This week has gone by soo quickly. With trying to meet up with people one last time and getting everything done, we've been exhausted. I can't believe we're almost done with this short phase of our lives. Our bags are packed but unfortunately we've had to unpack and repack them since we're still living out of them. The house is halfway clean thanks to my wonderful husband. He swept and mopped almost all the floors as I was packing and organizing. Today will be the bathrooms and kitchen and then we're done. We've been sleeping on an air mattress for 4 nights so far and I am ready to get to a hotel room. I know Tim is because we only have 1 blanket and I hog it every night.
It's sad that I've just only started to meet my neighbors as we're leaving but they have been wonderful! We've borrowed all kinds of things from them and it's just nice to take a short break from the craziness and stand there and chit chat. I've had to watch a child for a few minutes here and there, but nothing I'm not already used to. I even got to go out for a little girl time with one of my neighbors. She just had her third child a few months back so girl time is hard to come by for her.
The dogs are going crazy. They can't figure out why we no longer sleep in the bedroom and have closed off that side of the house completely. They're getting used to sleeping in their crates every night. I think if we had carpet they would just sleep on that but the linoleum/tile stuff is not working for them. The fence has been taken down so they can only go out one at a time and there's no play time in the backyard anymore. Thank goodness the dog park is still available to them.
Last night my friends threw me a little goodbye party. It wasn't much of a "party" because 3 people couldn't make it so it was just the 4 of us but we had a blast! We actually stayed up until 2AM just talking. Unfortunate for Tim, since he had to come pick me up at 2:30AM. He was invited, he just had plans with some of his friends. Most of these girls I've only known for a short period of time but I'm really going to miss them. I wish we had met earlier on in my time here but I know the more time we spend together, the harder it would be to leave.
Tomorrow we move out of our house and head to Atlanta. I can't believe it's really happening! I've decided to really make an effort to post pictures when I start blogging again. Not sure it's going to happen in the first few months since I'm pretty sure I packed the camera cords but I'm going to try. As I was reading through some blogs yesterday I just realized how much more enjoyable pictures make it. I'm also going to change the web address because this blog really isn't about us. It's all about me. Don't worry, I'll give y'all a heads up when I decide to do that.
Bye Bye South! You've treated me well for the past 4 years. I hope they have sweet tea in Hawaii!
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Time is going by too fast!
While Tim was gone, the time just dragged. I didn't think we'd ever PCS. All of a sudden he's back, there's a ton of stuff to do, and we're leaving in less than 2 weeks. I was so careful to make sure all the dogs' paperwork was done correctly and months ahead of time. So what do I do? I sit on the paperwork until I realize, it's not going to get there in time! I had to overnight it there to make sure it got there the required 10 days before they do.
Then we moved the HHG pack and pick up dates a few days earlier only to find out that we can't change our move out date and we can't leave any earlier because of the dogs. So instead we will spend a week in an empty house. You'd think he just joined the army and this was our first PCS.
I was hoping for a direct flight for the dogs' sake but apparently the people at transpo aren't that smart. It took them forever to find Tim's name on his orders. Then they made the tickets for his report date and told him he couldn't get there any earlier than his report date. Hi, we'd like to get there before the day he has to report for work. Then they told him I couldn't go because I wasn't authorized. This is while she held the concurrent orders in her hand. They forced us to go to a brief that you only have to go to if you PCS to another country. The guy who gave the brief came up to us before he started and told us we didn't have to be there but we asked him if we could stay because they wouldn't give us our tickets otherwise. We finally get our tickets and I ask if they are direct flights and she said yes. Apparently she thought I asked "is this a direct flight to a place that is not our final destination?" It's not a direct flight so now I have to figure out what I have to do with the dogs and if we have time during our layover to let the dogs out. At the end of this trip, they'll have been in their kennels for 18 hours straight. I tried to ask a few more questions but apparently we weren't speaking the same language and fearing that the level of frustration would reach dangerous levels, my husband kindly escorted me out. Instead, tomorrow I'll have to call the airline and try to figure some stuff out.
