Let's add to the fun! :)

School has started. The days of laying around at home because I'm not at work have ended. From the sounds of everything I've heard so far, I'm gonna be crazy busy...but that's okay. Today, I've had to face my age and be SO thankful I'm not 18 anymore! :) It was so nice to say "No, I don't wish to go Greek" and not have to look through endless booths full of people enticing me to join their honor societies and stuff like that. I did not enjoy wading through HUNDREDS of people trying to get their food all at the same time. Let's just say I'll be brown bagging it from now on. In order to get my lunch in less than 5 minutes (I have absolutely no patience), I had to settle for things I could grab without a line...such as baked lays, a granola bar, and a banana. Hopefully, these things will tide me over until I can get home. I'm now sitting in a teenie tiny lounge, waiting for my class to start. There's a girl next to me, talking on the pay phone. This may not seem abnormal...except that she has TWO cell phones. How weird is that?

Other than that, not much is going on. I had to park REALLY far away and I'm carrying a lot of bags...computer bag, book bag, and purse.....I looked like a bag lady..traipsing across campus. Lovely picture, right? Anyways...probably should get back to class. Hooray for me!

This is HILARIOUS!

'What will your obituary say?' at QuizGalaxy.com

Madness revisited...

Oh it continues....the crazy unorganized land of packing and boxes. Becca actually has most of her stuff packed up and sitting around the house. This evening, we'll go empty out our storage room (BLECH) into the dining room and start the rearranging of the goods process. It's really not going to be fun going through all the Pampered Chef boxes and deciding who actually bought it or who uses it the most. I'm sure it will be an adventure. We went through the movies last night, and I was surprised how many movies I actually own. It is sad that some of my favorites are Becca's and went in her boxes! So, it will have to be awhile before I watch A Mighty Wind, Waiting for Guffman, Best in Show, and Drop Dead Gorgeous....I just love mockumentories! :) They're the best! :)

Beyond that, things are crazy. I've been working the last couple days, and am very glad to be done with that until Saturday. I actually start school tomorrow, so I'm sure that will be a grand adventure.


****Slight interjection here. I'm watching Extreme Makeover, Home Edition. I cry every time I watch this TV show. It's only 8:54AM and I'm already tearing up. This is sad. I am sad. ************

Back to the subject at hand. School. I'm really not ready for it to start (is anyone ever ready?), but I'm ready to get it over with. It's going to be such a difficult 9 months, trying to juggle school and work, but I know I need to do this. Just keep me in your prayers, as I attempt to balance work, school, and an actual life. I'm hoping to still hang out with friends, and do that kind of stuff....but I'm gonna need lots of prayers to do so! :)

Right now, there are 4 dogs running around my house. No, I didn't get another dog, but I am dogsitting for Michael and Jen's precious angel while they take a much needed "I'm done with law school" trip to IRELAND. Sickening, I know. Michael starts work sometime in September and at that point, there's no telling when he'll be able to do vacations, and so they went on this trip. I think they are gone for 10 days or so...living it up, while the puppies stay here, bothering each other. Already this morning, Oliver has found a stick, growled at Sam when he got too close, abandoned it, had it picked up by Sam, then Sam peed on the spot where Oliver was chewing it. It's a big happy family around here. They are actually playing together well, but it's just so funny seeing them. Oliver still believes he weighs the same as his sisters, and he's so careful when he plays with them. The same thing goes with Sam...Oliver's really gentle, even when he appears to be ripping someone to shreds. Oliver actually starts obedience training tomorrow...he's growing up so fast. He's really a great dog, he just gets nervous around stranger and jumps up and barks. So, we're going to fix that.

***I just heard Oliver's "Play with me!" bark from the other room. Liberty's in here with me, so I know he must be attempting to entice Sam to play. He's still howling...and it's really sad. Maybe Sam took his toy...maybe Sam's just trying to have some alone time...it's anyone's guess. I'm gonna go investigate. Sam's sitting in his blanket, under the desk, not wishing to play with Oliver. Oliver keeps nose butting his blanket, in hopes that he will play...but he's just not in the mood. It's a sad life for Oliver. *****

Okay, this teeny short update has turned monumental. On that note, I'm gonna get moving....

