Working to the Bone

Not much happened last week. I just worked and when I wasn't working I was at home not doing much of anything. Friday night Mom called and invited us to dinner, but I had to pick where we were going to eat. Mom wanted to be waited on, so Moe's and Five Guys were out. I listed some places near the RT10/RT1 corner in Chester and it was settled that we'd go to Chili's as they hadn't been to that one. Dinner was really good. Our waitress was awesome and the food was really good except for their corn on the cob. It kinda reminded me of KFC's corn cobs...mushy and maybe frozen at one point. But, the sweet and spicy chicken tenders were very yummy. After we got home from dinner we sat down to watch some Smallville, but my mom called to work on B's resume' so I went into the bedroom and watched almost the entire disc of Dexter season 2 disc 3.
Lilly and I went on a walk at least 3-4 days last week and once on Saturday. I'm practicing letting her off leash in the park if there's nobody around and if the traffic isn't bad on the main road next to the park. The one day that the traffic was too heavy and I had her on leash, two big yellow labs came bounding up to Lilly and me. They had obviously had some sort of training because they responded to my commands of "No" pretty well. They moved on from the park to the next block playing in the street and on the corner lot's lawn. Later I saw a lady carrying a leash and a box of treats then a man limping with a bowl of food. After some coaxing they came to both of them and they walked them back to their house. Saturday our walk included Crystal. She came over after we both got off of work and we walked Lilly to the park and played ball for a while and headed back to the house and we watched Season 1 Episode 1 of OZ. Crystal had never seen it and I own it, as it's one of my favorite (if not my fav) shows. She left and B came from my mom's house where he was working on his resume' for a government job. After dinner we finally got watch some Smallville. Sunday we were lazy for most of the morning but I did made waffles for breakfast. I brushed, bathed and dried Lilly. I also cleaned her ears, clipped and filed her nails. She's puppy soft now :)
Sunday night I went to the Funnybone with Crystal, Carolyn and Chris. Crystal scored the free tickets to the show. We saw a bunch of comics: "Big Al" Goodwin, Eddie Pence and two others. They were funny and I think we all had a good time.
My mini-rant: On Twitter I think I'm one of the only Republicans. I don't really voice this because I don't want to argue politics. But, I am so damn tired of all the Obama talk. There was some sort of Obama rally in Richmond this weekend and I thought I was going to explode reading all the pro-Obama stuff. I'm not saying that I'm pro-McCain. I'm just tired of it all. I sent my forms for my absentee ballot, so at least my vote will be counted while I'm on vacation.
Well B's bitching for the laptop, so I'll go now. Until next time, keep your stick on the ice.

Talk Like a Pirate Day 9/19/08

Gentle Lunch

Last weekend I bought a Gentle Leader for Lilly because I was hoping it will help train her not to pull while on the leash. Yeah, we went through loose leash training during her class, but I didn't work on it like I should have. This has made walking her so frustrating for me that I just don't walk her. Recently her weight has been showing on her now roundish body, we weighed her at Petsmart and she was 35lbs. I figured out that her healthy weight range is 30-35lbs. It's not fair to her that my lack of training her on leash caused her weight gain. We finally had a free weekend for me to work on the harness and walking with her. I put it on her and she did not like it at all. I watched the video that came with it and figured out that the nose loop was too tight. I fixed that and we went for a walk in the front yard to get the mail. She pawed at it a couple of times, but finally decided to just walk with me around the yard so I moved to the street and walked down the cul-de-sac and back and she did wonderfully. After dinner, we went for a walk while B mowed the front yard. She was perfect. I don't think I had to pull on the leash but once. Today we went for a walk in the morning while B mowed the back yard. I had to pull on the leash a few more times than the night before, but that was because there were cats out wondering. We walked to the neighborhood lake and because there was nobody around I let her off her leash

She went for the lake. She doesn't swim, she just splashes around in the water.

She stuck her feet in at the edge and went between the shore line and where I was sitting off to the side. Then she just sat down at my feet and watched the lake.

