It's Been a While, Here is Why

So, I think I have lost anything near the status of "blogger" I may have had before. I haven't even logged into my account for nearly two months. Here's why;

As I said in previous posts, I no longer have a job. I thought that was going to free up my time and brain to write tons and tons of awesome posts. Well, something else replaced the parts of my brain that work use to occupy. My grandmother.

My Nanny was put on hospice months ago. It was nothing urgent, as in you have two weeks. We were told it could be years but the doctors determined that COPD was going to eventually take her life so arrangements were made so that passing could happen at home. The word "hospice" was unsettling but not yet upsetting. However, about a month ago Nanny fell in the middle of the night and smacked her elbow. Now, if you have lost an elderly person you know something as slight as a smacked elbow can turn everything on its end. After her fall her health began deteriorating fast. It was established that she couldn't be home alone. My unemployment quickly became a blessing. My mom needed help, I became official errand runner. But more importantly I was able to spend a lot of time with my grandmother that I wouldn't have had I had a job. Nanny passed away last week and her service was this past Monday.

All this to say; my mind has been mostly occupied with that part of my life and I knew no one wanted to hear the tiny details of my grandmother's health. So I stayed away from the interwebs until I had something else to say.

I still don't have a ton to say but I'm sticking my foot back in the door. In other news, I'm finally starting to look into getting a new job. That's right, I haven't really been looking for a job. Along with being the family errand runner I have spent my time organizing junk in my house. When you become unemployed you think "wow, what am I going to do with myself?" Well, let me tell you, all the crap projects you thought before "I would clean that up/organize it if I had more time" start staring you in the face. I actually made a list to keep it all straight. Today I rearranged our pantry. Woohoo!

I have no clue what I want to do work wise in the future but it's time to get on that horse and figure it out. If nothing else I am no longer in the mood to convince the Dingo, a man that does not nor has ever owned a hairbush, that a $40 hair cut is an absolutely necessary expense. Don't even get me started on the Starbucks conversations. He wins every time with "You don't even drink caffeine." This is not a valid excuse for the fact that I have yet to have a Pumpkin Spiced Latte!

All right, that's all for now. I'm going to be around more in the future. Promise.

I'll Never Learn

You do not take the Dingo to the store with you. Ever. Especially not a discount store.

My family has recently been forcing me to get a full medical run-down since there may be a brief gap in my health insurance approaching. I've been to the general practitioner for blood work and a check up, the eye doctor, and today the dentist. Since the Dingo was due for a cleaning also he took the afternoon off work and went to the dentist too. (Per usual, him? clean as a whistle. Me? Cavity. Ugh)

After my appointment we went to get a late lunch and I mentioned we should stop by the store because we were almost out of juice. Big mistake. Big. Big. Mistake. Huge. Because it was in close proximity we went to Dollar General. And the Dingo went nuts. I picked up both of our preferred juices and a box of cereal. So how did we walk out with six grocery bags? The Dingo! We now have a pantry full of peanut butter filled pretzels, cheese and crackers, cheese and peanut butter crackers, those teddy bear cookies...the list goes on. So, $40 later, we have juice and everything else the store sells.

On the up side, the Dingo reminded me to buy a new jar of peanut butter. Last week I mentioned to the Dingo that I must not like peanut butter anymore because while attempting to eat a sandwich I ended up throwing it up (sorry, TMI). For some reason this made him think that he would really like a PB&J (weirdo). Upon inspection the Dingo informed me that the peanut butter was two years expired!

Dingo: Doodle, you ate two year old peanut butter!
Doodle: No wonder I barfed! I didn't know peanut butter expired.
Dingo: You didn't think something with the word BUTTER in it would expire?!
Doodle: I thought it was just called that for its consistency.

Yep...I obviously never learn.

Memphis Heritage Door Auction and a New Dress

Last night the Dingo and I attended the Memphis Heritage Door Auction (that may not be the official title). This is the second year for us to attend, originally drawn in because my mother and her friends participate in it, but it is also so fun. Basically, when an old building in Memphis is renovated one or more of the old doors are donated to the Memphis Heritage Foundation. Then, once a year, volunteer teams choose a door and make art out of it in any way they see fit. You would be amazed at what people come up with. I am always so impressed with what my mom and her friends come up with. They do beautiful mosaics. Last year was a mosaic of Elvis and this year it was a colorful retro/peace sign pattern. We won a piece in the auction last year. The door was cut down to the size of a large picture frame. I love it. (I put pictures from the Dingo and my trip to San Fran in it.)



Yes, that is a horrible picture taken with my iphone but you get the point.

This year was super great too. We bid on a wine cabinet (because the two we have is obviously not enough) but the bids got way higher than we were willing to go. However, this year they had a new addition, a room of clothes! All 70% off marked price. My mom pointed out a dress that she thought I would love, and I did. It was originally $135 so, with 70% off it was $40.50. The Dingo gave the go ahead to buy it (woohoo!) so I went to pay. The girl rang me up and said, "That will be $8." Wha? Not wanting to get her in trouble at her job I argued that that was waaayyy lower than I expected. She argued back that it was, in fact, $8. Ok, you win. So I walked away with a dress marked $135 for $8. Win.

I got curious about it today, wondering what kind of a steal I really got on this dress. I found this. The dress currently sells for $125! I'm so excited about the dress and what I paid for it. It's a perfect dress for Memphis. I can wear it now in the blistering heat with a pair of sandals but whenever fall gets here it will be great with a pair of tights. Honestly, if we have a normal Memphis winter (as apposed to the blizzards of last year) this could really be a year-round dress. When the Dingo heard the final price he immediately said, "well, hell, for those prices, is there anything else you want in here?" I love that man. Unfortunately the other dress I liked was way too big. Oh well.

All in all it was a wonderful evening. We had drinks and fun with friends and family looking at what some of the brilliant minds of Memphis artists can come up with. Dad got a little out of hand and bid on four different tables and we believe he won at least three (we left before the official close of the auction). So I have a few months to figure out where to put the new end table I am sure to get for Christmas. Haha.

PINECONES!

I have begun to fear for the Dingo's sanity and, in turn, my own. You see, he has been walking around the house lately argily repeating, "Pinecones! More pinecones, I have to pick up the pinecones!"

We are having major grass issues in our front yard. When we bought the house the whole front hill was ivy. Last fall we had it all pulled up and the Dingo planted grass. The grass grew and looked lovely...until about two months ago when it began to quickly die. Thinking it had to do with the horrible heat we (by that I mean the Dingo, are you kidding? I don't do anything with the yard) procrastinated in doing anything about it. Now it looks like someone set our front yard on fire. So, last weekend the Dingo went to Lowes and bought some kind of super great (expensive) grass seed and put it in the front yard. The Dingo is crazy excited about his grass. You know that phrase, it's as exciting as watching grass grow? Well, the sarcasm is lost on the Dingo as he often steps out front to look for any sign of growth.

If that doesn't lean you towards believing he may be a bit off, here is where the PINECONES come in (sorry, PINECONE is no longer a lower-case word in this household). Also in our front yard is a giant, huge, old pinetree. You saw that coming right? And it keeps dropping huge amounts of PINECONES on the front yard. I mean, three trash bags full in just a few days. How do I know how many trash bags they fill? Because the Dingo has to pick them all up. Turns out the PH in the pinecones (I'll stop with the caps, I think you got the point) will do something bad to the growth of his super great grass. So, I wake up most mornings to him screaming "There is more! There are MORE PINECONES." The other day he asked me what I thought the neighbors would say if they saw that tree in flames and him dancing around in the front yard. See? Fear for insanity.

Tiny Feet

Yesterday I received an invitation for the Dingo and I to attend his boss's wife's baby shower for twin boys. Both boss and wife are actually personal friends even when the clock is off so I am totally excited to celebrate two long awaited little ones. One problem: What do I buy her?!

I tend to rebel a bit and go away from the registry. I know I may hate people like me after my wedding or (someday) child. But I choose to believe you wanted it, needed it, and just didn't know it yet. In this situation it happens to be socks. Socks that look like sneakers or cowboy boots. I'm back at trumpette.com I love love love their stuff and now I am torn. Do I get the set of socks that look like cowboy boots or the little onsie that says "beyond fragile"? I really would like to crack up the Dingo's boss and he is definitely a country dude.

But I must ask; Those of you who have had kids, do you hate when people stray from the registry or are you excited about things you didn't know about? I'll bring a package of diapers too, I promise.

So....the Job Situation

Well, I am no longer an employee at The Company. The reasons for my departure are going to stay private. However, I will say it's a good thing. While I enjoyed...loved...The Company and the people that work there, the actual work part hadn't been a good fit for me in a while. So the Dingo has given me the financial go-ahead to find something to do where I really enjoy the work. Hopefully that will be a job where the word "tradeshow" is no longer part of my every day vocabulary. But for now, I am watching too much tv and doing housework that has been neglected while both of us were working. I can rely on the Dingo's job to keep me busy with laundry since he has to wear a logo work shirt every day and they usually fill up our laundry hamper pretty quickly (he has a TON and there is no way he would ever run out of clean ones).

So, there is that. I guess we may be spending some more time together here in Doodle town. See ya again soon.

Oh the Noise!

So the Dingo is playing My Two Dads today. Well, not really, but kinda.

Our good friend came in town today with his three BEAUTIFUL children to take them to Incredible Pizza. He called to invite the Dingo and I to come along. Realizing that I will, some day in my life, be required to attend these child filled crazytowns I declined but the Dingo agreed.

