rain, rain, go away.

It's a lovely backyard, excellent for all kinds of Saturday fun... when it's not raining. LOL If only it were sunny, I could be laying out working on my tan!

The "Jungle" front walkway. With all the rain we've been getting lately, it's getting super tropical up here. Too bad there's not room for a hot tub. LOL

My Crepe Myrtles sure do love the rain though... they are filling out nicely since I trimmed them back a couple of weeks ago.

rainy saturday.

Ohhhhh Tina is hating me this morning. See, it's been raining for the last 2 days straight. Not like, a little sprinkle here and there, but full-on lightning and thunder, dark-as-night rainstorms. Needless to say, I'm a little bored, and because Tina refuses to go outside when it's raining, I decided I needed to buy her a raincoat.

She's lucky I picked her out a cute green and pink with polka dots design, and not just a boring old yellow one. At least she looks cute! The downside is, she hates it when I dress her up. Whenever I try to put anything on her- sweater, t-shirt, reindeer antlers, raincoat... she freezes. It used to be worse than it is now. She would freeze and stand in the same place for hours if you let her. Now, she'll at least follow me around until I stop so she can lay down in front of me and pout. LOL! Silly dog. ;)

Anyway... today it's raining, so I felt it would be an excellent photo op for my little Teeny baby and her new raincoat. Isn't she cute? I do wish it would stop raining as I have lots of things I need to be doing, but at least the inclement weather presents me with the opportunity to get caught up on some writing/picture posting/facebook remodeling.

At least I'm being productive I guess!

life in the grass.

I came home from work today and amazingly enough, somehow the dog didn't notice. Usually she starts barking and throwing a fit as soon as one of us comes home, but she must have been distracted by a squirrel or a ladybug fart... something important I'm sure. Since she was oblivious to me, I went ahead with my business and opened up all the blinds so I could enjoy the last hour or so of daylight in the house. I noticed little Tina dog outside just rolling around lazily in the grass, laying out on her back with all four feet in the air just looking relaxed as could be. I was so jealous. I wanted to run out there and lay in the grass with her just to know the carefree life she must live. No bills, no work, no worries. Just wake up in the morning and go play outside all day until Mommy and Daddy come home and shower her with affection. She knows she's going to get fed at the same time everyday, go on car rides on Saturday mornings, and even sleep in the bed once in awhile.

I think she knows she's got it made.

new tunes.

Rarely do I make music recommendations. People are very particular about their music, and are generally hard to persuade away from that. But I must say, if you are looking for something new, or something different, or even looking to fall in love with some new music, you should definitely check out Blue October's new album, "Approaching Normal."

It's incredible. He's taken his edgy, angry music, and always insightful lyrics, and turned it into something positive without losing the edge! It's great. I know I've said before that my writing has been suffering because of all the "happy" clouding up my mind anymore, so I'm totally inspired to hear someone else making that transition so seamlessly.

Blue October has always been a great escape soundtrack for life. When I've found myself in a dark and twisty place, Justin has the lyrical mastery to reflect that void back in a way that moves me to the core. But much like many of us who are growing up and finding true happiness in our lives, he's taking a more sentimental approach and sharing those same transitional time periods with us. There's at least 3 songs on this new album that bring me to tears for their resemblance to my life pre- and post-Jerry and I getting together life.

Maybe I relate to it so well because a couple of years ago, I was beginning to think I would never find happiness. Sure, I assumed I would eventually get married, and I might be happy in a way; but I never expected to feel what I feel with Jerry, and to have what we have with each other. This is just so much different, and I say this after nearly 3 years, and 4 years of being friends before that.

Back then, I was messed up. Not so bad that others really knew, but bad enough that I have volumes of journals and blogs to remind me. I was lost. Lost in a way that there are some periods of that past that I can't even remember. There were lots of things I couldn't see. I couldn't see the destrctive relationships I was in, I couldn't see the bad decisions I was making, and I couldn't see the people around me who REALLY cared about me. What's worse, Jerry was my friend for a really long time before the light switch went on regarding us. I can't even really pinpoint what it was, or exactly when, but I know when everything changed. I grabbed his face one night when we had been out hanging with friends, and told him "I love you." The rest is history.

So when I hear Blue October sing "I saw forever in my never" I understand in a way that many people probably don't. I feel the pain that was there before. I feel the excitement of realizing something very important was happening in my life. I feel the overwhelming happiness that now engulfs me entirely. It's an experience beyond just music. It's a peek into my soul... a part of my soul that I haven't thought about in a really long time, but that I should make a point to never forget.

