The Chronicles of Bailey

Bailey has fleas. Or, rather, she had fleas. And a tick. I was super-pist.

Now that we live near the park, she and I go walking everyday at least once. Today on the last leg of our walk, I decided to let her run off-leash and play fetch. We wrestled and played and had a grand ole time. She was even bespeckled with mulberry stains from the berries that had fallen from the trees. She looks like a purple and grey leopard. It's pretty funny. When we got back to the house, I took her leash off and saw a TICK on my HAND. It hadn't bitten me yet, so I flicked it as hard as I could into the grass. Killing it would have creeped me out way too much. It was big, too. Like the size of an eraser on a pencil. As soon as we got inside, I did the "belly check" on The Beast to see if any had latched on to her. Instead I found 4 FLEAS. Thankfully no ticks had latched onto her yet because I would have been totally skeeved out at taking care of THAT problem. B hasn;t been on flea and tick preventive because 1.)we lived alone and there was really no other dog-on-dog contact and 2.) we never really played in any taller grass because there was none around. Totally different story now. Needless to say, I whisked her off to the vet (thankfully they were open until noon!) and gave her an immediate dose of Frontline to prevent fleas and Lyme disease from ticks.

Now she is shivering on the floor because of the thunderstorm.

Stupid dog.

Weekend List

Things I WON'T be doing this weekend ...

1. Watching that GOD AWFUL Sex and the City movie
2. Moving
3. Driving much now that I have a new bike!

Things I WILL be doing this weekend ...
1. Going to a wine tasting with The Boy and then perhaps dinner with Marty and Rae
2. Working out
3. Walking with B in the neighborhood

Daddy Update

Yesterday was my dad's cancer surgery. He was scheduled to go in at 11am but they didn't get to him until well after 4pm! The poor man hadn't eaten since noon the day before, and I'm sure he was STARVING. Once they got him in, he was in until after 7pm. They took out a lymph node as well (just to be safe ... standard procedure, they say) and watched his vitals closely. When he came out, they said he was doing well and everything was good. What a relief. He is still in the hospital until tomorrow (just to be safe) and then will have a catheter (ugh!) for ten days (UGH!). But, thankfully, things look good.

Thanks for all of your prayers and thoughts.

Cajun Priests and really good pizza

The Boy and I attended 11:30 mass on Sunday for the first time. We are normally Saturday evening or 8:30/10:00am Sunday morning people. Because of the move, our schedule was off a little. It was rather serendipitous that we attended that mass though. It was an amazing mass.

The priest was a visiting priest from a parish down in New Orleans. He was a true Cajun as well. He had the accent and personality and style of a true Cajun. It was fabolous. He had a large booming voice that made the microphone completely pointless. His voice filled the church as he spoke and sang and prayed over the Eucharist. His homily rivalled that of Protestant ministers. He had anecdotes, jokes, and a wonderful point. The homily that he gave was about accepting the Eucharist into one's life as the body and blood of Christ, not simply a representation. (It was, after all, the feast of Corpus Christi.) He spoke a lot about the difference between Protestants and Catholics which I loved because I can clearly relate. His emphasis was on the fact that Jesus told us (through his disciples at the Last Supper) to "Take this and eat it. It is my body which shall be given up for you." When he gave the blood, he told us to "Take this and drink. This is my blood which shall be shed for you. It is the blood of the new and everlasting covenant." When you consider that Christ himself told us to do this literally, not figuratively, it makes complete sense. He didn't tell us to perform a symbolic celebration once a month to dramatize the sacrifice he made. He told us to in fact take Him into our bodies so that we could be filled with his presence and love. I know that I personally feel different in an indescribable way after participating in Communion. It's a feeling that I NEVER had while attending church and taking communion on communion Sunday in my childhood church. I'm sure that part of it is my perspective, but I really do believe in the Catholic teachings on this one. The father's homily really made my feelings clearer and answered those last lingering questions that I had. It really was the best mass I had ever attended. I felt so invigorated and renewed when I left the church that day. It wasa a truly wonderful feeling.

