She Does This All the Time

"Dr Pepper is so delicious!"

Okay, she didn't say that, but I can tell it's totally what she's thinking. Because her thought process has nothing to do with hating to wear that hat. I can tell. I know her best.

She also totally left it on her head for more than three seconds. That's a completely casual, unplanned picture.

In fact, she put it on herself. She wears it all the time. She had it on when I came home from work!


Fine. It makes me giggle, okay?


End Blog.

Happy Anniversary Blog

Hey look, it's been exactly three years since I started blogging. I've gotten a Master's degree, have a career-type job, moved to Missouri, have a dog, and bought a house since I first started doing this.

And surprisingly, I'm still not a grown-up.

*runs about the blogspace*

Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

In just slightly over three years, I'll be thirty. You can check back in with me then to see how I'm doing on the grown-up front.

Am not!


End Blog.

Chief Nation

It's December 16th and the high temperature today was 32 degrees (although it was only 19 degrees when I left the house). I believe it was the last regular season game for the Chiefs (read: last game). I had managed to get tickets to the game using a police/military promotion where we only paid 25 bucks for regularly priced $69 dollar seats. With the other random charges and whatnot, they came out to $33 a person and were on the very upper level end near the uprights. However, Beth managed to get her boss' season tickets from them since they were not planning on spending the day outdoors watching the Chiefs lose and becoming popsicles. So, we took those tickets instead. Here is a picture of the seats we SHOULD have been sitting in from the seats we WERE sitting in.

We were 21 rows up from approximately the 40 yard line. The view was fantastic. And we were also every bit as cold as the seats were awesome.

Beth and Dan:

Brenda and Me:

Me and Beth:

The Chiefs were actually winning for parts of the game. And then they just sort of... stopped playing... gave up... whatever. There were moments of promise in the first half, but after that, the Titans pretty much kicked our asses.

It might be because at halftime the cheerleaders dressed up in Santa outfits. They looked awfully cold. And, see the players? They just got all distracted and couldn't finish the game.

Then, after that, Remy ran around on the field catching Frisbees. She didn't even tell me she'd be there! Seriously though, they had these "disc dogs" who ran all over playing with Frisbees. There were like 5 of them... but I only took pictures of the puppy that reminded me of my own. They could be twins! (At least they could from that far away.)

So, after Rem finished up doing her thing, and the Chiefs started sucking... a lot, Brenda took a nap because the game was so boring. And then she succumbed to hypothermia. I shall miss you, dear friend.

But even though his team was losing, KC Wolf didn't care. He was just there to have a good time. So, he put on his hunter's orange coveralls and went sledding on the piles of snow that were plowed off of the field. And sadly, watching him was more entertaining than the game.

This last picture pretty much sums up the Chiefs season. This guy was sitting a few rows down from us.

This also pretty much explains why I haven't been to a Chiefs game before now. The cheapest seats are $69. I guess compared to Washington Redskins standards this isn't much... but compared to Royals standards, it's $62 over budget.

Also, I found out that if you want to get on the bigscreen at the game multiple times, all you have to do is wear a Santa hat with full beard attached. Because the guy that did that, I saw at least three times.

Regardless of expense and temperature, it was a good time though. I'd totally do it again. But only if I had my hand and feet warmers supplied to me again!


End Blog.

Technically, It's Not Even Winter Yet

Jack Frosty the Snowman stopped by my house today. He also got me out of work an hour earlier than I'm used to, but that entire time was spent in the car doing 12 miles an hour trying to get home. But, for now it looks pretty. And it appears that the insulation in my house is doing its job.

Today that song is totally right. It IS beginning to look a lot like Christmas.





But you know the best part about my job and it snowing (apart from finding the footprints of doom more easily and getting to leave early)? I have an ASCLD calibrated ruler to measure the snowfall amounts! And since I also recognize that my love for the metric system is not shared by the rest of America, you even get to see the snowfall total in inches. I know, I'm too kind.




Remy was surprised to see me home so early. She came to the door slowly with a sleepy face and said, "What time is it? What's going on?" But once she got outside, she couldn't have been happier. I, however, asked her why she didn't shovel the driveway. Her smart reply? "You don't have a shovel, and even if you did, I'm not shoveling a gravel driveway." I guess I can't blame her. I'm not going to do anything about it, either. Let's just hope I make it out of my driveway in the morning.