We traded in the Jeep today. It served us well for the last 8 years but sadly due to neglect during deployments, the 9th year was miserable and it was time to part ways. We went with a used Honda Pilot. Oh how I love that it doesn't make scary squealing noises every time we turn on the air conditioner. It doesn't shake uncontrollably when we stop at lights. It doesn't have all the bells and whistles but I love it just the same! Now we have to figure out if we can ship it without the tags and title. And I'll have to register it in GA only to re-register it in HI 35 days later. Don't you love it when you trade in one problem and stress for another?
Tomorrow will be a full day of phone calls and trying to figure out how I'm going to survive the next 2 weeks. Please pray that my husband and I don't hurt each other. The stress is taking it's toll!
Then we moved the HHG pack and pick up dates a few days earlier only to find out that we can't change our move out date and we can't leave any earlier because of the dogs. So instead we will spend a week in an empty house. You'd think he just joined the army and this was our first PCS.
I was hoping for a direct flight for the dogs' sake but apparently the people at transpo aren't that smart. It took them forever to find Tim's name on his orders. Then they made the tickets for his report date and told him he couldn't get there any earlier than his report date. Hi, we'd like to get there before the day he has to report for work. Then they told him I couldn't go because I wasn't authorized. This is while she held the concurrent orders in her hand. They forced us to go to a brief that you only have to go to if you PCS to another country. The guy who gave the brief came up to us before he started and told us we didn't have to be there but we asked him if we could stay because they wouldn't give us our tickets otherwise. We finally get our tickets and I ask if they are direct flights and she said yes. Apparently she thought I asked "is this a direct flight to a place that is not our final destination?" It's not a direct flight so now I have to figure out what I have to do with the dogs and if we have time during our layover to let the dogs out. At the end of this trip, they'll have been in their kennels for 18 hours straight. I tried to ask a few more questions but apparently we weren't speaking the same language and fearing that the level of frustration would reach dangerous levels, my husband kindly escorted me out. Instead, tomorrow I'll have to call the airline and try to figure some stuff out.
We traded in the Jeep today. It served us well for the last 8 years but sadly due to neglect during deployments, the 9th year was miserable and it was time to part ways. We went with a used Honda Pilot. Oh how I love that it doesn't make scary squealing noises every time we turn on the air conditioner. It doesn't shake uncontrollably when we stop at lights. It doesn't have all the bells and whistles but I love it just the same! Now we have to figure out if we can ship it without the tags and title. And I'll have to register it in GA only to re-register it in HI 35 days later. Don't you love it when you trade in one problem and stress for another?
Tomorrow will be a full day of phone calls and trying to figure out how I'm going to survive the next 2 weeks. Please pray that my husband and I don't hurt each other. The stress is taking it's toll!
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Oh my gosh, we're almost there!!!
I got the word on Sunday...my husband will officially be a Ranger tomorrow!!! I am sooo proud of him. He made it all the way through without recycling! He got sick in 2 of the phases and we thought for sure he wasn't going to make but he kept telling me that he was definitely being watched over. Today I get to pick him and a couple of his buddies up for a pass. We're going to do some shopping, eat some ginormous calzones, and come home to relax. He told me to set up the living room so his buddies can just sit there and zone out. So we have the game consoles, the laptop and a big box of junk food.
I am really excited about graduation tomorrow. I've never been to any of his graduations where he gets a new patch before. I hear the demonstration is awesome. I find it funny that he feels like he has to remind me to bring a camera. I take tons of pictures, I just never post them! I am not looking forward to security. Apparently when a General's son is graduating all the Generals that live close by also attend but it makes getting into the ceremony a nightmare. At least I don't have to drive on-post. I'm told that's one of the worst parts.
Then...it's Hawaii!!! It's finally real! Everyone kept asking me if I was excited and I was, but not knowing when you're leaving makes it that much further away. We can be there no later than one month from Thursday! In a few weeks I'll be laying on the beach trying to figure out where we're going to live. I guess we could always pitch a tent. So now it's the mad scramble to get things done but my husband will pretty much be useless at least through the weekend.
