When your head and your heart say two different things

So as you know from previous chatter, I love my dog.  Scout is my soul-mate (well, the fur kind anyway).  We love her so much that my mind sometimes begins to wonder if we have room in our lives for another fur child.  Woah, woah, woah crazy talk.  I know.  Our house is definitely not big enough for three children, Baxter and Scout are enough for right now.  I just worry about the depression I'm sure Scout is going to wander into upon losing her best good friend (Baxter) when Matt and I move out (eventually).  Looking at the dogs on animal shelter websites is definitely not helping either.  Look at these, how can you not want to take them home?

These are some of the ones I saw that I wished I could keep... just two of many.  I decided maybe volunteering at a shelter might be better for me?  The only problem with that is that I already feel like I'm super busy with the wedding and work and life... It is tough when your head and your heart say two different things.

I never thought I would say this but...

I miss Kate Gosselin on Dancing With the Stars!  Okay, let me go back...

So I've never been a huge fun of Dancing.  I never had anything against it, would watch it with Kristen occasionally if I was home when she was watching it, but it was never something that I would get upset about missing nor did I in any way look forward to watching it. 

This season, like others past, has provided a nominal amount of entertainment on Monday nights when there is nothing else to watch.  And then Kate Gosselin changed all of that.  Every week it was like watching a car accident.  You didn't want to watch, it made you cringe and feel just a little uncomfortable, but you just couldn't help yourself.  It actually made me feel better about my own dancing ability knowing that there is no way on God's green earth I could be any worse than that hot mess.

And then she was gone.  True, she should have been kicked off weeks ago.  Actually, she really never should have been there in the first place, but it was so delightful to watch her completely suck it up week after week.  She made Buzz Aldrin look like a pro. 

The best part about her was that she was actually trying.  That was her best effort.  Even some of the crazies in the past knew they sucked but tried for the entertainment factor to make up for it (remember Steve Wozniak's worm?)  She actually thought she was working hard and seemed shocked when the judges would tell her she sucked and give her low scores.  She was either delusional or a really good actress. 

In any case, this week's episode was a little boring without her, so Pam Anderson listen up.  You need to go back to week one when you looked like you were either drunk, stoned, or both.  We need another hot mess to fail miserably so that we can feel better about our own lives.  Your country is calling you.

Super Dog

I seriously think I have the best dog in the world.  I say that with complete sincerity, I am not exaggerating in the slightest.  We've had her for about three and a half months now and every day with her gets a little better.  I actually sit at work some days and get sad because I haven't seen her in awhile and I miss her.  These are a couple of the many reasons why I just can't get enough of her:

1. She gets excited about sleeping with me.  Ridiculously excited.  She knows when it is dark out and it hits a certain time if I start walking down the hall to my bedroom it is bed time and no matter what she is doing at that moment she takes off in a sprint towards my door.  Last night she had been sleeping in her dog bed for a couple of hours already, but it was getting close to my bed time.  She hadn't moved at all in probably over an hour, but I took two steps down that hall and somehow she jumped up out of a dead sleep and came after me.  I was just going to the bathroom, so she patiently went back to her bed and waited for bed time.  Some nights I try to leave her up playing with Baxter (they have so much fun together) and Kristen says she'll put her in my room when she goes to bed later.  It doesn't work.  She will either leave play time to follow me, or the second she notices I'm gone she'll sit by my door.  Sometimes when I try to leave her up with everyone else she'll sneak in my room behind me without me even noticing.  Matt says I should try harder to leave her up playing with everyone but I'm like if she works that hard to get to sleep with me how can I take that away from her?  The night I went to the ER last week Kristen said she sat outside my door crying because she thought I had gone to bed without her.  How can you not love that? 

2.  She loves the outdoors.  True she digs in the dirt sometimes (no one is perfect) but she just truly loves the outdoors.  Sometimes when I let her out in the morning I'll catch her just sitting on the corner of the deck with her eyes closed breathing in the morning air.  Unlike her good buddy Baxter, she never barks or whines to come in.  She will just patiently sit next to the door hanging out until someone remembers to let her back in.

3.  New people are no big deal.  Nobody likes to go to that house where somebody's dog freaks out because new people are there and they jump all over you, barking and slobbering.  Scout actually doesn't really like strangers (we think it has to do with something happening when she was super little), especially guys.  We're trying to work on her not being scared of people, but for the most part it works out.  We've had people over a couple of times since we got her and she usually just sleeps in her bed.

4.  She is Baxter's best friend.  I used to think it was just because they both got along with all dogs, which for the most part is true, but from day one the two of them have watched out for each other.  They truly are two very good friends and it is super cute to watch.  Plus, they entertain each other quite well (which means tired dogs by the end of the day!)