So, I let Remy out and she ate some snow, and played some ball, and then proceeded to smell the entire yard. Because, I guess snow makes everything smell different. No, I mean the entire yard.

Now we're warm inside and I'm gonna go figure out what kind of alcohol goes best in eggnog.


End Blog.

Exercise Nazi

Tonight, I went to the gym. Hopefully this will become a normal reoccurring event for me as I am wickedly out of shape.

It's a pretty sweet deal. Working at the crime lab, we somehow managed to get a free membership to the gym attached to the hospital across the street. That's right, free. But here's the best part - work has not only approved but is actually endorsing us to work out during the work day, or leaving slightly early from work just to work out. With no penalty. Basically the deal is, we get paid to work out. And we have a facility to work out in for free.

So, given these two facts, I figured it was high time to get my butt in gear and start working out.

I went to the gym with a couple coworkers. (I stayed at work until the usual quitting time. It might take a little while for me to actually take off early from work to go to the gym. It just feels wrong somehow.) It's great working with them because if I were there by myself I wouldn't push myself as hard, and I also would not know as many different exercises to do.

That being said... I am home now. And already sore. There's some muscle in my hip I never knew existed that is currently painful. And my stomach muscles are going to be angry tomorrow, I can tell.

So, I'm now in league with an Exercise Nazi. I'm not sure I know what I've really gotten myself into, but I'm glad that I have her as my personal trainer of sorts. Maybe I'll lose the 10-15 pounds I put on since I left DC.

Heil, mein Führer!


End Blog.
(PS - Exercise Nazi, I know you've read this blog before. So, if you happen to see this... I love you. Don't stop kicking my ass.)

Thanksgiving

I basically adopted a whole family for Thanksgiving (they are friends of mine). It was awesome. There were a total of 8 of us, and I managed to cook way too much food. But it was really fun and I'd do it again in a heartbeat. We even had little kids at the table who ate way better than I ever imagined they would. So, here are a few snapshots of the holiday:

I can cook. Pretty well, too. There were compliments, amazingly enough. Or... they were all just being very polite.

Here is the table. I ran out of chairs, so my guests brought some over with them. I just never got a picture after they arrived.

Even Remy had a guest to entertain! That's the tiniest dog, ever. He's a miniature dachshund and the runt of the litter. He's just a few months old.


Remy's always a big hit with everyone. And by the end of the night, tired enough not to care what was happening to her.

His daughter took this picture.

And of course, it's not a party until everyone plays Guitar Hero.

She's totally not even left handed.

It was a good Thanksgiving. I'm very happy that everyone came to share it with me in my new home. Thanks.


End Blog.

Making Christmastime

Today, the day after Thanksgiving... Black Friday. I did not participate in the commercialism. It always ruins the whole spirit of the season seeing people fighting over stuff to buy and standing in lines to get deals and all that jazz. I'd much rather celebrate the season in the freezing cold (the high today was 31 degrees), putting up Christmas lights on my house. Thanks to Janelle, I'm adopting this tradition. The day after Christmas is now for decorating the outside of one's home.


I debated what kind of lights to buy, but I settled on multicolored ones because that's what Dad used to put on the house when I was a kid. And I always loved it. I think plain white lights are much more classy, but... Christmas decorations aren't about being classy. No. They are about reliving the happiness of childhood, and so, multicolored it is.


Up I go. Thankfully, I have a lovely friend who let me borrow her ladder. Which has totally sold me on purchasing this kind of ladder when I get finally do get one.

Stop looking at my butt.

So, one side of my house is... taller. (More of the foundation is showing.) And we got tired of moving the ladder when we got to this last side. So, I climbed up on the roof. I'm still debating how good of an idea that was, but finishing the lights was lightning fast after I got up there. It was just the getting up there and the getting down from there parts that were scary.


The roof is really high. And has more of a pitch than I would have thought. But, it was totally worth it. See?



"Cause when the full moon starts to rise, we're all singing out, it's Christmastime!"


End Blog.

Happy Birthday, Remy

One year ago today, I brought Remy home to my apartment. Thankfully, she's been with me ever since. I just hope she's as happy with me as I am with her.



Happy Birthday, Rem. Thanks for being such a good pup. Apparently fireworks are being set off in your honor.



