Wordless Wednesday

Roman Noodle

Guest poster #2 is from Meg @ Through the Roses.  We became bloggy friends when she joined in my Doggone Dog Swap.  She's participated for the last 2 years now.


The lovely sprinkles asked me to guest post while she was taking a couple of weeks away from the blog world.  Let me introduce myself.  My name is Meg, I am a wife, a furmommy, a daughter, a sister, a friend and a pediatric oncology nurse.  I, of course, have a blog called Through the Roses.   I live in Florida and have a pretty fabulous life.

I asked sprinkles what she wanted me to post on and she said anything, I had no idea what to post on.  The things I talk most about on my blog tends to be animal rescue, cancer prevention and just a little of this and a little of that.  I think one of my favorite things to talk about is my furbabies and since sprinkles can relate to that, I’m going to talk about my little heart, my Roman Noodle.

Roman Noodle was rescued in Feb of 2006.  I found him left outside of a Publix in a little box.  (I thought it was fate, I had been thinking about rescuing a little dog to add to my gaggle but the problem was all the ones that ended up in rescue were funky with really bad habits.)  Anyways, back to Publix—this little dog was so little.  I had no idea how young he was but he had puppy breath **love**.  I drove an hour south to where my friend Gail who owns and runs Animal People Inc lives—I had to show her my new little baby. 

When I got to Gail, she was working and we didn’t have any puppy food there so I got him a hot dog (I know so bad furmommy!) and he happily enjoyed that.  She thought he was between 8-10 weeks and definitely a Chihuahua.  We stayed and chit chatted for a little while threw names back and forth (couldn’t settle on anything), then when she got off work we wet back to her house and she lent me a dog crate and I headed back on the road for the second time another hour drive but back to my apartment to introduce this little boy to the rest of his fur siblings.

Everyone took to Roman pretty well, everyone sniffed, he clung to me while they all said hello and now it was bedtime our first night.  Well I put a nice big fluffy bed in his perfectly sized little crate and tried to sleep—no less than 10 minutes after “bedtime,” I heard this awful screeching noise—what the hell was that?!?!  Oh just the puppy, I checked him out to make sure he was ok, which he was, pulled his crate into my room and tried to sleep again—10 minutes again and another terrible noise, holy crap, I now draped my hand into his crate, which settled him for another 10 minutes and then that awful noise again.  What is wrong with this little puppy?  Well I pulled him into my bed and now there is nothing, he just wanted to snuggle.  He curled up next to me and slept the next eight hours.  When I woke up the following morning, got up to pee the little puppy got off the bed with me and found a perfect spot on my carpet to have a morning pee also.  OMG, what is wrong with this dog?  Well I found later that nothing is wrong with this dog, he was just a puppy and holy crap, I was going to have my hands FULL.

I worked so hard with this puppy that I ended up naming Roman, more affectionately called Noodle—hence his full name Roman Noodle was born.  We trained an hour or so a day on behavior, sit, stay, wait, roll over, we worked constantly on potty training (which was a freaking nightmare), and he came with me day in and day out to work where I babysat.  He became super accustomed to meeting new people and playing with kids and as it turned out I had the nicest, best-behaved Chihuahua out there.

I couldn’t figure out for the longest time why this sweet little boy would be abandoned.  He did have some food aggression, which we nipped in the butt by feeding my kitty Kiwi with him.  He had some wicked separation anxiety, which Kiwi also helped fix by crating with him when I left the house.  It wasn’t until about 6 months after I had found him that I figured out the real reason—he had his first seizure.  Seizures are scary and his manifested really weirdly.  They just weren’t a typical tonic clonic seizure so after multiple episodes and other tests trying to discover what this was that we resided in that they were in fact seizures.  It is my thought that the previous owner/breeders say this and realized that they could not sell this dog knowing his health issues.

Roman like all my animals have gotten me through hard times but there is something special about this little dog, he would give up seeing the light of day if it meant he could sit on my lap forever.  His love is so unconditional for me and I can’t fib, I love it.  He walked down the aisle on my wedding day because he truly is one of my best friends. I miss his little face whenever I am away from him and couldn’t imagine him not being at my house day in and day out.  He’s my heart.

