Pictures of the Pups and Such

`I took a whole bunch of random pictures over the last couple weeks, so I thought I'd share!

This is the adorable dog I found wandering the neighborhood- I realized I forgot to mention that Animal Control eventually picked her up. I thought that would be the most likely place her owners would look for her. I almost took her to the no-kill shelter in town, but I was worried her owners wouldn't look for her there. Never saw any signs or anything, so hopefully she got home ok.

Rufus being his cute little self. He loves the camera, if you couldn't tell, ha ha.

Scout checking out his new ginormous crate. I could probably fit 2 of him in there, ha ha. I got it for our upcoming roadtrip, woo!

Scout wearing his "backpack", ready for a walk

The gecko that somehow snuck into my house and into my bedroom. He's not so bad, although the dogs are in total hunter mode when they see him. There has been a whole lot of barking at the ceiling!

Rufus passed out after a walk. Not quite sure why he picked the fireplace....silly dog.

I had another "coffee" last night. This one was a BBQ and was really fun. I brought homemade mint chocolate chip ice cream (from my ice cream maker) and it got raves! Otherwise we just sat around and talked and hung out, which is always nice.

I went straight from the coffee (actually I had to leave early, unfortunately) to Relay for Life. I was a little late, and didn't actually find any of my team members from my school, although it didn't sound like too many of them were actually coming. But, I ended up finding Nick's West Point roommate and his wife and my friend Alice was there too. I wish I could've been there for more of Relay too, but I did get to experience a good part of it when an amazing poem about cancer was read, and they turned out the lights to reveal all of these colorful bags filled with candles. Gorgeous! Needless to say though, I'm exhausted. I think a nap might be in my future today! After church, my last Heroes at Home and lunch, phew!

Same Old, Same Old

Not too much going on around here. The official count for school is 5.5 days, woo! I'm finding it harder and harder to get to sleep at my normal time. So I'm dragging a little bit, and its a little harder to get out of bed in the morning, ha ha. Almost there!

The boys have been keeping me busy, but in a good way. Ruf has been eating like a champ and swallowing his antibiotics without food. I'm way proud of him. And I've been wearing Scout out more by putting his backpack on him during our walks. I meant to take a picture of him wearing it today, but forgot. I'll put one up soon! I also have tried to take a picture of his new trick- catching ice- but he doesn't quite want to cooperate on camera. Oh, and I forgot my treats on my walk yesterday, but both dogs sat at every corner without food motivation!!! I have such good boys! Oh, and Rufus was in full-on hunting mode last night. Somehow I gecko got in my room (its ok, they're cute & harmless) and Ruf was watching its every move!

Honestly, not too much else going on. I've been thoroughly enjoying the new season of So You Think You Can Dance (LOVE it!), and I should have a fairly busy weekend between a "coffee" (this one is a BBQ), walking in Relay for Life and church. I'm excited for summer just for the opportunity to be lazy!

Single Digits

I wish I could say it was single digits until my husband comes home on R&R or "for good", but alas, that number is still in the 100s. No, its single digits until school is out for the summer!!! We are officially to 7.5 days (I have a half day on Saturday, June 6th...ew) left!!! YAY! Don't get me wrong, I love the kids and enjoy my job, but it really needs to be summer already. Its hot, the days are really long...it is time!

And, of course, I was spoiled with a wonderful 3-day weekend this past weekend, so now it really seems like I should be done. At least the end is in sight!!! Almost....there....

Dog Crazy

My mother-in-law asked me yesterday how the "patients" were doing. Thankfully, they both are back to normal! Rufus is eating and running around like the crazy dog he is. And I think Scout sufficiently got the frog out of his system. I love those two, but man, they keep me busy! I think I'll definitely be well-prepared for kids when we eventually have them.

I am officially a crazy dog lady though. Yesterday I went to check the mail and found a dog just wandering down my street. It had a collar on but no tags. It came right up to me and was super cute and friendly, so I brought it into my backyard. I ended up calling Animal Control, but apparently 6pm on a Saturday was too late for them, so they suggested I either let the dog go, or keep it until today. Um, why would I let it go?! I couldn't believe they would even suggest that! If I took the time to pick up the dog in the first place, doesn't that imply that I don't really want it roaming around the neighborhood? Crazy!

