Life update

Life has been on high speed these last few weeks...  I signed at the title company on Friday.  Bringing home that big packet of paper was kinda cool.  I sat it up on the stairs and glanced at it here and there, reminding myself what it was...  Seems crazy.  :)  The boxes are stacking up all over the house. 
The sellers go and do their paperwork tomorrow, so I should get my keys on Tuesday.  TUESDAY.  Like as in... the day after tomorrow.  *happy dance*
I have a couple of awesome friends coming on Tuesday to help me clean the new house.  It's been vacant for 10 months, and we've had some serious dust storms come through the valley this summer...  I will go over every day after work to finish and will start taking things over.  The dogs will begin to go back and forth on Tuesday too! :)  I have Two Men and a Truck coming on Saturday to help with the contents of the upstairs, the appliances, the furniture and as many boxes as I can get them to take in the time I have them for...  :)  Whatever is left, I will transport for the next week.  :)  I will be coming back to THIS house next week to clean THIS place up. 
Just a few more days of carrying the puppies down the stairs.  :)  HOORAY!
Speaking of the puppies ~ they are awesome.  :)  All of em.  :)  Dakota and Chance have had a few nasty little squabbles lately - not sure what's causing them, so I'm watching very carefully.  They're good most of the time though, so it's not causing too much stress.  Sedona is good - she's noticing something is going on and is being a little more clingy than typical.  Mason is getting SO big.  He's got a big lions mane already!  He knows sit pretty reliably and choses to ignore me when I say "come".  He might find himself enrolled in a puppy class.  Mia started handling class today - and she was 'push button'.  Gaited effortlessly, was happy happy happy, stood tall and proud on the table and stood nicely when I asked her to.  She started out looking at me a lot, and by the end, I had her able to look ahead as she gaited next to me.  Push. Button. Little. Show. Dog.  :)
School started for me this week - it's not nearly as overwhelming as last semester.  :)  Two semesters of coursework left, and then my internship.  I'm ALMOST there! :) 

a little bit of this... a little bit of that....

STILL waiting for Sedona's CH photo.... I wrote a "where the hell is my picture" email to Dan Pearson.  We'll see if I get a reply as to where the HELL my picture is.  It's almost been a month....  really?  Come on!!!

Chancey is blowing his coat all over the place without regard....  good thing he's not showing again till January! ;-)

Kota is Kota..  I'm going to take him in for a cleaning sometime soon - his teeth are an ugly mess.  They always have been.  I don't want him laughed out of the Veteran's ring because of it though, so we'll get em cleaned before January! :)

Pie2 is Pie2... as sweet and bossy as possible.  I call her my Gumby-dog...  loving, sweet, affectionate on one side, and bossy, bitchy and annoying as all hell on the other.  She's such a riot.  Still a little thing, but she's finally getting some coat again (hooray).  If I ever feel like I'm not drowning with too much to do, I'd like to get her back into agility training.  I feel like thats where her calling is.  Seriously.  Tom and Carolyn Cannon can attest to the springs in this dogs feet! :)

As for me, I am good.  I went through a bit of a challenging week this last week.  Some work hiccups and a family issue (ok, more than an issue, but i won't go there).  It's Veteran's Day, I have the day off, and all is well.  Our fall weather that has finally settled in...  we haven't even hit 70 degrees the last few days!  HOORAY!  I'm  breaking out with the PJ pants (rather than shorts) and slippers...  it's nice.  :)

Still as single as ever, which is ok most of the time.  I've finally closed the book on a chapter of my life that I had some unresolved issues with.  It feels GREAT to be free of that weight on my shoulders.  :)  Maybe now I can begin to move forward and seek out happiness again! :)  One has to be emotionally ready for moving forward, and while I may have SAID I was for all these years, I can see now that I really wasn't.... :(  I am now though, so watch out world! :)  

The fall semester for school is almost over (less than a month to go!) and that leaves me with 4 semesters left (4 down, 4 to go + my medical internship).  There's a teeny tiny little glimmer of light at the end of my tunnel.  I can't believe I've managed to make it this far and do fairly well in most of my classes.  :)  Before I know it, I'll be putting awesome initials after my name in my signature line at work! :)  Hooray! :)

Dog plans are coming along nicely...  I'm still planning to breed Sedona in February when she comes into season (yes, I know it will be February because this dog is like CLOCK WORK).  In the meantime, we're waiting for a girl to come into season and Chance will be bred as soon as that happens.  I'm so darned excited about the idea of him producing - now to see HOW he does....  His sisters have produced nicely, so fingers are crossed for some awesome little black and blue puppies out of him soon! :)  This all means my dog numbers are going to rise....  *sigh*  I'll be getting a puppy back from Chance, and of course, I will plan to keep one of Sedona's puppies too...  Whew.  Looking for just the right place for Pie2 to go once I know that Chance's girl friend is expecting ;-)  We're going to start working on Pie2's resume soon...  stay tuned, it should be funny! :)

Well, I guess that's life as I know it right now...

