she turned on the mic for all TWO of us.

i made crockpot roast beef yesterday. as great as it taste, i was not thrilled to arrive home today to an apt that smelled like..well, roast beef. so i opened the windows and then took the boys for a walk. when i got home, it was still roast beefy. so i threw everything into the dishwasher. there's something strange about my dishwasher...at first i thought it was the classical music on t.v., but when i came into the living room, i realized it was not.

i think there is a tiny man inside my dishwasher conducting a symphony...perhaps he wears a scuba outfit...idk, but it sounds like a musical arrangement of various instruments.

so, saturday i ventured out to find some things; i found myself not happy with the options at walmart-although i still found some things that i needed. so i turned around and went to the container store. i found some great stuff! i was especially looking for an appropriate clothespin-holder-deal for room 109 (i don't even know what to call the room that i 'board' in). 

while i was there, i was looking at the push pins and magnetic strips when a lady approached me with a card and a pen to fill out the card. then she asked me to come see the shelving presentation in 5 minutes. i asked her how long it would take, and when she said 7-10 minutes, and you could win a $20 gift card, i stuck around for a bit. not that i was bothered because it was raining out pretty hard, and this would be a great moment to avoid that.

so i walked over to the shelving area and filled out my card. there was one other lady there besides the lady giving the presentation. yes, if you are counting, that would make two of us plus store lady. and then she did the unthinkable. she turned on the microphone and she began broadcasting. did i mention that there were only two of us? so she began reading her cards and we muddled through. i tried to look like i was really interested and planning on eventually getting something. they really do have some great stuff.

and when it was over, she mixed the cards....all two of them for the drawing and the other lady drew a card. it was mine! woohoo! so i got a $20 gift card which i immediately put to use. and i felt even luckier when i saw that they had the umbra card holders! i have been looking for another ever since the little bungee-elastic on mine broke and i had to re-tie it!!

i had a 50/50 chance..i usually don't win.

i really like this hanging deal with solid shelves-i could think of many uses in a classroom.

my new umbra case with the thumb tacks that were so colorful.

i went from there to the 1/2 price bookstore. i purchased several new mentor texts for writing and reading. i love books! i sat myself down and went through my list of authors and filled up my cart.

most girls treat themselves to new shoes. new clothes. a manicure. a pedicure. i went to the gun range. it's been awhile. i need to go more often. i'm still a pretty good shot; next time i am going to try a couple of different rental calibers. if they don't have too much of a kick i might actually look into getting a .40 or .45 because ammunition is a little easier to come by.

yesterday i was working on some reports and questions with our system. so i was e-mailing our amazing rep from all in learning, and i meant to send some screen shots of the issues that i was having so that he would have an inkling of what i was talking about. i thought i had chosen the 5 screen shots that i had just taken, but i was having 'outlook-difficulties,' and my computer wasn't showing me the attachments that i added. then i got his response:

hmmm...

 apparently i sent this in one of the attachments...

let's not like, he is kinda' cute. (and if you don't think so, you can go ahead and lie anyway)

i think we got most of our issues resolved.

remember how i went to the discovery gardens and purchased some fun plants for school? well, after having the milkweed in the car for a couple of days, i was ready to be rid of the creeper.

totally peeking around the headrest...backseat driver-tickled my ear and scared the crap out of me! and made me think of audrey II in little shop of horrors.

and then when i went to the store the other day, i found myself haggling over 9/10s of a cent. what in the world? no wonder it sometimes takes so long to get what i need and get out.

must-live-more-simply....please tell me it's not just me.

i think the lady next door moved saturday. i'm glad. she was kind of an odd bird. bruno and chaco were talking about her dog. he always growled at them and chaco would start the whole 'hold-me-back' routine, knowing full well that his leash kept him safe. anyhoo, i noticed that their welcome mat is gone, so i'm pretty sure they went with it.

well, it's time for bed-
julie

give dad a project and then reach for any stinkin' thing i want!

today i  became convinced that dad needed something to do...

don't ask me how i knew...