Anyway, I ended up putting it in the garage in a spare crate I have. I'm going to try calling Animal Control after they open at noon today. I feel bad for the poor thing though. I've taken it out a few times and fed it, but my boys are a little much for it, so its mostly just been in its crate. We're having thunderstorms right now too and it keeps whining after the thunder (Again, glad I found it! Poor thing would have been stuck in the rain!). Hopefully Animal Control can pick it up today because I feel bad leaving it in the crate. But there isn't really another option. And who knows what shots and stuff it's had. I also checked craigslist to see if anyone posted it missing, but there wasn't anything. I posted that I'd found it though. Ultimately, I wish I could keep it until I found the owners, but I don't think that's a feasible option. I found another site called spotastray.com (how have I never heard of this?) and it just about broke my heart. I posted it on there too. Crossing my fingers that I get this poor dog back to its owners!

Sick Puppies

My poor puppies are both having a hard day! Rufus has been chewing on his paw for a few days, but I noticed yesterday that he was kind of favoring it and limping around. And he was just kind of lethargic. Cute, but not his normal self:

Yes, his head is on the pillow

When it wasn't any better today, I decided to take him to the vet, especially since it's a long weekend. It wasn't anything serious, but he definitely did a number on his paw. He actually had to be sedated for the exam because he would freak out every time the vet tried to look at it. They think there might have been something stuck in there, but there wasn't any sign of it now. It was just all raw and irritated. Poor baby. So now he has a really sweet green cast (that I can take off on Sunday):




He hasn't really left his crate since we got home and won't eat his food or pieces of hot dog with pills in them (pain and antibiotic). Hmmmm. I'm not sure if its just the sedative wearing off or what. Poor baby.

Then there's Scout. I was so focused on Rufus during our walk today (he was a slowpoke) that I forgot to avoid the dead, smushed frog on one of the driveways on our route. Well, Scout decided to eat it, and I definitely wasn't about to attempt to take it out of his mouth! So, he ended up puking like 3 times today, although he seems to be good now. But, I have 2 pathetic, lethargic dogs. It's a good thing I love those boys...although I definitely appreciate how fortunate we have been with vet visits.

The rest of today was pretty good. We had Field Day at school and I got to run the "Crab Walk Relay" station. The kids seemed to have a lot of fun with it and it wasn't too hot, which was good! I also ended up getting in the dunking booth at the end of the day because it sounded like fun, and I had been outside all day. Those kids were good shots and dunked me at least 10 times! It was really fun though and I'm glad I did it. And you should have heard the excited screaming when I climbed up into the booth. So fun!

Crossing my fingers that my boys feel better soon!!!

Busy Bee!

I've been so busy lately! I haven't even had time to watch many TV shows lately which is like a cardinal sin for me! I already updated how busy Monday was, and then yesterday I had my first official Bible study with my battle buddies. I'm loving it already. It was nice only having 3 of us there because we didn't have to compete to talk and were all able to put our input in. I'm loving the book already too. It's called Bad Girls of the Bible and What We Can Learn From Them and the author writes a fictional account of the Biblical story and then breaks down the Scriptures verse by verse. Pretty sweet. This week was about Eve and I felt like the book brought up a lot of stuff I've never thought about before. I'm already anxious for next week! I think this is going to be a really great, consistent time of fellowship and I'm really looking forward to it.

Work is good. I'm most excited about the shirts I'm helping to make in one class for Field Day on Friday. I've been ironing on letters and stuff, and its just a really nice creative break. And, I even get a shirt! Today was fun too because it was Aide Appreciation Day. We each got $15 and an hour and 1/2 for lunch. Normally we can't even go off-campus for our 30 minute lunch, so this was a real treat. I went out to Cheddars with a group of ladies and stuffed myself silly. And I still have $5 left, woo! The only thing that would have made it better was an after-lunch nap...if only!

So ya, things are definitely good. I'm enjoying being so busy, although it was nice to be back to my "normal" schedule today too. I would be happy to just be social and be done with school, frankly (it sounds like I have Senioritis, ha ha!). Only 11 more days left! We'll be in single digits as of Friday, woohoo!!!