Catching up, again

As promised, here is the newest edition of Traci's 2010 Holiday Tree :) St. Patty's Day! :)

In case anyone wondered whether my dogs were spoiled absolutely rotten....
The old guy doesn't get nearly enough face time (according to him).
Look at his pretty tufties.. He got a bath this afternoon and all those pretty tufties are out in the front waiting for some fortunate bird to take advantage :)
The three "big dogs" hanging out...
I kinda like the way this picture turned out... I think my finger was over the flash or something. It almost looks black and white with the exception of the lights on the tree....
Dumb and Dumber?? LOL I thought it was actually quite cute :)
The goon squad. :)
Sedona being a dork.
the 'kids' looking in the house at Sedona.
The weather was absolutely beautiful today - I couldn't have asked for a more perfect day weather wise :) I hope that the next two weeks are along the lines of todays weather! ;-)

The To-Do list is coming along nicely...

Things to get done over Spring Break:

Trim weeds in back yard

Do Chance's frame

Trim back the grass in the front yard, around bean

Change fish water and filter (both at home and school)

re-seed grass in back yard (put down weed and feed too)

Bathe Dakota

Bathe Chance

Order charger for lawnmower

LeAnna's baby shower shopping

Kassie's baby shower shopping

LeAnna's baby (girl-Carlea) shower

Kassie's baby shower (boy-Ryder)

Exchange Cable Box and get HD TV

Add fuel cleaner to gas

do dog toes

Get paperwork done for AZ title

Garden

put up wire fence

clean out weeds and misc

plant cucumbers

plant zucchini

Ah I love Spring Break! :)

Happy 15 weeks, and some stow-aways...

Piper and the "Charm" crew are 15 weeks this week... here are her 15 week pictures, for what they're worth... I might try for better tomorrow, when it's lighter outside and when the big dogs aren't outside with us distracting her...



and our first stow away - she's just so darned pretty....
not too bad for almost a veteran with a gimpy leg! He still INSISTS I put him on the table and stack him when I put everyone else up there... LOL He LOVES being a show dog.
Chance's pictures turned out not suitable for public... *shudder* I don't know what his deal was, but they looked like crap. I'll try again - especially as his fall show season is due to start in November in Tucson.

(**None of the dogs have had baths in MONTHS.... so take that into consideration!)

Piper's ears are up for good, finally... :) I've never had to work so hard on ears... I can't say I wasn't warned though! :)

Everyone else is good - still no word from Kota's vet, tho a vet friend of mine who consulted with a cardiologist for me after seeing the x-rays said that it's not likely that it's the coil causing the problems... back to the drawing board. *sigh* Chance is a moose - Sedona is a primadonna - Piper is into everything her little puppy mouth can reach and Kota is busy policing everyone... :)

School is in it's 6th week, and so far I'm doing good.

Work is nearing our fall break - we have three half days ahead of us and Parent Teacher Conferences for the rest of the week till 7pm. What sucks is that I don't have many conferences (4), but I have to be there each night just in case. *sigh* After Friday I will be off for 2 weeks! :) I'm thinking of taking the dogs to Northeast AZ to see the pretty fall colors that we don't get here in the Desert....

6 months, and puppy update (quicky)

I have pictures to post of the little one...

I'll do that when I come home from visiting the Velvet x Preston babies....

Just wanted to get on and note (for myself) that today marks 6 months since my Dad passed... seems like it was just yesterday.... seriously? 6 months? Wow. Time flies. :(

Puppies will lift my spirits, even if I have to leave my own at home today....

She's awesome and just this morning had her very first accident in the house. She rocks. :) They're all playing together now, which makes me heart sing. :)

More when I get back... gotta jump in the shower!

Happy Labor Day everyone!!! :)

where'd the weekend go???

I went paint shopping with my friend/landlord, Karen, today... we got the two shades of green from the living room matched, and picked out a nice shade of brown for the bedroom. I'll paint one wall and decide whether I want blue or green to compliment the brown. I guess I know what I'm doing next weekend!! :)

I just did dog toes, which is always a chore. Chance swears I'm killing him, Sedona pretends I'm killing her, and Kota... well he's easy in comparison.

I still have a TON of stuff to bring in from the garage, and the shelves to put up in there to help me organize what I have going on... There are still things that are missing in action, which I can only assume are buried in the garage somewhere.... I would have more motivation to unpack the garage if it weren't so bloomin' hot!