The clan showed up at our house this afternoon to pick up the Dingo. And oh my, Hell broke loose! The kids saw the doggy Arleen and went NUTS. Our house is set up just right so that you can literally run laps through the main part of it. There is a nice track from the den to the kitchen to the dining room to the foyer and back into the den. Repeat. Screeching. While my fat ass dog lumbers along behind them. It was hilarious...until the squeaky toy was discovered. That sound is not as cute as the sound of happy children.

Based on a mid-outing check in, the Dingo took the oldest kid while daddy took the little ones. I think he was probably a God send for daddy. And I think he really had fun.

So the Dingo and clan are back at the house, four hours later. The squeaky toys are hidden. The kids and doggy Arleen are completely worn out. The clan has decided to stay in town for the night so I am now hanging out with T (dad) and the Dingo while entertaining three little ones (two really, little one is asleep). Our massive collection of gaming systems and stuffed animals is proving useful as we sit around and watch the seven year old play the Wii and his little sister roll around the floor with my giant stuffed elephant. Who knew the Dingo Doodle home was kid friendly? I suppose our status as adult children comes in handy now and then. Oh, what the future holds for us.

So, I'm off to entertain little girl as the men are totally in to big boy's Wii game. If this post is totally nonsensical it's because there have been children, daddy and the Dingo constantly distracting me. How do mommy bloggers do this? (Help)

Being Sickly

I've been feeling sickly. It's that time of year. My sinus glads are trying to swallow my head and putting so much pressure on my face that my teeth hurt. Seriously. It took major effort to get to and stay at work today. If I hadn't had two important meetings I'm not sure I would have toughed it out. But that is my life. I have such bad allergies that sometimes I have to suck it up and subject my cube neighbors to the sound of me coughing and sneezing. Sorry folks.

The unfortunate part of this is it has caused me to miss a birthday dinner for one of my best friends. A dinner hosted by her mother who I also consider a good friend that I rarely get to see. Crap. I feel so much regret about it but I just couldn't do it. I spent all day just waiting to get home and not have to sound smart or be sociable. I have to find some way to make it up to her. Suggestions are welcomed.

Anyway, for some reason meatloaf sounded like a perfect "I'm sick" meal. Hearty and classic. And super easy to cook. So that is what is the oven right now. I will say email me if you want a recipe but how much do meatloaf recipes differ really?

I have nothing more. My brain is swimming in icky-ness. Sorry for the lameness. There is another crazy market that I plan on going to so maybe there will be more LAMBS HEAD in the future.

I Have Issues

Among many issues I have (I'm a bit OCD), I am currently focusing on my food issues. I think I have mentioned my eating diet here before. It's my first step in the wedding diet. The goal of the diet is to eat at least three balanced meals a day. Not just a bag of chips and then whatever I cook for dinner.

Now, I must explain,I do not have an eating disorder. In fact, I believe I have less body issues than a lot of people. I want to be fitter and healthier but I don't think I am "fat." I've always been a bit taller than a lot of my good friends and therefore weighed a good bit more. So when I compared my weight to their's it threw me into oh my god I am a giant panic attacks. One day I decided to never know how much I weigh unless I'm at the doctor. I go by my mom's rule; if your underwear starts getting to tight it's time to do something. It works for me and I am comfortable with myself until I'm uncomfortable. As in, thighs rubbing together uncomfortable. That being said, please no one misconstrue my "eating diet." I'm just trying to get healthy.

My problem is that I don't really ever have much of an appetite. Or taste for food. There is rarely any food that I say, yes! that would exactly hit the spot. I like to snack on pickles, smoked almonds and eat ramen noodles more than I would like to admit. This just leaves me without a balanced diet and bloated. That's why I am always bugging the Dingo to decide what is for dinner, I'm not craving anything. So, I grew up a tinsy tiny bit and admitted to myself that being my ideal body shape at our wedding has to first involve me getting healthy. My dad has spent the better part of my life saying "You have to eat something. You'll feel better if you eat something." And he is right, I do feel better when I eat.

I'm doing ok so far but it's going to be a long road. I've been drinking a glass of low sodium V8 and eating a banana in the morning. I am working on lunch since it's my least favorite meal. The Dingo is trying to lose weight so I've been cooking lean meats and laying low on the butter in veggies for dinner. I know that if I eat more often I will feel hungry more often and generally feel better. I can do this.

Tonight I also bought some cracked pepper and olive oil Triscuits because I keep reading about them on Eats for a Merry Life. I think I read her blog to inspire me to eat and eat better. I'm hoping the Triscuits will be a healthy in-between snack. We shall see.

Say yeah, this is a really lame post. No lambs heads or Canadian car parts but it's what's on my mind. All this having been said, I just ordered a turkey sub from Tuckers. I guess today has been a step forward.

Canadian Car Parts

Well, if you haven't heard the state of affairs in our great city, it's been 100+ degrees in Memphis all week. At one point I looked at my weather channel app today and it said the index was 122! 1.2.2. people. When it gets super hot in the south I always say you can actually hear the heat. The cicada bugs go nuts and it just kind of reminds me of how wet spots in wood hiss as it burns. Burns people.

All this heat lead to making Saturday fun day go crash, boom, pow, RUINED. Sort of. The story has a happy ending but it was not happy at the time. On Friday night I casually mentioned to the Dingo and a friend that it was miserable driving home from work because when I was at a stop the AC didn't blow quite as cold. Now, I'm no novice, I know this is a sign on the car running hot, mine has overheated several times. However, because of the raging heat outside I assumed it was just that my car AC wasn't holding up its end of the deal. Wrong. Hear that crash, boom, pow coming from Saturday? Yeah.

I had big plans for Saturday. I was going to get a pedicure and maybe go to the tanning bed (sorry, no bath water temp pool is not going to help me at this point, I need the fake stuff with AC). Well...I go to pick us up lunch at Sonic before I run my errands. As I sit playing with my phone, waiting for my (non-skate wearing) sonic waiter, I hear DING! I look up and the car is over heating. HOLY CRAP! I fly out of the parking lot hoping the movement will cool the car and drive home, sans food, screaming into my phone to the Dingo that THE CAR IS BLOWING UP!When I get home the Dingo calmly says "Get in my car, we will go try to get our food (that I had already paid for) and go buy you some coolant." Oh Dingo, so cool in the face of exploding cars and OMG do you think they threw out my chili cheese cony?! situations.

So here is the fun part. We went to get coolant and as we stand there paying, another guy comes in and asks the store clerk where to get a car part he needs. The clerk replies "so and so place out on Canada." Ok, quick note if you aren't from here "out on Canada" refers to Canada road in Lakeland, just outside of the city. Well, this guy didn't get the reference. He just stares blankly at the clerk and says "I can only get the part if I go to Canada?" Nobody spoke. Until I busted out laughing. Loudly. I suppose the stress from my car made my control over my emotions fly out the window. The clerk explained the situation and the guy replied "Oh! Ok, I was wondering why I would only get something in Canada." He laughed a little too instead of punching me in the face. But dude, you should not be working on your own car if you think Canada is a leader in the car part industry.

So, anyway, I had plenty of coolant so I had to take off work Monday to get it taken to a shop. Again, the Dingo's lovely friends/coworkers fixed it at cost. And now my car is drivable. Final win.

Now I am sitting basically in the dark. I'm convinced that the slightest amount of electricity will make the house hotter. And I can't wait until Friday more than ever. The forecast says it will be 92. That's like a cold snap this time of year. Bring it on!

There Goes the Day

I defined lazy today. I had all of these maybe plans. Maybe I'll get a pedicure. Maybe I'll go shopping. Maybe I'll clean our nasty kitchen floor that I spill junk on all the time. Maybe I'll do some of the overwhelming pile of laundry that is taking over the house.

Nope.

I laid around all day watching the food network...and Disney channel (don't judge me). The Dingo is on call for work and had to get up and go to work at 6:30 this morning. And if he was home his phone rang every 20 minutes. This resulted in me thinking, ugh, I've been woken up, I need 30 more minutes to make up for this. I kept telling myself, in 30 minutes I will get up and get out. Nope. I finally left the house to get something for him to throw on the grill. Maybe I will do better tomorrow. I have a birthday dinner to attend so I at least have to shower. I have big goals like that.

I must must must use the gift card my sweet sis got me to get a pedicure soon. These feet are ugly anyway (ie. whale toe) and all the walking I do in the summer just makes it worse. Owning cute shoes is pointless at this point. Maybe the salon is open tomorrow. Then at least I will look cute while THE FOLDER takes my life.

HAHAHAHA As I write this the Dingo keeps yelling "Why does the tv keep switching to the Disney Channel?!" I really don't have any idea but it's hilarious because I do love Wizards of Waverly Place (what I was watching earlier) so I can't help but laugh and say I'm doing it with my brain. He then threatened to throw the remote at the tv if it does it again. Brain power down.

Ok, I think I may go call a friend to come hang out to end the quietness that has been in the house all day.

Folders From Hell

So work followed me home for the weekend. Not in a cute puppy, Dingo, can I keep him way. More like that creepy guy that follows you a little too closely in an alley. He probably won't hurt you but he will make you really nervous in the meantime. I've coordinated travel for seven different people, some of whom are my boss's boss. And guess when they are traveling...SUNDAY. As in, I'm not in my office with my computer and the company network WHERE ALL DIGITAL FILES ARE SAVED. So I brought home a huge physical file that is sitting in my foyer quickening its pace as I quicken mine (is there a police dispatch line for creepy alley folders?). I'm convinced it is going to crawl under my bed and grab my ankles in the morning. Seriously, if I make it through Sunday without a phone call from someone who is freaking out because they have just landed in Pakistan I will call it a good week. And yes, I did just email my boss on a Friday night to ask about rental cars. This may take a few years off my life.