Thanks for listening to my story about my little Chihuahua heart and enjoy some wonderful pictures of my little boy.

~Meg

***Note from sprinkles:  Sorry about the weird spacing.  I tried to fix it but blogger was being a b**** and wouldn't let me.

Half Full Friday!

Half Full Friday is a series of weekly posts that Eyegirl originally started in June 2009.  We believe that a lot of our happiness is determined by our attitude about the things that happen to us.  So by participating, I'm deciding to see the glass as half full instead of half empty; I'm choosing to concentrate on the positives instead of dwelling on the negatives.  The Half Full Friday posts are a way to do just that.  They're a list of the things in my life that have brought me happiness over the past week.  I'm determined to find something good in each day.  Are you?

For the next week, I'd like to challenge each of you to keep a list of at least one thing that brought you happiness each day.  Be sure to link up here once you've posted your list!  (This isn't a blog hop so please only link up if you've participated by posting your happy list.  Thanks!)

~I'm happy because...

School started this week!

I was finally able to get all my textbooks!

I got another laptop!  My mom gave me my dad's old one.  Didn't tell her I already bought one.

I got to spend the entire day with my boys yesterday!

The Dog Walk is tomorrow!  I'm taking my dad's beagle who LOVES to go for walks.

I got loads of free samples from school on Wednesday!

*****

As you know, I started school on Monday.  I was so excited when I saw one of my good friends in the first class!  I sat next to her and tried to strike up a conversation, only I don't think she really remembered me.  She was nice but it was very much like talking to a stranger, which I guess in a sense I was - since I seemed to be a stranger to her.  I was shocked by her lukewarm reception as we talked all the time last semester.  Or maybe she does remember me and she didn't like me as much as I liked her.  Who knows?!  None of my friends were in any of my other classes.

My classes seem a lot more difficult this time around.  On Wednesday, I sat in my all of my classes and realized just how stupid I am.  I didn't have a single thing to add to any of the discussions at all and just sat there like a lump.  I tried to remind myself that it's only the second day so I shouldn't be expected to know anything yet but it didn't help since I was like that in all 5 classes.  By the end of the day, I was ready to go home and host another pity party for myself; I couldn't though because I had to go to work.  So I saved it for Thursday instead, with the only guests being my baby boys.  I'm sure things will get better, I just feel very overwhelmed and unhappy at the moment. 

Before you sign up for math, you're supposed to take an assessment test to ensure that you're put into the correct course.  Stupidly, I never bothered to take it.  I just signed up for one and went to class.  The class is done entirely online and the system lets you work at your own pace.  Before beginning, the system gives you a second (or in my case, a first) assessment test to find out where you are.  The professor said that there's 263 objectives (sections) to get through this semester and that the system would probably bump us up past the first 80 to 100.  Um, I got bumped up past the first 7 objectives!!!  So yeah, not exactly feeling proud of myself right now.  

Source

This is the class where I have to spend 10 hours online each week.  I have to do 20 objectives per week in order to be done by the end of the semester.  I've spent 3 hours online already and haven't even finished one!  I don't know how I'm going to manage it but I'm determined to stick it through and not give up.  Just find a good tutor who won't charge much.

Source

I paid through the nose and got a closer parking spot this time.  My first class is just a short walk away and my next 2 classes are in close proximity as well.  However, my fourth class is clear across the campus and my fifth class is like running a marathon to get to!  Next semester, I'm definitely making sure I have a campus map with me when I pick classes.

Wordless Wednesday

What Are You Afraid Of?

Melissa @ A Gracious Calm was gracious enough to do not just one, but TWO, guests posts for me!  If you haven't visited here before, click on the link and check her out.  Her blog is one of my faves.

Source

Hey guys – sprinkles is heading back to school and will be quite busy with her course load, plus her part-time job so I offered to do a guest post.  And because I’m so awesome I offered to do two!  This is my first one.