I met the neighbors across the street the other day.... they of course spotted the Cardigans first. They have a Corgi-mix, so they knew mine were Cardigans :) They seem nice.
The neighborhood seems pretty quiet, with the exception of the train that goes by in the middle of the night sometimes. I'm already fearing decorating for Christmas... LOL

After 12 years of waiting, grad school starts tomorrow. I have a nice healthy mix of terror and excitement.... I'm sure the next three years will fly by.... the last three have flown! ;-) Wish me luck! :)

Off to go and enjoy the rest of my last totally free Sunday... :) Wish the dogs would learn how to cook! ;-)

some catching up...

it's been a week since "moving day", and we're getting settled in slowly, but surely. I handed over the keys to the old house on Shawnee on Wednesday and have been enjoying the weight off of my shoulders from that. This house has a lot to do yet before I call it 'done', but we're making progress. I shouldn't say 'we', as the dogs are just putting dog hair everywhere, but it's getting there. I have a TON of work in the garage yet, but I'm taking it a little bit at a time .

I bought a new laptop recently too. My old one was given to me in 04 when I went to UO for the year... it was time to get a new one. The old had been on it's way out for a while now... I'm happy for the new "toy". I'll be using it mainly for my grad school classes, which start on MONDAY!!!! EEK!

On that thread, I can hardly believe that classes start on Monday. I don't have my texts yet, but have started shopping for them. Better late than never! :) I have three classes this semester. Wish me luck! :)

Have you ever had an experience that totally blew your mind? Totally made you step back and think about things and question what you knew as reality? I'm experiencing that currently, and boy let me tell you... it really makes me reflect back and question a lot of things. I won't go into details to spare the innocent, (or not so innocent I guess) but suffice it to say, I'm now questioning a lot of things that happened in a certain time period in my life.

I have taken some pictures but haven't had a chance to put them up yet, since the computer is not really set up yet how I'd like it to be. The laptop is making it easier to put that chore off tho ;-)

Gonna go relax a bit with the dogs and then back to the grind of unpacking and hauling not so light boxes upstairs ;-)

catching up - again

so it was brought to my attention that I've not been a very good blogger lately.... I think some of it is due to the fact that my camera has decided to hate me. I usually post pictures, so not having any pictures to post has kept me from posting.... and considering the fact that life is in overdrive right now, well... it's all I can do to keep up on everyone else's blogs (and of course find time to read Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse and Breaking Dawn ;-) )

KOTA

After his appointment at Companion Pet Clinic, I was more convinced than ever that he needed surgery. His ear filled up 2 days after it was drained... filled up, AND some. Surgery is scheduled for Monday 5/4/09. Please keep all fingers, toes and paws crossed for a flawless easy surgery that leaves Kota's ear as much like normal as it can be. And that it doesn't reoccur for goodness sakes. Poor kid had 12 cc's of blood drained from it on Saturday, and it's even more full now than it was then. :( I feel like such a bad dog mom.
I took this picture of him tonight... I'm amazed that it's clear!! Yahooooo! :)

SEDONA & CHANCE

The kids are entered in the shows in Albuquerque on the 9th and 10th of May. There is a 3 point major in dogs and 4 point major in bitches, so I couldn't NOT go, given that Chance only needs his majors. His sister, Suzie, finished her Championship recently, so Chance REALLY needs to follow suit.

WORK

Work has been drowning me in paperwork and meetings and evaluations and changes, but I still LOVE LOVE LOVE what I do - despite the insane pace it's taking right now. I'm not sure if I mentioned in my last post, but I'll be changing schools next year... it's kind of a bittersweet thing. I'll be getting an INCREDIBLE room at the Elementary school I'll be working at, and I'll also be sharing the Intermediate school case load with my work mentor, Laurie, so I'm really excited about that. The interesting thing, is that the Intermediate school is where I went to 7th - 12th grades.... kinda funny. So I'm really excited about next year, but I'm ready for this one to be over.

CAMERA

I think I'll be starting to look for a new camera. Since my ole reliable Olympus SP-700 has crapped out on me and is taking more UNfocused pictures than focused ones, I need to either get this one repaired (goodness knows how much THAT might cost), or start shopping for another. I wish I could afford the D-SLR that I want, but I might as well keep dreaming... maybe when I win the lottery! Darned technology. LOL

AMERICAN IDOL

I'm a Danny fan through and through.... I picked him out from the auditions, and am proud to say that he's still there, and i expect that he will be in the finals.... I can't wait for his album! :)

TWILIGHT

I avoided the bandwagon for as long as I could. I finally gave in a few weeks ago and bought Twilight (the book) at Costco. I read it in no time flat, bought New Moon, and had that read in a little more than a day. I am NOT a reading fanatic, but these books really did catch me! It took me a few days to get through Eclipse, and I started on Breaking Dawn last week - but since work has been so crazy, and I got myself a touch of something icky in my throat, it's taking me longer than the previous books have. I've really enjoyed them. I finally watched the movie this week and tho I was comparing it to the book the whole time, it was, on the whole, a pretty good movie :) I can't wait for New Moon (the movie) to come out now :)

Well, my bed (and Breaking Dawn) is calling - I will take my fuzzies and hit the pillows....

dogs, work, and life

Well Kota is being a great sport about all this hematoma crap - doesn't seem to get him too bad, until I go to wrap his ear back up into a standing position. I figure if I can help in any little way possible so that 1) muscle memory stays, 2) no creases form or 3) it provides some protection, I'm good.

