Additions

Most of you know already, but for those of you who don’t (or who don’t mind me talking about it again) I got a new puppy!  Her name is Olly.  Backstory on the name:  She was named Olivia at the shelter, and seemed somewhat responsive to it, so I decided to just shorten it rather than totally throw her off with another cool name like Winnie).  I got her from Wayside Waifs, which turned out to be quite the facility.  I’d never been out there before, but I would highly recommend them if you are interested in adopting a pet! Anywho, here she is:

Ain’t she a cutie!  I got Olly on February 15th, so it has officially been a month that we have been together.  Which would make her approximately 5 months old now.  She is, despite my amateur dog knowledge, an amazing dog.  She is very responsive, and overall very calm.  She’ll make friends with anybody.  I discovered today that she likes my cat’s laser pointer toy more than my cat.  Go figure.  The shelter thought she was a pointer/hound mix.  The more walks we take, the more the pointer side of her seems to show.  She does that whole “lifting one front leg and pointing” thing that I think pointers do.  Squirrels and birds make her go a little nuts, but I believe that is fairly normal for most dogs.  She is also a big fan of my dad’s cat, Iggy.  Iggy just turned one year old not too long ago, so they’re both still puppy/kitty stages.  They seem to like to chase each other.  No lie, the cat will chase Olly.  Mostly, that’s because Olly is doing her best to ignore the cat so she doesn’t get in trouble.

Olly and I went to Penn Valley Dog Park for the first time yesterday.  It was her (and my) first time in any dog park.  Not to brag, but she was amazing!  She made friends with pretty much every dog (and human) there.  I was a little nervous about letting her off leash because I wasn’t sure how good she would be at coming back to me when I called.  Turned out not to be much of a problem.  You let the dog off the leash, and then just kind of walk around and monitor them while they run all over the place.

I just uploaded some photos to my computer, but for some reason this website hasn’t caught up with my computer, so I can’t find them to upload.  But don’t worry, I have a video of Olly chasing the laser pointer — I’ll get it up here!

Okay, that’s it for now.  

Holy Cow, I’m a Homeowner!

Drumroll please  ……………  I’M A HOMEOWNER!!!!!  (and the crowd goes wild!!)

I closed on my house and moved in a little over a week ago now.  Hard to believe a week has already passed!  I’m very slowly getting situated in my new abode.  Due to some shipping problems, I am without a fridge until this Friday, making it almost a full two weeks that I will have eaten from a cooler/my dad’s fridge.  It’s a darn good thing I didn’t move too far away from dear old dad!

Otherwise, I am loving having my own home.  I didn’t take any time off of work to get moved in, so I am very slowly unpacking boxes as I struggle to retain a small amount of energy after work each night so that I can at least make a little progress.

Being a first-time home owner has also opened my eyes to the numerous duties of a homeowner and issues that can arise that I had never really paid much attention to or been aware of.  Like, if you don’t immediately notify the water company the day that you move in that you have moved in, they will turn off your water while you are at work — forcing you to then call the water utility emergency number to get your water turned back on because you don’t get back home to discover this until after their normal office hours.

OR, did you know that cats do not really enjoy being moved to new houses?  Especially when they have lived in one house for 14 years, they really don’t take to a new environment readily.  In accordance with some suggestions I found online, my little cat’s food/water bowls and kitty litter have started in my bedroom, and each day been moved about a foot away towards their ultimate destinations (Kitchen for food & water; Basement for kitty litter).  Currently, the food and water bowls have pretty much made their way to their final destinations.  The kitty litter is also in the kitchen, but she seems to be struggling with having it there.  I think when she pees on my new area rug she might just be telling me she’s mad at me.

Don’t get me wrong, I am one lucky girl!  I am very fortunate in the family and friends in my life, as they were crucial to my move.  My pops has quickly become my handy-man, as he has already re-socketed my electrical outlets in my living room, and has figured out the workability of my water line to my fridge.  I was worried that because it was bent, it wouldn’t work.  Turns out, it works better than I thought.  When we were playing with it last night, we must not have gotten the valve turned all the way off.  I came home today to a puddle in the kitchen, which had made it’s way through the floor and into the basement.  Oh joy!  I didn’t say he was perfect, but so far, he’s free!

I think the only remaining piece of furniture I have yet to acquire is a breakfast table and chairs for my eat-in kitchen.  Although now that I look around, I might be able to fit a small dining table in my living room … hmm, will have to ponder on this.  Otherwise, several generous people have donated to my furniture collection, and I truly appreciate it!  THANK YOU!

It is not even 10 pm and I am about to pass out, so goodnight!

Game Night

Last night, I decided to gather a group of awesome folks — most of whom I had missed seeing on New Year’s Eve due to what sounds like is the bubonic plague that has been going around lately.  With plenty of vino, and some excellent tunes a la “Pitch Perfect” we undertook a brand new game (to us):

Cards Against Humanity — http://www.cardsagainsthumanity.com

I think I originally I saw this game in Real Simple, and then a friend of mine showed me the real thing.  Here is the real genius of this game, if you go to the website I listed above, they will let you download the pdf and go have it printed yourself — FOR FREE!  This was by far the cheapest game I’ve ever bought, with my office max discount card, I ended up paying $1.85 to have all the cards printed on card stock.  The only drawback is that it does take a little while to cut all the cards out.  But it was worth it!

This game is absolutely politically incorrect.  I would give an example, but I don’t want to run the risk of offending anyone/everyone. 🙂  We had a blast — I am proud to say I have some very creative, and perhaps a little depraved, friends.

As of today, there are still eleven days left in January, which I am pretty excited about.  I am trying to periodically remind myself of my 2013 goals, so that I don’t get to December and forget what I was even trying to achieve.  So far, I’m doing alright.  I’m making game plans, and I am following through.  Yes, it’s only 20 days into the year, but I think I am already doing better than last year, I hate to admit.

Here’s just another reason to already love 2013 — a new JT song.  Enjoy: