Sicky Sick

My immune system is down or something, because I am getting sick or getting eye infections or something non-stop lately. I've been home from work the past two days with the worst sore throat of my life! I can't even swallow water it hurts so bad. My doc finally called an antibiotic in for me this morning, so hopefully that will kick it soon.

I have been a super slacker when it comes to blogging lately. We've been so busy that I just haven't had the time to check in on the regular. It also feels like nothing too super exciting has been going on, so I haven't had a lot to chat about with you guys.

However, this past Saturday we did have an eventful evening. My uncles came through on their way to Dallas and dropped off two doggies for us to watch Saturday and Sunday. Addie is "friends" with them, and the three of them have spent quite a bit of time together in the past at my uncles place, so I wasn't too worried about it. Unfortunately, Saturday is when I started getting sick, so I didn't have a whole lot of energy to deal with them. Thankfully they were pretty calm.

We did have to yell at Addie and Solomon a few times to break things up....they were getting a little too friendly for our liking. For the most part they just chased each other around until they were exhausted, then would nap for awhile, then they would wake back up and do it all over again.

Addie and Sophie, however, did not have a love affair. Not even close. Poor Sophie is the most nervous little dog you've ever seen. She can't relax, and just runs around non-stop with all her nervous energy. I kept trying to get her to come over and sit with me, but the minute she would, Addie would get in her face and growl. It was so sad! And it made me and Arsen both so mad. Addie can be such a brat, and she is so territorial, and anytime I pay attention to another dog she gets mad. She seriously is spoiled to the point of it being obnoxious. We kept putting her in her crate as punishment (yes, we've heard not to do that, but nothing works with this child), and the minute we would let her out she would run right back up to Sophie like, yeah, I'm out. What now? It was awful! She finally calmed down and left her alone after a few hours, but good Lord it was annoying. I just don't know what to do with her.

So that's the most exciting thing in our lives lately. I started decorating for Halloween, but stopped about 3/4 of the way through when I started feeling too tired and sick. Now I've just got random Halloween decor laying all over our dining table waiting to be set up. Hopefully I'll find the energy to finish it up in the next couple of days and can do a post about it!

My Brilliant Baby Dog

The entire drive to work today Addie was trying to talk to us. She was sitting by my feet in the floor board, looking up at me. She refused to sit in my lap because she wanted to make eye contact. She kept opening her mouth in a little O and making a noise, not like a yelp or cry, just a little sound. It's like she was honestly trying to tell us something. When she could tell I wasn't getting it, she would look over at Arsen like, come on, surely you understand!

I think what led to this was that she had been chewing on a piece of fuzz from her favorite orange squeaky ball, and I pulled it out of her mouth and threw it out the window. This was just too much for her. She started growling very quietly, and yelping a little. I swear she was giving me a look of disgust. And she couldn't let it go. She kept talking until we dropped her off at daycare.

I know every dog is special and wonderful, and I love every dog in the world more than what is probably normal. But I swear to you Addie is exceptionally brilliant.

She's not one of those dogs that gets excited over everything that happens. She only gets excited if it's really worth her time. It's like she debates everything before she reacts. And she gets uncomfortable with extended eye contact like a human would. Staring contests are really fun, because she just can't handle it. She also sighs when she's annoyed with us. And when she's mad at me, she will go hours without looking directly at me. I can pick her up and put her directly in my face, and she will look everywhere but at me. She's cold-hearted sometimes.

She also understands English. Not like, she knows when I'm asking if she wants to go outside or when we say "treat". I really think she understands every word. I'll give you an example, because I'm sure you're doubting me.

The other night I took her out to potty before bed, so we went to the kitchen afterward so she could get her treat. She took it and ran to her normal treat-eating spot in the living room. As soon as she sat down I said, "No, take it in the bedroom, it's time for bed". She picked up her treat and trotted off to the bedroom. I hadn't even started walking that way, I was still in the kitchen, so it's not like she was following me. Basically, it's just that she's a genius.

Now I know all of you other dog mommies out there probably have similar stories, or think your dog is just as intelligent as mine. And that's fine. But I know the truth.

Can you imagine what kind of mother I'm going to be? 

 

 

When it rains...

I've noticed that when something unfortunate happens in life, it typically doesn't end with just that one thing. I wish I knew what the reason for that was...