Still looking for volunteers to help in the storage room fiasco...thankfully we have Nathen and Bentley...and us...but if anyone else feels bored or wants to help, we're gonna meet here at the Barton's around 6ish or so. We'd LOVE to see you (and your helping spirit!). If not, just knowing that you're praying for the move to go smoothly will be a help. MY FRIENDS RULE! :)

Fabulous Furniture!

This is the new chaise lounge thingy I bought. CUTE, huh?

This is the sofa...I didn't buy the love seat...not quite that much room in my new living room! :) I'm hoping that by choosing such a neutral color, I can have FUN with accent colors! Hooray for throw pillows!

Moving right along...

Things are going well in the 2nd move of the year. AAHH! Moving itself is stressful...moving twice in 2 months is torture. Oh well...such is life. Today I bought furniture! I'm so excited about it! :) I got a cocoa microsuede couch and chaise lounge. It's so beautiful. I almost bought a coffee table, until I realized that I already had one. I didn't know why I didn't choose to sell it at the garage sale, but it worked out! That's one less piece of furniture I have to buy! I also didn't get rid of my dining room table...but the chairs are long gone. I'm going to have to buy some chairs...somewhere. Probably Ikea. Oh, I love Ikea.

I'm sure the packing will soon commence...which will begin to freak out the puppies. Tuesday, we're renting a truck to clean out our storage room...so if you live in the DFW area, we really need HELP! It's hopefully just going to be a couple of hours...and we'll bring the pile of crap back to our house to sort through before the move. We'll have to designate sides of the dining room so we can tell it apart when the movers come! :) Please help us! We're desperate! :)

Anyways. Must be off now. It's late and I'm sleepy. And so are the puppies.

On the road again....

Well, it's official. I'm moving again. EW! I hate moving. There's nothing not to hate. It's hot, it's sticky, and it's chaos! This will be the fastest I've ever moved...so it's a little daunting. My move in date is September 18. Yesterday, Jennifer and I went back to the new place to see the actual floor plan and let me decide if that's what I wanted. It was an easy decision after I saw the inside. It's so cute! :) It's really the perfect size for me and my lack of furniture! :)

Afterwards, we went and looked at living room furniture. Becca found this great deal at Ashley furniture on Friday that allows us to get everything at 50% off list price, which takes the 2 pieces I like down from about 850 to 630. That's a much better deal...combined with the almost 4 years of financing! :) Hooray for furniture! :) I actually liked it better than the ikea stuff...which is shocking and amazing. I love ikea! :)

Now, I'm having to figure out how to get all my stuff from 2 different places to there. I think Becca and I decided that we'd just load up all the stuff that's in the storage room and move it to here so we can sort through all the joint boxes. I'm sure we'll still be finding each other's stuff...but at least that would give us a head start. Some of the things will have to be stored in Becca's garage...until I decide what I want done with them...like the twin bed and a bookcase we were keeping. I'm sure I'll probably just find someone who needs them...and give them away.

The puppies are oblivious to changes as of yet...mostly because the boxes haven't come out yet. It won't be long, especially since Becca only has 2 weeks to move. I'll be out of town at a bachelorette party that weekend, so I'll just come home to no her or Sadie. And maybe Teenie. SAD!

Anyways...that's the big news at present. 4 weeks from yesterday, I'll be typing i a new place, alone...something I haven't done since 2002. WEIRD!

Must finish work...then SLEEP!

I think I'm going to fall asleep sitting here. I wish I had more sleep, but that's my own dumb fault! :) We had a baby shower at the house last night. I guess that our friends haven't ever been to one...so they don't know that they usually don't last for four hours! :) But, this one did! :) I finally poured myself into bed around 11:20 and still couldn't sleep because of all the merrymaking in the rest of the house. I don't know what time everyone else left, but I think I probably finally fell asleep around midnight or so. So, needless to say, I'm sleepy today! :)

This week, I'm going to have to make some housing decisions, and I'm not sure I'm ready yet! The apartment that I'm interested in, if I wait a couple more weeks (which is what I would prefer), then the price jumps up by $50. I don't like that. I was told that they would hold a place for 30 days, once I apply and stuff...so we'll see. There are 2 apts that open up at the end of this month, so I could potentially have to move before the end of Sept...but we'll see. I'd rather not have my rent jump up. Not for the same exact unit! :) Becca's decided that she's not ready to buy yet, and now she's apartment hunting too. She's looking in the Beltline/Montfort area of town, right in the same complex that Michael and Jen just moved to. I will probably settle about 10 minutes from there, at the Tollway/Bush Turnpike. I really like the area up there, and it's a chance to start somewhere completely new. Anyways. Enough about that.

