Home from the dog show..

I made it back from the dog show. I actually made it back sometime lastnight.. and boy was I in need of a shower and sleep!

Dan and I left Columbus around 1:30 on Friday. We made it to the show grounds a few hrs later and I introduced him to the Mom. Carmen ( the treasurer of my Mom's kennel club ) immediately tossed us an apron and told us to park vehicles. Dan did most of the work though.. the baby nephew was in the RV so of course I couldn't leave him! Venus also brought the baby up on Saturday and Sunday so that pretty much consumed my every second! I took Hayden around and introduced him to every one.. and was told over and over how cute my baby was! ;-) I hated having to tell people he was my nephew.. I'd claim him as my own if I could!

So Dan and I did manage to survive the weekend. We did our fair share of arguing.. but we're still on speakin' terms and that is huge. He really helped out a LOT. More so than me. I was pms'ing and wasn't in the greatest of spirits! Plus, my face got scorched from the sun.. ;-) We did have a good time.. oddly enough. Friday night we sat outside the camper and roasted marshmallows.. it was hilarious. Saturday night we watched Blood Diamond.. well.. I sorta snoozed during it but woke up periodically. We also pigged out on SOOOOO much food. Great food. Fattening food. Mmmm.. I miss it. The hot water stopped working in the RV so we couldn't shower which sucked so bad. We had to just wipe ourselves down. But we survived!

My father couldn't make it to the dog show. His father had a stroke and was in the hospital. I recieved a call at 1 am yesterday morning.. my paw-paw passed away. I talked to my dad tonight.. it was really hard b/c I didn't know what to say to him. I mostly just sobbed while he tried to reason with his death. I hate that I lost my paw-paw and I hate that my father is upset. He truly is better off.. he really wasn't doing well there at the end.

Anyways.. there's a lot that I need to take care of. I promise to get ahold of every one as soon as I get a free minute. Love you all...

Oh.. and here ya go Angie!

Here are the photos I was tellin you about.. in addition to a couple of my favorites!! :-D

UGH!

I swear to God.. I hate know-it-alls. Seriously. What I hate more than know-it-alls is dumb asses who think they are know-it-alls and refuse to listen!

The weekend and Mother's Day..

Friday night was spent helping Dan with his Physics til really late. Mike had called to ask me out.. but I had already told Dan I would help him out so I had to decline. After Physics we had intended to head out to Union with Micki and Leslie. Dan's a young'un though.. so he couldn't get into the new Union. So we met up with Micki and Leslie.. and after about an hour of not being able to decide what to do .. we headed back to Leslie's to hangout. We had good times.. and that damn rabbit bit me again.

Anyways.. so Saturday Micki brought me my cell phone that I left at leslie's place the night before.. and I rode with her to her parents house. We stayed there for a bit and then I came home to prepare some things for mother's day. I had to make momma some of her favorite potato salad.. I made a cake and some cheesecake too. I got a msg from MR to go out.. which really annoyed me. Long story. Anyways.. after I talked to Mike around 2:30 I went on to bed.

Sunday I got up .. showered.. loaded the car with goodies and Rhett.. and headed home. I got home around 4 and we ate a grilled dinner. Momma loved her cake.. and she seemed to enjoy her Mother's Day. She had hayden since 9 am.. of course she enjoyed herself ;-) I got to spend time with the nephew as well. I got to change his really, really gross diapers.. and bathed him. I miss him so much today!

Anyways.. that was the weekend. Next weekend I'll be out at the dog show for three days. And I'll get to spend even more time with the baby ( and family ).. YAY! :-D

I love this...

Three passions have governed my life: The longings for love, the search for knowledge, And unbearable pity for the suffering of [humankind].

Love brings ecstasy and relieves loneliness. In the union of love I have seen In a mystic miniature the prefiguring vision Of the heavens that saints and poets have imagined.

With equal passion I have sought knowledge. I have wished to understand the hearts of [people]. I have wished to know why the stars shine.

Love and knowledge led upwards to the heavens, But always pity brought me back to earth; Cries of pain reverberated in my heart Of children in famine, of victims tortured And of old people left helpless. I long to alleviate the evil, but I cannot, And I too suffer.