Out of Whack

If you know me, you know I am a very routine person. My after work routine (although I make sure to do same things on the weekends too, although at different times) is as follows: walk dogs, work out, shower, eat dinner, go to bed. And I usually do these things at around the same time every day. For the last two days, my routine has been totally out of whack. The biggest issue is that I haven't had time to work out and it is driving me crazy. My Wii Fit was just praising me for not missing a day in the last 8 weeks and then I miss TWO?! Oh the horror!!!

Yes, I know, I'm a little crazy. But I love getting the routine stuff done and out of the way so I can relax and enjoy myself and get to bed at a normal hour. And, I actually work out while watching TV which is pretty nice, if you ask me! I can't tell you how happy I am that tomorrow is supposed to be a normal day (although I have bible study, so I might get to bed a little late...hmm). It just feels like there aren't enough hours in the day and the chores take precedence, ew.

Today I had to go straight from work to a dentist appointment. Then, after that, I went and picked up Nick's truck from the shop (YAY! And it was $100 cheaper than I thought, which is always nice) and promptly put it online at autotrader.com because I want that baby gone!!! Then all of my chores ensued (plus preparing for trash Tuesday) and the next thing I know, its time for bed! PHEW! I don't know how people work full time and have a family. It is far too much with just me and the dogs!!!

Although I can't complain too much because a lot of my time this afternoon was spent talking to the hubby :). I think we're going to go to Lake Tahoe or Big Sur or something for his Block Leave (30 days or so off after his deployment). We originally were going to go to the Caribbean or something, but a nice, relaxing snowy (it will be winter, even in California) vacation that we can drive to is sounding pretty nice right about now!

Alright, I really should be heading off to bed...

Battle Buddies

I had so much fun last night! I hung out with Alice and Rachel and we ordered Chinese food and watched one of the greatest 80s movies ever- Girls Just Want to Have Fun!!! I'm so excited I found great girls like those two. We have so much fun together just hanging out and laughing. I honestly don't remember the last time I've laughed so hard, especially since Nick left.

I've only had a few close female friends in my life, and its always been something I felt I was missing out on, and have prayed a lot about. And now I have two great "battle buddies" (friends who you get through a deployment with), who I not only get to hang out with on a consistent basis, but do a Bible study with! I am so grateful to God for answering my prayers for close female friends and a Bible study. I don't know how I'd get through this deployment otherwise.

Month 5 in Review

We are 5 months done, woohoo (as of the 13th...this update is obviously a little late)! The halfway point is in sight!!! This was definitely a rollercoaster month between insomnia and the stress of Nick's truck, the lawn and the patio. Thankfully, most of the crises were averted although the insomnia ended up causing a few breakdowns. I'm sooooo glad this month is finally over!!! As dramatic as it was, it actually went by fairly fast, and I would say I'm more used to Nick being gone than not, although I still miss him like crazy.

- Finally had Nick's truck towed to the shop. Drama ensued and we found out we're being a bit overcharged...awesome. After a couple of breakdowns and immense help from the in-laws, the truck is currently being fixed! Crossing my fingers that I can get it sold soon!!!

- Got a notice from the city that my lawn/weeds were too long and were a fire hazard. Was then informed I had a week to cut it or they'd do it and charge me. Thankfully, I have an awesome neighbor who owns a lawn service who took care of it for me.

- Lots of rain caused a part of my patio roof to break...awesome. We now have a beautiful skylight, ha ha!

- Celebrated the 6 year anniversary of when Nick and I started dating. Wow, that seems like so long!!! Whenever I look at pictures from back them, I can't believe how young we were. Memories....

- Had another "coffee". This was a pretty fun one with lots of yummy sushi!!!

- Survived another week of TAKS testing (standardized testing). This one actually wasn't so bad, even though we were testing for about 4 days!!! I ended up only having to cover a 1st grade class for a half day, as well as hanging out in Pre-K and 5th grade. Not too shabby.

- Got a really sweet and funny card from Nick for Mother's Day

- Started spending a bunch of time with my "battle buddies" from church, Alice & Rachel. We've spent a lot of time hanging out and are starting a bible study! I'm really excited! Frankly, I wish I didn't have work so early in the morning and so often so we could hang out more!