I'm taking him to Companion Pet Clinic tomorrow to get checked out and get an estimate for surgery (and to get the blasted thing drained again). I've got to make a decision pretty soon on what to do - I can't keep just getting it drained. If there were a way I could keep pressure on the ear, I wonder whether I'd be able to keep it from coming back... but since it's a friggin CORGI ear and INSISTS on standing upright, it's hard. :(

This is Kota today - after work - after taking off the wrap...

I'm trying really hard not to get down about it, but it bums me out.... I just want him to be 100% of course. :(

On the positive side, he's kicking agility butt, and I'm so excited about it :) He pooped out early last night (I think the stress and discomfort of the ear thing got to him after a while), but he's doing SUCH a good job, and is one of the "stars" of the class most times :) I'm going to enter him in a DOCNA trial this summer and run him in jumpers and gamblers :) It'll be a load of fun! :)

Work is in the process of wrapping up - we have 19 days in May and just one week left in April.... the light is at the end of the tunnel and teachers and students alike are starting to crawl the walls.... We're all tired and ready for a nice long break. :) I'm volunteering (I'll get paid) to work over the summer for Preschool evaluations and such - it'll give me extra money and more experience :) And heck, Preschoolers are cute, as long as I don't have to work with them every day! :)
I'll be moving to a new school for next year - a really nice school with a nice big speech room :) It's half the size of a regular classroom, as opposed to my closet I have right now. I'm not sure what I'll do with all that room! I'm having fantasies already! :) In addition to working a K-4 school, I will also be sharing the new "Intermediate" school (grades 5 and 6) which is going to be at the school *I* went to for 7th through 12th grades! A little weird, but kinda cool at the same time! I'm just happy to have a job in this economy, and am SO thankful I got out of Telecom when I did! Yay! :)
So i'll be packing up my stuff and taking it home over the summer, I guess... just more stuff I might have to shuffle when/if the house sells. *sigh*

Been feeling kinda sad about Dad in the last few days... This is the longest I've gone without talking to him, and I've been wanting to... knowing that I can't. I try not to focus too much on it, but I know it's a stage in the "process"... so I'll let it take it's course. I miss the old grump tho. *sigh*

I've been blowing through the Twilight books... I picked up Twilight 2 weeks ago this weekend and zoomed through it. Then I bought New Moon last weekend (Saturday) and had to buy Eclipse on Monday! I finished Eclipse last night and now am borrowing Breaking Dawn from a co-worker since I can't find it in the stores right now! I resisted for a long time, but I decided I just needed to suck it up and see what all the hype was about. NOW I KNOW! I can't put the books down! :) They're great! If you haven't read them, you really should.... they're wonderful! :) Another co-worker told me today that I'll probably finish Breaking Dawn this weekend... not sure about all that - it's over 700 pages long! Whew!

I entered the kids in the Rio Grande KC shows in Albuquerque in May - majors in both dogs and bitches.. Keep your fingers crossed for the kids.... Sis is in GREAT condition right now, and Chance is just ready for those majors to start flowin' in :) It should be a good time :)

Wish Ko and I luck tomorrow at the vet - I might get ONE MORE quote (they always say to shop around), and then make a decision... *sigh*

Oh, and a Tupperware party tomorrow - FUN!!! :)

updates on this and that...

Kota's ear is doing well... *I* still feel fluid in it, but it's not getting any worse and it's not bothering him, so I'm leaving well enough alone. his ear is standing, tho a bit weird looking at the top (to my discriminating eye). I'm going to let it do what it's going to do... no sense in putting him through the stress of the vets office and needles if he doesn't need to. Poor kid. On a good note though, he's REALLY come into his own in agility, and now that our BC friend has moved up, he's one of the best dogs in the class - without a doubt. He LOVES it. I wish I could get him on video for everyone to see... He's not super speedy (like Zoey!), but he's clean and accurate, and he wears a grin from big ole ear to big ole ear while doing it.... that's what's important to me :) I actually had to *run* to keep up with him last week, which was something new! :)

The house is still a weird pain in the butt subject... According to what I can find online, it looks like the owners "sold" the house to a company called Cal-Western Reconveyance Corp, and THEY are managing the "Trustee Sale". My property manager tells me that until I'm notified otherwise, that I am obligated to stay in the house as per the terms of my lease. *sigh* So I sit. I wait. I hope that whoever buys the house doesn't kick me out (but they likely will). Fun times are ahead.