On another note...ever since I was shunned by a few of the neighbors for not having kids, I stopped trying to make friends on our street. So new people moved in and I made no attempt to talk to them. Our neighbors across the street probably moved in about 4 months after us and we've said hi once. Our neighbors next door to us expressed interest in getting together but we just do our daily greetings. They pick up our mail when we go out of town. And we got brand new neighbors behind us. They moved in while I was in Texas. I never said hi and slowly it passed that point in time where you can introduce yourself as a new neighbor. But I figured, who cares? I'll be out of here in a little bit anyways.
Yesterday, I was cleaning the stove. It's got this layer of what looks like paint that forms every time you turn the burner on. We started cleaning it when we first moved in but we figured out there was no point in cleaning it if it would only form again the next time I used the stove. And keeping up with it, did not make it easier to clean. So I have spent the last 5 days cleaning the stove and so far I have 1 clean burner. That's with spending 2 hours per day scrubbing. Anyways...
I'm scrubbing the stove and going back and forth between the stove and the sink and I see moving trucks in front of the house of the neighbors across the street. I watch my neighbors sitting in their driveway on coolers and trunks for about 1-2 hours before I realize, I have folding chairs I can bring over. I bring them over and tell them if they need anything during the move, to not hesitate to ask...something I should have asked 6 months ago when they moved in. I told them I felt their pain since we'll be doing the same thing in a few weeks. So we ask where the other is moving and we're both moving to Hawaii! We talk for a little bit and realize we've both been shunned by the neighborhood even though I thought she had an in with a toddler. We both like to take walks and wanted walking partners but sadly walked alone for these 6 months. She stayed couped up in her house and I stayed couped up in mine. It was truly sad. Then I ended up talking to her husband for about 30 mins and couldn't figure out why we hadn't hung out before this. So I gave them all my info and hopefully we'll link up in Hawaii.
Of course, then I decide I'm going to talk to all the neighbors who haven't excluded me. The one next door invited us to a BBQ they're having at their house next weekend. The one behind me thought they were the only ones in the neighborhood without kids and have pretty much stayed to themselves. We plan on doing dinner before we leave. Craziness. So this is why I try so hard at the beginning and try to make friends with basically anyone who will talk to me. Because somewhere there are people who want to be my friends, I just have a tendency to choose the wrong ones until we're getting ready to leave.
So as I tell myself every single time we PCS...the next post will be different! I'm looking forward to it! And now to finish cleaning up so dirty Rangers can come in and destroy my house!
I am really excited about graduation tomorrow. I've never been to any of his graduations where he gets a new patch before. I hear the demonstration is awesome. I find it funny that he feels like he has to remind me to bring a camera. I take tons of pictures, I just never post them! I am not looking forward to security. Apparently when a General's son is graduating all the Generals that live close by also attend but it makes getting into the ceremony a nightmare. At least I don't have to drive on-post. I'm told that's one of the worst parts.
Then...it's Hawaii!!! It's finally real! Everyone kept asking me if I was excited and I was, but not knowing when you're leaving makes it that much further away. We can be there no later than one month from Thursday! In a few weeks I'll be laying on the beach trying to figure out where we're going to live. I guess we could always pitch a tent. So now it's the mad scramble to get things done but my husband will pretty much be useless at least through the weekend.
On another note...ever since I was shunned by a few of the neighbors for not having kids, I stopped trying to make friends on our street. So new people moved in and I made no attempt to talk to them. Our neighbors across the street probably moved in about 4 months after us and we've said hi once. Our neighbors next door to us expressed interest in getting together but we just do our daily greetings. They pick up our mail when we go out of town. And we got brand new neighbors behind us. They moved in while I was in Texas. I never said hi and slowly it passed that point in time where you can introduce yourself as a new neighbor. But I figured, who cares? I'll be out of here in a little bit anyways.
Yesterday, I was cleaning the stove. It's got this layer of what looks like paint that forms every time you turn the burner on. We started cleaning it when we first moved in but we figured out there was no point in cleaning it if it would only form again the next time I used the stove. And keeping up with it, did not make it easier to clean. So I have spent the last 5 days cleaning the stove and so far I have 1 clean burner. That's with spending 2 hours per day scrubbing. Anyways...