In other news, I'm a lazy ass. I have not cooked a single thing in over a week. And it has been WONDERFUL. I really needed I break and now I am fully pumped to fry the Ripley green tomatoes that I bought recently.

Saturday funday may be a little boring. Plans are to sleep until I can't sleep anymore. Then I may get a pedicure. Then I may go buy the Dingo a food dehydrator for his birthday (because I am romantic like that). So basically Saturday is The Nothingness but not in the scary way like in Neverending Story. Maybe I will try fluffing up doggy Arleen and calling her Falcor for the day just to be safe.

That's all for now. Please check the blog Sunday and if you see only cuss words and nonsensical randomness (more than usual) please send help. The FOLDER had gotten me.

Fireflies

Oops...I googled...turns out the whole swarm of fireflies in our backyard is totally common, especially in the south. And the recent amounts of rain seem to have made our backyard a perfect place for them. Where have I been that I didn't know this was common? Odd.

Who Wears Short Shorts?

ME! I currently have on the shortest shorts that I own and one of the Dingo's t-shirts so it will be lose and not touch me. Why? Because it is freaking hot in Memphis. I know, I know, that is the mantra of the city this time of year. We all state the obvious over and over and over and over. It's hard to think about much else when your brain is melting faster than the ice you just took out of the freezer...oh, it's water now, sorry.

Another nice thing about the heat, aside from the brain melting, is OMG I am so tired. Actually that isn't totally fair. Mostly I'm just mad at the air and blaming it. However, I had a super busy day at work. One in which I spent the whole day carrying and packing big ole boxes and then crawling on, around and between them trying to label and number them. Think of moving except you don't get to go to a fresh, new, shiny place after you're done. Nope, you get to go home to a dirty house and the challenge of what's for dinner. Oh yeah, and you have to get their via the Mojave desert. Is it bedtime yet?


I think doggy Arleen has the right idea.

So yeah, Chinese food delivery guy, sorry. You will be traveling to my house this evening. Just take a left after the cactus and beware the snakes. I hear they have big ones out here in the desert.

Another thing that has arrived in our lives are fireflies. I mean SWARMS of fireflies in our back yard. Around dusk there have been hundreds just hanging out in one area of our back yard. Never seen anything like it. Anyone know why this occurs?

Happy Belated Dad, Please Check Your Rearview

It's been a crazy fast week. The Dingo and I went to a gathering at my parents' house to celebrate the holiday on Sunday so on the actually holiday we stayed home and enjoyed the air conditioning. As usual I had the Food Network on (it's always on unless the Dingo changes the channel) and Down Home With the Neeleys was on and something caught the Dingo's eye. A ham. Sorry, that's wrong. A HAM! As in giant, feeds the whole family and still leaves leftovers, HAM. They were roasting it the old fashioned way with pineapples and cherries. Pineapples + Meat = Dingo heaven. He was off to purchase said ham before I could protest. So my only option was, find people to eat this thing! So a couple of friends came by to contribute to the task. And yeah, there is still the majority of a ham in our fridge.

Wednesday night our neighbors came over and the Dingo and they talked endlessly about "old school Nintendo." It went on to the point that they ended up dragging out the original Nintendo and playing games until 1am. I've never been a gamer and never had that console so I decided to duck out of the reminiscing to watch tv and go to bed at a decent hour. Needless to say the Dingo was a bit tired after work yesterday but had to power on because yesterday was my dad's birthday and we had celebrating to do.

So about my dad's bday...my sister and I suck. I ordered his cologne too late and it didn't come in time. So from me he opened an empty box with a picture of the cologne glued to the front and a promise to bring it buy whenever it comes in. My sister had a card...and a promise that she will have his gift soon, but not now. Now being empty handed when my dad is due a gift is typical of me. I can't ever think of something to get him and finally order something random at the last minute (this time he actually told me what he wanted but didn't mention it until Sunday and you can't find the stuff in town.) However, my sister goes all out on gifts and puts tons of thought and effort into them. And she did put a lot of thought into Dad's bday gift but after some weird debacle about the artist she ordered it from leaving town without delivering it she showed up empty handed as well. As she told her story and apology to Dad he interrupted her to say, "This sounds like a Doodle story." Yep, at least I'm consistent.

Post giftless birthday (my mom did actually have a present for him to open) he got another super happy follow up birthday present this morning! He backed into my car. As in slammed into it at a how did you catch that much speed just pulling out of the driveway?! speed. I drive a 10 year old hunk of junk and could care less about the little ding he put in my front bumper. But my dad drives a beautiful, pristine car and by the time I got into the front yard after hearing the smashing metal he was placing his tail light in his trunk. A completely detached tail light into a trunk that wouldn't quite close. Heart wrenching. Maybe for Christmas I will get him a sign that says "one of your daughters drops her dog off every morning, do not hit her car!" or maybe it should just say "DON'T BACK INTO A CAR!" as this is the third time he has hit someone's car while backing out of the driveway. Third! So whenever you are in east Memphis neighborhoods beware little red sports car that come flying out of driveways.

I believe we are staying in for the night. Gotta figure out what's for dinner. We are off for a quick trip to Jackson (Pelahatchie, but you don't know where that is) tomorrow. His parents come here to visit quite a bit but I suppose it's our turn to make that yucky drive.

We Covered This

The Dingo asked for beef tips and rice the other night so I decided I had time to cook it tonight. However, I'm not a huge fan of rice so I bought egg noodles with the knowledge that we had minute rice at home that I could cook for him. The following convo ensued:

Doodle: Dingo, I'm cooking egg noodles because I don't like rice. Do you want me to cook you some minute rice? It won't be a problem.

Dingo: I don't care. Either is fine.

So, I hand him his plate of beef tips and noodles (if he doesn't care I'm not going to waste the rice.) I hand him his food:

Doodle: How is it?

Dingo: Really good....I would have rather had it on rice.

Doodle: Seriously?! What happened to I don't care?

And so goes the life of a short order cook.
P.S. Why are they called beef tips? That sounds so unappetizing. I'm going to have to think of something else to call it if I am going to cook it again.

I Gotta Pickle Hay Hay Hay Hay

So the birthday weekend recap is going to have to wait. It is taking crazy, calm down, effort for me to sit and write this now. I will say that the bday loot was so awesome that part of the craziness is me trying to get all my new clothes and shoes organized. Yep, my parents are enablers of my clothes and shoe hoarding and always give me great stuff that I depend on for my birthday and Christmas. The Dingo can deal with the clothes but there was an eye roll or two over the shoes. He doesn't accept that if we have to buy another house just for my shoes then that is just what is going to have to happen.

Oh! and quick note regarding clothes. One of my gifts was a gift certificate to Crazy Beautiful, one of my favorite boutiques in Memphis. It is in the U of M area (off Walker, next to Garibaldis) and the selection and pricing is to die for. I went in there Friday with my gift card and everything was 40% off. Are you kidding me?! I went nuts.

However, our subject for the evening is pickles. Yeah, I'm about to write a blog post on pickles. Get ready.

I'm an odd snacker. I have a habit of forgetting to eat full meals throughout the day and am starving when I get home, before I cook dinner. The things I buy to fend off hunger for a bit is always totally random...and often pickled. One of my favorites is spicy pickled okra. I have been getting burnt out on them though so at the store last night I decided to buy Best Choice's new "zesty pickles." Dude. Someone needs to write Best Choice's marketing department and inform them that "zesty" and "grenade launcher" are not synonyms.

Don't get me wrong, I love spicy food and these pickles are awesome, but I was not expecting what I bit into. The basic initial reaction is to run circles through my kitchen screaming "my face is going to melt off" while continuing to eat because...well...it was a melt your face off good pickle. I continue to regularly hover over my sink sniffling over the jar (you want to share now don't you?). I definitely recommend them. (And if you have had Wickles Pickles, they got nothing on these. They are great right? But not grenade launching good.)

So, yeah, pickles. On another note, and Kat this is for you :), the iPhone 4 I got for my birthday is soooo cool. The screen is brighter, it works super fast, battery life is holding in there and the camera (both video and picture) is brilliant. I will upload some video as soon as I get a chance. Maybe you'll get to meet the Dingo or maybe doggy Arleen. Stay tuned. Also, the Dingo is able to use my 3G so everything worked out for everyone.

I'm off to eat a pickle. Later taters!

Dingo-less

The Dingo is out of town on a business trip. Of course I miss his company but I also miss his decisiveness. I can't make a decision to save my life so dinner was an issue. I challenged myself to go get something I don't eat often, I eneded up at Wendy's. Fail. But I don't know what to do with my appetite when it doesn't have to compromise with someone else's. Oh well. Maybe I'll think of something tomorrow night. (Note: I have nothing against Wendy's but I'm not a fast food fan and Wendy's is about the only place I eat. Definitely not me branching out.)

As is tradition, when the Dingo goes away on business I catch up on my girly movies that he would rather stab himself in the eye than watch. We have Netflix but I get frustrated trying to watch the movies we currently have in time to send them back and receive the ones I want in the exact one or two nights that he is out of town. So tonight I decided to try using the Redbox outside of Walgreens. And, dude, I'm totally digging it. I haven't actually tried to watch the two movies I got yet so I can't attest to the quality but it was so easy to use and it was $2.19 for two movies (coincidentally the exact cost of my Wendy's dinner). Also, I wanted to see Remember Me, which was released today and I didn't get any "very long wait" messages. It just popped right out. I'll never abandon Netflix but I'm really liking this other option for when I have a sudden chance to watch something that would make the Dingo bleed from the ears.

So my movie choices? Like I said, I got Remember Me. I have absolutely no idea what it is about but watch Robert Pattinson for two hours? Done. That was the only movie I originally intended on renting since my mom is loaning me Young Victoria tomorrow. But, I was kind of having fun playing with the rental machine (aside from the fact that the touch screen was blazing hot) so I also rented Leap Year. It looks cute and I am hoping it will balance out what I believe is going to be a sad movie in Remember Me.