So I wasn’t really sure what to do for a topic, it’s hard to pick one, especially when it’s for people who aren’t your normal readers.

I thought I’d tell you about one of my biggest, yet irrational, fears and see if maybe I’m not as crazy as I think.

I’m a member of the local YMCA and they have a steam room.

I sometimes like to go take a steam and just rest.  You're not supposed to stay in the steam room for more than 10 minutes, but it's so hot in there, that it's not a problem.  The door to the room has no lock or latch, so when it closes, there's no way you could get stuck in there. 

But here's the thing.  I'm a bit claustrophobic, and their steam room is not big.  It would hold maybe four people.  So when I'm in there, I'm a bit nervous about getting stuck in there.  Even though there's really no way for that to happen. 

Sometimes when I'm in the room by myself, I'll wedge my towel between the door and the door jam, so that I feel better about being in there, but even then, I can't stay the whole 10 minutes, I usually make it to the 6 or 7 minute mark before I have to leave.  My heart races, my mind wanders, thinking about what will happen to my body if it gets stuck in a room with a temperature of 120 F and well, I kind of freak out a little.

So that's it.  I'm afraid of being locked in a room whose door has no lock and no latch.

Pretty silly, right?

What are you afraid of? 

Half Full Friday!

Half Full Friday is a series of weekly posts that Eyegirl originally started in June 2009.  We believe that a lot of our happiness is determined by our attitude about the things that happen to us.  So by participating, I'm deciding to see the glass as half full instead of half empty; I'm choosing to concentrate on the positives instead of dwelling on the negatives.  The Half Full Friday posts are a way to do just that.  They're a list of the things in my life that have brought me happiness over the past week.  I'm determined to find something good in each day.  Are you?

For the next week, I'd like to challenge each of you to keep a list of at least one thing that brought you happiness each day.  Be sure to link up here once you've posted your list!  (This isn't a blog hop so please only link up if you've participated by posting your happy list.  Thanks!)

~I'm happy because...

I bought a new laptop! 

I also bought new shoes!

I got all of my textbooks except for one!  It's only available from the school and it's out of stock until Monday.

Starting on Monday, I'll be able to avoid my noisy neighbors!  They have a really tiny, tiny backyard and for some reason, they insist on spending every waking hour out there and can sometimes be very, VERY loud.  I swear they must not work because they're out there all.the.damn.time!

I got to see Horrible Bosses this past weekend, which I loved!

I'll be attending a baby shower for a friend tomorrow!

*****

I took pix of my new laptop because I'm just whack like that.  I put it on a white towel because my kitchen table is black too and I was afraid it would blend in, otherwise.

I won this decal forever ago from one of Katie's many, many giveaways and just held onto it because I didn't have a laptop back then and wasn't really sure what to do with it.  Click to enlarge.

And then I got so excited about my new shoes that I hadda take pix of them too!  I was actually looking for sneakers but got these instead.  That's cool though - it gives me another reason to go shopping for shoes!  lol

I think they're kinda cute!

*****

Speaking of giveaways, which I was a little earlier, here's one you might be interested in.  But don't feel like you have to enter or anything - the less people that do, the more chance I have of winning!  If you want to get in on this deal though, you better hurry - it's ending really soon!

Wordless Wednesday

Happy Monday!

Source

Exactly one week from today, I start school and my new job.  I can't decide if I'm more excited or overwhelmed.  Definitely feeling a bit of both, especially after looking through my textbooks a bit.  I dropped one of the books on my bare foot last night and it left a bruise and a small cut on my foot.  Nice!

I saw Horrible Bosses last night, which I loved.  Next weekend, I think, I have a baby shower to go to.  I haven't seen the mommy-to-be's preggo belly so I'm looking forward to that.  The last time I saw her, she still had a flat tummy.  She isn't due until December but we're all busy and need an excuse to get together.  This seemed like a good one!  The next time we all hang out together will probably be in December for Christmas.

Since I have nothing much else to talk about, I decided to steal a meme I found here through The Daily Meme.  Yes, it's an old one but I don't care.  Feel free to play along.