I got up and we walked the length of the park, mostly off leash. She did really well coming to me when I whistled for her and the walk home was uneventful.
B's mom came over for lunch. Last week was her bday, but this week was B's first decent paycheck in a while so she came over for hamburgers on the grill and potato salad with brownies and ice cream for dessert. We watched the Redskins game, Colts game and the NASCAR race until the Skins game was over (hooray, we won!) and she went home. We watched the rest of the NASCAR race while a dough ball worked in the bread machine for the pizza we had tonight for dinner. We watched some DVR'd shows (Feasting on Waves, Guy's Off the Hook and Ice Road Truckers). True Blood will start soon and then it's off to bed. Tomorrow starts a long work week. It's all 40 hours, but 11 of them will be tomorrow and the last 4 will be on Saturday. Hopefully, in there somewhere I'll be able to take Lilly to a new vet to get her rabies and combo shot. Until next time, keep your stick on the ice.

Catching up again

I did not want to go this long without blogging, but I just haven't felt like it recently. Since my last post I've gone to a Jimmy Buffett concert and a NASCAR race, B's had three jobs and we have a mouse in our house.
Jimmy Buffett concert:
The Buffett concert was at the Nissan Pavilion in Bristow, VA (no I'm not spelling Bristol wrong. Bristow is near Manassas, VA). We got up there around 12noon and it said that general parking didn't start until 2:30pm, but there was a line forming already, so we jumped in line. A little after noon they line started moving. I thought it was because traffic was already backing up, but as we got closer I realized that it was the V.I.P. parking and that costs $30. We didn't have the cash, so we turned around and drove back about 30 miles to a shopping center and had lunch and walked around Target until general (free) parking opened. I was not a happy camper about the VIP parking thing and it took lunch and most of the walking around Target to calm down. We got into the parking lot around 3pm and set up the pavilion and realized that our setup was rather meager. The people on one side of us had two pavilions, AstroTurf under their big long table, two blow up palm trees, a Parrothead parking sign and lots of food and alcohol. On the other side the set up wasn't as elaborate, just four chairs and their food on a table. Here's what was on our table:

The tailgaters with no decorations were very cool. We had several conversations and they shared their post-concert wings with us and we shared cookies with them. One of the ladies was my potty buddy as we braved the lines and the porta potties before dinner. I hadn't been in a porta potty in years and that was in VA Beach. These were actually cleaner. I'm sure they weren't that way after the concert though.
The concert was awesome. The set was great, the crowd was into it and Jimmy and the band rocked it...hard. The pictures from the concert are here.
NASCAR Race:
The race is usually held on Saturday nights, but Tropical Storm Hanna had other ideas and on Friday NASCAR postponed the race until Sunday 1pm. Because it was on a Sunday, my mom and stepdad were unable to go and we got their tickets. I tried to sell our seats, but no one wanted them...not even as a buy two get one free. We got to the track around 7:30am, parked about 5 rows back from the front and set up the pavilion and ate breakfast. I then climbed in the truck and dozed off for about an hour. B saw people walking around with what he thought was travel mugs and found out where they were getting them. We walked to the merchandise area and walk the wrong way at first (bad directions) and then backtracked and found where they were handing them out and got in line. We received what we found out were mini iced tea pitchers and went back to the truck. We sat around and people watched for a while, then it was lunch time and time to pack up to head into the race. We headed inside, up to the seats, watched driver intros, the invocation, said the Pledge of Allegiance and sang the National Anthem. The flyover was amazing as usual. They were some sort of stealth jets. Then it was racin' time. We stayed for the whole race. As we were walking back to the truck, a golf cart passes us and inside is Ryan Newman...my favorite driver! I just stood there and let the cart pass us as I became a blithering idiot. It took me a minute to gather my senses and we continued on to the truck. We got in the truck and braved traffic and got from RIR to 64E in about 30mins, which is almost amazing. Photos from NASCAR are here.
Rest of the post:
Since my last post B was released from the sales position, took a part time job in Ashland and then took a full time job in Glen Allen with a temp agency. Right now, he's still at the temp job and while it's not making much, we should be able to pay our bills. My job has become more stressful as it usually does this time of year. I'm scheduling anywhere to 2-3 days worth of work for two sets of crews (regular apps and aeration/seeding) along with some data entry and answering the phones.
We were cleaning the house for my mom and stepdad to come over on Saturday for dinner and I found mouse droppings on the kitchen counter. After taking a second to be totally grossed out, I called Byron to confirm my findings and we proceed to clean the counter off and check the cabinets for remains. We find nothing in the cabinets and no sign that it was getting into the boxes or bags of food. The dog food is in a plastic container to keep her out of it and that showed no signs of mouse entrance. Our friend is an exterminator and he's showed up while I was typing about the mouse. He's outside checking and will hopefully get rid of the damned thing.
Speaking of damned things...Madison's not using her box completely again. She'll use the box sometimes and use the bathroom floor or hallway carpet others. Very frustrating.
Our laptop's power source died on Sunday, so we were without the laptop for a few days. That wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. There was some new TV on Sunday and Monday and I worked late on Tuesday.
This week there was Twitter drama, but I'm not going into it because I'm over it. I did stay up late talking on the phone with someone from Twitter last night. I haven't done that in ages. It was a good conversation and helped me understand the drama a little better. I hope we're able to talk again.
Until next time, keep your stick on the ice.