This has been my life; I found it worth living.

I decided that I'd go for a run with Rhett tonight. Rhett has had so much energy lately and I'm gettin' fat. When we got outside my neighbor and a couple of the people she was with stalled me for a good half hour. She was holding Rhett and talking to me about random things. She's so nice but I'm always weird around her. Ever since Rhett peed on her head ( out on the deck ) I've been terrified that she hates me! But.. I suppose she doesn't. Anyways, so after talking with them for a bit Rhett and I took off. We ran close to 4 miles with only one stop at a street light (but I still jogged in place). After I got back around 9:30 I crashed on my living room floor gasping for air. I called dan even though I could barely talk to tell him to check on me later.. just to see if I made it through the night since I was lacking the ability to utilize oxygen. I'm much better now though. But in major need of a shower.

So it looks like I'm going to be quite busy over the next couple of months. Well.. my weekends will be busy! Not the coming weekend but next Dan and I are headed over to St. Clairesville Ohio for the weekend. My mom asked us if we could volunteer at her kennel club's dog show. Soooo we'll leave on Friday and get back sometime Sunday night. I'm not sure how well dan and I are going to handle being in the middle of a cow pasture for 3 days/2 nights .. and sleeping in an RV together. Should be interesting! ;-)

The weekend after that Dan and I ( maybe Jordan too ) will be heading to Cleveland for the Bowling for Rhinos fundraiser that the Cleveland zoo is having. That'll be a lot of fun and its for a good cause!

The weekend after I'll be back home for some doctor's appointments. I'll stay there for a few days enjoying the baby and whatnot!

THEN I'll have Kristin's wedding in Chicago on the 23rd of June and then my 5 yr reunion in Alabama the weekend before or the weekend after her wedding. I'm an idiot and chose the 23rd for our 5 yr reunion. A couple of days later I realized that I had double booked myself for that day so I had to call Whitney ( one of my classmates that is hosting the thing ) to ask him if we could change the date for the reunion. I swear I'm an idiot. Then next month I'll also be home a lot celebrating Fathers Day/Venus's birthday/my brother-in-laws birthday... SOOOO busy.

Buuuut anyways.. that's that!

So now I'm going to say 7 random and short n sweet facts about me that hopefully none of my friends know ;-) Here's to you Angie!

1. I sucked a bottle on into elementary school. It wasn't until around 2nd grade that I was willin' to quit the habit. My parents had to bribe me in order to get me to quit sucking the thing. They bought me this beige stereo that my step-brother would end up leaving in the rain. I threw my bottle out and now I have nothing to show for it.

2. When I was really little I had this cat named Homeboy. He was a grey and white puss that I thought the world of. One day he disappeared. Several years later my parents told me that they had a surprise for me and took me out to our barn. They told me that homeboy had returned. Sure enough.. there he was. Well, when I was 18 my sister spilled the beans and told me that they went out and got a cat that looked like homeboy and told me that he came back. Thinking back.. I can't believe I bought that crap! But I reckon a heart will believe what it wants in order to keep from breaking.

3. In my class in HS I had an archenemy named Holly. We HATED one another and pretty much made each other's life a living hell. Now she is my closest friend from my class.. or even from Alabama. Strange how things work themselves out.

4. I was number 34 in softball. I chose that number b/c that was my dad's number when he played sports.

5. When I was in Jr. high a bunch of my classmates and I decided to form this human chain going down our school's playground's new tubular slide. Well... being locked in the middle of a human chain in a static prone slide while having a full bladder is not a good idea. I totally got shocked about 5 times and then peed all over everyone. I dare anyone to tell me a more embarrassing story than peeing on half of your class!

6. I wouldn't spend a night away from my mom until I was nearly 13. Every single time I'd try I'd call her crying to come and pick me up. Slumber parties were at my house or I didn't attend. One night when I was 9 I tried to stay at my best friend's house.. she puked on me and I called home. Thinking back.. that could have very well been so traumatic that I wasn't willing to ever try it again.

7. Lastly.. umm.. I hate grape flavored anything.


better Angie? ;-)

Following through with my tag.