1.  What is your favorite summertime flower?

I love carnations!  I think the reason I prefer them over roses is because they tend to last longer.

2.  Are you behind on your blog?

I'm not behind on my own blog but I am behind on reading everyone else's.  Sorry!  I was online a good portion of Saturday reading old posts on a website that I adore and my eyes hurt so I didn't go online at all yesterday. Will try to catch up today.

3.  What has irritated you the most recently?

Soooooooooo many things have irritate me lately.  This is the most recent though -- I let the boys out this morning and when they came back in, Shiver promptly poo'd on my carpet.  Was NOT happy about that!!!

4.  What was your last Facebook status post?

I used to be obsessed with facebook and would log on immediately upon returning home from work.  I guess I got burned out or something because I don't do much there anymore.  The last status update was last week, I think, when I posted that I miss my dad on his wall.

5.  When is the last time you laughed?

Hmm, probably at the movies last night.

6.  What can absolutely ruin your day?

If someone is mean to me or says something rude.  That, and my computer acting up.

7.  What is the one thing that always brightens your day?

Coming home to my chi's and seeing how happy they are to see me.  Also, my bloggy friends.

Half Full Friday!

Half Full Friday is a series of weekly posts that Eyegirl originally started in June 2009.  We believe that a lot of our happiness is determined by our attitude about the things that happen to us.  So by participating, I'm deciding to see the glass as half full instead of half empty; I'm choosing to concentrate on the positives instead of dwelling on the negatives.  The Half Full Friday posts are a way to do just that.  They're a list of the things in my life that have brought me happiness over the past week.  I'm determined to find something good in each day.  Are you?

For the next week, I'd like to challenge each of you to keep a list of at least one thing that brought you happiness each day.  Be sure to link up here once you've posted your list!  (This isn't a blog hop so please only link up if you've participated by posting your happy list.  Thanks!)

~I'm happy because...

I had fun with my friend at the Chippendale Men's Revue.  I thought it was a generic version of the Chippendales, but it turns out it was the real deal!

I had fun hanging out with my friends last night!

Two of my friends told me they thought I'd lost weight!  I haven't, but it's always nice to hear someone say it looks like I have.

I'm going to see the Birds of Prey today with my mom!  I don't know why but I've always wanted to go there.

It's been a few weeks now and my violets are still blooming strong!

My new job isn't too bad, so far!

Source:  Finally, Something for the Ladies...

As I mentioned Monday, it was a friend's birthday and she chose to celebrate by going to see a Men's Revue.  We got there early and it was already jam packed.  Luckily, we met some really nice girls there and they allowed us to share their table right up front so we got a great view.  I think I enjoyed watching the women react to the men more than the guys dancing. 

First, the guys all danced together, then they danced individually.  When they danced by themselves, they offered the option of allowing girls to come sit on the stage and have the dude give them a lap dance and rub himself all over them for a fee.  My friend did this for all but one of the guys.  She wore a dress and one of the guys stuck his head under it for a second or two.  She talked about nothing else the rest of the night and is STILL bringing it up.  I think it shocked her at the time, but now I think she rather enjoyed it. 

Source:  weheartit

I was supposed to start my new job on Wednesday but my new boss called early that morning and said he didn't think I really needed two days worth of training so I only went in yesterday.  The guy I trained with was super nice!  It was his last day there.  

Basically, I just checked people in when they came in to take their finals and watched the first 2 rows of people to make sure they weren't cheating.  It wasn't difficult at all because I let everyone in, no matter what time their tests were scheduled.  Once the new semester starts though, I'll have to be more concientious of the time if people are late in order to make sure that there will be enough computers for everyone to use.  I had a lot of downtime and was told that's pretty normal.  I wish I could use it to do homework but my new boss has repeatedly stressed that I cannot do homework on work time. 

My new boss is pretty nice so far.  I didn't see much of him today, he mostly stayed in his office and left about an hour early.  I got to leave 15 minutes early too, which was nice.  Everyone had finished up their finals and it was pretty clear that no one else would be coming in so the guy said there was no reason for us to stick around. 