I'm scrubbing the stove and going back and forth between the stove and the sink and I see moving trucks in front of the house of the neighbors across the street. I watch my neighbors sitting in their driveway on coolers and trunks for about 1-2 hours before I realize, I have folding chairs I can bring over. I bring them over and tell them if they need anything during the move, to not hesitate to ask...something I should have asked 6 months ago when they moved in. I told them I felt their pain since we'll be doing the same thing in a few weeks. So we ask where the other is moving and we're both moving to Hawaii! We talk for a little bit and realize we've both been shunned by the neighborhood even though I thought she had an in with a toddler. We both like to take walks and wanted walking partners but sadly walked alone for these 6 months. She stayed couped up in her house and I stayed couped up in mine. It was truly sad. Then I ended up talking to her husband for about 30 mins and couldn't figure out why we hadn't hung out before this. So I gave them all my info and hopefully we'll link up in Hawaii.
Of course, then I decide I'm going to talk to all the neighbors who haven't excluded me. The one next door invited us to a BBQ they're having at their house next weekend. The one behind me thought they were the only ones in the neighborhood without kids and have pretty much stayed to themselves. We plan on doing dinner before we leave. Craziness. So this is why I try so hard at the beginning and try to make friends with basically anyone who will talk to me. Because somewhere there are people who want to be my friends, I just have a tendency to choose the wrong ones until we're getting ready to leave.
So as I tell myself every single time we PCS...the next post will be different! I'm looking forward to it! And now to finish cleaning up so dirty Rangers can come in and destroy my house!
Friday, March 26, 2010
Procrastination never helps anyone!
My name is Cynthia and I am a procrastinator. I have always waited until the last possible minute to do things. I hate being stressed out but I do my best work under that stress. Well, I had a long "To Do" list that I was supposed to get done before the 1st of April. Unfortunately, none of that has been done. Now I'm running out of time! I'm feeling so overwhelmed that instead of throwing myself into getting things done, I feel myself shutting down. So instead I've done absolutely nothing this week!
I was going to do my taxes today. I've given up on finding an alternative to the Tax Center. I was going to go in and see how long I'd have to wait, but I decided the smart thing to do was call and see if I could get an appointment. It's a good thing I called because if you own a house that you're renting out, you have to make an appointment. But because I waited so long to call them I can't get an appointment until a week before taxes are due. Maybe next year I'll be more prepared...
Next up, sending the car. If I can get the car to the shipping place by next week, we'll only have to rent a car for 2 weeks. If I had shipped it a few weeks ago, our car would have been waiting for us when we got there. Now I have to find someone who's willing to drive to Atlanta to pick me up after I drop the car off. So far, it's not looking good. I also have to figure out what I'm going to do with the Jeep. Pay to ship a worthless car or try to sell a car in 2 weeks? I'd like to put it on the lemon lot but once I ship the other car, I'll have no car to drive.
Since I haven't been doing anything productive this week, I've been watching reality TV shows about hoarders. I've always had a tendency towards hoarding but now I'm turning into one of those crazy hoarders. At first, I was just a collector of things. I can't bear to throw things out if I think at some point I might use it or I might be able to give it to someone else to use. None of my things have it's proper place and if I were not married to someone who forces me to move every few years/months, I could easily fill my house to the brim with junk. But this week it's gotten worse. I can't even clean up after myself. I've been leaving garbage and dirty dishes every where. With the possibility of my husband coming home in a week....this is not good! So today I took some big steps by throwing out my collection of old wallets. Every time I get a new wallet, I keep the old wallet in a drawer. I have a whole drawer of old wallets and cell phones. If you're not a hoarder, you can't possibly know how hard a process this is. I tried to get my mom to throw out some of the magnets on her fridge this past summer. Some of them are soo old they have to be scraped off the fridge. I was able to throw out 4 magnets before my mom started grabbing them out of my hand. This does not bode well for my future. So I need to take care of this problem before it gets completely out of hand!
Today, I am having a friend over for dinner. That means at least the minimum has to be done. Wish me luck!
I was going to do my taxes today. I've given up on finding an alternative to the Tax Center. I was going to go in and see how long I'd have to wait, but I decided the smart thing to do was call and see if I could get an appointment. It's a good thing I called because if you own a house that you're renting out, you have to make an appointment. But because I waited so long to call them I can't get an appointment until a week before taxes are due. Maybe next year I'll be more prepared...