- The dogs and I (but mostly the dogs, ha ha) were really excited to have some visitors this week

- Found out my sister was having extremely early contractions (she's due in July) with my nephew Luke. Things are looking pretty well (contractions slowing down), but I am anxious to get to California to help out.

Countdowns: 42% done with the deployment
56% of the way to R&R (or 44% more to go!!!- yay, we're over halfway there!)
14 more days of school!!!

Deployment Goals

Get in shape- I've been really consistent with Wii Fit and dog walking and have actually lost 10 pounds since I started using it in January!!! I'm really proud of myself.

Cook 2 new meals per month- This month, I made a really, really delicious Chicken Tortilla Soup and some Shrimp Pasta that was only ok (it didn't turn out quite right).

Church- Still good on that front. I helped out in the nursery a bunch again this month. I'm also getting more accepting of the fact that my Heroes group is ending soon, but thats probably mostly because I have my two awesome friends.

Read a new book every month- I am a total nerd, and since the new Harry Potter book is coming out this summer, I decided to re-read the books. I finished the 2nd one and am almost done with the 3rd.

Work on the House- I did a major sweep of the guest room in anticipation of visitors. It looks really good now.

Budget- I've continued to put a bunch of money in a savings account. Although, we're going to get hit fairly hard with the repairs from the truck, ew.

Dog Training- I'm doing alright with this. I'm trying to make sure the dogs are getting a lot of exercise. Scout and I are still working on the barking, but otherwise its not bad. Rufus made some progress with jumping on people too this month.

Prayer Requests

- Less/no drama in the coming months

- Time to pass quickly until Nick can come home for R&R in September

- The possibility of Nick's unit coming home in November rather than December

- Nick's safety and the safety of his platoon

- His last platoon sergeant's son who has been diagnosed with terminal lupus

- Patience and energy to get through the last few weeks of school

Upcoming Events

-14 more days of school left, woohoo!

- My father-in-law coming to visit and helping me fix stuff!!!

- Walking in Relay for Life with a team from my school (it was postponed)

- Our 2 year wedding anniversary on June 2nd!!!

- Yet another coffee (same night as Relay for Life but I'm trying to make it work)- BBQ this time!

- Being halfway through this deployment!!!

Is it December Yet?

I made it through another harrowing week! It really wasn't that bad, but I had another breakdown yesterday, mostly due to yet another night of insomnia on Tuesday night...awesome. I blame the dogs for that one though.

Fellow blogger Kristen needed a place to stay on Tuesday night while her new house on post was being prepared, so I offered our rarely used guest room. Well, my dogs LOVE people. They just can't even contain themselves when guests come over (although the jumping is definitely getting better) and want to spend every waking minute with them. I had to literally drag Scout off the futon because he wanted to stay and snuggle all night. It was pretty cute though. But anyway, they were just so excited about the fact that we had guests that they proceeded to jump up at every single noise throughout the night. Ya, not fun.

Add to a horrible night of sleep the stress of the lawn situation from earlier in the week and Nick's evil truck and it was a recipe for disaster. Thankfully, the lawn has been mowed by my awesome neighbor, I'm assuming the city "inspection" has been done and I passed, and the evil truck is in the process of getting fixed at the shop I took it to in the first place. Phew! We could have saved a little bit of money taking it to a Ford dealership like my husband wanted, but frankly, it would have cost me some of my sanity, and a little money is not quite worth that to me. I still have to pick it up at some point and attempt to sell it, but hey, at least we're making headway! Oh, and thank you, thank you, thank you to my amazing in-laws who pretty much did all of the legwork for me. You are awesome!!!

Otherwise, school has been alright. We're all pretty much fried (kids and teachers alike) and I've had a few difficult moments with my normally good kids. Thankfully, there are only 15 more days of school left, one of which is Field Day!!! I'm pretty excited. I don't know what I'm actually doing that day yet (probably manning a booth), but we get to wear shorts, and goof off! Sounds pretty good to me! There is also supposed to be a dunking booth, which should get pretty interesting. Apparently I'm on the 4th grade dunking wish list, ha ha. Not sure if I want to volunteer for that or not...

