Updates

My nosering is finito. I was over it. Now I need to do something drastic to my hair; I feel too boring.

I have officially begun the official name change process. At least the social security office has now crossed Jorgensen off my records forever. Weird.

Smoothies are my new obsession, so if you have a Magic Bullet (the blender, not anything dirty) friendly recipe, send it my way.

I got some new cute shoes. They are colorful heels. Now I have something to wear to the SatC movie.

Peace out, my friends.

My dog crapped on my Memorial Day... but more so my car.

I wanted to go to the Grand Canyon this weekend. It turns out that although it is in the same state, it is super far away. Gas is expensive, etc. Instead, the fam (ha, we're a fam!) decided to go to Mt. Lemmon to go on a hike instead. For those of you who are familiar, don't make fun. For those of you who aren't, it's totally the same as the Grand Canyon. Totally.

The drive up is a pretty one. The biosphere literally changes from rocks and heat to cool weather and evergreens. It's only about thirty miles up, but the whole world changes. Usually, my dog, my man, and I enjoy the scenery. This time, Tiko the dog changed everything.

He was very excited to be going anywhere. Life was pretty crazy there for a while and he probably spent more time in the crate than good puppy parents would allow. Now, I've gotten off school and Tiko doesn't need to be in the crate. [One of my side goals for the summer is to get him trained enough not to have to be in the crate while we're away. We'll see. Last time, he ate two books, pooped on them, and then spread it around the living room. That took him about 15 minutes. It might be a long, long journey to freedom for us both.] However, apparently, my company and our tiny apartment isn't enough to keep Tiko from going crazy. We could sense his cabin fever and he could sense we were going somewhere fun.

We walked him before we left, I swear. He peed and everything. Then, about ten minutes from where we were planning on walking him, he started desperately trying to get in the front seat. [He's too big to fit on either of our laps now, so he lives in the back.] I remember saying something like, "Don't be annoying, Tiko. We're almost there." And then about three minutes later, I smelled it. Sick baby poo. You know what I mean.

Since Tiko has a sensitive stomach, I assumed foul play. Sometimes he eats random stuff he finds on the ground and it doesn't bode well for anyone. So I hoped that he had had a desperate situation and it was just life. Nope. Perfectly healthy poo except that it was about half his weight. Just to clarify, huge mounds of poo covered a good portion of my backseat.

We got to the general store that's most of the way up the mountain just a few minutes later, though the smell made it seem quite a bit longer. We bought some carpet cleaner and paper towels and found that our little puppy was just fine. No problems. He just didn't want to wait any more. In fairness to him, he didn't know how much longer we were driving; maybe he held it as long as he could.

After the cleanup was conducted, we realized it was a frigid 65 degrees out (we have become Arizonians) and we were too cold and ill prepared for such a cold hike anyway. The air was let out of our sails.

On the way home, I thought it'd be fun to look at some of the really expensive houses that are in the foothills of the mountains. I was wrong. A psycho had a psycho dog (fitting, really) that attacked my car mid-Y-turn. I have little puppy scratches all over my car now and I really want to sue, but I feel it would be fruitless.

I have a black car with scratches on it and poop stank stuck inside it. I have a black car. In Arizona. In summer. I am sure that will smell fine in a matter of moments. In the meantime, I have bought a car-specific bottle of Febreeze to spray each and every time I am in the car. Now it just smells like Febreeze and dog poop.

I feel like there's probably a moral in there somewhere, but I'm too stinky to find it.

I am sure I am That Girl to someone

I was watching Sex and the City last night. [As a premature sidenote, I am going to watch all of SatC before the movie comes out on the 30th. Is it trite? Is everyone loving that show, that movie, those women right now? Yes. And I am one of them. That show will always represent to me the time of all my girls being in one room, armed with bottles of mostly crappy wine and watching in utter silence (this is me and my friends, mind you) as these women said true things to us. We were young, we were impressionable, we were hooked. I look back now and wonder: Did we realize what a horrible, selfish friend Carrie was? Did I always know how much of a catch Steve was? Did I always know that Aidan was obviously too good for Carrie? I don't know. But it's still a true picture of a true time of learning and relationships and too many drinks. I will unabashedly always love the show and the characters even if they are flawed and represent too much unnecessary female stereotypes. Love. It.]