Now ... on to pizza!

The Boy and I went to Sticks and Stones Pizza last night for dinner and it was absolutely amazing! I highly recommend it to EVERYONE. The restaurant is catty-corner from Fish Bones and across the street from the Lindley Filling Station. I can totally walk to it from my house! IT is all of 5 blocks away! All of the pizzas are scratch-made from local and/or organic ingredients. They grow their own herbs (you can see their beds bordering the parking lot!) and the pizzas are beyond description. While we were eating, I told The Boy that these pizzas were as good as his. He looked at me incredulously and said, "No, they're not. They're BETTER!" I didn't want to hurt his feelings because I felt the same. But now we both agreed! We had a bottle of vino verde and two small pizzas as well as dessert and the bill was $50. Not too bad considering half of that price was the bottle of wine! The food really was delicious. I can't say it enough. We all need to go there some night and have a damned good ole time. Perhaps when Kiki is in town in July ...

The Move

It all started at 6:30am SHARP on Friday morning. The Boy and I leapt out of bed and got started. We picked up the truck (after they gave us a SMALLER truck but yet charged us the same price ... after we had to make two trips with it, they gave us a mileage discount) and got back home to start the packing. Elle picked Bailey up and swept her away so she wouldn't be underfoot. What a lifesaver! Rec Center Drew was there a little before 9 and he and The Boy were throwing things into the truck. When I say "throwing," I mean that they were both so strong that they made it look easy! MealyMel showed up around 9 to help as well! At 9:15am I had to go to the leasing office to pick up the keys because the stupid chicks that I am subletting from refused to do the key exchange on Thursday unless I paid them another day's rent. Umm ... no.(This is one of my moving boxes. Can't people who run major companies afford to pay staff to correct spelling and grammar?)

When I got back to the house, The Boy and Drew had packed most of the truck. And Alan was there too! We got the first truckload around 10:30ish and had it fully unloaded at the new place at around noon. We all headed back to the old place and I got pizza and pop for everyone. Happily, Skillz showed up just after lunch with fresh wind and energy! It really helped. Alan was sick with a cold/flu/thing and MealyMel had been bellydancing the night before. They both were pretty beat, but they both kicked ass! Anyway, Skillz' fresh strength arrived just on time. We finished loading the last load and took it over to the new place. After we unloaded, The Boy and I sent everyone on their way and relieved them of duty. It was 2:57pm.

The Boy and I headed back to the old place to start the stupid clean up process (arguably, the worst part of the move!). We were there until about 6 or so and then we returned home and started unpacking. Before the night was out, most of the kitchen and bedroom were unpacked. We finally collapsed around 10. The Boy slept like a log and I slept fitfully. My body was too tired to rest. Bizarre, huh?

We "sprang" out of bed around 8 and got right back at it. We spent most of the day unpacking and had the mandatory Lowes/Home Depot run for the miscellaneous shit that you always end up needing. We unpacked and unpacked and unpacked and finally went to Fish Bones with Marty and Rae and Laura for dinner. It was a much needed break, and we had a great time.

Sunday morning, we were back at it. The Boy sprang out of bed early and went over to the old place to start cleaning up. I slept in for an extra hour and then got up to start back at it. We unpacked until 11ish and then went to mass (which just so happened to be the best mass I've ever attended) and then returned home for more crap. After mass, we came back home and continued to plug away. We chilled out after unpacking all day and relaxed.

Monday -- Memorial Day -- was more of the same. We got grocery store and ran other errands in the morning and then returned home for more unpacking. After a long day of unpacking and arranging and setting up house, we went to see Indiana Jones and then had dinner at this new pizza place. More on those two later.

But, as of this afternoon, this is what the house looked like:This is my new living room (staring Bailey!)

Another shot of the living room.The dining room. It now has pictures all olong that blank wall.My tiny little kitchen. I like to think of it as "quaint."The new bar room. My new office.Another shot of my new office.My bedroom.More of my bedroom.When I got home from work today, Bailey had left my shoes so nicely and neatly on the couch. Rather funny, I thought.