Next up, sending the car. If I can get the car to the shipping place by next week, we'll only have to rent a car for 2 weeks. If I had shipped it a few weeks ago, our car would have been waiting for us when we got there. Now I have to find someone who's willing to drive to Atlanta to pick me up after I drop the car off. So far, it's not looking good. I also have to figure out what I'm going to do with the Jeep. Pay to ship a worthless car or try to sell a car in 2 weeks? I'd like to put it on the lemon lot but once I ship the other car, I'll have no car to drive.
Since I haven't been doing anything productive this week, I've been watching reality TV shows about hoarders. I've always had a tendency towards hoarding but now I'm turning into one of those crazy hoarders. At first, I was just a collector of things. I can't bear to throw things out if I think at some point I might use it or I might be able to give it to someone else to use. None of my things have it's proper place and if I were not married to someone who forces me to move every few years/months, I could easily fill my house to the brim with junk. But this week it's gotten worse. I can't even clean up after myself. I've been leaving garbage and dirty dishes every where. With the possibility of my husband coming home in a week....this is not good! So today I took some big steps by throwing out my collection of old wallets. Every time I get a new wallet, I keep the old wallet in a drawer. I have a whole drawer of old wallets and cell phones. If you're not a hoarder, you can't possibly know how hard a process this is. I tried to get my mom to throw out some of the magnets on her fridge this past summer. Some of them are soo old they have to be scraped off the fridge. I was able to throw out 4 magnets before my mom started grabbing them out of my hand. This does not bode well for my future. So I need to take care of this problem before it gets completely out of hand!
Today, I am having a friend over for dinner. That means at least the minimum has to be done. Wish me luck!
Thursday, March 18, 2010
bumps along the road...
I'm really excited that I get to put my 30 day notice in for housing. That means we're almost there! But then I realized I did not get a general POA. I have about 6 special ones but we failed to get the general one. What does that mean? I can't put in notice without my husband. The bad news came yesterday when I was told that by the time my husband gets home we will only have 15 days before we leave housing. With that being insufficient notice, I would have to pay the extra 15 days we won't be here. So I put on my sad face, which was not difficult with the day I've been having, walked into the office, and told them I had no idea what to do about putting in notice. The lady walked me through step by step until we got to the part where she asked for my POA. Then she put her sad face on and told me she couldn't help me. When I explained that he was in Ranger School, she told me in that case, the 30 days notice was waived! Yay! So now he just has to go in and sign the paperwork! She even let me request the days and everything.
Then I had to go home and deal with the rest of the stuff. I decided to re-pierce my ears last night. I've had my ears pierced since I was 4 but I lose earrings like it's my job. So growing up I was never allowed to wear earings unless it was a special occasion...and even then I would lose one. This made it so I've never felt the need to wear earrings and my ears will actually bleed if I wear them for more than a few hours. About once a year I put an earring in just to make sure the hole stays open. In June, I was in a wedding and brought my earrings only to find that the hole in one ear had closed up. I tried to force it through but it simply wouldn't go. Oh well, no big loss. Last night I decide I must reopen that hole! So I try to stick an earring through and it doesn't work. I push it a little harder and nothing happens. I'm determined to reopen the hole so I spend an hour pushing and prodding and spinning until the post finally gets through. I thought about using a needle but I didn't want to go through trying to get the earring back through after I pulled the needle out. An hour of torturing myself just sounded like the better plan. Now I have earrings on, but my ear is also throbbing. It could be that it's infected but this is also what it normally feels like when I have earrings on. I'm gonna give it another day. I can just see my medical file, 30 year old woman tried to pierce her own ear...unsuccessful idiot gave herself an infection.
Yesterday morning while I was feeding the dogs, I noticed there were pieces in their food that didn't belong. Their food is brown, these pieces were red and not even the same shape. So I thought it was probably like when you get a stray onion ring in your french fries...bonus! I threw the few pieces out and didn't think twice. Well this morning, I notice there's even more mixed in. Most people know how paranoid I am about my dogs' food. I've switched them about 4 times since the dog food recalls and every time it gets a little more expensive. So I was pretty upset that I'm finding random bits of kibble in their bowls. I called the company to ask them if they even make a dog food that's red in color. I had to leave a message. Yes, I'm still the crazy dog lady. Now I'm trying to decide if I should switch their food again.