The puppies have been so good the last couple of days...with the exception of Oliver eating a pack of gum then vomiting it on my bed. (EW!) They stayed mostly quiet during the shower last night, and no one attempted escape. They didn't bark or misbehave. Such angels. It's going to be quite the transition, splitting them up. I'm the most concerned for Liberty and Sadie, since they've been together for Liberty's whole life. Not sure what Liberty will do without her sister...but I guess we're about to see.

OH HEAVENS. I am so tired. I'm sitting here thinking to myself "Wouldn't a nap be nice!"....but no naps for me. Oh well...only 6.5 more hours....

Comings and Goings...

Yikes! There's been a lot going on...and I haven't even had time to sit down, let alone blog about it. Let's see if I can get this in some random order in order not to confuse everyone...

On Monday, Jennifer and I went shopping! Hooray for shopping! :) It's so nice to have her in town so we can just pick up and go without worrying about her having to get back to Austin! They've done a lot of work in the apartment already because I know they hate living out of boxes. Their apartment is so big that when I came to get Jen, they didn't even hear me knocking at the door! And I was knocking hard! Sam didn't even hear me, and he would normally be barking crazily! :) It's nice for them to have so much space.

Tuesday and Wednesday were spent at work. I really feel like I just show up at work to sit there. My fabulous intern, Colette, does all the work, and rarely needs me. It's good to see someone go from that point where they feel they don't know anything to where they've started answering parent (and my) questions with confidence! Go Colette! :)

Last night, after a long day at work, we went to our favorite after work hangout to celebrate the return of my friend Amanda! She's been in Mexico, learning Spanish, for three weeks! Before that, she wasn't at work because her grandma passed away...so it's been a long time since we've been around her! :) We had a great time, and it was really wonderful to see her. She tolerates even less alcohol than I do, so we did a lot of giggling! :) It was a great time.

Nathen and Kerrie are home, and I'm sure that kitties are so happy to see them! They are not happy, however, to eat the homemade cat food that Kerrie made for them. I guess I don't understand picky eating from anyone..people or animals. In my house, you had to eat all your food. As far as animals go, Liberty eats absolutely everything, including things that aren't edible....so I have no concept of not wanting to eat. If she doesn't eat, I know she's sick...and that always scares me!

The biggest thing that's occured recently is a joint decision made by Becca and I. I think we both decided on our own that it was probably time for us to live apart. We've lived together for 4 years and had a great time, but it's just time to move on. Becca's never lived by herself and I think she's decided she's finally ready to do so. She's interested in buying a house or a townhouse. I'm not quite there at this point, I'm still not ready for the responsibility and would rather rent right now. I have no idea when this will occur...but we both came to the realization on our own, and just recently shared it with the other. Interesting, huh? The biggest concern to both of us is the puppies. Liberty has never lived by herself and she's probably going to have the biggest issue with it. I'm sure she'll poop on the floor every day for awhile. YIPPEE! :( Oliver will be the go between dog...time with sister Sadie and time with sister Liberty. Not quite sure how he'll work into it, but at least one sister will be happy at a time if both can't be.

Anyways, Kerrie and I are going to look at cakes this morning for the baby shower this weekend. I love cake! :) Other than that, not sure what I'll be doing....

Terror for the lobster....

Oliver is currently running around the house, shredding a toy lobster that I bought for him not 8 hours ago. It has no stuffing, no claws, and no squeakers. He's systematically shredding its legs, which are finding their way all over the house. I'm so glad he's found enjoyment out of that 3 dollars. This is why we don't buy him nice things. He just eats it. He's been carrying around a rabbit leg for one solid week...chewing it to bits piece by piece. Earlier today, he fought a battle with a wasp outside and lost. He got stung in the mouth, but he's okay. He also fought a battle with a lizard, which he won. Becca found him chewing on a headless body. He's so disgusting.