The past couple weeks haven't been the best. But, they haven't been the worst either, so should I really complain? After getting my lovely sinus infection (which continues to drag on with a disgusting cough), this pesky eye infection that I've been fighting on and off for over a month came back with a vengeance yesterday. By the time I got home from work and was able to take my contacts out, I could barely tolerate having my left eye open. It got worse over night, to the point that I actually had to miss work and go to the eye doctor today. Man, I'm making a great impression at this new job! Missing twice in two weeks from all my random illnesses.

On top of that, Addie developed a strange little white patch on her neck about two weeks ago. Of course I started panicking and wanted to take her to the vet immediately, but I tend to overreact. In a major way. One morning about a year ago she was limping around when she woke up. I tried to touch her foot and she freaked out. I called in to work, took her to the vet, paid a couple hundred dollars....the verdict? She probably caught her toenail on something.

We had her groomed over the weekend, so her skin is really easy to see now. Arsen was looking at her belly yesterday morning and noticed that her skin has gotten darker. A LOT darker. As in it went from soft pink to a dark charcoal grey, almost black. So of course my panic went from minor to "ohmygodmypoorbabydogisdying!!!!!" I started doing research and came across something hideous called black skin disease, and many other scary things.

I took her in to the vet today, and he says it could be either hyperpigmentation from aging, or a problem with her thyroid. He had to take some blood....man, can that little dog scream. About 4 different vet techs came in to see what happened to her to make her scream so loud. The vet was laughing so hard he could barely do the test. She is so incredibly dramatic! So he sent it off for testing, and we'll know in the next couple days whether it's her thyroid or not.

Sigh. Not only has it all been stressful, it's been expensive too. But hopefully, HOPEFULLY, it's over. Don't bad things come in threes? Sinus infections (we will just group mine and Arsen's together), eye infection, weird doggie issue....surely it's over now.

Pouting After Her Tragic Vet Visit

It's Always Something

So I've learned that once you move into a house, you have zero down time. There is ALWAYS something that needs to be done. Not just the every day stuff like cleaning, laundry, all of that, but there are also a million little projects to complete. I'm currently in the middle of approximately 83 projects. Not really, but it feels like it.

The other night after a nice little walk, I decided to pull weeds in our front flower bed while Arsen went for a run. I've never really pulled weeds before, but I got some really cute gardening gloves the other day that I wanted to try out.

First of all, no one warned me that these gloves would get so dirty after one use. Also, no one informed me that pulling weeds is really hard. I was so sore the next day it felt like I had gone through a serious work out. But maybe I burned off my fast food dinner? There has to be an upside.

So here is the result of all of my hard work. I mean, my dad spent hours working on it and really getting out all of the big stuff that didn't need to be there, but I like to take credit.

I have no idea what this flower is, but I like it.

Addie spent the entire time I was outside laying by the front door crying because she was being left out of something. Obviously, since she's crazy, we can't let her outside without a leash. So when I got inside she decided it was time to play. This is how she tries to convince me.

After about 10 minutes of playing, she was over it.

What an exciting night, right? It's absolutely crazy, but I love it. Who knew I was meant to be domestic? I mean, I still don't love dusting or cleaning the bathroom, and I'm certainly no great cook, but I'm working on it. I even bought a magazine about cooking last week! I'm really growing up.

Welcome to our Blog!

Since A and I just bought our first house, are getting married (twice) in a couple of months, and are figuring out how to build a life together as a family, I thought it might be fun to chronicle our adventures along the way. Family and friends are spread out near and far, so this should be a somewhat simple way for everyone to stay involved. How about everyone else go ahead and start a blog so we can keep up with you as well? K, thanks.

 Somehow, (and I will never understand how this happened) A and I ended up living in the suburbs with our little dog Addie. For anyone who knows me, this is something that I absolutely never planned on doing. I'm talking about marriage, a house in Texas, a dog, all of it.  But life is funny, and one thing I have learned is there is NO way to predict what will happen. So here I am, living in a (quite wonderful) house in a suburb of Dallas with the love of my life and our little one. And I wouldn't trade it for anything!

So, if you would like, join us on our little adventure through life. I plan on adding photos of our house soon, perhaps a little before/after action?