While I was dealing with the food, I noticed a big puddle on the floor next to the fridge. Score! My refrigerator defrosted itself! The stuff in the fridge was still relatively cold and the stuff in the freezer had just started to defrost. So I put a work order in. They came by within half an hour and told me I needed a new fridge. This was when I almost did a happy dance since we live on post and it doesn't come out of our pockets. But I had to empty out the fridge. Lucky for me, I had a few friends pcs and give me their food before they left. Not like my fridge wasn't already filled to the max. So I hauled our 2 large coolers out and started emptying. Pulled out the last few condiments as they pulled up with my NEW fridge. Well, not really new. So it had some blood stains and something watery left over from the last tenant, no biggie. The plus was that it had already been running over night so it was cold. I couldn't do a scrub down like I wanted, but I was able to rid the fridge of the really nasty stuff.
That's how my day started. I'm supposed to make Irish soda bread for a get together tonight but I'm hoping they still have some left at the store because it just ain't happening!
Then I had to go home and deal with the rest of the stuff. I decided to re-pierce my ears last night. I've had my ears pierced since I was 4 but I lose earrings like it's my job. So growing up I was never allowed to wear earings unless it was a special occasion...and even then I would lose one. This made it so I've never felt the need to wear earrings and my ears will actually bleed if I wear them for more than a few hours. About once a year I put an earring in just to make sure the hole stays open. In June, I was in a wedding and brought my earrings only to find that the hole in one ear had closed up. I tried to force it through but it simply wouldn't go. Oh well, no big loss. Last night I decide I must reopen that hole! So I try to stick an earring through and it doesn't work. I push it a little harder and nothing happens. I'm determined to reopen the hole so I spend an hour pushing and prodding and spinning until the post finally gets through. I thought about using a needle but I didn't want to go through trying to get the earring back through after I pulled the needle out. An hour of torturing myself just sounded like the better plan. Now I have earrings on, but my ear is also throbbing. It could be that it's infected but this is also what it normally feels like when I have earrings on. I'm gonna give it another day. I can just see my medical file, 30 year old woman tried to pierce her own ear...unsuccessful idiot gave herself an infection.
Yesterday morning while I was feeding the dogs, I noticed there were pieces in their food that didn't belong. Their food is brown, these pieces were red and not even the same shape. So I thought it was probably like when you get a stray onion ring in your french fries...bonus! I threw the few pieces out and didn't think twice. Well this morning, I notice there's even more mixed in. Most people know how paranoid I am about my dogs' food. I've switched them about 4 times since the dog food recalls and every time it gets a little more expensive. So I was pretty upset that I'm finding random bits of kibble in their bowls. I called the company to ask them if they even make a dog food that's red in color. I had to leave a message. Yes, I'm still the crazy dog lady. Now I'm trying to decide if I should switch their food again.
While I was dealing with the food, I noticed a big puddle on the floor next to the fridge. Score! My refrigerator defrosted itself! The stuff in the fridge was still relatively cold and the stuff in the freezer had just started to defrost. So I put a work order in. They came by within half an hour and told me I needed a new fridge. This was when I almost did a happy dance since we live on post and it doesn't come out of our pockets. But I had to empty out the fridge. Lucky for me, I had a few friends pcs and give me their food before they left. Not like my fridge wasn't already filled to the max. So I hauled our 2 large coolers out and started emptying. Pulled out the last few condiments as they pulled up with my NEW fridge. Well, not really new. So it had some blood stains and something watery left over from the last tenant, no biggie. The plus was that it had already been running over night so it was cold. I couldn't do a scrub down like I wanted, but I was able to rid the fridge of the really nasty stuff.
That's how my day started. I'm supposed to make Irish soda bread for a get together tonight but I'm hoping they still have some left at the store because it just ain't happening!
Monday, March 15, 2010
Post of the month.
Not a very good poster these days. I read the blogs almost every day but it's hard for me to get motivated enough to post to my own. Plus, my life just isn't all that interesting. I have no crafty ideas or recipes to share. I don't have any video clippings of chilidren to amuse people with. And let's face it, who needs to see more pictures or videos of my dogs?