5. I'm very nervous about today.  Matt dropped her off this morning at the vet to get fixed.  I know it needed to be done (we don't want to be accidentally grandparents to puppies) but I'm still really sad for her.  I asked Matt if she looked scared when he dropped her off and he said she had her tail hiding between her legs, which is what she does when she is really scared.  My dad asked me right after we got her when we were getting her fixed and I told him we weren't really in a huge hurry.  He said most people are because it calms puppies down.  The funny thing is, even though she is still a young puppy she is the most chill dog in the entire world.  Another reason why I love her!!

I'm trying to think good thoughts but am going to be nervous until Matt goes and gets her.  I miss my little lady already!

Stress

It seems like lately, most days I feel like my head is just going to explode.  Literally.  First there was the wedding, with money, appointments, and time to worry about.  Then came Matt's car breaking down.  That took away our trip to Mexico in August, so no more vacation and a ton more stress to deal with.  We've now been out to Leavenworth three times to try to take care of everything.  Between our two schedules it has pretty much taken up all of our time together. 

Finally my little trip to the emergency room last week was like the cherry on top of all of my stress.  Missing three days of work on top of having to pay for our visit and I've just about had enough.  All I ever think about is either money (mostly the lack of) or what else I have to do.  What I should be doing, what still needs to be done, etc.  I'm getting audited at work tomorrow, we have our national property walk on Wednesday, and it goes on and on.  I don't sleep very well at night.  I never do anything fun.  I just need a break.

Sick

I got sick this week.  I mean really sick, the kind I don't remember the last time I felt this way sick.

It all started on Monday at work.  I met Matt at the insurance agent's office to update our policy on his new car and my stomach started hurting.  I just thought maybe I needed to eat something and I would be cool.  That was very far from the truth.  Towards the end of the day it got even worse and I ended up throwing up in the bathroom at work so I decided to go home.  After stopping at a Mcdonald's off of the highway (yes, it was that bad) I made it home.  I thought if I just went to bed I would feel better.

Again, I was very wrong.  I was in the bathroom for about five hours straight that night pretty much violently ill (I'll leave it at that.)  Finally at about 10:30, after an hour of blood being involved (probably TMI), I decided that Matt probably needed to take me to the hospital.  So we left for Shawnee Mission Medical Center with me barely able to stand up because I was so dehydrated.

After we got there, it probably only took five minutes for someone to come see me but it felt like an hour.  They immediately took my blood and hooked me up to an IV so I wouldn't get any more dehydrated.  The doctor then came to see me and explained that most likely I had gastroenteritis, or the stomach flu.  He said that most people just get a little sick and their body fights it off.  A small percentage of people get violently ill, like me, and require prescription meds.

So three hours, two bags of fluid, two shots for nausea, one shot (in the butt) for pain, and a prescription for more anti-nausea medication we were off.  Unfortunately I asked him if it was contagious and he said yes (good luck gammy and Matt).  Then I asked how long until I would be cool and he said anywhere from 2-3 days to 7-10.  Awesome.  It has now been three days and for the most part I feel good, no more throwing up, but my stomach is still pretty sensitive and all I've eaten in the past three days has been toast, soup, and bananas.  Oh and the nurse did a bang-up job on my iv, so my arm is all bruised and looks like I've been shooting heroin for quite awhile now, at least what I imagine a heroin arm would look like.

Pretty much moral of the story is that it sucks using sick days being this sick because I couldn't eat anything, I couldn't go anywhere and most of the time I've been too tired to even really watch television and stay awake.  I might as well have been at work.

RCIA Class

Our RCIA class is officially over!  It feels weird to say, and even weirder to imagine what I will do with my Tuesday nights from here on.

For the past eight months, thats right, eight entire months, Matt and I have been attending RCIA classes every Tuesday night for an hour and a half.  I never thought I would say this, but there is a teeny, tiny part of me that will miss them.  Although I got tired of having one night of my week always occupied, it was kind of nice spending time together.  It was like no matter what work or other things were going on, we always knew we were spending Tuesday nights together.

It was also kind of cool seeing Matt learning all about a religion that I think sometimes I take for granted because I grew up with it.  I was raised Catholic, attended Catholic schools, and pretty much everyone I knew was Catholic.  For him most of it was new.  He was raised Christian, so it wasn't completely foreign to him but it was neat watching him learn all about mass, confession, confirmation, communion, etc.

Last Saturday night, he was officially confirmed and last night we had our last wrap-up session, and now we're done!!  This is going to be a great summer, so give me a call on Tuesdays because I'm now free!