I'm off to watch my movies and sit really really still because it is REALLY REALLY hot. Suggestions are welcomed for my dinner tomorrow night. I'm thinking Pei Wei but I'm not set on it yet.

Happy Day Dad!

About to walk out the door for Father's Day dinner. Not carrying with me the best gift ever but damn that man is hard to buy for! The sis and I came up with the best we could, WE are going to pay for dinner. It is unfair that he has been buying himself dinner on fathers' day and his birthday for so many years. He is a great dad and in many ways one of my best friends, I'm fortunate to have that with both my parents. It sounds silly but because we are so so so much alike, he is one of the few people that "gets me." A lot of my quirks and habits are exact replicas of his own. So I find a friend in the other person that dislikes being hugged often and is so annoyed with the question "what's been going on?". The list of OCD things I have in common with that man is to long to list. The Dingo has seen many of them. I'm very much like my mother also. I am the polly-anna that she has given me but I'm also the bear that he has. I treasure both of those traits.


So happy day Dad! And I'm still sorry for the year I attempted to call you Papa and made you feel, as you said, like a character in Fivel The Mouse. Love!

Hello Again, Hello

Man, where have the past few days (week?) gone? Every time I have sat down, or thought about sitting down at the computer, to write a post something gets in the way. However, I can't really remember what all those separate somethings were. I know that there has yet to be a Saturday recap but I was busy having fun. I'll definitely get to that one soon. This coming Saturday I am going to my first dress fitting. I'm excited to get that rolling.

The Dingo parents are in town today. They are coming to the house for dinner tonight. I found this out at 5:30 and they will be here at 7. So I rushed home and straightened up the house and cleaned the kitchen. I'm currently sitting here still in my clothes from work. Usually I change right when I get home but I wanted to squeeze in some time to say hello on this space. Hey! I wouldn't label the house "clean." But I'm not the fiance terrified of the Dingo's mom judging my house upkeep. Her house is always perfectly clean but I have faith that she understands. She will probably be too distracted my the overwhelming smell of bleach to notice (long story).

Anywho, I just realized that I don't have anything to eat for lunch tomorrow so I am going to have to run up the street to the store and pick something up. I don't think they will miss me for that 10 minutes. No clue what I am going to buy for lunch. No time to make a sandwich. Maybe some noodles.

So before I say this I will remind you that I do not have children and will not in the near future. A baby bump is definitely not in the wedding diet. However, I ran across this website that I am dieing over. The little baby mary jane socks on www.trumpette.com have me obsessed. I want to order like 50 sets for every friend I know who may have a baby anytime in the future. I also have two male co-workers that have babies and I was sure to inform them about this place. The black sneaker socks are so cute for baby boy D. And I may or may not have told my boss that if he didn't want to order everything on the site he may not have a soul (I have GOT to learn to watch my mouth.)

Ok, family Dingo will be here in four minutes. Time to toss on a little makeup and get ready. Note: I'm not stressing about dinner because momma Dingo brings it with her when they come and just cooks here. Can't complain about that right?

Saturday Fun Episode to come soon. Hopefully before another one is behind me.

Stop Being a Pest!

The Dingo and I were hanging out with a friend recently when I confessed that I have finally started a blog. He asked what I write about. Before I could answer the Dingo stated, "Me! She writes about me and any stupid thing that I do!" I had to admit, I do hear the Dingo say something or do something funny and immediately think blog post. So, as a gift to the Dingo and in honor of it being super hot, I will give you a The Dingo is a Genius story.

We own an old home, I think it was built in 1949. The air unit isn't very new either. After we moved in and it started to warm up outside we discovered the AC didn't work so well...or at all at times. Blessed with a home warranty (if you buy a house make sure you get one in the deal!) we were able to have several visits from HVAC people until we figured out what was going on. Well, whenever a service guy was here the Dingo would hover over his shoulder as he worked. At some point I told him to he was being "that guy" and stop being such a pest, let the dude do his job. A few months later, right at the moment the home warranty expired, I came home to a burning up house.

I was totally pissed thinking great, this is going to cost us. However, the Dingo came home, grabbed that electric screw-driver thingy and went out to the unit (oh, and it was raining). A few minutes later the Dingo came back inside and said he knew what to do, that he had watched the technician do it. He ran to Lowes and $3 for a piece of sand paper later we had cold air. I had to apologize for every time I had called him a pest and promise to never do it again. He has also fixed the dish washer, wired the water source to the ice maker and installed a surround sound, including running the wires down from the attic. He is pretty handy and quick to learn if he doesn't already know. This is why I keep him around ;) I do have to mention that I once fixed the toilet with a piece of hot pink curling ribbon. And then I have to mention that he had to re-fix it a couple of months later.

Now, I must say that when I write the official name of an establishment in my posts it is by no means in hopes that I get something free, and I never have. But Train HVAC, I would totally take a free new package unit! (Sorry, those things are pricey, had to give it a shot.)

So there, the Dingo is a hero. I said it. Other than that, it has been a crazy bananas week at work. I'm decidedly the least athletic person ever and this week of every year is always physically challenging. It would take way to long to explain how a copy writer could be physically challenged at work so I will just let that prove the bad shape that I am in. For the most part tomorrow is the home stretch. This Friday afternoon will be the best one of the year as this is annually the hardest week of the year. I will not only be finished with my work week, I will get to take a deep breath and yell DONE! Can't wait. Let's just hope my brain doesn't ooze out of my ears before that.

Dingo and Doodle Saturday Fun: Episode 7

Ok, so I am going to jump on the day's bandwagon and blog about the same thing every other person is blogging/twittering/updating about, the iPhone 4. It has way cool stuff on it. And I am still on the 3G, not the 3Gs, so I am kind of leaning towards NEEDDING it. It also comes out on my birthday. That means it's fate right? Right?! So, now I am trying to decide if I ask for it for my birthday instead of the necklace of about the same cost that I have been asking for. Or, just wait for the Dingo to want to play with one so badly he breaks down and buys it for me. I totally get the issues people have with AT&T. However, the exclusivity of iPhone and AT&T works to my benefit. The Dingo has a work phone that is not an AT&T phone and doesn't have a data plan. We can't justify paying another phone bill just so he can play with a phone. So, he has to use mine. I think it's time to start really talking up this new phone to see if I can get him to buy me one. The video stuff is just way too much to resist.

Now that I have made your eyes bleed with the 8,00000000th time you have read about the iPhone today we will move on to the weekend recap. Friday we stayed home. Nothing interesting. Saturday we ran some errands including swinging by a friend's house in the Cooper Young area. Since the Dingo and I hadn't eaten yet, the three of us ended up down the street at Celtic Crossing. Since said friend is nicknamed the human garbage disposal, he ate also. (We are great meal companions, I never finish my food and he eats EVERYTHING.) It was Oysterfest at Celtic which was confusing to me. First, you aren't supposed to eat raw oysters in months that don't have an R in the spelling. Second, have you read the news lately? Gas flavored seafood is not currently on my to do list. The waitress promised us they were from the Texas coast (we got there too late and they were out of the ones shipped in from Ireland) but we chose to refrain anyway. The Dingo still got fish and chips, I stuck with turkey, which was a little disappointed in comparison to their usually awesome food. But the menu was mostly seafood due to the festival so my choices were limited. It was fun seeing MJ for the first time in a long time. Hopefully we will get to see him more often again since his schedule has recently opened up.

Yesterday I literally pestered the Dingo until he agreed to go to the grocery store with me to decide what we wanted to eat. I spotted raw peanuts and decided to try boiling peanuts. Now, this is not something I have every done or seen done. In fact, I had never eaten them before hitching my wagon to a Mississippi boy. So mostly the situation was me buying peanuts and telling the Dingo to figure out what to do with them. Well, he over did the hot seasoning called Slap Your Momma and OMG it was like mouth death in a fiery explosion. Oh, and the house while that stuff boiled was so hazy with hot seasoning both of our eyes were burning. We probably won't be attempting that again, at least not indoors. Either way, between all the time and tears the peanuts caused, we never grilled the dinner we bought. So we are doing that tonight. Yay for not having to do much!

As for today the Dingo was home sick. Neither of us have been feeling well but I don't know of many people that are feeling great this time of year. I couldn't afford to stay home due to a huge project do this week so last night I took a toxic amount of antibiotics and suffered through a soar throat all day. Plans for tomorrow are the same.

Well, the Dingo just pulled dinner off the grill. I refuse to share what we are eating for the sake of not showing you how often we eat the same thing over and over.

The Dingo is Crowding My Space

I've mentioned before that, when on the computer, I sit at my kitchen bar. This is not a large bar by any means and I sit outside the kitchen facing in on a stool. Well, today we got my mom's old iMac since she got a new one. The word OLD is key in this. It's running a super old operating system and the hardware won't support the super cheap Snow Leopard upgrade. We have to use just plain leopard. Anyway, the Mac desktop is now position on the kitchen bar and I am sitting next to it on the PC. And the Dingo is on the stool next to me messing with the Mac. This is extremely close quarters. Not because I dislike being next to the Dingo while I'm working but because I get a constant barrage of "Doodle! Look!" "Doodle, why won't this image move here?" When my back is to him he is less likely to distract me and I am more likely to ignore his distractions. I guess we are both the eternal bad kids in class. Except, while I am the talker, the Dingo is the kid throwing spit balls. This desktop may kill us both.