A lot has happened in the past few weeks though. Hubby made it through the first 2 phases of school. If all goes well I will see him in less than 3 weeks. Keri and Skylar came for a visit. It was nice to have someone to chat with and watch Skylar terrorize, I mean play, with my dogs. I love that whenever I see old friends it's just like old times. I travelled to Texas for a wedding but also got to spend a week visiting with friends and co-workers. I stayed with Danna for the week. Spent time with both Mary-Anne and Ellen and their kids. It's fun to see how things have changed while other things will always stay the same. It was great visiting but it made coming home a little harder. While I was away, I had something to do on a daily basis. Now it's just me and the dogs, but I sure did miss them!
We have a little over a month left before the big move. I'm getting excited but also really nervous. There are some things that I've been putting off and I really just need to sit down and get them done. I'm trying to get back into the routine of doing chores and going to the gym.
I got to babysit a one year old over the weekend. At first, I was like...I don't know how mom's do it. How do they get everything done? But as I was getting into the swing of things I realized it's because they have to. There's limited time to do everything so if you don't get stuff done during nap time, it's probably not going to be done for the day. Whereas I have unlimited free time so I think, if I don't do it today...I can always do it tomorrow. Need to get myself out of that mind set. I just hate this waiting around.
Hopefully living in paradise will put me in a better mood.
A lot has happened in the past few weeks though. Hubby made it through the first 2 phases of school. If all goes well I will see him in less than 3 weeks. Keri and Skylar came for a visit. It was nice to have someone to chat with and watch Skylar terrorize, I mean play, with my dogs. I love that whenever I see old friends it's just like old times. I travelled to Texas for a wedding but also got to spend a week visiting with friends and co-workers. I stayed with Danna for the week. Spent time with both Mary-Anne and Ellen and their kids. It's fun to see how things have changed while other things will always stay the same. It was great visiting but it made coming home a little harder. While I was away, I had something to do on a daily basis. Now it's just me and the dogs, but I sure did miss them!
We have a little over a month left before the big move. I'm getting excited but also really nervous. There are some things that I've been putting off and I really just need to sit down and get them done. I'm trying to get back into the routine of doing chores and going to the gym.
I got to babysit a one year old over the weekend. At first, I was like...I don't know how mom's do it. How do they get everything done? But as I was getting into the swing of things I realized it's because they have to. There's limited time to do everything so if you don't get stuff done during nap time, it's probably not going to be done for the day. Whereas I have unlimited free time so I think, if I don't do it today...I can always do it tomorrow. Need to get myself out of that mind set. I just hate this waiting around.
Hopefully living in paradise will put me in a better mood.
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
I'm sick again!
After 10 days of being sick and coughing my head off every night, I was finally able to get rid of it in the middle of last week. So what happens next? My husband comes home for 36 hours and gives me a new strain! I feel really bad for him since I know he has it and it's been raining and cold since he left so that can't make it any better. But why did he have to give it to me?!?!?
So now I'm back to coughing all night long. I've used up all the tissues in my house. I can still taste just not very well. Luckily I still have leftovers from the weekend so I'm good for tonight but I'll have to start making meals again tomorrow. The dogs are going nuts because they're just milling about the house all day. Denny woke me up at 5:00 this morning by vomiting on the floor, twice!
My normal 1.5 hours of dog walking time got shortened to 15 mins of walking and 15 mins of training. I really didn't even want to walk the dogs today but I had a trainer come to my house yesterday and I had to remind myself if I didn't follow through, the lessons would be worthless. So far I think the dogs are a little (a very very little) better behaved. 75% of the time I can throw the ball and get Denny to stay until I tell him it's ok to get it. I am using the prong collars again which I hate using! But my walking around in circles and back and forth to only allow them to walk when the leash is loose was not working. It only made the neighbors think I was crazy and can't walk a straigh line. Plus they love the prong collar because they know it means they're going for a walk so they fight for it when I pull them out.