They say without pain, pleasure has no meaning. I believe that's true.

baby talk.

I love babies! I always have I guess. I was definitely the little girl who had tons of dolls, and liked to play house, and the whole nine yards. So I guess some things never change...

I see so many of my friends, colleagues, and acquaintances having their first babies, and I am green with envy. Now that I'm married, and have a wonderful, stable home life, it's even more difficult not to think about babies all the time. One of the highlights of my day is looking through facebook at baby pictures, and reading the funny/touching stories people are writing about their kids. I totally want that.

Once upon a time I used to freak out if my period was a day late. I would even freak out before then if I felt especially paranoid. But now, I secretly hope for it! Jerry and I are not "trying" to get pregnant just yet per se, but we're not NOT trying either. We figured, we're ready, why not let nature take its course? Of course, planning is my nature, so it is sometimes difficult to keep that part of me at bay. My instinct is to start reading up! Start charting the cycle and planning ovulation days, let's do this. But it feels like planning takes all the fun out of it, so I'll just have to be patient. I do really like the idea of being surprised by a pregnancy... it's more fun and less work than all the planning I hear about.

I guess my internal baby clock has finally started up and is ticking away...

aging.

"We're all as old as we have ever been, and we're all at different stages of considering the aging process."

I like that quote... it's making me contemplate some things.

I took a silly little "real age" quiz on facebook and it said I'm 25. Well, though I am 27, what little flattery that quiz may have intended, was quickly trumped by the fact that it was an 8 question facebook quiz. In any case, I'm not 25. I don't even think I'm 27. I think I'm closer to 40.

I've been told I have an "old soul," that I am wise beyond my years, and much more mature than many people my age. I take this as a compliment, but I'm not entirely sure that it's always intended that way. Nor am I sure how I came to be this way. I have always heard that wisdom comes from experience, so I guess I have plenty of that.

I'm 27 and I've done the college thing, I moved to a big city, I've waitressed, I've bar tended, I've managed bars, I've worked for lawyers, I've worked in web design, I've worked for one of the most notorious lawyers in the country, I even helped write his book, I've run a multi-million dollar company, I've played major roles in launching entire companies, I've been the boss, I've been the assistant, and I've been unemployed.

From my experience, I have learned so many things. I have learned more in the last 5 years than I learned the entire time I was in college. And yet, when it comes to work and jobs and whatever, all that matters is what it says on that fancy little paper I have framed in my office.

Unfortunately, my little piece of paper says none of those things.

get back on track.

I am easily distracted. Obviously. However, instead of beating myself up about my shortcoming, I am going to embrace it and hopefully make it work.

I hear this morning that newspapers are reporting their own eminent deaths. Print media is going out of style, and fast. How sad that they can see it coming?

BREAKING STORY! WE'RE GOING OUT OF BUSINESS!
BUY OUR PAPER AND READ ALL ABOUT IT!

(Not that I have much elbow room here, at least half of my job revolves around print media, but that's probably another blog.) What I do not understand, however, is why they are letting it happen? Get on that multimedia bandwagon people! Stop reporting on how your industry is going down the tubes, and get out there and try new things. Blog! Promote your online news site! Something!! Just because the company started out as a newspaper, doesn't mean it has to stay that way. Look at Proctor&Gamble. They started out as a soap and candle company in 1837, and now they produce and develop everything from dog food, to cosmetics, to batteries, to kitchen appliances. Business is all about adapting to the current economic climate, not succumbing to it. Looks like the newspapers' marketing departments are falling down on the job...


I also hear that the price of ammunition is being raised within the next month to accommodate a new tax Mr. O felt was necessary. So now, people are going to be paying almost 3 times what they were pre-taxation for their ammo. As far as the basics of economics go, it seems that this will lend to more ammo buying now (stockpiling if you will), and lots and lots of angry people.

Angry People + Lots of Ammo = Really Bad Things.

There has already been marked increases in the number of people applying for concealed handgun licenses in the last 3 months. (3 months huh... strange correlation to the timing of the inauguration.) I wish there was some explanation for this, but it seems that accomplishing personal agendas at the expense of the tax payers is what Mr. O does best. So I guess we'll see what happens. In the meantime, I'll see you guys out at the shooting range. LOL ;)