See, there she is, looking at the fireworks out of the window. Because now that she has windows to look out of all the time, it's hard to pull her away from them. Today she got to growl out of the back door as well, because a neighbor was cutting his lawn... or mulching the leaves, which would probably be a better guess. I hope you like your new house and yard and windows, Girl.

May we celebrate many more "birthdays" together. Love you, Rems.


End Blog.

Victory is MINE!

Mwahahahahaha!

Success! After lots of frustration (and possibly maybe some damaged drywall that is covered up now so who really cares anyway?) I have hung my bamboo Roman blinds!

I win!

Nikki 1, House... too many to count.

In other exciting news, I finally have my dryer vented to the great outdoors. So, more like, Nikki 2, house... still too many to count.

Victory!


End Blog.

You Come to Visit Me Next, Right?

Look who I just saw!!!



I miss you bunches, you know. Move to Missouri. I'm sure we have law schools nearby. Do we look older to you? I mean, it's been four years since graduation. Please tell me we don't look that much older.



No, really. I miss you.


End Blog.

Assume the Position

It may not be that original or anything, but I thought I'd at least share my Halloween costume.



I'm pretty awesome. I know.


End Blog.

Happy Halloween

Whoever it was that invented carving pumpkins is super cool. This is the one I made this year. It took... forever. But it's super sweet and shall sit on the front porch of my house. I was recently informed that trick or treating will occur earlier than I anticipated, so I might have to buy some candy to hand out to kids before I go to Beth's annual Halloween party.

And then I'll have to hope Mr. Skullhead scares away anyone else while I am gone.


End Blog.

Veronica Hero

(Thar be spoilers to Heroes in this post.)


So, it looks like the writers for Heroes must have been huge Veronica Mars fans. Because, you see, they picked up the Veronica Mars character and transplanted her into their show. Except she now has a cool special power where she can shoot blue lightning bolts out of her hands... and might go around killing unsuspecting people.

But other than that one minor thing, she's totally the same character. I'm glad that Heroes can give me my Veronica Mars fix. That's so kind of them.


End Blog.

Still Mine!

"I love this thing."



"No, I mean, a lot. I might sleep here forever. I don't even need to get up to eat or anything. I'll just be here, on my couch. It is everything I'll ever need."

~Remy

But I Still Need Curtains

One more room down. And I imagine it will take me a very long time to fix up the guest bedroom unless I have some really good motivation to do so.






Yay. I can sleep in my bed tonight.


End Blog.

Mine!

"Thanks for this thing that's soft and lets me have a great view out of the front window. It's totally what this room needed. Oh... and it's mine now." ~Remy


End Blog.

Home Sweet Home

Here are some pictures of my new house with my things actually inside of it.





I've moved my computer to the living room because I have too much other furniture to have it fit nicely in either the guest room or my bedroom. Now, for the first time in a few years, I can watch TV and be on the internet at the same time! Not only that, but I have a remote set up that actually works my DVR, DVD, VCR, and TV all at the same time. The cable is set up any everything. I do need curtains or something though because my giant window produces a nice glare on my television.

Anyway, I'm planning on getting a couch from my boss who has one he's trying to get rid of, and I'm going to put it on the wall in front of the window, that's why nothing is there yet. I hope it fits in the space I have for it because I never measured it. Maybe someday I'll actually get slipcovers for them too so that they look alike.





So, the refrigerator that I bought kinda sticks out a little bit... Maybe that was something I didn't think necessary to measure. That's okay. I still like it. I mean... look at how wonderful it is! (and how little food I have to put in it.)





So, I took my first shower here today. Without checking what the hot water heater was set at. Let's just say I cranked that sucker up as soon as I got out of the shower and hope to never be a popsicle in there again.






And... well, there are the two rooms I haven't really touched. I slept on the couch last night because I didn't want to deal with my bed. Plus, I fell asleep at like 8:30 or something ridiculously early. But, I worked hard all day and I only have 5 hours of sleep the night before.

So, there you have it. The new house. Semi-unpacked and mostly livable. It's good to be home.

End Blog.

(If you click on these pictures, they somehow got linked to a picture that was not the same one... so... I don't know how that happened and I don't feel like trying to fix it. They might all be there... maybe. Look at them small. I have no answers for you!)