It's been a busy weekend! Michael and Jen are all moved in! Hooray! It was so weird to drop them off last night, and know they weren't going to be sleeping at my house on an air mattress! Yesterday and today were filled with a lot of unpacking and rearranging. Their new places is about 400 square feet bigger, and it's really nice for Jennifer to have too many places to put things! They have this gigantic couch (I think it's like 105 inches long) and it actually looks small in their living room.

I work Tuesday/Wednesday/Saturday this week. It's been nice to have this 4 day off break! I guess Nathen and Kerrie aren't coming back today...or else they are driving really late. Their kitties are getting really pitiful. When I walk into the bedroom, I'm always greeted with a symphony of meows. They are almost out of food...so I hope that N/K resurface soon...

Not much excitement going on this week. We're throwing a baby shower on Saturday, of course, I have to work. LOVELY. I'll just be zooming back home after the shower. Other than that, it's gonna be a slow one...which should be nice. I'm going to be so thankful for those weeks in a few, once the school madness begins. Anyways...must be going. Oliver has now proceeded to shred the toy all over my new bed. That will be fun to sleep on.

It's a beautiful day in my neighborhood!

I'm so glad to be off of work! I'm sure that you as the average reader says to him/herself "My heavens, Stephanie really seems to hate her job...she's always SO excited to be off!" On the contrary, I love my job, and I think people can see that if they talk to me. It's just really nice to not be there. I love having a job where I only work three days a week, even though they are long ones.

Today, I did a lot of random stuff. I waited with baited breath for my new mattress to arrive! It's a beautiful sight, with pillowtop and so high that Liberty can't jump up on it. I have been uncomfortable for awhile on my old one, so I took the plunge and got a great deal with amazing financing! Hooray for me! I have a queen size now, and hopefully the extra room will leave me less crowded when Oliver decides to stretch out his paws in every direction. I also went around buying housewarming gifts for Michael and Jennifer. I should have picked up something for Sam, too....I guess I'll have to do that tomorrow before the fun begins.

Tomorrow, early in the AM, Jen and Michael will start their long awaited voyage to Dallas. I really can't believe that it's finally HERE! I'm so excited for them to live so close to me! I think Jen will head out first, with plans to sign all the lease stuff before Michael gets there with the movers. I will be over there with her, once she gets into the apt, to help with whatever...cleaning, rummaging, sitting in the empty space...and bonding! :) Hooray for fun times!

Not really anything else going on. I am feeling less dizzy, although I do still have the spells. I'm hoping they go away with the continued taking of my medicine. I also hope this new bed lets me sleep better! :) Nathen and Kerrie return sometime this week from their long, long vacation. I don't really know what day they return, but hopefully the house will be clean when they get here. It's not really bad, I just need to do some straightening and junk mail removal! :)

Now I'm tired. My new bed is calling me! Hooray!

Brighter day

Today is a better day. I do feel better today for some reason. The doctor called this morning and said that all my lab results were completely normal. She really thinks it might be an equilibrium thing and a decongestant might just do the trick. I feel a wee bit less dizzy, so maybe that was the problem. Who knows. I'm supposed to hang out, taking the decongestant for a week. If I'm not better, I'm supposed to go back.

A couple of weeks ago, I was diagnosed with Factor Five Leiden. It's a blood clotting disorder that is hereditary. I'm heterozygous for the trait, which means my blood loves to clot too much and I'm 20 times as likely as the next person to clot. GREAT! Today, I talked to the doctor about how this affects me. I'm supposed to stay away from things that would increase my chances of having a clot, such as prolonged sitting and laying down (like after surgery), smoking (oh, this one will be hard!), and medicines with estrogen (like birth control and hormone replacement therapy). LOVELY! I also found out that when I'm pregnant, I'm going to have to take aspirin and probably heparin shots to prevent clotting that would cause a miscarriage. Again...LOVELY! So, not only will I have 10 children...but I'll also have to shoot myself up during all of those pregnancies! What an exciting time! I'm sure the men will be lining up after they find that out... :) Especially when they find out I'll be doing menopause without medicine. I'll be a treasure.