I was watching the episode that included Charlotte's perfect man who happened to be The Face Licker. It got me thinking and I couldn't help but wonder (take that, Carrie Bradshaw), haven't we all been The Somebody who Something-ed? In my friend circle history, I know of Hickey Bob (we'll call him Bob), The Po-Po Man (so named for getting caught by the police while making out with my friend in his truck), Ghetto Fab, and The Guy who Pees on People.

Now, I'm not saying that I have done anything so infamous as pee on anybody. But we've all had our moments, haven't we? Isn't there that one night where you got a little too drunk (it always starts out that way) and did something a bit stupid, even for you when you're drunk? I know that my friend infamously and unfortunately threw up on a keg while doing a kegstand once. Is she forever known in someone's life as The Puker?

What names and notoriety have I gained amongst those I don't even remember meeting? For me, it was an unfortunate evening that true friends don't bring up often. In someone else's mind, it's the funniest thing that's ever happened.

I am sure I am a legend to some.

Summer Lovin'

I am loving summer. I realize that my vacation has been in action for less than a normal weekend. I realize that Arizona gets to unreasonably hot temperatures in summer.

However.

I am so happy to be on vacation! The weather is unseasonably cool right now, meaning we didn't even hit 80 today! It's gorgeous out, I love all the fruits and vegetables that are all available right now, and most of all, I just feel like I'm on holiday. Isn't that half the battle?

I've almost finished the first book on my summer reading list. I have caught myself up on dishes and laundry (though not cleaning or organizing), I've tried a few new wines, and I even went to a movie and didn't feel like I was going to fall asleep halfway through the first preview. That's probably because I slept a ridiculous quantity yesterday. Seriously. I had the nice 9 hours of sleep and took two separate naps yesterday. I have some serious catching up to do.

Summer is already awesome and I can't wait for it to be day three of vacay.

The professional pictures...

Did I forget to mention I got married?

Sorry, guys! Here I am, rambling about graduation ceremonies that have nothing to do with me when I forget to mention that one ceremony that means a great deal in my life. We got hitched! ... Almost three weeks ago? Well, well. I'm an old, married woman already.

Here are some pictures; there are tons more on facebook, if we're tight like that.

My brother and my - gasp - husband! (By the way, the pictures are all messed up in order because I still don't understand blogger's "insert picture" function and am too stubborn to learn.)

The girlies and the bro-town enjoying some drinks at the reception.

Our very large faces after the wedding, enjoying some sun.

The banana daquiris! Yummy...

Here, you can see that we like cake and posing for pictures.

Here are my girlies, some of the loves of my life.

Hello, End of the Tunnel Light!

I may be resurfacing on this blog again.  Today is graduation and tomorrow is my last day of catch-up work.  Why did I make my sophomores write an essay for their final?  Pure stupidity, I suppose.

I am so excited for summer! I would love to say that in a more eloquent way, but I've been in the midst of high school seniors for too, too long.  I know it doesn't make up for the long hours, the underappreciation, the constant questions and concerns from parents, the work that hasn't been turned in and the working your butt off so kids can graduate and start life... but it might come close to making it up.

I get to read books, write on this thing again, work out at my leisure instead of 5 in the morning, walk my dog and regain my life back.  The life of a student is ideal.  I can sleep when I want, eat when I want, wake up when I want and learn all the while.  Why am I not in a PhD program?!

For the time being, I will have to entertain the idea of being a self-taught student in the course of life.  Cheesy, perhaps, but true nonetheless.  I can have some time to sort out my life before I become, once again, an overtired slave of the teenage population of Vail, AZ.  But that's months from now.  

I will enjoy their graduation with dry eyes and be excited for the future that life holds for them.  I will also be ecstatic that they will be some poor boss's concern now and not mine.  Fingers crossed there's a boss, or a teacher, or a drill sergeant...  Anything, really.  

Mostly, I'm just happy to hear that very familiar sound - a solid thump of a chapter ending in life.  Time for the next, please.