But I am SOOOO excited to get a "new" Mac. I've always had Macs. Even as a kid I had an Apple in dos. Ole Miss suggests all journalism students use Macs and that is what we have in the computer labs, so that is what I learned design on. I have cherished my nine year old iBook, refusing to let her die even if she is dingy and old and so slow. This has resulted in me stumbling around my work PC. I often have to ask MC what the heck is that program and how do I use it. (I learned what One Note is about a year ago.) I accidentally lied on my job resume at The Company years ago by saying that I can use Photoshop and Illustrator. Oops, not so much. I only learned key commands on a Mac and they definitely ain't the same on a PC. (Wow, do I sound geeked out yet? MJ I think you accomplished your mission to turn me.) So, now I'm waiting to hear back from MJ! if he can help me find a Leopard disc. Ok, I'll stop now since I know, and hope, very few of my techy work friends read this blog.

I'm not in the mood to be productive tonight so I am forcing the Dingo to eat delivery pizza. He isn't a fan of delivery pizza but since he basically orders dinner, which I cook, every night I put my foot down. I need dough, cheese and garlic butter dipping sauce. He is settling for the wings they offer. Fine with me.

The weekend holds very few plans. We, at some point, need to go to Macy's to register for the fancy stuff but I'm not really feeling it this weekend. I think we may check out Au Fond. And I may try a new lamb chop recipe I found, so be prepared for LAMB HEAD! I think this time I will inform the butcher that I do not need to see the entire animal before freak out ensues.

To finish; random Doodle/Dingo convo;

Doodle: Is it called a weed eater or a weededer?
Dingo: (mumbled) Weedeeter
Doodle: Like weed eater? Like it eats weeds or weededer?
Dingo: WEED-EATER, why are you writing about weed eaters?
Doodle: I'm not. I just got distracted and realized I've never known what it was called.
Dingo: (rolls his eyes) Will you please pour me a drink?

Dingo; The Crazy Person Edition

I think I have mentioned that I go to the grocery store just about every night before I cook dinner. So we rarely eat before about 7:30. Tonight I asked the Dingo what he wanted to eat and he said leftovers. However, he then proceeded to lose his mind. He asked do I want Central BBQ? Nope, kind of burnt out on BBQ right now. Mexican? No, I'm just going to heat up something we have here. What else is there? Dude! I thought you wanted leftovers! To which he replied, "I don't think I have ever been this hungry in my life!" So, now we know that mild hunger makes the Dingo descend into crazy person mode. If we ever go missing search! And search fast. I'm pretty sure the Dingo would eat me for dinner after a mere three hours of tummy grumbling. Just sayin'.

I was updating our registry at Bed Bath and Beyond last night. When we went into the store there were some things that the Dingo and I decided didn't need to be decided on together. I use all the kitchen stuff, not him, so it was up to me to decide. I registered for a butcher block but the wood in those absorbs the oils from the foods you chop. So, I wanted some of those thin acrylic boards to put on top of it, inspired by Guy's Big Bite (yeah, I guess it's more of a love/love relationship I have with him). While online shopping for said acrylic boards I came upon and Elvis cutting board. The Dingo told me not to register for it but the more I think about it the more I think I need to own it. Maybe even just for a day or two before I return it. But I think I may love it. How does every Memphian not get an Elvis cutting board with their driver's license? I think I should write the mayor about this one.

Holiday Fun

The long weekend was nice. The big news is, I found a wedding dress! And the bridesmaid dresses. I feel really good about having this step behind me and, needless to say, I love the dress. I also love the bridesmaid dresses. I plan on having a second white dress in case I want to go out after the reception. One of my best friends told me that she really regretted that she was unable to spend more time with all the people that were there for her wedding. And since almost our entire wedding party is from out of town I want to have the option of spending the most time possible with them all if I'm not totally worn out. That being said, I actually like the bridesmaid dresses so much I may order one in white. We will see. I have plenty of time to think about that.

That was Saturday. On Sunday my sister had a party at my parents' house (they have an awesome pool) so we went there. We didn't know a lot of people so the Dingo and I ended up sitting at the top of the deck (next to the beer bucket) with my dad. It was really fun and nice spending time with my dad for the first time in a while. I still claim that my family likes the Dingo more than me. I think my dad is just thrilled with a little testosterone around for once. I only took my cover up off once and that was to see if the rust spot in the pool was a pipe hitting the surface or not. What can I say? The man raised me, and he and my mother spoiled me. He says go step on that spot and I go. I've gotta earn that jewelry right?

Monday was just me and the Dingo. We grilled ribs...again. This time I was more hands off. Mine were tough the last time and I didn't want to take blame this time. They were pretty good. I went to bed super early because my allergies were bothering me and I had to go to work today. I say that because the Dingo didn't work today. Lucky! Instead he was calling me at work at 10 am asking if I would like Monopoly for the Wii. He is always trying to get me to play that thing and I always go back to wanting to play bowling. Why mess with a good thing?

So tonight we grilled steaks...again. By we, I mean the Dingo. It was his idea and I didn't argue. We are also watching America's Got Talent. Never seen it before. It's seeming like a freak fest so far. But with the holiday this week I think this is our best bet. Oh good grief! Some dude just jammed a coil through his nose. It may not be the best bet after all. Nick Cannon is shockingly funny though.

The Dingo is currently sitting in the backyard talking to our neighbor. It's awesome to have cool neighbors, two brothers around our age. They are super nice guys and great new friends. I guess I will wonder around until they are done chatting. Tomorrow is back to the normal grind. Both of us at work and doggy Arleen at her granny's. Oh! Speaking of Granny. She was supposed to get a new Mac today because her's "hasn't been working." I have every intention of taking the old one and getting one of my tech-savvy friends to get it working again. Yay! This means I may be a Mac again soon. The transition to a PC has taken a toll on me even though it's a great computer and I thank the dad Dingo for giving it to me.

And to finish off your Tuesday post holiday, here is a loving conversation held by the Dingo and I this evening;

(The DVR popped up the screen asking if we want to keep watching the channel we are on and cancel one of the following; Myth Busters or Glee.)

Doodle: Dude! If you cancel Glee I will cancel your face!
Dingo: You get psycho over the weirdest things. Isn't the season over anyway?
Doodle: Cancel it and see what happens.

I'm a sweety aint I?

Goal!

So I met my goal plus one. I made a hair appointment today AND got it cut today. They stay later on Thursdays and had an opening so it was either go today or wait a week. I was afraid I would lose my determination over a week so I jumped on the chance.

I have been extremely apathetic about my hair for a long time now. A stylist that I trusted, even drove to Memphis from Oxford when I was in college to see him, totally screwed up my hair. By screw up I mean he cut at least four or five more inches than I wanted off of my hair. This left my round head looking just plain fat. So, since then I only got trims in order to grow it out and the habit stuck. I've had my hair all one length and just maintained with trims. I recently came to the conclusion that it's time to get back in the game. Since I was stylist-less I had to choose a new place to try. I chose Master Design.

I went there a long time ago because of a Christmas gift from my sister and liked the place and people. Plus, it's close to my parents' house so it was convenient to go before picking up doggy Arleen after work. And I must say, I loved it. (Note: I didn't ask for a specific stylist and certainly no one knew I write a blog so this is completely unbiased.) The stylist was incredible. I had totally forgotten what it is like to have someone concerned about the quality of their own work and how it looks on me. I got Jennifer and will for sure see her again. She was meticulous. I've always hated getting my hair washed whereas my mom says that is her favorite part of getting her hair cut. But it's always uncomfortable for me. Today it was actually enjoyable, like she was purposely making it a nice part of the experience, and I was incredibly sleepy after. The technique that she used to cut my hair was cool too. And my hair turned out great. She actually seemed a little frustrated/disappointed when I told her not to dry and style my hair. I felt it wasn't a good use of either of our time since I was going straight home to put on pajamas, cook burritos and watch tv. She honored my request and didn't blow dry it but couldn't resist styling it curly anyway. I guess she really wanted to follow through with her work and I fully respect that. It was a great experience and I will definitely be going back to her. You should give her a try if you are looking for a new, trustworthy place and person. You can see her stuff at www.jennifertune.com. And bridesmaids, I hope you like her stuff, she will most likely be the one on hand if you want your hair done for the wedding.

Tomorrow is Fun Day at The Company. That means a three hour lunch and grilling out. It should make for a fun Friday. We got an email today that we can wear shorts but I'm pretty sure the ones I own are a bit short for even a relaxed work day at a conservative company (no, they aren't slutty but they are above mid thigh.)

The Dingo just yelled across the room, "You're writing about me aren't you?!" Well, I wasn't but I guess now I will. Dingo, Dingo, Dingo, Dingo. That's all I've got.

Minute to Win It

Dude! So the Dingo and I don't really have any favorite shows that come on on Wednesday but tonight we stumbled on Minute to Win It. The Dingo turned it on because of my love/hate relationship with Guy Fieri. (I love his shows but the bleached hair and him saying he has to "de-bling" made him hard to warm up to.) This show is awesome! Engaged couples compete in a series of 60 second challenges made up with household items to earn money for their wedding. And these things get intense! I'm obsessed. The challenges actually look really hard.

The dangerous part is that the challenges are made with, like I said, household items. Which means you can do it at home! The Dingo and I just went outside to play Shoe Fly using our porch bistro table. In the Shoe Fly challenge you have to stand 9 feet from a small table, kick your shoe off and land it on the small table. The Dingo got it on the first try, I got it on the second. But I think our table is larger and lower than the one on the show so we may not be champions. I totally want to try the challenge where you have to move an egg across the room balanced on two strings. Lucky for the Dingo we have eggs but no string. I'll tell you one thing though, the next party we have I am totally setting up Blow the Joker. You put a stack of playing cards on top of a glass bottle and have to blow off every card except the very last one, the Joker. Dude lost doing it tonight and it seems impossible. I can see it being addicting. Love it! I'm kind of glad we have neither playing cards or a glass bottle. I probably wouldn't sleep tonight trying to get it right.