Aside from those exciting things, I've just been goofing off today. I went and bought some books to read. I also watched the dogs be absolutely idiotic. They are nutty. Not much else. Whoopee!

I have to work the next two days, then off for four. Hooray! I'd better do something productive...

Fun with video....

So, I learned how to do videos on my camera....

This may not be funny to you, but I think it's hilarious...

Notice, I do pop my dog...just like my own children! :)

Oliver being retarded.

Sadie's new friend...her bright pink cast!

Grace and her new toy....a stuffed weenie dog!

I'm gonna have to win the lottery...

INSURANCE COMPANIES ARE EVIL!

Well, apart from winning the lottery, I won't be able to have my needed procedure any time soon. The powers that be have determined that it is cosmetic, not medically necessary. THIS STINKS. I wish they could walk one hour in my shoes...then they'd know. This really wasn't the day to find out this precious information, either. I've been to the doctor today, where she had lots of thoughts, but not much solid information on what is going on. I didn't expect there to be an easy answer. I had a bunch of labs drawn, so hopefully one of those will be able to shed some light on the situation.

I tried to take a nap, but was too upset about the aformentioned information to sleep...so now I sit and blog. Sometimes, it's therapeutic...sometimes not. I think crying is more therapeutic...which is what's happening now. I'm a weenie.
Today was also the day I forked over my tuition money for the fall...Good heavens..the bad things are all on one day, aren't they? :)

I think I just need to curl up in a ball and sleep...until the bad thoughts go away!

Fun in the sun...or RAIN! :)

It's finally raining! I can not begin to tell you how excited I am to see this phenomenon. The radar is all green, red, and yellow and I can't even see outside! I LOVE IT! It hasn't rained this hard in a long time, definately not this summer! The backyard has actual cracks in the ground from the dryness. Hopefully not now...now that we have rain! :)

Today, I have been really dizzy and it's starting to scare me. I don't like this feeling, and I've felt pretty rotten for most of the afternoon. THANKFULLY, I have a new nurse with me today and she's getting pretty independent. She did 90% of the work today, so I was able to sit and feel dizzy by myself. I go to the doctor tomorrow morning at 1015, so I am hoping that she has some insight for me.

I have two days off after today, then back Wed/Thurs, then off until Monday, I think. Michael and Jennifer are moving this weekend. I'm hoping to be able to be of some help to them...but I won't be doing any lifting! :) They've hired the extremely reliable, yet funny named "Abracadabra Movers". Just the name makes me laugh. It will be nice to pick up the phone and just go do stuff with Jennifer. I do love my sister in law. Almost more than my real sister! (HA KIMSIE!)

Anyways, I have 2 more hours to slave away here, so I suppose I could find something to do. I know I have to do some sort of preceptor paperwork...and that could take me the rest of the day! :)

State traveler

I'm in Houston right now. My parents wireless internet hates my computer, so I haven't been able to use mine. It's always weird using a computer that you aren't used to. Thankfully, my mom's laptop is always available so I've been able to surf away to my heart's content. My plane ride was uneventful. I did have some retard ask me if I worked somewhere medical. "Um, no..RETARD...I'm just wearing scrubs for fun. Scrubs with puppies!" Moron. I tried to nicely answer his questions, but you just don't pump complete strangers for information about their lives! No, of course, I do this, but at work...not randomly out in public!

It's always so much easier to leave my puppies when I have one to go to. Jack's here and filling Liberty's shoes well. He even slept with me last night. He's so rotton. He's a great sleeper, but my dad doesn't want him in the bed because I think he thinks Jack will bother him. Jack didn't even touch me all night! This morning, my mom and I went shopping. I finally bought a new wallet! Mine has been slowly falling apart for a couple of months and now it doesn't even close. So, out with the old, in with the new! :) Hooray!

Not much else going on. We're watching Food Network and watching Jack be retarded. It's a quiet life, here in Friendswood! :)

Anyways...must be off. Have fun!