I was shocked at the number of people who didn't show up to take their finals that were scheduled to.  Yesterday was the last day to take finals for the summer semester. 

Wordy Wednesday

Happy Birthday, Sweet Sugar!

Sugar asked everyone to share their smiling faces in honor of her 10th birthday and I didn't want to disappoint .  Unfortunately, I've been a little busy these days and haven't had an opportunity to get too many pix of my boys.  However, I didn't want her smile to turn upside down into a frown so I decided to participate in an unconventional way.  I didn't want to re-post  these since I just barely used them in a previous post so I've decided to link my boys' pix here instead.  Happy Birthday, Sweet Sugar!!!  I hope today brings you all your heart desires and even more too!

I won't be around today because it's the first day of my new job.  Once I get home, I have a wrap up meeting for my volunteer activity to attend and then I'm off to visit my mom.  It's going to be a very long day and I feel bad that I won't get to see much of the chi's.  I have to work on Thursday too but I'll do my best to get around to everyone that evening.  Friday I have plans too but I don't expect them to take all day.  

And now onto the pictures!

Interested???

I started out the weekend with absolutely no plans but Sunday ended up being fairly busy.  Saturday I mostly just sat around and watched really bad tv in between playing around online.  Sunday, my mom and I went to a car show.  It was only supposed to be classic cars and while they did have a lot of classics, they also had a lot of newer ones too - as in, only a few years old.  I wondered why they were there.  And then there were older cars but not exactly classics.  It was a good way to spend the afternoon and the best part was that it was free!  We could have gotten a free lunch there too but chose not to.  After that, I ran a couple of errands and then had dinner at my mom's house.

Source:  weheartit

While we were at the car show, I got to pet the softest little doxie!  Her name is Daisy and she was the friendliest little dog.  I still can't get over how soft and silky her fur is.  I've never pet a dog that soft.  Now I'm wishing I would've asked what doggie shampoo her owner uses on her so my boys would be like that.  Their fur is soft but not that silky soft.

Today is my friend's birthday.  To celebrate, she wants to go to a Men's Revue.  Basically, we'll be seeing a generic version of the Chippendale's.  She finally seems to be getting over the ex after an unwanted divorce 3 1/2 years ago and is now very much living the single life.  

Source:  weheartit

I start my new job on Wednesday.  Actually, I'm just doing some training Weds. and Thurs., I won't start my new job until August 22nd.  After thinking about it for a little bit, I realized this job will be a great way to see all my old friends from the first semester.  Not every professor uses the testing center but the large majority do.  While the testing center isn't a library, it has to remain quiet like one while students complete their tests so I won't get to talk to them much but that's ok, at least I'll still get to see them!  I've only talked just briefly to two of my friends from school over the summer so it'll be good to see them all again.

I start school in exactly 2 weeks!  I'm excited but nervous.  At least I know what to expect this time and how everything works.  What makes me most nervous is that I'll taking one more class than last semester and I'll be working on top of that.  In addition, one class requires 10 hours of online work per week.  I hope I haven't overextended myself.

It's going to take some time to acclimate myself to school again.  With that in mind, I'll be taking a one to two week bloggy break.  I didn't have much luck last time I asked but I'm gonna ask again.  Is anyone interested in guest posting for me?  You can write about pretty much anything you want - your own experience in college, the great summer you had (or didn't have), your favorite vacation, why you love your pets so much - the possibilities are simply endless!  I know not everyone appreciates guest posters but I figure it's better than to just have an empty blog for a week or two.  If you're interested, leave me a comment saying so and I'll get back to you.  Thanks!

Half Full Friday!

Half Full Friday is a series of weekly posts that Eyegirl originally started in June 2009.  We believe that a lot of our happiness is determined by our attitude about the things that happen to us.  So by participating, I'm deciding to see the glass as half full instead of half empty; I'm choosing to concentrate on the positives instead of dwelling on the negatives.  The Half Full Friday posts are a way to do just that.  They're a list of the things in my life that have brought me happiness over the past week.  I'm determined to find something good in each day.  Are you? 