We picked dinner up from Buffalo Wild Wings. This means I should have been really productive with my spare time not cooking dinner but I wasn't. I watched tv and argued with the Dingo that I could totally balance 7 snack cakes on my forehead (another challenge on the show). Again, lucky for us, we have no snack cakes.

I failed to meet my goal today of making a hair appointment. I got busy and totally forgot until late today and at that point I was to burnt out to deal with it. The goal is moving to tomorrow. If I don't get this done by the end of the week someone needs to slap me on the wrist. We'll wait until next week for the slap in the face.

I really need to move the bag of pistachios away from my computer before I eat my weight in them. Every blog post leaves behind a pile of shells. Not good. But so good.

I Laugh at My Own Jokes/Stupidity

I really want to tell y'all a story about work today but that is slippery ground. So I will only tell you the part that involved me.

To begin, I have no idea how to work my new desk phone. That makes me sound like an idiot, I know. But there are all sorts of buttons and commands and I never answer my phone so I have no practice. So today, when I ended up on an impromptu conference call at my desk, it was a mess. I accidentally hung up on the people at one point. So, when my coworker had to step away to test something I was afraid to put the call on hold because I didn't know how to get it back off hold (I swear, I really do have a normal IQ). While I waited I continued a conversation I was having on IM. One that suddenly involved the term "swamp ass" (said by me). Obviously I am still 14 years old and busted out laughing....and couldn't stop...with two people holding on speaker phone right in front of my face. It got to the point that I had to get up from my desk and walk into MC's cube just so they wouldn't hear me. Yeah, I'm a professional. And a grown up. All in all, combined with the fact that I kept correcting myself, the people on the other end of the line probably think there is something wrong with me. And they would be correct.

Moving on. I cooked pesto and cream cheese stuffed chicken breasts for dinner tonight. Sounds impressive right? Thanks! It's not. It's actually really easy and a low fat recipe (low fat cream cheese). I got it off foodnetwork.com. Email me if you want a link. It's an excellent recipe. Kind of a lot of clean-up but otherwise super simple.

Tomorrow the goal is to schedule a hair appointment. Some sucker super chopped off my hair a while back and I have been scared of hair cuts since. I get it trimmed but no style. It's time to venture into the scary place. Kind of excited about it too. Oh, the little things in life.

Trash or Treasure

The Dingo is out running an errand for most of the evening so that threw a wrench in our normal dinner schedule. Normal dinner schedule? When did I turn 60?! But I digress. Luckily we still have plenty of junk leftover from Fresh Market yesterday. So we are just going to have cheese, crackers, sausage and olives. This is by no means a healthy, balanced meal but mmmm it's good. This is what my parents refer to as eating trash. I disagree. Cheese? Um TREASURE! More importantly, baked brie with honey? Golden. I have some sundried tomatoes. That balances it out right?

The problem is that the Dingo still isn't home and all these snacky foods are really tempting to pick at. And man, I have been picking. I've been wandering around the house and every time I pass the refrigerator I stop in for a bite of something. At this point I think I have eaten an entire dinner serving just by passing the fridge. And, full discloser, we have a lot of cheese here. A lot even for me. When I went to pick up doggy Arleen this afternoon my mom gave me the leftovers from a wedding shower she threw yesterday. This added gouda, havarti, cheddar and brie to the huge chunk of St. Albre already in a fridge. Woh! And to top that off, the brie that she gave me isn't just a normal wedge. I was going to show you a picture but it won't upload for some reason. Suffice to say the sucker is the size of my laptop keyboard. It has occurred to me to take some of it to work and share but it's going to take the cheese hoarder in me a day or so to come to that sharing place.

Until then I am being innovative. I am going to pack the Dingo and I each a picnic-style lunch for tomorrow. Cheese, crackers, some grapes, an apple and sundried tomoatoes (only for me on that one, the Dingo hates them). I think that sounds lovely.

Wow, I just checked facebook and there were like 10 statuses about people running or working out and I just spent my evening writing a blog post about eating cheese. Something may need to change here. But it won't. Me? Work out? You're funny.

In other news, the sky opened up over Memphis again today, dumping tons of water and hail. There is a drainage problem in the yard outside The Company's building so it turned into a lake and flooded the front parking lot. That sucks for the people who deal with the property but it made for an interesting distraction on a Monday. It's always entertaining to go into my bosses office to ask him a question and am met with, "look at the parking lot!" It's interesting to see people pulling out of the parking lot through all the water when they could go out the other side that is higher ground. Hey, it's your car, do with it what you will.

Ok, I'm off to pack our Tuesday work picnics. Later taters. Stay dry!

P.S. It has come to my attention that a friend generally reads my blog in the morning. So, good morning MC! I'll be asking you to clock me in in the next few minutes. Go ahead and get that timeclock ready ;) Loves!

Dingo and Doodle Saturday Fun: Episode 6

So Saturday wasn't actually that fun. The Dingo and I worked our tails off at the house. He worked outside and I cleaned inside. Woohooo! We did go to dinner at Huey's midtown afterward. The place was filled with pregnant women and babies. Like, crazy amounts of them. However, at the tables on each side of us were college guys talking about how drunk they got last night and who puked. I felt like that leveled the situation out a bit. I do have to mention that I posted that on facebook and my friend Sum replied "Do not order the babies!" Nice one.

Today, Sunday, was actually the fun day. We registered! Bed Bath and Beyond didn't know what it had coming today. The conversations basically went "Do we want this?" "Just scan it, we can return it if we change our minds later." So we are registered for tons of crap.

While I was originally handed the scanner, the Dingo physically forced it away from me. He said he just wanted to use the scanner but, to my suspicion, it was so that I couldn't tell him no to things. Several times I would say, no, I don't want that. SCAN! Damnit Dingo! I am returning that if anyone buys it for us (specifically the digital picture frame for those of you wondering.) We sort of went nuts though and it was fun. I said a whole lot of "get two of those," "scan that again," "who knows, I might use that some day."

After that we went to dinner at Place that Shall Not Be Named Because I Usually Like it. And the food was CRAP! So I suggested we pick something up at the store to take home since we will most likely be hungry later. This landed us at Fresh Market. Huuuuggeee Win! That place is the best for snacks. But it aint cheap. At some point I looked at the basket and told the Dingo we had gotten out of hand and it was going to be pricey. He disagreed so I went for another $8 chunk of cheese. And it was pricey. But as I eat the bag of nuts we bought, I'm not complaining.

That's it for the weekend. I guess we are going to watch a movie now. We are wavering now on which utensils we registered for. I'll post pics later in case someone has an opinion.

And We're Back

I've been markedly absent from here for a few days. So, I will recap what has been going on that has kept me away from the computer. It has also kept me away from sleep, so if this is incoherent please forgive me.

To start, last weekend we had friends in town again. I love having them but it is hard to excuse yourself from hosting to type on the computer. But on to the rest...It's a long story so I am going to try to be brief.

I'm a total crazy person. An over upgrade of some of doggy Arleen's seizure meds resulted in a totally drugged out dog that could barely stand on her own. I called the doc and he simply said cut back on her meds and wait a couple of days, it will get better. I, however, decide to still freak out and decide she is dieing. After a trip to the emergency vet, a sleepless night listening to her breathe, another trip to her primary vet and several hundred dollars we got a result; I'm a total crazy person. She really did just have too many meds and needed some time to get it out of her system. As of now she is a little sluggish but mostly back to herself. Lord help us all when I have a child. (Note: Thanks to Granny for the money for my freak out. The doggy Arleen and I are sure glad you love us so much.)

If I had written between the last post and now it would have just said OH MY GOD THE WORLD IS ENDING. Not very entertaining.

Doggy Arleen is currently sleeping it off and I'm (mostly) convinced the world will turn another day. However, I'm exhausted. Hopefully with some rest I'll be a bit more interesting. Plans for the weekend are to hang out with the Dingo at home. We may go register on Sunday. We shall see.

Sorry if this post is lame. I'm tired. Just missed being here and wanted to touch base. I'll be back in full swing tomorrow.

The Dingo Ate Your Baby

Ok, here is why I call the Dingo the Dingo. We got engaged at Christmas and soon after, as he called to exchange the shoes I got him for Christmas, I heard him say, "My fiance ordered the wrong size." This was the first time I heard myself referred to as "the fiance." The first thing that popped into my head was this video. It stuck.

Stop Changing the Channel!

I've mentioned before that the Dingo has a much more strenuous job than I do. I quietly sit at a desk and stare at a computer most of the day. I think I spend more time with Microsoft Office than I do with my loved ones. He, however, is on his feet for a lot of the day or arguing with a client on the phone. Therefore he is often tired when he gets home at night and will fall asleep on the couch until dinner is ready (lucky dude right?). But not before he changes the channel on the tv. This makes me NUTS.

Granted, I am usually sitting here staring at my computer with the TV fully out of my line of vision when he gets home. That doesn't mean I'm not sorta kinda listening to the Food Network, my default channel. But he will walk in the door, change the channel and promptly dose off. Ugh!! He isn't being disrespectful or anything like that, he just assumes that if I'm not looking at the TV I'm not watching. Crazy person! So, I just wait the few minutes it takes for his eyes to close and get up and change it back. This is one of those silly, Doodle you had to walk a whole three feet and change the channel back, you are so unfortunate, occurances that's going to put me in a padded room. I know, I'm so mistreated.

