At Least I'm Not Obsessed with American Karaoke...I Mean Idol

So I love Grey's Anatomy, but I think Meredith is a selfish, problem-ridden girl who doesn't deserve Dr. Shepherd and I'm glad they broke up. (By the way, that opinion has made me more enemies than the time I said that Aidan was too good for Carrie on Sex and the City and that Bella in the Twilight series is a co-dependent moron). I also think the over-marketing is out of control. There is a book, and now....an official magazine. I'm not kidding. Al actually brought it over to me in WalMart not too long ago. I'm fine with just the show, thank you very much!

That being said, I have a new favorite Grey's moment. It was the episode a couple of weeks ago when Addison came back for a surgery. First of all, I love Kate Walsh, even though my first experience with her was the CSI episode called Changes in which she played a transexual named something like Destiny and he/she asked Grissom if he found him/her attractive.

But the moment I'm talking about is when Dr. Shepherd is in the elevator and eventually he has the ex-wife, the ex-girlfriend, and the current girlfriend in there with him. The doors open for Dr. Sloan, who is waiting to get on and he sees the awkwardness that is going on in that elevator. The look on his face is classic. He didn't even need to say anything!

By the way, did you know that Justin Chamberlain (Alex) has five kids?

What you're thinking now...that's what I thought!

What We've Been Up To

So the past week has felt really busy...

On Saturday, we had a birthday/farewell party for Valerie. She's doing an internship in Southern Utah all summer, so we won't see her much. I spent the morning shopping, cleaning the house/yard, etc. We had a nice night, though, with a lot of great food and the fire pit going full blast. I probably ate an entire bag of marshmallows myself!

On Sunday, Al worked all day. Mother's Day is big in the restaurant industry. I got up and made sweet potatoes and a flourless chocolate cake with vanilla and raspberry sauces. It's amazing. Between cleaning up from the party and all the cooking, I ran the dishwasher four times. It was nice spending time at mom and dad's though. Grandma and Grandpa came. Dad made a great dinner! The flourless chocolate cake was a hit...but how could it not be? We debated over whether or not Dave really liked the pudding cake or if he was just trying to kiss up to the family (I liked it, too!). Jeff and Ashley brought Boom Blox back and we played that on the Wii and had a lot of fun!

School is coming to an end and I'm working on Summer School stuff. I'm reading a lot of curriuculum books because we're supposed to incorporate a novel into the course. I figure I'll work up Reading-strategy-based independent study programs for three or four and then the students get a choice. That's taking a while. However, I get so worked up with school stuff that I have to take a break, so I've been playing Harvest Moon DS Cute during my lunch breaks.

The yard is absolutely nuts. Al finally got the sprinkler system working the way he wants it to. There's a couple of adjustments that might help us save even more money on water. Right now, about 3/4 of our half acre is watered by an irrigation canal that runs on the edge of our property, so it's free! He's also installed a misting hose on the back porch. Our strawberry plants are starting to get little flowers on them, and I'm going to be planting my bell pepper seedlings tomorrow.

This Thursday and Friday, we're having friends over, and on Saturday, Jeff and Ashley are coming over with Daisy, so it should be good times this weekend! Al is off Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, so let the games begin!

Because My Human Nieces and Nephews Live Out of State

The weather has been great and the dogs are having a great time playing outside!


Trillian and Thursday found a fencepost somewhere and had a great time demolishing it. We're trying to figure out which one would be lady and which one would be the tramp...

We're starting to get lilacs...

Pears...
and apples... Daisy and Bear are starting to make friends...

But sometimes, Bear has had enough:

This is what the dogs do all day:

And Al and I will be giving Daisy Loofah Dogs for every special occasion possible:

We also picked her up a new collar. Come on, guys, black leather? Your dog is such a girl! She prances everywhere and is always looking for a snuggle or a kiss. So we bought her a belated birthday present. I hope you like it. Don't worry, we'll keep the old one safe for you in case you hate it, but she just needed an EK collar to fit in with her cousins.

Al is 10 Years Old!

Yesterday (May 3) was Al's 10 year anniversary with Chili's. He got a "Wings of Fire" statue, and will also be getting a $1000 bonus, which he will be spending on a PS3 and new receiver. He keeps talking about using the rest of it on house stuff, but I tell him it's his bonus and if he wants to blow it all on toys, I'm not going to say anything about it. Anyhow, when they finally get around to making Final Fantasy games for the PS3, I'll really enjoy the upgrades!