No word on Grad School - they're probably just filing through the gazillion applications they received to find the 25 they want to accept for this cohort... Keep your fingers and toes and paws crossed that it's my time.... this is attempt number 2 to get into Grad School, and if I don't get in this time, I'll have to take the stupid GRE again (which will just stink!). I'm due for something to go my way, and for something good in general dang it. :) Think positive thinks please :)

Work is getting back to normal again - it was a little weird coming back after being out for 3 weeks... I came in to see the notes that I had taken on my Dad's medical condition when I got "the phone call"... they were sitting right on top of my desk. I had to turn them over and just look past it - but I did have to clean my desk later that day.... Today was honestly the first day that it felt GOOD to be back at work. The kids all missed me so, and the feeling was VERY mutual :) I love those little rug rats! :)

I was going to save up for Chance's OFA x-rays, but now with the stinky house situation, it looks like I'll have to put that on the back burner again... He's sitting pretty at 10 points now, and I'm being VERY selective about where I'm entering him. If there's not a guaranteed major it REALLY is not worth my time to enter. He's really grown into himself in the last few months, and his latest win photo is evidence of that, I think. Finally. Whew. He's a handsome big goober of a dog... speaking of which, Carolyn has a FABULOUS picture that I HAVE to post to the blog as soon as she sends it (hint hint Carolyn!!) :)

And now that it's certain that Jeri is going to "test drive" Pilot, I feel comfortable saying that I will "test drive" Sterling... based on how Pilot produces with the beautimuss Lizzie, I might want use him for a 2nd litter out of Sedona, if Pilots moms agree. There are many things about both boys that I really like, so this will give me the opportunity to see what Pilot produces with Lizzie, and what Sterling produces with Sedona. Plus, I like me the blues. ;-)

I need to get Sedona's CERF test done, and aside from that, I think I'm good to go...Sterling's Penn-hip x-rays looked really good per Kim S., so I feel comfortable if she does...
I'll start consulting with folks to see what I need on hand, and who I can import to sit by my side and tell me all is ok.... ;-) After watching Kate, I'm a little scared, but seeing those little baby puppies makes me think it's all worth it in the end when the stress of the whelping is over...

In American Idol news, I LOVE Danny Gokey - HATE Megan Joy whatever-her-name-is. She's got to go. Adam did well tonight... really well. Danny is my favorite... almost as much as David Cook was my favorite last year. Yes. I did my part. I voted :)

Well, I think I will go to bed early tonight.... I had dinner with some friends from High School last night that ran a lot later than I was expecting - but I had a great time, so it was well worth staying up late (and having a hard time waking up). I can't believe the week is almost over!

a little anxiety

I had some trouble falling asleep last night (which, if you know me is VERY uncommon).... While a part of me has been excited to get back to work and NORMALCY, another part of me got very anxious last night when thinking about it and the last memories I had at work....
I'm sure it's common, but for some reason it had me very anxious last night. I'm not AS anxious this morning, but it's still lingering.
I'm excited to see the kids and my co-workers... tho one of my "favorites" (ha!) has now been moved to another school - I may not have to dread Mondays and Wednesdays anymore ;-)
So here I go.... back into life as I knew it before all this craziness happened....

the last 27 hours...

have pretty well been a roller coaster (as if March in and of itself hasn't been enough of one for me?? goodness)

Just before going into agility with Kota yesterday (Thursday) I got a phone call from the mortgage broker telling me that I did *not* qualify for the loan like he thought I would and that I should try again in 6-12 months. SIX TO TWELVE MONTHS?!?! *sigh* crap.

So I called Wells Fargo today - they have a three day (THREE DAY) lead time for a Mortgage Consultant to even call me back.

I called my property manager after seeing a really nice rental home in my area, to ask about deposit money and such, and how it would all work, and the guy told me that since I was put into this situation, they could likely roll me over into another property of theirs. I told the guy that the homes they had were outside of my price range. He said that could be "negotiated".

They have two homes NEAR my price range right now... both of which are 3 bedroom PLUS DEN! The puppies would have their own room!!!!

I'm looking at one on Monday - and I am hoping I can get the guy to show me the other right afterward. Both look like *really* nice homes, and I would be pleased with either, if they can lower the rent just a tad.

Renting for another year doesn't exactly make me HAPPY, but if it's what I have to do, it's what I have to do. I'll spend this next year really working on getting my credit scores higher so I CAN buy a house for the dogs ;-)

Can March be over now? I've had enough for one month....