So, there you have it. My new digs. You like?

A blog of things to come

The move is over, but I still don't have a lot of time to blog. There are pictures to hang, floors to clean, an office to set up ... you know the drill. BUT, before I forgot, I wanted to jot down some ideas for the blog I hope to write tonight (tomorrow?)

1. The BEST MASS EVER with a cajun priest.
2. Pictures of the new digs
3. The BEST FRIENDS EVER (oh yeah ... you know who you are)
4. Living in an actual neighborhood
5. Indiana Jones
6. Clay-over, wood-fired pizza and my new favorite restaurant
7. The Move itself

I'll try to get some of this done tonight. It'll most likely be multiple blogs.

I'm out!

I'm out

The move starts NOW.

I work until 5:30 and then finish packing. We pick up the truck at 8:15 tomorrow morning.

I am officially disconnecting my internet until I am settled in the new place. If you need me, you know the digits.

Peace out, bitches!

Not sure what to call this one

Perhaps I'll call it "Under Pressure" as that is the song playing on the Sirius at this very moment. It actually works as a title given my current status.

Well, the weekend is over. It actually ended on Sunday, but, since The Boy had the Beemer in the shop, he didn't leave until today and that marks the end of the weekend. We had a good weekend. We went to the Pell's on Friday for a post-comps celebration for people I like and saw Prince Caspian. We went for a few different "family walks" at Battleground. (The Boy likes to call them "family walks." It promotes togetherness or something. Whatever. We walked. We had the dog. I guess that makes it a "family walk.") We went to mass. We packed. Rather, I packed and he studied. It's okay. He probably wouldn't have packed my things the way I like them anyway! You know me. The Beemer was fixed today, and he headed home to Winston. And I resumed packing.

I thought for sure that I was almost done with packing. The Boy picked up 11 boxes for me today while I was at work, and I have filled 9 of them. I distinctly remember thinking, "This last load of boxes should finish up the house." WRONG! I need like another ten or so. And I'm not sure where they are all going to go when packed. I quickly running out of room! And, more importantly, time! But I'm giving up for the night. My back hurts and my fingers are COVERED in newsprint. That is definitely a sign to throw in the towel for the night. I'll get up early and finish all this bullshit... or, at least, continue working on it.

By the way ... "Safety Dance" is one now. If that's not a sign to go to bed, I'm not sure what is!

Stuff that makes me pee my pants ...

from the website "Stuff White People Like." You MUST read this!

http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.wordpress.com/2008/05/12/99-grammar/

Found

I found this on foundmagazine.com. It inexplicably makes me think of Steph. Hmmmm ...

Who has the most wonderful boyfriend ever?

I do! I do!

I went over to The Boy's house last night after making a brief appearance at the EGSA picnic and attending mass. Before I left the 'boro, he called to tell me to bring some essential food stuffs because he was cooking me dinner. I was a bit taken aback because he NEVER cooks at this house and does all of his cooking here at my place. But I don't complain and I do as I'm told. I pack up the bag full of his requests and head over.

When I pull into his driveway, I see that he has set up a table and chairs and candles and flowers in the middle of the back yard. His landlady has quite the English garden going on in the back and the house and yard overlook a small lake with geese and otters and all that. He was making a wonderful dinner (pasta with shrimp and onions and red roasted peppers ...), and he served me outside. It was so romantic and sweet. We had salad afterwards and then had mangoes marinated in tequila for dessert. He can be so amazingly wonderful at times. (Actually, he's more wonderful than not, but I like to give him a hard time.)

He pretty much made my weekend. He's that fantastic.

Kiki is Ah-MAZING!

Kiki gave birth yesterday to Sawyer Timothy. She was in labor for, no joke, 19 hours! Holy crap! If that is not a testament to the amazingness and kick-ass-ness of the female body, I'm not sure what is. And, Sir Sawyer was no half pint. He was 8lbs. 9oz. That's pretty damn close to 9lbs! Who knew babies could be that big nowadays. Kiki was amazing. She stayed strong and focused and brought life into the world without looking back. She really is pretty kick-ass. But she knew that already. Things didn't go exactly as she had planned/hoped but she adjusted well and made the decisions that were best for her and Sawyer and no one else. That is what is important. I am really proud of her.