Bailey on the rocks

My mom, stepdad and I went to see Ben Bailey at the FunnyBone last night and it was a great show. His standup is very funny even though it seemed as if he really didn't have much a set. He made fun of "Short Pump" but most of the comedians I've seen there have poked fun at that. He handled the hecklers very well, shutting up all of them. Afterward he was outside the club selling his CD and signing autographs. Since we're lacking funds I couldn't buy the CD, but he did sign my FunnyBone glass and allowed a picture to be taken with him. And here it is, straight from my camera phone:

The three of us had a really good time. I haven't been to the FB in a while and was glad to finally score some free tickets.
I got to make an observation today. Lately, I've been going to WalMart to grocery shop and I've been doing so straight from work on Friday nights to free up the weekend and so I don't drag my feet about going. Friday nights WalMart is full of well...trash, of the people kind. Color doesn't matter in regards to this trash. This morning there were a)less people b)a different/higher "class" of people. Not quite sure if it was the less people so the different class was more obvious or what, but it was interesting.
For those wondering, Madison is using her box again. Hooray! It took two days of B being at work, but we're all happy again.
Speaking of B working, the job is a bit rocky. It's a sales position, and even though it's base pay + commission, the hours worked are based on performance. B's never had a flat out sales job before now. He's been in retail and at JaniKing he did some sales, but only to current clients. But, we REALLY need the money, so I'm praying this works out for a little while or until he's got another job set up already.
Well, that's all for now. 7 days until Buffett '08 and 14 days until Richmond NASCAR. Keep your stick on the ice.

Jobbing for dogs

The second of B's interviews turned in a job! Hooray! I don't know the name of the company, but he's selling packages to people that have showed interest in them. Base pay plus commission. Hopefully this will work out for a while at least.
I'm still looking and sending out my resume. I got a call back from a pediatrics office and I called back and left a message but haven't heard anything back yet.
I'm still watching the Olympics. I don't have to be into work until the afternoon tomorrow (I'm covering for the evening girl who's on vacation), so I get to stay up and watch the Women's beach volleyball gold medal match. Right now the artistic gymnastics is on and B's in the other room watching Tv.
When I let Lilly out for her evening potty break she got out of the back yard. This makes the third time in about a week. She's never left the front yard and she's got her collar/tags on (plus the microchip). I can't figure out where she's getting out of the yard. And until then, she will no longer be taking unsupervised free run visits in the backyard. She hates being on her lead and will wrap herself around the trees, but I'd rather have to untangle her than go to the pound and pick her up there or worse!
In other pet news and probably a bit TMI, Madison isn't relieving herself in her litter box. She's chosen to still go upstairs but not into the box but on the carpet in the hallway. I haven't changed litters or bags and the box is the same one as always. Last time when Byron was out of work she stopped eating, so I hope this is the same thing (that her routine is out of whack). B just started the new job today and she still relieved herself on the carpet, but hopefully by the weekend she'll be using the box again. Bright side...I don't have to buy litter this week.
Tuesday I got an email from the Funnybone stating that Ben Bailey (the host of Discovery's Cash Cab) would be preforming there this weekend and if I called I could get free tickets. I did just that and coaxed my mom and stepdad into going with me. B doesn't want to go because he "doesn't know who he is". He's only watched Cash Cab twice, but I watch it on a semi-regular basis and am interested to see what kind of stand up he does. However, this leaves me with a free ticket available. You'll have to sit with me and the family (who is very much like me). So if you're interested, let me know. It's this Friday 8/22 at 7:30pm (be there at 6:30pm for seating).
Well, that's all for now...10 days until Buffett 08 and 17 until Richmond NASCAR. Keep your stick on the ice.