And tonight as I am mellowing out with a nice bottle of wine that Carolyn and Tom were so nice to bring me, and the truffles they brought too (ah yes, wine and chocolate.. it's been THAT kind of day!) Ustream wigged out on me while I had "puppy watch" for Kate... talk about killing a wine/chocolate buzz! LOL
The crew were fine and we were finally able to reach Kate, but I was NOT ok there for a bit - imagining only the worst because I couldn't see what was going on.... Technology is a blessing and a curse all at the same time.... I think I will use Ustream for *my* litter too tho - I love all the eyes Kate has on this litter.... and if it goes down, someone can call me if I happen to be sleeping....

Alright... back to the couch, the wine and the truffles.... :) And hopefully the weekend, and the upcoming week which will bring me back to my "normal life" will be better than the last 3 weeks have been....

getting things done...

When I spoke to my Dad, I told him about applying to Grad School and about being in the beginning processes of buying a house... so now let me fill my blog in on those things too....

Grad School - If I get my Masters degree, my pay will increase dramatically... :) While that is a huge plus, it's also a plus that I'd be able to work in ANY state I so chose :) THAT is also a big plus :) After much deliberation, I decided to apply to the University of Northern Colorado. They have a completely online program for my Masters Program. It will take 3 years instead of 2, but in the end it will be OH so worth it for me. I know that after work I would not want to drive into town and go to school until 10pm. I know me. I just wouldn't want to do it. So I searched for online programs and it came down to UNC and UC Northridge. In the end UNC won out for 2 reasons... less externships requiring time off of work, and COST. The application deadline is 3/15 - I got my stuff mailed out Thursday for a Monday delivery. I checked with the department and since 3/15 is a Sunday, Monday delivery is FINE. :) Let's hope all goes well... Keep your fingers crossed for me!

House - Probably about a month ago now, I got 4 (yes FOUR) certified letters sent to my house in the name of the home owner. I was not here to sign for them, so they went to the Post Office. I called the property manager and let them know. These certified letters got me to thinking, "are they foreclosing on this house?". I've been through that once, and I honestly don't care to do it again. I was talking to my friend Nicole and she kept telling me to just look around and see what homes were going for... to see if I would qualify for a mortgage. So I finally did. Houses are going for DIRT CHEAP out here - in my area. So today I scanned in all of the necessary documents (W2's, bank statements, pay stubs, etc) to get the mortgage stuff finalized. I should be able to start physically looking at houses in the next couple of weeks. I'm not getting my hopes too high yet, since the paperwork isn't finalized, but I don't see any thing that would stand in my way, and neither does the Mortgage guy (whose name is Jeremy, by the way... I'm sure I'll be mentioning him and Randy - the real estate guy, a lot in coming months).

The idea of moving again really sucks, but knowing that I'll be moving into a house that I OWN is a big motivator. I can do whatever I want to the house... I can plant a frickin flower garden if I want to without asking permission. :) Ahhh the freedom. And yes, that freedom comes with it's prices - paying out of pocket for things that break, etc, but it'll be nice to be putting money towards something instead of renting, where my money goes nowhere.

So I'm finally getting things done that need to get done... and now that those things are done, I can officially be a couch bum ;-) Oh wait, I've been that lately too ;-) Back to TiVo ;-)

next steps in life

Ok world... I'm 33 and still a renter... I've been kicked out of one house due to foreclosure, and when I recently got 4 (yes 4) certified letters for the property owners, I started worrying the same thing might be happening again.

I started looking around at what home prices in my area are going for and I dropped my jaw.

I've been talking to a Mortgage Broker and a Real Estate agent, and it looks like I might be taking that next step!

I've been pre-qualified for a loan and now just have to send in some paperwork... after that, I can actually go start looking at houses! OMG.

The amazing thing, is that houses out here are selling for CHEAP!!! They told me the max amount I would qualify for and I laughed and said "there is no way I'm going to buy a house for that much... there are so many cheaper options!!" I'm finding homes for $69,900, people!

I'll be able to buy a house and keep my mortgage payment low low low :) And given that I live in a "rural" community, I will qualify for a special program :) Yippee!