I've always known that this day would come. I've been tagged. Thank you, Kristin. ;-) So it looks like I'll be amusin' folks with random facts about me. Save yourself. Walk away now.


1. I've wanted to be a veterinarian for as long as I can remember. Beginning around age 7.. my sister and I would play "vet office" all the time. I'm talkin' hardcore. We would incorporate all of the family pets into our insanity.. but we had a ton of stuffed animals that we used as well. It was so well thought out that we would take syringes that my mom would get from the local vet clinic, put stick pins in them and use them as "shots". We recycled all kinds of containers to hold our "medicinal" food coloring concoctions. We also used mechanical pencils. ;-) For years, all of my teddy bears were water-logged.. and they had patches of fur missing from ripping off so many band aids. My name was Dr. Victoria Taylor. When it came time to move from Alabama, I found my "doctor's satchel" which contained tons of bandages/faux needles/moldy containers. We spend so much time building dreams as children only to dismiss them later in life. It's a crime really. On a side note, no actual animals were physically harmed in any way. Psychologically, on the other hand...



2. When I was nine years old I developed a pretty heavy crush on a boy named Eric. He was almost three years older than me and I thought the world of him. He knew of my crush.. but I was just a baby to him ( and in general!). I cut his picture out of the football program and framed it by my bed. One year our school was selling old jerseys and I bought several with his football number (he ended up being our high school quarterback). Yes, a little creepy.. I know. For three years I prayed every single night that Eric would be "my boyfriend" and for a pony. When I was 12 I got that pony. When I was 13 Eric became my boyfriend. We dated steady for years and then off and on until I moved from Bama. Eric would be the first and last guy that I would ever be completely obsessed with. Unfortunately, it was an unhealthy relationship and I have been rendered incapable of ever being completely satisfied with someone. They always say be careful what you wish for. I truly believe that now. I haven't asked a God for anything since. And never will.


3. I've realized that I want a child. I can't wait to graduate college so that I can make this a reality. However, I don't want a husband or a man involved in my child rearing. Odd, yes? I talked to my mother about it and she's actually very supportive! Jordan offered his sperm and I told him that I'd take him up on his offer if, by age 27, there are no circumstances that would prevent either of us from moving forward with this plan! ;-)


4. I sleep on my couch every night. It's odd. I've tried to make the conversion from the couch to the bed, but it just isn't happening. My mother does the same thing. She has been sleeping on the couch for so long that my dad moved his alarm clock to the living room so that he could sleep next to her on the other end of the sectional! I also can not sleep without Rhett by my side. So every night it is Rhett and myself on the sofa!


5. Most people wouldn't guess this about me.. but I'm actually a pretty good handy-woman. I'm constantly fixing things on my own and I love doing it. For example, I recently took the garbage disposal out from under the sink and cleaned broken glass out of it and reattached it. It was a pretty gross job but I don't mind gettin' my hands dirty. I'll also get under the hood of a car quicker than anyone you know! I change my own fuses, tires, and I'll even jump start my own car! I love taking things apart and putting them back together.. my vacuum is often stripped to the motor and cleaned.


6. I'm obsessed with crossword puzzles. I wish I could make a career out of doing them. I do them in the bath, on the porcelain throne, in bed, on car rides, etc. I use to keep Shaun up every single night .. makin' him complete at least one of them with me. He called me the crossword Nazi queen.


7. I've realized that most of the knowledge and weird talents I have come from my momma. For example, I could actually get a job grooming pets at a pet salon if I chose.. thanks to my mom. I know just about everything there is to know about ceramics.. from pourin slip into molds, to cleaning green ware, "firing" and I can paint pretty bad ass too.. thanks to mom. I know a TON about animal care (canine and feline). Outside of veterinarians, I know of more diseases/medications/etc than anyone I've ever met. I can also name every breed of dog recognized by the AKC ( and some that are not ).. all thanks to my Mom. I know how to draw and paint .. thanks to mom. I quilt thanks to my mom. The list literally goes on for miles. It's incredible really. I'm very grateful.



Well.. there we go. Sure you don't want 7 more? hahah.. ;-)