so i told him about the little stoop i was wanting to build for bruno and chaco at the window height, and he took on that project. he's also been out fishing. but as i have mentioned before, our little pond is a catch-and-release pond, and so the fish are fairly predictable, and they know the drill because they've been caught and released so many times that i think they pull the hook out themselves and jump back in.

last night as i was laying in bed trying to fall to sleep, the neighbor whose apt backs up to mine was playing a loud techno music with a blaring bass, and i was not at all happy about that. it was around 10:50 p.m. so i dealt with it for as long as i possibly could. at 11:20 i was seriously contemplating going over there and pounding on the door.. but i was so tired i did the next best thing, when there was a lull in the "music," i banged on the wall hoping that a.) the person in said apt didn't have a shotgun to blow through the wall and b.) they didn't come around to my door drunk demanding a fight....maybe when i'm fully recovered i could take them, but not last night. 

thankfully neither of the above happened, instead the music desisted. praise YAHWEH! and when i woke up this morning there was no note on my door and i had no need to go leave a nasty note on theirs, although i was tempted to go introduce myself and let them know that if it happened again i would report them to the main office and then to the police... but again, i did not (i figured that they probably just didn't know what time it was because they don't have a clock nor understand how to read the night sky constellations to keep track of time).


this morning i had to get out for a bit, so mom took me to michael's so i could gather a few things (including bold oil-based sharpie markers to continue the outlining of the murals-the other ones were too small). then we stopped at walmart to get a couple of things (i needed a small pillow to put between my knees to keep my back in line so it doesn't spasm). on the way out i noticed this gem of a car...please notice that it has 5 antennae...

trying to get in touch with the mother ship?

 and tonight we decided to try to go out to eat at applebees. when we got there, i couldn't do a booth, so we got a table, then i had a delicious garlic sirloin with a portabella mushroom cap filled with steamed spinach and a little cheese-so delicious!! mom said i definitely didn't get my taste buds from her or dad! i had a hard time sitting for that long, so i stood and talked for awhile...i'm sure our server was wondering what in the world i was doing.

on the way back, we stopped at walgreens so i could try to find a "medline reacher" i read reviews that it could pick up anything from a penny off the floor to a can of vegetables...that's pretty good! i told dad to drop a penny on the floor, and sure enough, i was impressed! it will be worth it because i will be able to do some of the things mom has been helping me out with.

accurate enough to pick up a paper clip...

strong enough to get my water off the bottom shelf of the fridge without having to bend...

 yes, i think i will use this long after i am done "needing" it! 

the sterile bandage came off today (ok, it didn't exactly come off, but today was the day i got to remove it). hopefully that will help the incision site to heal quickly.

other than that, just trying to think of things to keep dad busy...
julie

my dogs are not in the petting zoo...why the doggie pellets?

had to take bruno into the vet this morning (these guys are killing me this month!). yesterday when i got home, he was acting a little funny. he was trying to scratch at one eye, and he was squinting. it was too late to take him in after school, so i thought about going to the emergency health pet clinic place, but i didn't want to pay the exorbitant amount they would charge, so i took him in this morning and of course chaco had to go along. it ended up not being a scratched cornea or anything of that nature, it was probably doggie pink eye (which is what i had presumed).

everything was normal until we got home and started up the stairs. i dropped the leash and let chaco run up the stairs right in front of me and when we got to our floor, i saw a travel bag by my neighbor's door, and chaco ran right inside their apartment because the door was open. i called after him, and the guy who lives there grabbed his leash and brought him out to me. grr.. so i turned to go into my door and he got away again, so i dropped bruno and a shopping bag inside my apt and the guy came back out again with chaco on his leash. i wasn't very happy with him (chaco, not the neighbor), and we had a long discussion about not walking into strangers' houses (again, chaco and i, not the neighbor).

did i mention that on the way out of petsmart today, a man in an apron carrying some small containers stopped me and gave me some samples of dog food. he said it was great for little dogs. we'll let the little dogs decide on that.

he made me take two samples.how generous.