The events of yesterday really put things in perspective. I think about the struggle that Kiki and Rob went through to bring a miracle into the world, and my own "crises" pale in comparison. I mean, seriously. Is packing and moving and studying all that difficult? Is being poor and worried about money all that significant on the grand scheme of things? Not so much. Her labor and delivery just shows how we struggle to be in the world and how badly we want to be here and be a part of this miracle. It really makes everything else so insignificant. I mean, two days ago, there was no Sawyer. Today, he is a living, breathing, tiny miracle eager to grow up and be loved. Everything else is unimportant. Really. Maybe I'm just being sappy, but the perspective is nice.

(Of course, hearing about this hellacious delivery only solidifies my desire to have no babies. I mean, if I weighed 8+lbs. at birth and The Boy weighed 9+lbs. at birth, our kid would be like a 10 pounder. No freakin' way! But I do love babies. Especially when they belong to someone else!)

So, cheers to Sawyer and Kiki and Rob (and Tex and Ollie). The happy family!

Sawyer Timothy
8lbs. 9oz.
21 inches long
6:09pm May 9th, 2008

Welcome to the world!

Packing

I hate it. Completely. My house (i.e. life) is in complete disarray. I can't get motivated to do this thing. I'll pack a box and then play on the computer for a while. I'll pack another box and then find something fun to screw with for a while. I'll pack another box and then talk Bailey for her 50th walk today. I effin' hate this! I wish I could just go to sleep one day and the next morning the move would be over. I cannot wait until I am wealthy enough to hire professional packers and movers. And, oh yes, I will be that wealthy someday.

A nice and fat weekend

This weekend was relaxing. I went to the Derby Party with The Boy and he got to see his old UNC chums from way back in grad school. It was weird. I have heard a million stories about these people, and it was totally bizarre to put faces with those names and legends. It was a blast though. We stayed there until about 8:30 or so and then headed over to Skillz' place for an After-Derby Party. It was all-in-all a good time.

My diet regime has been completely debunked this past week and weekend. My busted up toe (which is really close to healed but not yet completely) has made it impossible to wear shoes that cover the toe. This means no working out. I've worked hard to keep the feasting down to make up for the missed workouts, but that is not easy when The Boy is here. We like to eat! He likes to cook! Lots of booze and good food! I don't feel too badly about it though. I made really great progress that first week, so I am not too beat down about it!

Well, off to Monday!

How does she do that?

So Bailey has figured out how to open the screen door. She has done it twice now. While I'm gone, she gets the door open and investigates what is out on the porch. She doesn't tear the screen or anything, but she somehow manages to get it open. Then, of course, she drags the shit from the porch into the house. I get home and clean it up. We have a nice routine.

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My toe is still jacked up. It hurts like hell. And I can't wear real shoes. I'm forced to wear flip flops (which I loathe) because I can't put my foot into a shoe. (I had to go"Kia shopping" today -- I bought 2 for $5 flip flops at Old Navy. I own one pair of ratty old flip flops that actually hurt to walk in.) This means that I can't work out. Which means my 5-pound weight loss from last week will most likely not be repeated this week.

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I've packed a TON of shit. The hall closet is filled with boxes. I've packed all of the pictures and frames that aren't awkward sizes and shapes. I've packed all of my candles. I've packed all of my backer's rack and vases. I've packed all of my linens and bedding (except those ON my bed). I still have a ton more to do, but I have designated certain packing areas to be the responsibility to The Boy. He can take care of the bar area and all of the glasses. He'll also be helping with the mountain of books. But I am making good headway. If I keep going at this pace, the whole place will be packed up neatly in time for the move!

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My dad's appointment went well today. He's scheduled for surgery on the 28th. I would like to be home for it, but it just isn't really possible at this point. But I could cash in some frequent flyer miles ... We'll have to investigate that option.