I will keep you all updated on this as things progress, but it's pretty exciting, thinking that I might be a homeowner soon! EEK!

dang it, Penni....

attached or single?	single single, and oh, wait, single
best friend?	people? Nicole and Cassie... dogs, of course, are the every day, live in, best friends :)
cake or pie?	depends on the cake or pie, but I'll take either right now, thanks!
day of choice?	Saturday!
essential item?	my blackberry (it gives me internet, email and a phone!)
favorite color?	poy-pull :) (purple for all you normal folks)
gummy bears or worms?	worms?
hometown?	Queen Creek, AZ
indulgence?	depends on the day ;-)
january or july?	January currently....
kids?	fur :) Dakota 5.5, Sedona 2.7, Chance - almost 2! eek!
life isn’t complete without?	snuggling with the puppers!
marriage date?	*sigh* it eludes me still...
number of magazine subscriptions?	just one, and i think it's expired!
orange or apple?	orange if someone else will peel it please ;-)
phobias?	being stuck in a traffic jam on the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge... *shudder*
quotes?	"We who choose to surround ourselves with lives even more temporary than our own live within a fragile circle, easily and often breached. Unable to accept its awful gaps, we still would live no other way. We cherish memory as the only certain immortality, never fully understanding the necesssary plan." -Irving Townsend
reasons to smile?	I'm healthy, my fur babies, and the roof over my head :)
season of choice?	Winter
tag 5 people	Jeri, Carolyn, Emily, Kim K, Kate, Heidi, and anyone else who feels the deep seeded need to do this.... darn you Penni ;-) LOL

happenings from the last few weeks

Enjoy the silence??

My computer was ravaged by some evil virus of unknown origin on Saturday the 13th (happy bleepin' birthday, huh?) and on Sunday the 14th I had to run it up to my friends hubby begging "please don't reformat my hard drive.... I haven't backed up in eons!" To which he replied "it may be a good thing you didn't back up, as you might have infected your external hard disk too if you had".

Three looooong hours later, Brad was my hero and saved my computer from the virus. I've never seen someone so insanely talented on a computer. I mean, I knew the guy was smart and awesome on computers, but when he was performing miracles on my effed up computer, I was singing his praises louder than ever!

I came home that night happy, but the next day still had weird things going on... pop ups out of no where and virus scans picking up viruses while I was sleeping. I knew it was nothing I was doing. I got a new virus and spyware program that had a better firewall, and it seems to be straightening out, but weird things were still happening. I'm hoping the latest thing I've done will cease the weirdness, but suffice it to say, i still worry that I'll have to reload my machine in the not too distant future.

I've got toooo much on this computer that I can't afford to lose. *sigh*

So.... the birthday was good.... the holiday party was good.... the last week of school was great and now I'm on Winter Break. Yay!

My mom comes in from Texas on Thursday (yes, Christmas) and stays for a week (yes, she leaves at 7:30AM on New Years morning... thanks John!). We'll see family and friends and hang out and play lots of board games, I'm sure. She hasn't seen my "new" house or my "new" dog in person, so it'll be fun. :)

I'm doing laundry getting the guest room all ready for mom's visit, and wondering whether just shutting the office door will suffice. I don't really want to sift through all the papers on my desk to make it presentable ;-)

The kids have been great, and are loving me being home. My mom sent them all their own individually addressed Christmas cards.... tho she sent them on the same day, they didn't all arrive together. "Ms. Sedona Genaw" and "Mr. Chance Genaw" received cards on the same day, but "Mr. Dakota Genaw" didn't get his until yesterday. I made them wait till they were all accounted for before I divied them up. Sedona took right to it and dug in. They're edible Christmas cards... made from rawhide. :) Interestingly, the other two are still sitting on the living room floor untouched, but Sedona's has been devoured. Go figure.



Santa Claus came to school for pictures with the kids, so I took the opportunity to sit on Santa's lap ;-) He came back a few days later and this is from that "repeat visit". It's a more flattering picture of me, I thought.. but isn't he a GREAT Santa? The beard and hair are real! He's a maintenance guy over at another elementary school in our district, and he dresses up as Santa each year for the kids. :) It was a lot of fun!






While everyone is posting pictures of winter wonderlands, I have nothing fun to offer.... it's been rainy here, and wet, but nothing spectacularly beautiful or anything unfortunately. I had a nice Skywatch foto, but because my computer was being stupid, I never posted it. Oh well. It was similar to the one from the week previous anyway, so no big loss ;-)

I hope everyone is staying warm and dry.... I'm off to go and finish cleaning up and vaccuuming up the 6 corgi's I managed to acquire somehow.... Oh, and Sedona is blowing coat.... just in time to look absolutely NEKKID for SoCal. Thanks Poof. Thanks a lot.

the heat....

Yesterday was chilly when i woke up... it was 67 degrees in the house, but I decided to "tough" it out... it would warm up ;-) (it didn't warm up to 70 in the house until after 6pm!)

Today when I woke up and it was 65, I decided I couldn't "tough" it out... LOL I'm a desert rat!

Here we are, December 7th, and my heat has officially turned on.

Pretty insignificant in the grand scheme of life, but it'll be useful information next year when I start asking myself "Gosh, when did I turn on the heat last year?"

Ain't blogging grand?? ;-)

I really wish I hadn't deleted my original blog from blogger... tho thankfully I still have the content, I don't have it on blogger anymore due to some stupid boy ;-) I wonder if I can upload it back on.... hmmm..... anyone know??

passings....