Now the trainer wants me to consider a shock collar for Scout. I had never noticed it before because Scout seems like the sweet obedient one but she's actually bossy and manupulative. The trainer kept asking me if I noticed what she just did and that it was a form of her dominating me. She won't move out of my way if she's in my way and if you tell her to she becomes an immovable statue. She tells me when it's time to play, be pet, or eat. And I usually just do what she tells me to without even noticing. For the first 10 mins of the trainer being there, she was the perfect angel and the trainer didn't see any problems with her. But after Scout realized the trainer was going to force her to sit after just being asked once and without a treat, she became really stubborn and refused to do anything the trainer asked her to do. The trainer said she's only seen one other case where the dog is that stubborn!
I thought that when I left her in the backyard or in her crate and she flipped out, it was because she was afraid of being left alone and she was suffering from separation anxiety. The dog trainer pointed out that she was simply have a temper tantrum and you could tell by what she was doing and her personality in general. So I used to feel really bad about leaving her even for 5 mins but today when I walked out the door with Denny I just kept telling myself...she's having a tantrum and you can't give into it. So I'm convincing myself that the shock collar is like slapping a child's hand when they are being bad or stubborn. It doesn't actually hurt them, it actually hurts you more, but it tells them that their behavior is not ok. But first I had to feel the shock collar for myself. It didn't hurt, it just surprised me.
It's sad that neither of my dogs see me as a leader. I've had children at the Petstore give them commands that they've obeyed when I had been trying for a few mins with no results myself. Plus they move for crawling babies but not for me when I walk by. Oh well, hopefully the trainer will help me "be the pack leader." If only she used purely positive methods like Cesar Milan...but he also gets bitten a lot when he's training...
So now I'm back to coughing all night long. I've used up all the tissues in my house. I can still taste just not very well. Luckily I still have leftovers from the weekend so I'm good for tonight but I'll have to start making meals again tomorrow. The dogs are going nuts because they're just milling about the house all day. Denny woke me up at 5:00 this morning by vomiting on the floor, twice!
My normal 1.5 hours of dog walking time got shortened to 15 mins of walking and 15 mins of training. I really didn't even want to walk the dogs today but I had a trainer come to my house yesterday and I had to remind myself if I didn't follow through, the lessons would be worthless. So far I think the dogs are a little (a very very little) better behaved. 75% of the time I can throw the ball and get Denny to stay until I tell him it's ok to get it. I am using the prong collars again which I hate using! But my walking around in circles and back and forth to only allow them to walk when the leash is loose was not working. It only made the neighbors think I was crazy and can't walk a straigh line. Plus they love the prong collar because they know it means they're going for a walk so they fight for it when I pull them out.
Now the trainer wants me to consider a shock collar for Scout. I had never noticed it before because Scout seems like the sweet obedient one but she's actually bossy and manupulative. The trainer kept asking me if I noticed what she just did and that it was a form of her dominating me. She won't move out of my way if she's in my way and if you tell her to she becomes an immovable statue. She tells me when it's time to play, be pet, or eat. And I usually just do what she tells me to without even noticing. For the first 10 mins of the trainer being there, she was the perfect angel and the trainer didn't see any problems with her. But after Scout realized the trainer was going to force her to sit after just being asked once and without a treat, she became really stubborn and refused to do anything the trainer asked her to do. The trainer said she's only seen one other case where the dog is that stubborn!
I thought that when I left her in the backyard or in her crate and she flipped out, it was because she was afraid of being left alone and she was suffering from separation anxiety. The dog trainer pointed out that she was simply have a temper tantrum and you could tell by what she was doing and her personality in general. So I used to feel really bad about leaving her even for 5 mins but today when I walked out the door with Denny I just kept telling myself...she's having a tantrum and you can't give into it. So I'm convincing myself that the shock collar is like slapping a child's hand when they are being bad or stubborn. It doesn't actually hurt them, it actually hurts you more, but it tells them that their behavior is not ok. But first I had to feel the shock collar for myself. It didn't hurt, it just surprised me.
It's sad that neither of my dogs see me as a leader. I've had children at the Petstore give them commands that they've obeyed when I had been trying for a few mins with no results myself. Plus they move for crawling babies but not for me when I walk by. Oh well, hopefully the trainer will help me "be the pack leader." If only she used purely positive methods like Cesar Milan...but he also gets bitten a lot when he's training...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)