For the next week, I'd like to challenge each of you to keep a list of at least one thing that brought you happiness each day.  Be sure to link up here once you've posted your list!  (This isn't a blog hop so please only link up if you've participated by posting your happy list.  Thanks!)

~I'm happy because...

I went to the zoo a few days ago!  

I went to go see The Zookeeper this week!

Because I complained to the school that the museum charged me last week, I found out today that I'll be receiving a refund!  Students are supposed to receive free admission but the museum didn't honor that.

Because I bitched at questioned the phone company about why my bill varies so wildly from month to month, I am now getting a fixed rate for the next 5 years AND a $10 discount for the next 12 months!

I officially declared a major this past weekend!  I'm really happy about that because now it feels like I'm actually working towards something.

My volunteer event is DONE for the year and I feel like I did a decent job pulling off the ceremony I created from the ground up!  In the past two years, I made someone else emcee, but I did it myself this year -- SCARY, since I am not a public speaker!

*****

It had been awhile since I've been to the zoo.  I think the last time I went was April of last year because we got in for free for some reason or another.  I was amazed at how much it'd changed since then!  They brought back the butterfly exhibit which I was excited about.  They don't always have it every year and in the past, it always sold out by the time I got there.  We got there shortly after the zoo opened in hopes that we could see that and to feed the giraffes.  Unfortch, the giraffe "experience," as they call it, had been cancelled that day.  Disappointing, however, the butterfly exhibit more than made up for it!  They were all over and several even landed on me.  It was such a cool experience and I loved that some of them had different designs on the top and the bottom of their wings.

Source for both pix:  weheartit

*****

Got a few more links from the Doggone Dog Swap.  Check out what Munchkin Memoirs, Mona and Weenie, Amber, and Booker Man and Asa got!  Everyone got their swaps but I'm still waiting on 5 more of you to post what you received.

*****

What's everyone got planned for this weekend?  I've got exactly nada going on and need some ideas.


***I'm not sure why the font is so different in the middle like that and I don't know how to fix it.

Wordy Wednesday

I got this email awhile ago and wanted to share the pictures but couldn't figure out how to save them to my computer.  This is really cool - click on the links and they'll allow you to see not only 360 degrees, but up and down too!  Just click and drag the mouse in any direction.

Picture 1 

Picture 2

Picture 3

Picture 4

Picture 5

Sleepy Monday

Source:  weheartit

I can't believe it's August already!  How did that happen???  The summer's almost over and I didn't even get to enjoy it.  In two days, it'll be a month since my father passed away.  In some ways, it seems like it just happened and in other ways, it seems like forever ago...

My event Friday night went well for the most part.  I was annoyed when I showed up because there were a group of girls sitting in my area working on another project so I couldn't set up for awhile.  Also, I was told I'd have 4 tables to use for a display but they only gave me two.  The music was messed up at the beginning of my ceremony but otherwise went well.  I felt better about this year's ceremony than last years.

The committee heads' gave me a blown up photo of my dad taken a few years ago.  I was really touched!  He's looking away so you can't really see his face but I can tell it's him.  I think I'm going to hang it in my computer room since I hang out there a lot and will see it regularly.

The whole night, I kept thinking about how happy I was that this was almost over.  When I got home and was unpacking everything to put it all away, I was thinking about how I really didn't enjoy helping out this year at all.  And then, oddly, a strange and VERY strong feeling came over me that I'm not done yet - that I need to do this for another year!  Ugh!  I don't need to decide right now if I'll come back next season or not so I'll see how I feel when the time comes.

I officially declared a major this weekend - Business and Economics with a minor in Political Science.  Hopefully that'll get me a cushy government job or something.  At the dinner party I attended last week, I met a guy who told me that if I play my cards right, I could potentially make more $$$ than a doctor!  Works for me!  School starts up in just three weeks.

I have some thank you cards to write this afternoon and then I'll be making the bloggy rounds.  Tonight I'm going to see The Zookeeper and tomorrow I'm headed to the zoo!