Because he had to work on his birthday, Al took his anniversary day off. (Managers usually get their birthday off, as well as their wedding anniversary, but unmarried managers get their Chili's anniversary off to keep things fair.) So what did he do on this momentous occassion?

Yardwork. He's really enjoying the iPod that I got him for his birthday, however. In the picture, he has it on an armband and is selecting a song. He mowed, he edged, and he trimmed the hedges along the front of our sidewalk. I think we'll get rid of those at some point in the next couple of years. Unfortunately, after all was said and done, he spent the rest of the day in pain. While mowing, he pulled a muscle in his back. I can't beleive he went on to edge and trim!

That night, we went to see his mom to do an early Mother's Day since Al is working next Sunday. She gave him a muscle relaxer that helped a lot.

The dogs are having a great time in this weather, so they're able to spend a lot of time outside. Daisy spent the day trying to get the other dogs to chase her. This is about how it went:

When we first got Trillian, we didn't know how calm she was until we got Thursday. We thought Thursday was a little bundle of energy, but after spending a few days with Daisy, we've seen that Thursday's got nothing in the crazy-energy-dog department. But this is why Thursday still reigns as Queen Mess:

Bear spent the day curled up in a bucket of dirt. He actually curls up and sleeps in this. (Don't worry, Mom, I watered the raspberries!)

We Love Our FURminator!

Jill wanted videos of the FURminator in action. Unfortunately, our animals have already given us enough fur to knit a couple of cardigans, so we're not pulling as much fur off when we brush them. However, if you go to:

www.furminator.com

you can go to the "Demos" tab and see videos of groomers using the tool. I'll tell you right now that the videos are NOT faked. I would guess that they chose animals who have as much undercoat/winter growth as possible, but that's exactly how our pets were when we got the tool. Enjoy!

This is why every door has two baby gates--one on top of the other

While Day-Z is with us, she's sharing Thursday's "room." Thursday is very good about keeping the excrement outside during the day, but she seems to be under the misconception that 9pm-7am is "poop wherever" time. Therefore, she sleeps in the hall and we don't have any problems.

Jeff and Ashley say that Day-Z isn't completely housebroken yet, but she's good about holding it while in her crate. So putting her up for the night with Thursday was the best option. So far, it's workded great.

But I wanted to see what they did when I left and went downstairs, so I set up my camera on the booth in the kitchen to "tell all." This is quite entertaining. You have to watch it clear through the end because Thursday makes a decisive move and the look on Day-Z's face is priceless.

Random Musings

It's Friday again!

These weeks seem so slow, but at the same time, they're flying by! I can't believe that school is going to be over this month! Then there's summer school for me throughout June, but I won't complain about an extra month's worth of pay.

I got my schedule for next year. I'm going to be teaching two classes of Junior English again, which makes me happy. I love the curriculum--it's American literature. I get to teach Edgar Allan Poe and Emily Dickinson and the Harlem Renaissance; plus my unit on performance poetry and Poetry Slam fits best in this curriculum. I will also have two classes of READ 180, which is a reading interventions class for sophomore students reading below grade level. I'm finishing my reading endorsement this summer, which makes me one of two English teachers in my school who are "highly qualified" to teach this class. The reading endorsement will have taken a little over two years once I finish my last class. Because I'm teaching low-level students and agreed to take over the Literary Magazine, I've also been given two sections of creative writing! I am soooo excited for next year!

We're watching Day-Z while Jeff and Ashley are in California this week. She arrived last night and is getting along famously. It's funny how she's the oldest dog, yet she's the smallest and most energetic. Trillian and Thursday are zonked out on the floor and Day-Z is still running circles and smelling things. Trillian's jealous/selfish side is really coming out now that yet another dog is around. When it's just her and Thursday, if you try to pet Thursday, Trillian pushes her away and puts herself under your hand, so you pretty much have to pet both of them at the same time. If we pet Thursday and Day-Z at the same time, she tries to knock both of them out of the way.

If you have pets, invest in a FURminator. They're expensive, but cheapest on Amazon.com. It's an amazing shedding tool. We've used in on both dogs and our cat, and today I gave Day-Z a good rubdown. I could probably give about 20 Barbie dolls a good head of hair or create a sandwich-bag-pillow with the undercoat I got off of her before she got bored and went to go play.