So.... I live in a little town that isn't quite as little as it used to be, but many of us have returned and run into one another....

I was in Wal-Mart tonight and ran into a girl I went to school with. She told me that a guy we went to school with... who was MY AGE.... died of lung cancer this week.

And then I come home to read that Lorna Maynard of "Follywood" Pembroke's died.... she was great to me when I was just getting started with Ollie.... I'll never forget her.

My mom always told me "it" happened in three's... so here's to Bart, Pablo, and Lorna.... may the light be bright & warm over on that side of the bridge.... I'll be lighting a candle tonight for each of them...

a weekend in pictures....

Having grown up here in Queen Creek, there are many things that are still around that were around the over 20 years ago when I moved here originally.... namely the Library. It was a small dinky building... definitely smaller than my 1700 square foot house. It worked though, and back in the day, it was plenty for our small town.

Since the town experienced a population spike a few years back, I can't imagine how it's taken them this long to get a new library up and running. This weekend was the "Grand Opening" of the new Queen Creek library, so I decided to go. I've been watching it as it was being constructed, and it looked beautiful from the outside from the start.

Coming up to the library from the back, this is what I saw...

There was a band playing and easy-up's all over the parking lot with different vendors and town businesses ranging from QC Water company, to State Farm insurance to Orthodontists... you name it, and there were businesses. There were also booths set up for someone selling Gold Canyon candles (yum) and one lady even had a stand where she was selling home made decorations for the home.

There were raffles and games and all sorts of things for the family. It was a beautiful day to have this event. I went in, paid my obligatory fee to get my library card, and came out to enjoy the day. Fee. Yes. Sad but true. Despite the fact that I work for the Elementary School, I had to pay a fee. I live outside of the county limits, in Pinal (pih-nahl) county. Queen Creek "proper" is in Maricopa county. Because this library is funded by property taxes, and because I "technically" live in Unincorporated Pinal county, I don't qualify for a free library card. I could go to Florence (big high security prison there, no thanks), Coolidge (the town that time forgot, again, no thanks), or Apache Junction (too far, no thanks) and go to a library for free, but WHY, when I have this brand new beautiful facility just up the way from where I work. So yes. I sucked it up and paid the fee.

When I came out of the library, this wall caught my attention. I thought it was quite pretty...

There were people milling about and I wandered around myself for a while... I saw people on these bicycle statues and thought they were kind of neat....

The new library in my not-so-little town... a turning point, to be sure...
Since it was so nice out, I came home and decided to take the dogs for a nice walk. I've been walking with my friend Rachel twice a week for the last couple of weeks, and it would have just been a shame to have wasted such a beautiful afternoon... So I leashed up the monsters and off we went for a little jaunt in our community...
and yes, they ALWAYS walk like that... funny, huh?

We stopped at a park and I let them off to play.... I caught this little candid moment as they looked across the park at a man and daughter playing ball...

Sedona being her beautiful, photogenic self, as always....
The trio... I never tire of taking pictures of the kids together. Chance always seems to have that big flap o meat hanging out tho ! LOL


Today was equally as beautiful, so I decided to take another walk and find another park :) The dogs are loving all these walkies, and runs at the parks... thought this picture turned out cool. Kota is almost always the "chasee" :)
And this was interesting, as all three were going in different directions :)

It's hard to get good pictures of Kota cuz it seems he always closes his eyes... this one is very much Kota in every sense of the word :) Smiling, happy, flap o meat hanging out :) Love love love that boy :) I managed to catch Chance looking at Sedona and Dakota at another part of the park, which allowed for some really nice photos of him. This was one of a set of 4 that turned out really really nice. He's quite the striking boy, if I do say so myself :)
My two beloved boys off looking at goodness only knows what. Something about those boy dogs.... *sigh* :)
A group shot soon after we got there... gotta love Chance's flap-o-meat hanging out of the side of his face... *sigh* doofus.

And before our walkie ended, they all got ontop of the bench and posed for this lovely picture...
And now it's thundering and raining... and i'm almost done with one of the two books I got from the library. I didn't do the work I had brought home to do, nor have I vaccuumed the 20 tons of dog hair (thanks boys) off the carpet, but it's been a nice relaxing weekend all the same :) I have Tuesday off, so I can do those other things then! LOL Hope you all had a great weekend too!

Halloween Party 08

A friend from work invited me to a Halloween Party. Her husband is a "priest", she's a naughty school girl, and I, well....


I'm going as a 50's girl :)

My friend Rachel's mom had the poodle skirt, and despite the fact that you can't see it, TRUST ME, there's crenoline under there... LOL

Hopefully I'll come back with party pictures. :) Off to have fun! :)