so i opened them up and let the boys check it out. it looks a lot like the pellets they sell for kids to feed goats at a petting zoo...but the boys seemed to like it well enough-hopefully they don't get the runs! i'll probably stick with what we've been using though, because they really have done well with it.

oh! and i might add that when chaco ran into the neighbor's apartment, they had the wood laminate flooring from the entryway all through the front room into the kitchen area! and i have the tacky old carpet! and it wasn't brand new when i got here either.

roast pork loin in the crockpot with brown sugar and honey mustard cooking up for a beautiful lunch tomorrow! woo hoo!

have a beautiful weekend!
julie

i'm so glad i didn't have to smack down at the tire place!

as i sit here typing, i think i may be inhaling fumes from next door. i don't know where it's coming from, but there is some strong smell happening right now (my syrup-neighbor moved, not creepy), and they're re-doing his place, so it could be from that.

this morning i was rudely awakened by a huge clap of thunder-the boys had no idea what was going on. and at 3a.m.i was hoping that i would wake up and have enough air in my tire to get me to the dart station; in my groggy state i was envisioning myself in the parking lot in the dark rain trying to get the spare out (mind you, my car is still full of everything-school right now). thankfully i got to the dart station safely! i just saw something on the news, if i had seen this, i might not have been so gung-ho about getting on the rail!

on the way to the conference, there were some unexpected delays, and the worst was when the conductor person came on and let us know that the train was stopping for service at union station (one stop shy of mine), so i got out and kinda' followed people around. i had no idea where i was going. i found a bus up on the street and i asked the gentleman driving the bus how to get to the convention center and he thought about it for a second, and couldn't give me directions, but said, "hop on, i'll just take you up and drop you off right now, i go that way." i'm the only passenger on the bus at this point, so on the short commute, i mention that my uncle used to drive a bus up in iowa. yep, just a little awkward talk on a bus with a bus driver who was probably now wondering why he offered to give me a lift. but he got me there and i am grateful.

then on the way back, i barely missed the train i wanted; the conductor-type was watching me cross the crosswalk even, and i know he was laughing inside when the doors closed just before i got to them-loser. so i waited for the next one, and when i finally got a seat, i could smell old business guy's breath even with his mouth closed..it was like 'death-in-my-mouth' breath. and then his buddy across the aisle by the other window missed his stop because he was nodding off and so the guy beside me chided him a little. well, his friend got off at the next stop. then guess what. my seat-guy starts nodding off (i notice as i try to inconspicuously glance over). well, about 3 stops later, the train was at another stop and he jolted awake and almost pushed me into the aisle because he thought it was his stop-but noooo...it would be the next one. no apology.

and when we got off, electric wheel chair guy made me feel like a snail-he whizzed by me like road runner and i could barely keep up!

this guy in an electric wheelchair made me very jealous-i want one.

once i got back to the car, i was hoping to maybe eke out one more day from my tire, but mr. tire looked up at me and said he was feeling rather deflated. so i took the ol' g6 to AA tire, which i found on the internet. on the internet, the reviews were good and one person even said that the office was neat and clean...(that person must've had a seeing eye dog that lied to her).i didn't get an indoor pic, but here was the outdoor the scene:

this guy's mustache was so typical old mexican movie mustache.

 i parked my car and went in to tell the old man what i needed and he went around to see if he could find a tire that worked for my car. so once he finally found one, he told me to pull in and someone else had pulled into the other slot. well, the young man who had come out to help me with my tire was confronted by the other car (we'll just refer to them as the rude car who thought the owned the world). anyhoo, they started telling him all of their problems and when he acknowledged them, he then came back and began to jack up my car and they got huffy- "why are you working on her car and not getting our tire for us? she just pulled up!" he was a little flustered and i just looked at them and said, "because i got out of my car and explained what i needed and i have been inside taking care of business-and yes, i arrived about 5 minutes before you." i don't think the guy really wanted to go help him. he he he. not trying to be mean, but i really don't like rude, bossy people!

rude, bossy people are yucky, 
julie