoo.

It's official

2005-01-27T10:58:00.000-05:00

Ladies and gentlemen...(drumroll)...I have a date on Saturday night. Dinner and drinks at a brewhouse in DC starting at 7 p.m. Send me thoughts that night that I don't get tanked and humiliate myself or do anything else that I will later regret. :>)

Triple rejection

2005-01-26T10:12:00.000-05:00

Man, I came in expecting emails from various men and nothing! Nada! Zippo! Well anyway, I should have some at some point today. The one I think I won't be getting...

I finally re-emailed that Salon guy whose profile I really like. I have to say I was damn impressed with the email I came up with. Since I didn't have a response this morning, I checked his profile. It says "active within the last two hours." A solid indication that he will not be responding. Don't you think that after a well-written, sincere yet funny second email, he could at least say "no thanks" and possibly tell me why? I think it would be courteous. I'd like to think I'd do the same.

Oh well.

Anyway, I'm hoping to cut down on the dating posts. After all, this is my blog, not my dating blog. The fact that I can even say that puts a little smile on my face though. It's a damn good thing too b/c I'm not getting any younger! :>P