The Memphis in May BBQ Festival is going on. That's not actually the official name but you're lucky I called it more than BBQ Fest. We are trying to decide if we are going to go this year. A friend called last week and asked if he could come up from Mississippi and go to the festival with us. But, typical of Memphis in May, it's supposed to be storming. Storming! Not just raining. And Tom Lee park will turn into a mud pit. So the Dingo is tasked with calling that friend tonight and letting him know that, while we would love to have him visit, we aren't promising any muddy adventures. I hope he still comes in town for two reasons. First, he is a great friend and I adore him. Second, he mentioned to the Dingo that he would really like to go eat at Itta Bena which provides a great excuse to go out for a nice dinner.

Well, the Dingo is conked out and the Food Network is back on but now I must tackle what's for dinner. I have a goal to find the video inspiration for why I call the Dingo the Dingo since many people don't have episodes of Seinfeld memorized like we do. Stay tuned.

It's a Lovely Day

It's so nice outside right now. That means...the Dingo is grilling again! Woohooo. We are having bbq chicken. The chicken breasts I got today are massive. So I picked up some celery and onion too. I make bbq chicken salad with the leftovers. The Dingo isn't a big fan of mayo so I just combine some celery, onion, a little mayo and some more bbq sauce to thin it out. We are Memphians after all, we put bbq in everything.

This being said, I should share the sauce we use because in all my years in this city I thought I had tried every sauce there is. That was until I found Barzi. We get the spicy kind and it's wonderful.

http://www.barzi.com/

Both of us hold the belief that if it doesn't taste spicy, it doesn't taste. And Barzi definitely has a bite. We have an entire gallon bottle in the fridge. I would totally suggest a try if you have never had it. Not on ribs though. Are you crazy? Sauce doesn't go on ribs! For that we use Hog Wild (when we can find it).

Let's see, what else? Oh! We watched the movie Kick Ass last night. Totally not what I was expecting but pretty cool. There was one crass but well-timed line spoken by the 11 year old character that made me love it. Due to the conservative nature of the company I work for (and I know they will someday find this blog) and the delicate sensibilities of my southern family I will not repeat said line here. I will say that the little purple-haired girl says it right before she shoots a camera. This way my mother won't send me an email saying, "Doodle! Language!"

I've abandoned the I Need a Rodent Campaign for a while. I'm now on to I Need This for My Birthday Campaign over a necklace I found with the first letter of what will soon be my last name on it. I lost the link and will post it as soon as I find it again. Hopefully dummy Dingo saved the link and knows EXACTLY where to find that sucker come June. At least I know he can always find the Coach store and a purse would be a suitable replacement. DINGO I AM TALKING TO YOU!

Cat Poop is Not a Pine Cone

While in the kitchen earlier the Dingo came in and washed his hands for the FOURTH time in the hour that he had been home.

Doodle: What is the deal with you washing your hands so much?

Dingo: I just picked up cat poop (Note: Again, we do not have cats.)

Doodle: Why on earth did you pick up cat poop?!

Dingo: I thought it was a pine cone at first.

Doodle: What kind of cat has pine cone looking poop?

Needless to say there was no response to that question.

I talked to the Dingo on the way home from work and asked my usual question, "what do you want for dinner?" He usually doesn't know what he wants and I get frustrated and wait to get home to decide. However, tonight he quickly said, "steak sounds really good! I'll stop at the store and pick some up." This is a win for two reasons. The first being that I didn't have to make my daily trip to the store down the street. (High Point Grocery has a great butcher department btw.)

The second win was that I get to eat steak! And I don't use the grill so the Dingo is cooking it. (I guess that is actually three wins.) The Dingo and I are big red meat eaters. LG spent many a dinner with us in college asking if we ever order anything but steak. Not really. I've offended someone haven't I? Sorry, I'm a meat eater, and I get an excuse. I am anemic but don't take the supplements I'm supposed to. This allows me to claim I've been sluggish and cranky lately so I'm totally justified in eating a steak. This is not dietary excellence, I know. No lectures please. Also, my father, if he reads this blog, and I don't think he does, would be screaming HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE right now. I don't have that problem but he is sure I will some day.

If you know me at all you can guess which is mine. The one on the right. While I am a huge fan of cooking, I don't eat that much in one sitting. I honestly just get bored with it. So as usual the Dingo portion is three times the size of mine. All that junk (seasoning) you see on it is the Dingo's doing. My hands were busy texting and by the time I checked in on him this had happened. I'm more of a purest about steaks but I am sure these will be good.

The Dingo just informed me that my steak is ready. His mammoth meat chunk is still cooking so mine is abiding in the microwave. They say you are supposed to let it sit anyway.

Did I just write an entire blog post dedicated to cat poop and steak? Yes, yes I did.

Dingo and Doodle Sat. Fun: Episode 5

The Saturday update is delayed again. I don't have a good excuse but I do have a good story.

The Dingo and I didn't share all of our adventures Saturday. He rented a video game and focused on that while I went to visit my grandmother. Afterwards I drove by the place I have always thought I wanted for my reception. I was so frustrated that the Dingo wasn't with me because it was all set up for a wedding, tent and all, but no guests were there yet. I took what was a less than stellar picture that was totally pointless because the Dingo has driven by the site before. Anyway, I came home and regaled him with my pictures before suggesting we run by another venue we have considered. Either out of laziness or love the Dingo made the argument, six years ago you said you wanted to have it at this spot. Why, now that we are actually planning, are you questioning that decision? Good point Dingo. So it is done. The Dingo/Doodle reception will be at Le Pavillion. We haven't informed them of that yet but it's in the plans. One more decision made.

Anyway, that wasn't the fun story. The fun part starts when the Dingo decided he is 80 years old and we needed to go to dinner at 5pm. We decided on a mexican place near by and headed that way. While stopped at a light (highland and poplar) a police car cut on it's lights and intermediately blared his siren. Confused we pulled into the nearby parking lot. However, police dude did not follow. Ok then, maybe he wasn't flashing us. So we move on to the mexican place at which point said police dude pulls into the parking lot and parks next to the Dingo's car. At this point we are both thinking OMG did they hunt us down here? Nope. They just happen to be eating there. (There is no chemical or criminal reason for our paranoia but weird crap like this happens to us.)

After sitting at Mexican Restaurant That Shall Not Be Named for 30 minutes (!) without anyone taking our drink order we decided to move on to another place and try our luck there. We went to a trusty favorite, El Porton, and the service was polite and super fast. However, as we sit there eating, at least six Shelby County Sheriffs walk through the door. At this point we are thinking, holy crap are we like the Bonnie and Clyde of Mexican food?! The amount of officers in this outing is getting crazy. Well, turns out that the Sheriffs weren't their for Dingo and Doodle the renegade diners. They were guarding PRISONERS! Does anyone know how this works? There were about 10 people at a table enjoying an afternoon of enchiladas while sheriffs watched on from surrounding tables. Weirdest thing ever. So much so that a waiter walked up to our table and whispered, "are those prisoners?!" They looked like perfectly safe people, maybe mildly criminal people. I'm just totally confused about what good deed an incarcerated person does in a day that warrants a trip out for some cheese dip. If anyone knows I would be happy to learn.

So that was our Saturday. Yesterday we enjoyed Mother's Day with all you can eat crab legs and family. Thanks to L I was one half giver of a nice gift for my mom that I otherwise wouldn't have been able to buy. Thanks L!

Template

I'm messing around with the background template. You can expect that to happen on and off until I ask Smart Interweb Friend to help me do something I really like. But the brown looked drab. So I'm playing around until I find something to appease me.

I'm a Grown Up!

No, really I'm not a grown up. Or at least I don't act like it. Today proved that.

There is a cardinal rule in blogging and it is don't write about work. I'm going to follow that rule by being vague about where I work and who I work with. But I feel the need to share about my day. I decided to attending a training class for one of the products the Company produces. I figured I should actually see how one of the things I market works. It quickly became apparent that nothing has changed since high school or college. I was the bad kid in class.

I sat next to a co-worker that cracks me up and who is also very easily cracked up, in the back of the class (of course). The thing is, he is a loud laugher. So it became extremely obvious that we weren't entirely focused and instead playing the part of the peanut gallery. Who knew that two professionals in their late 20's would hear the sentence "do I need to separate y'all?" by the class teacher? There was even a threat of an apple being thrown at us if we didn't shut up.

This is so typical of me. I've always been the bad kid in class. I spent most of my afternoons in high school in detention. Always for talking and cracking jokes. In college they don't have detention so I was just known as the smart ass. I think teachers were happy with the amount of classes I skipped. The instructor generally holds the least of my concentration. I'm always looking at what everyone around me is doing and feel the need to share my observations with the person next to me. I think you would categorize this as ADD if I wasn't so lazy and sleepy all the time. I guess it's just bad behavior. But it sure is fun.

Either way it was a fun day. And I think I kept everyone awake. There was actually something I am totally not use to. When people got sleepy or restless in class they stood up and walked to the back of the room and watched the class standing in the back. I've never seen people do that before but it was received as totally normal. It makes sense I guess. It is harder to fall asleep standing up. Innovation! (Note: Teacher and class weren't boring at all but everyone gets groggy sitting for hours on end listening to someone talk.)

Anyway, no walk for Arleen and I today. It looks like a creepy spring storm is rolling into town and I don't want to get stuck in it in white pants. The pants could use a good drench though. I just noticed bbq sauce on my arm from lunch which can lead you to assume what it looks like when I eat. I'm sure there is something somewhere on my lily white jeans. I'm waiting for the Dingo to get home and help figure out what is on the menu for tonight. Hopefully it involves pizza from down the street and not my stove. We shall see.