Clean Weekend

Well, last weekend I was to have gone to a Tweetup at Legend's, then that got switched to Triple and then it was figured out that we didn't have the money to go no matter where it was held. So instead we just had Crystal over for a spaghetti and meatball dinner and her and I played Lego Star Wars on the Wii for the rest of the night. Peach ice cream and strawberry margaritas were consumed and fun was had by all.
Sunday we went to the Carytown Watermelon Festival. What a hot mess that was! Years and years ago the last time I went there were plenty of people, but there was plenty of room to walk. Now they have the stands in the middle of the street and people stop to look at the items for sale and block the flow of traffic. We took Lilly and it was just too hot for her and too many people. We found out that she doesn't like watermelon. She took it in her mouth, but then spit it back. However she does love peaches.
Last week at work was mostly uneventful. They took away 98% of my internet. Pretty much the only sites I can use are Google Maps, weather.com and the website where we get our paycheck info. That made for a very boring Thursday and Friday. And will make for a very boring rest of my time there. I did have an interview with a company this week, but nothing will come of it. B's got two interviews this week, hopefully one of them will pan out...we will need the money. He didn't work at all this week.
We've been watching the Olympics most of the week. Phelps is amazing and I'm glad he was able to reach 8 gold medals. B's not that into the games and has been in the bedroom most of the weekend watching Smallville while I watch random games like badminton, water polo, weight lifting, table tennis and handball. What I really want to watch is beach volleyball, but what's on now is indoor volleyball.
Yesterday after not getting out of bed (other than to feed the furry ones) until almost 11am, we were eating breakfast when my mom called and wanted to borrow my truck and husband to move their old entertainment center to Goodwill. So after loading that into the back of the truck, we took her SUV to Petsmart and bought Lilly's anti-flea/tick/mosquito medicine and some styptic powder. We came home and I made some salsa for Sunday's dinner and then watched some Tv until we went back to Mom's for dinner and movie and more Olympics. We had steak, potatoes and corn on the cob and watched National Treasure 2. Dinner was good and the movie was ok, nice action but very Indiana Jones but not as cool. We came home and he watched more Smallville while I watched Phelps win gold #8, an interview with Phelps and then to bed at midnight.
I didn't get up until 8:30 this morning and by then poor Lilly's bladder was ready to explode and Madison thought she was going to waste away without breakfast. We sat around watching DVR'd TV for a while and watched some water polo. Lilly really needed a bath, so I brushed her and washed her bedding while she got a shower. She did well this time and smells so much better. I normally take her to Petsmart grooming for a nail trim and ear clean afterward, but that's just not in the budget right now. Her ears were clean so I just put some drying gel in there in case some water got in there during her bath and then proceeded to clip her nails for the first time. She did really well and so did I since I didn't cut the quick. Here are the before and after pictures:
Before:

After:

She just laid in my lap and let me cut them. The back paws were a little tougher, but I didn't have to cut as much off of them. She even let me file all her nails smooth. And she's not mad at or scared of me...she's laying on the floor next to me, sleeping, as I type this. Well, I guess that's it for now.
14 days til Buffett Concert 08 and 21 days till Richmond NASCAR. Until next time, keep your stick on the ice.