Animal whisperer

It seems to be that in recent months I have become something of an animal whisperer. Not one of those creepy people on TV, as it is more of an animal sitting professional. Growing up we never had dogs and well even though there were cats at my parents' house, they were NEVER mine. The past few years I have had to the opportunity take care of the cats, dogs, fish, etc. of several friends and colleagues. A few weeks ago it was sweet Tucker and his pesky sister Charlotte; a fun time but tiring none the less. Fast forward to now. This evening I began dog sitting for one of our Associate Deans who has two dogs. One of the them is cute, white thing who is about 3.5. The other one is 19 YEARS OLD!!! That is like 200 or something in dog years. 


Ladies and gentlemen the dog began wearing a diaper like yesterday. And I am terrified that he is going to die sometime in the next three weeks. Like it could seriously happen. Seriously. Already since arriving here, I have changed his diaper thing and then came upstairs and found that (probably) he had pooped in the upstairs. It could have been the other one before the cleaning lady left, but I am not holding my breath on that one. 


If this is just the beginning folks, then I am seriously in for an adventure. Stay tuned as the adventure unfolds.

I think that I can do this blogging thing.

I read all kinds of blogs all of the the time. There are the regular ones in my blog roll and many more when I am looking for recipes, so why can't I write one? Exactly. There is no good reason why not so I have decided that I am going to work on being a regular blogger. For one of my upcoming graduate courses I have to create a web page which is probably has some blog related stuff associated, so essentially blogging will be getting me a good great.  


What will be some of the goals of this blog? 


Hmmm...

• I love to cook and bake, so I will share the recipes of the delicious stuff that I make. Photos too if I am really good.
• Musings of regular life stuff
• Anything else that tickles my fancy at that moment.

OK. That is all that I can think of for the moment. Cheers to the weekend.

Where has all the time gone this week?

As I mentioned in my previous post, it has been 10 years since I graduated from HS. Congratulations to me....and the other 372 people that walked across the staff many moons ago. Right now I am working with a committee of people to plan our reunion. I am pretty much the information keeper/finder. This is something I worked off and on with for a month or so on until this week. This week I have spent HOURS scouring Facebook and email looking for info. There are so many people that I would not know if they were standing right in front of me. All of this makes me realize a few things:

1. I am probably spending way too much time on this.

2. While there are many people I don't remember and have lost touch with, this is a good opportunity to change that...if I want to.  I am pretty content with the relationships that I have created and maintained throughout the past ten years, and will be interested to see how things go. 

3. Working on all this stuff has meant that I have not been packing my apartment like I should have been.

Packing? Again? YES. I am being moved to another area of campus and moving to my 3rd apartment on Vanderbilt's campus. In the past ten years I have moved 16 times! I am really not displeased with moving to another area of campus...just HATE moving. This weekend I will have to really work on packing because I am leaving on Thursday of next week to visit Elise and go home! As soon as I come back it is immediate moving time.  Talk about stressful!


After a fun night out with the boys for $5 martinis and wasting time doing other random stuff I am finally gonna try and get some sleep.

WHOA.

Ten years ago on 5.31.2000 I graduated from High School. That is a big WHOA. That seems like such a long time ago. It is crazy that much time has passed. 

One of the other crazy things about the fact that I graduated ten years ago is the fact that two of my cousin's are graduating next week. I remember when they were just babies and now they are soon to be full fledged adults. They are great people and I am proud of them!

Memorial Day.

Today is a day of remembrance. Across our nation, we observe this day at Memorial Day. It is an opportunity for us to honor the men and women in the Armed Forces who serve/have served and those who have fallen in battle. I am the granddaughter and daughter of men who served in WWII/Korean War and during the Vietnam era. Growing up I always remember my father wearing a special bracelet with the name of a POW lost somewhere in Vietnam. He never took that bracelet off, that is until the man was identified and honored properly.

In high school, I had the honor of knowing a man named Justin Walsh. Justin had bright red hair with aspirations of serving as a marine post-graduation. In 2001, Justin graduated and joined the marine corp. For several years I did not have any contact with Justin and was so sad to hear that in October of 2006 he passed away from injuries he received in Iraq. He died saving the lives of his men, and is a hero.

Thank you to all of those who serve or have served. As a proud American, I am very grateful.

It's starting to look a lot like summer

I love my job...no really I do, but some of favorite things about the year happen right now. Most of the students are gone, parking is plentiful, incidents are few, planning is plentiful, and last but certainly not least...DAYS OFF! There are months of the school year where I have no actual day off. Monday-Sunday during the school year it often feels like my time is not my own. Sometimes it is so nice to rejuvenate and relax! 

This summer I am also embarking on an adventure of sorts...moving to another area of campus. This moving areas also means moving apartments...again. Just last summer I moved apartments, but stayed in the same area. I am excited about the move and the opportunities that present themselves, but HATE packing. Over the past ten years I have moved approximately 16 times so I should be a pro at it by now, but it is so tedious and feels never ending. Guess that means I need to get rid of some junk!

Today I walked outside my building and was greeted with a lovely flowery smell. Spring/summer brings such beautiful flowers and smells...makes for lovely walks and scenery! 

Hopefully the summer brings lots of relaxation and exciting things to blog about! 

Cheers.

Sticks out like a sore thumb

OK. My thumb hurts like whoa and I have no idea what the hell I did to it. In the beginning I thought it was only a bruise on my thumb bad after making a wreath on Friday. It was a little sore on Saturday, but yesterday it really started to hurt. Today...I question if I broke the damn thing. It is my left thumb. I am left-handed. This is the same thumb that I use to do a whole lot of crap. My mother says that I should rest and ice it...maybe this means no writing or typing. No work!

On to other things of the day: I wish I could dance. For some I really love Dancing With the Stars. It's not necessarily because there are always some interesting celebs on there, but because so many start with little to no skill and at the end of their time actually develop real skill.  The workouts they get each week are tremendous. I would be really nervous that I would forget all the steps, get dizzy, and fall on my face...Dirty Dancing style. In spite of my sore thumb, I give this show 2 thumbs up!

Alright...every beauty needs her sleep. Maybe I should go get me some.