Sinner Sinner Go Cook Dinner

This week, as I mentioned, my mom is out of town so doggie Arleen has been stuck in our house all day. So I have been walking her when I get home from work. I've been pleasantly surprised that these sticks that hang from my hips while I sit on the couch are actually capable of this thing they call exercise. Go figure. Don't get me wrong, I use to run, ride a stationary bike or do yoga. But in the past two years any form of exercise has gone down to me doing a couple of sit ups on a fat day.

I think I enjoy our walk as much as Arleen does. The weather is nice and we live in a neighborhood that I love. However, my lack of laziness, or sloth if you may, has brought on a new problem...coveting. As we walk our route I'm staring at the houses I pass. Why does that person get an Audi and I drive a 10 year old Jeep? Wow, that is a pretty porch swing, I wish we had a porch swing. Ooooh! Hammock! I NEEEDDD a hammock. I've chosen to call this admiration instead of WANT WANT WANT! I really do need that hammock though.

The Dingo is out back making our yard look nicer. He has covered out nasty looking flower bed with pine chips and made it look pretty. This is Pheobe, my hydragea that I got for mother's day last year (I'm a doggy mom, it counts.)

It's blurry. I was in a hurry to get back inside before the Dingo asked me to help in the yard. But as you can see, she is not dead. Go me! She actually has the beginning of blooms. I can't wait. And I love how some pine flakes made it look like we actually tend to the garden other than just planting gifts. The Dingo doesn't send me flowers, he sends me plants. I love this because they last and we get to watch them grow. I have a rose bush from valentines day that will find her home in the yard this weekend.

On a final note, I just got a call from a friend who is in the emergency vet with her doggy after a botched neutering. I'm sure he will be totally fine but please say a prayer for MC and Bear. And maybe another one for the vet who is going to get an ear full tomorrow. Pretty sure he may be in for a bad day. I know he would be if it were Arleen.

Dingo the Dish-washing Olympian

I'm not sure if I'm terrible at loading the dishwasher or if this is legitimate fact but I am convinced that men are better at loading the dishwasher than women. As a kid one of my chores was to do the dishes after dinner. Without fail my father would come behind me and reload it "correctly." Even now, as an adult, I suck at it. There will always be dishes that didn't fit in the washer and are left, wayward, in the sink. However, the Dingo can get everything in there with very little foul language involved. Tonight, I stood holding a plate telling him I don't think it will fit. Response; Oh! It WILL fit. So he proceeded to reload the washer and fit everything in. I'm convinced this is some male gene, possibly to make up for the lack of listening skills. My test proved true:

Doodle: I think men have a special dishwashing gene. You can't listen at all but you can load a dishwasher like it's an olympic sport.

Dingo: Huh?

Tonight I made enchiladas to celebrate cinco de mayo. In my opinion, if I want to eat at a mexican restaurant I will choose to do it on any other day than when the rest of the world decides it's a great idea. When I make enchiladas I follow the directions on the can of enchilada sauce. My secret is that I add in another step and cook the ground beef with taco seasoning also. I thought unseasoned ground beef sounded icky so I threw in some spice and it is really good.

As earlier promised here is the picture of the butt in bowl guinea pig I fell in love with. I'm losing steam on campaign I Need a Rodent after a $60 visit to the vet Monday with doggie Arleen (she is fine).

I still do think we were made for each other. (I don't stick my butt in my food, just FYI.)

It's Hot in Here!

I've been a little absent from here the past few days. I spent a lot of time with the little brother and D this weekend and since I rarely see him I wanted to focus my attention in that direction and not my laptop. To top off the fun weekend, the sister Dingo was in town for Music Fest but decided to skip it Sunday and spend some time with us. It was an all around good and busy weekend.

It's starting to feel "hot" in our great city. I put that in quotes because a month from now this is going to feel like nothing. I, however, always have a hard time adjusting to the warmer weather. Today I decided to totally lose my mind because it was mildly warm. I drove all the way home to change out of jeans into slacks because I was DIEING! Either I'm a delicate flower that can't handle the weather I grew up living in or my brain will focus on anything except for work some days. I think today was the latter. Write a press release or whine to a coworker via IM that I am so freaking hot? I did finally get some work done after the costume change.

My mom is out of town this week so doggy Arleen has had to spend her days stuck in our house and not at Spa de Granny so tonight I walked her after work. The Dingo got home while we were out and was in the front yard getting ready to mow as we rounded the corner into our cove. At the sight of us he busted out laughing. I don't know if it was that I was actually outside and moving around, the fact that I was dressed to go for a jog only to trudge behind my slow, 115 pound dog, or that I was wearing his giant aviator sunglasses. I'm thinking all of the above. (Side note: I knew he was about to get home and left the door unlocked but didn't tell him we were going out. When I got home he said, I was wondering where the heck you were! Well, thanks for all that worry Dingo because I had my phone but got no call. My fiance and dog are missing, her car's here and she never leaves the door unlocked. That's weird. Oh well, I guess I'll just wait. Thanks for the concern Dingo. Haha)

The Dingo is making me help with laundry tonight. GRRRR. I hate hate hate laundry. It makes me want to hurt someone. I guess I'll go get this over with. Hopefully tomorrow's post will be more interesting since the Dingo won't be singing about doing laundry. I can't concentrate right now.

Dingo and Doodle Sat. Fun: Episode 4

The little brother came in town this weekend and brought his super adorable, awesome girl-friend D along with him. I'm so excited to spend some time with them. The Dingo has actually never met the LB before. LB lives up north and the last time he was in town the Dingo was out of town. They hit it off right away. Mostly they bonded over the fact that if I don't get my way I tend to "beat them up." (This actually involves me weakly smacking them enough to be annoying.) This continued when we went to dinner with my parents, sister and her boyfriend, B. At some point the conversation turned to OMG Doodle will kick your ass if she doesn't get her way. Whatever.

Today we took them to our favorite bbq place for lunch. The weather has been terrible. The LB supposedly brings rain wherever he goes. Music Fest people, you can address him about your mud covered clothing. He said it, not me. They are currently at a wedding that was the cause for their visit. I felt like a mom on prom night taking pictures of the adorable, dressed-up couple before they left, sending them off with a GPS with their destination already typed in so they wouldn't get lost.

So now the Dingo and I are bumbling around the house. Currently he is bothering the poo out of me singing the same line of one song over and over and over again. I swear, the man only takes in one line per song and then repeats it. AL is in town for a frisbee golf tournament and will be at the house soon, probably soaking wet and stinky just like the last time. If you had told me 10 years ago that our friends would think, "If I go to the Doodle and Dingo's house Doodle will wash my clothes and give me a hot meal," I would have told you you were crazy. But that is the current situation. AL will get here and I will give him dry clothes and wash the dripping ones he is wearing so he will be fresh for the trip back in the morning. I have become my mother. And I don't consider that a bad thing.

The Dingo and I are about to finish watching Avatar. Neither of us can sit still through the whole thing so we have split it up (we are easily distracted). Later the LB and D will be back and AL will be here and I'm sure the ensuing events will make my head hurts tomorrow. I'm going into brainless mode now. Later.

Ants in the Pants

The Dingo and I haven't been our usual comedy of errors this week. Both of us have been busy at work (his work much harder/more physically challenging than mine) and I've been a little cranky from my furnace fueled insomnia. So instead of the usual Dingo/Doodle conversations it has been cut down to grunts and "what movie do you want to watch." Today I think we have hit the loony bin side of tired.

Dingo: Look what I got today!

Doodle: Is that one of those things that you spray inspectacide with?

Dingo: Inspectacide?

Doodle: Yeah, that's what it looks like.

Dingo: Well, it sprays insecticide but I'm sure if they ever come up with inspectacide it could spray that too.

The other night I ran across a couple of ants in the house, at which point I freaked out and began convincing the Dingo that if we didn't do something NOW they would take over the house while we slept and we would wake up in a bed filled with ants. So, at about 10 o'clock at night I had the Dingo lurking around the house in the dark spraying for bugs. I guess he decided to buy his new "toy" today to spray something industrial enough that that situation never happens again. Oh, and to raise my excitement about the contraption he stated, "Doodle, it's blue!" Great.

I suppose the good news is that we should be inspect free for a while.

Fiery Furnace Person

I didn't post yesterday, obviously. I thought about logging on to say, "I have a headache. That will be all." But then I remembered how bad my allergies are this time of the year and decided if I told you every time I have a headache I would have to change the title to said phrase and then you would probably stop reading. So for the rest of the spring, I have a headache. That is the last you will hear of that.

The Dingo is going to be working pretty late tonight and is going to pick up dinner on the way home. Since I am hungry NOW and I haven't eaten meat all day I am currently eating the leftover pepperoni from french bread pizzas last night (yes, I consider pepperoni a suitable meal of my day.) Due to the pepperoni the doggy Arleen is sitting here staring at me, raptured. I like to think she is pensively waiting on what Doodle genius makes it to this page, but we all know the truth... she loves me?

Anyway, on to the fiery furnace person. Last night I slept the worst I have a recent memory. The super fun part was about mid morning (3:30am) my insides lit on fire (no in the icky way, gross). It was only 62 degrees in our house and I was dieing of a heat stroke. It was like I was producing the heat. If this keeps up we may never need a heater again. Totally weird. Of course, when I got off work and was informed that I don't need to cook dinner I started thinking of what to do with my time. First thought: Tanning bed. What?! Really Doodle? You, who heated the entire neighborhood last night? Of course, let's go bake your skin. But BOOM! Common sense prevailed at the last minute.

All that is to brag that I used common sense. This happens about as often as Christmas. So I'm about to head out and get a new shower curtain. We have guests in town this weekend and you currently need a shower after you take a shower due to the mildew on my "non mildew" shower curtain. Yick.