I also am officially in a Bible study (finally!)! I hung out with my awesome church battle buddies (Rachel and Alice) last night and we're going to start going through a book called Bad Girls of the Bible, which sounds pretty sweet. That will definitely be a nice consistent accountability group. I'm really excited to start reading and discussing!!!

In other good news, there is a rumor that Nick's unit might come back home in November, rather than December. At this point, I'm not counting my chickens before they hatch, but hey, if it happens, I'll take it!!!

I'm definitely ready for school to be over and my awesome California adventure to begin! I'm probably heading out that way in mid-June now instead of July because of the whole situation with my sister and nephew (he's still in the womb, thank goodness, but my sister is also still in the hospital) because I know my family could use some help and I don't want to miss anything! There isn't too much planned so far for my trip. I'm assuming I'm going to be helping out a lot where I'm needed. I'm also going to be at the in-law's for some of that time too, which should include the Mid-State Fair and my 12 year old sister-in-law's first concert (she invited me last night!!!). I'm pretty excited!

Oh, and we have officially hit the 5 month mark as of yesterday, woohoo! We are almost on the downward slide, thank goodness! I'll do my Month 5 in Review this weekend probably. SWEET!!!

Happy Mother's Day!!!

Happy Mother's Day!!! I woke up to an e-card from Nick this morning that made me laugh. First of all, it was Hoops and Yoyo which are pretty much the best e-cards you can find (my dad loves them!) because they're hilarious! And secondly, the message said this:

Hey baby,
Even though we don't have any real babies yet, the boys asked me to send you a Mother's Day card for them (that's what all the barking has been about). So just imagine that all the barking is just them very sweetly asking you to feed them, walk them, and love them.
Love you tons, Nick


Too funny and cute! So that's what all the barking has been about, ha ha! Scout has been very vocal this morning. He must just want me to have a really good day. No real big plans today except for church and calling my mom when its not ridiculously early there.

Oh, and my neighbor mowed my front lawn yesterday, yay! I said I'd hire him to do it, but I don't know if he'll let me pay him. The backyard is in dire need of a good mow (its like a forest back there), so hopefully he'll take care of that soon too. My city "inspection" isn't until Wednesday, so I'll be good to go by then.

Happy Mother's Day to all of you moms or soon-to-be-moms! And I can't forget my fellow dog moms too!

Exhausted

I've had an exhausting last couple of days. I don't think the heat is helping anything either. It is still holding strong and humid. I had to take a nap today after sitting outside reading. The sun just drained the energy out of me!

But anyway, the last couple of days, I have been positively spent. My sleep pattern was not what it usually is (I usually can't keep my eyes open past about 9:30pm) and I am not one who does well without sleep. Thursday night was the worst. I didn't feel even remotely tired and didn't even end up falling asleep until 11pm...only to wake up for work at 6:15am the next morning. Oh, and the dogs woke me up for a good 15 minutes around midnight...awesome.

I made it through the day alright, even despite the kids being nuts (one of my ADD kids wasn't on his meds and was not fun to deal with) and going to lunch THIRTY minutes late (we were short-staffed in the cafeteria, but then one of the aides just up and left before me, even though my lunch was first)! But, it was all good because it was Friday! But then, I came home to a letter from the city telling me to cut my lawn within a week or they would take legal action because its a fire hazard. I pretty much broke down after that. The weight of everything (mostly because of/about the deployment) just came crashing down on me. It seems like its a neverending cycle of one thing after another. I just didn't want to have to do it all anymore. The truck still isn't fixed, the patio still isn't fixed...it was all just too much.

Thankfully, I'm much better now (the 2 hour nap today helped and God and I had a heart to heart), but I really wish we didn't have 7 more months until Nick comes home. I know a lot of it was because I was tired, but having to do it all on your own can be really exhausting and overwhelming. Usually I'm pretty accepting of the deployment situation, but these days seem to pop up every now and then and they just suck.

Oh, and I'm really sick of walking 2 dogs by myself. When we're just normally walking, its not so bad. My dogs are actually really good on a leash and I'm used to it. But, my stupid neighborhood has a ridiculous amount of stray dogs/owners who let their dogs wander the streets unsupervised, and that leads to at least 5 minutes of me attempting to drag 2 dogs down the sidewalk who are pulling in opposite directions because there is a dog trying to play with them. It is physically exhausting.

Ok, rant over. Time to relax and enjoy the rest of my Saturday!

Farmer's Tan

Oh man, it has been even more ridiculously hot & humid around here. Like low-90s with 100% humidity. Ew. Yesterday I was outside in the afternoon a bunch and I got a really sweet farmer's tan. My arms and face were already pretty tan, but now, I have some nice lines on my neck, ha ha. Anyway, first I helped 4th grade with some math activities and it was so hot we literally felt like we were all melting. Eventually, we ended up just giving up and going inside because none of us could stand it. Then, I ended up covering for one of the P.E. teachers for about 30 mins (which was also interesting because I was wearing a skirt) in the heat of the day. I definitely drank my fill of water!!! But ya, my farmer's tan is really hot. You can see the exact lines of my shirt from yesterday. I slapped on a little more sunscreen today, so hpefully it didn't get worse. Good times. I'm SO glad I'm going to be spending a good chunk of the summer in California. Because its May and its only going to get hotter from here!!!

In other news, only 20 more school days until the end of the year, woohoo!!! We're on the home stretch! I know the kids are ready for summer, and all the adults are definitely dragging. We've been doing some Mother's Day crafts though, so that has definitely helped mix things up a little. I've been pulled like every which way this week (covering classes), but it's not so bad when it's classes I know. Or I just don't care anymore, ha!

Luke

So not too much exciting stuff going on around here. Work is fine, only 22 more school days until summer, woohoo!!! I had to sit through an hour long meeting today which mostly didn't apply to me, good times. And I got to cover my favorite 5th grade class in the morning yesterday, which is always fun! Otherwise, the weather has been hot & HUMID, so I broke down and bought another kiddie pool (Rufus destroyed TWO in the past 2 weeks!) and so far its still standing. They love that thing though, so its definitely worth it.

And on to the subject of this post...my dad called me last night to let me know that my oldest sister had been admitted into the hospital with pre-term labor. She is due in July with Baby #3, and he is trying to come out early!!! So, any prayers for him and for my sister would be greatly appreciated. Thankfully, my niece & nephew are well-taken care of by my parents, so that is not a stress on my sister and brother-in-law. Things seem to be pretty under control, but he still has 11 weeks to go till full term, so we definitely don't want the little guy coming out this soon (plus, I was planning on coming home in July to meet him!!!). My brother-in-law set up a blog if you want more info, or to stay in the loop.

I'm excited to say though that we just found out he is a boy and will be named Luke Palmer Smiley! LOVING the name! My sister and brother-in-law didn't find out the gender of their last two and didn't reveal a single hint of the names until they were born, so this is a surprise, but I definitely understand their desire to pray for him by name. So, pray that we don't meet my new nephew Luke until July!

Frustration

Oh my goodness. The saga with Nick's truck doesn't end! So if you remember, I had it towed to the shop last weekend. Not a huge deal. Then the guy called me later that day and gave me an estimate. Well, it was a little high, and I know nothing about cars, so I proceeded to call my dad and ask Nick about it. Well, after Nick attempted to give me way too many things to ask the mechanic, I was able to ask my awesome in-laws to take over! I swear, I was getting a headache from all of the car lingo!

So, the in-laws proceeded to get a specific estimate and ask a mechanic friend if it seemed legit. Well, it turns out this shop was basically trying to rip me off. By like a few hundred dollars. Awesome. So now I basically have to start all over.

Needless to say, I'm not very happy about the whole situation. I'm just frustrated because this is not my thing and it just seems like its never going to end!!! And basically I just wasted my time last week having it towed, when I should really have just left it in front of my house. But I didn't know that there was a Ford dealership close (I just found out there is one in the town next door). Grumble. I'm just over it.

I'm mad that the mechanic was trying to rip me off, and now I have to go back to the shop to get my car towed somewhere else. Honestly, at this point, I wish I could pay someone to just take this car away. Because once we get it fixed, then I still have to sell it. ARGH! This has been the most frustrating part of the deployment. And it won't end!!!

It was annoying too because I was in a really good mood all day because this week is finally over!!! And this definitely put a damper on things. Thankfully I've since recovered, but grrrr. Wake me up when its fixed and sold...