(no subject)

What sucks about Lance being gone is that Reece doesn't behave herself nearly as well when it's just the two of us.

She's been acting out ever since he left. And I don't really anticipate her settling down anytime soon.

She got me up earlier than I wanted to be up this morning, and only because she wanted attention. I refused to give in to her, and she jumped up on the bed and demanded it. By gnawing on my hand. And then she chewed on my hair.

I kept forcing her to get off the bed and she kept jumping back on it. Finally, she decided to let me win, curled up on her own bed, and let me sleep for another hour.

But ever since we've been up, it's been all about me taking things away from her (she chewed up a pen this morning and tried to tear up the Olympic Peninsula Tourism Guide that I've been looking at). It's been all about me escorting her outside to prevent her from digging around in the garden, which I've been catching her do all weekend.

She ran several laps around the backyard this morning, which tired her out somewhat. And now she's finally eating. So hopefully she's calmed down a bit for the day.

I need to get dressed here and leave for McChord soon. I'll have to crate her, as much as I don't like doing it. But when I get back, I'll be taking her to Rich and Kathy's house and she loves them. I just hope she's good.

Lance has such an easy time with her. He seriously has no idea what I have to put up with.

Welcome to my boring, ordinary life

It's been a month or so since I've done any substantial grocery shopping. But I made a run down to McChord today. Got a lot of no-fuss stuff to make meals for myself, since I hate cooking for myself. Salmon roulades (it's stuffed with some sort of crab and veggie stuffing) that I can just throw in the oven, a rotisserie chicken that I need to shred up for several meals in the next 2 weeks, those frozen skillet meals that come with everything. Baking potatoes. I'm going to roast some tomatoes. Lean pockets and ingredients to make tuna & white bean salad for taking to work.

I'm due at Rich and Kathy's house in one hour. I wasn't clear on whether they were serving a late lunch or whether we're having dinner. I know that dog walking is part of our plans, but whether it's before or after eating, I can't say. So I just had a cracker, cheese and hummus plate to tide me over (my brother left a partial box of olive oil & rosemary Triscuits which taste awesome with hummus).

I am bringing over a mini banana loaf from last night's baking. I bought the ingredients to make strawberry shortcake - an angel food loaf, fresh strawberries (currently mascerating in sugar and orange peel) and Cool Whip. Yeah, I could've baked a dessert, but I've been knocking myself out for guests the past couple of weeks. Time to take it easy. And I offered to bring dessert...after all, they were kind enough to invite me over. I'm sick of brownies...they're my brother's favorite, and I baked them twice while he was here. Something simple, not too unhealthy, and not chocolate fits the bill perfectly.

I need to be better about checking my Facebook mail. Usually I get a notice in my Yahoo mail if someone leaves me a Facebook mail, but Christine wrote me one the other night and I never got any notification! I only just now discovered it! She's back in Canada now. So 50% of my little group has now left Germany - myself and Christine. Ruth and Andrea are still back in Germany, although I think Andrea leaves at the end of this year. Lance and I still talk about going back someday, but it won't be the same. You can't recapture that magic that was about the last 2.5 years or so of our time there.

I wrote down a random thought that was gnawing at my brain the other day...something about how the gods of fate seemed fit to bless me with the most amazing 4 years in Germany, and I'm now paying for that by having such an ordinary, boring life. I think I actually wrote down the word "crapulent" instead of ordinary and boring, but that gives the impression that all of it sucks. And it doesn't. Just parts of it. And it's not like there weren't things about Germany that didn't suck. I just never wanted to be ordinary and I never wanted to be boring.

(no subject)

Reece and I had a nice afternoon. We were at Rich and Kathy's for about 4 hours or so. We had a mid-afternoon meal of spaghetti and meatballs, garlic bread and salad. During lunch, I was mortified to see Reece squatting and peeing on their living room carpet and I apologized profusely, but they were totally cool about it. After all, they are pet owners and they have a baby. A little pee is probably no big deal.

We took the dogs to the park in their neighborhood and I actually let Reece off the leash for the first time in public. She was awesome. She didn't try to run off...well, there was one time where she was heading toward the wooded area, and that made me a little nervous. She didn't come back when I called her. But she was mostly focused on their Papillion, Wedge. They chased each other around for ages. Reece is now thoroughly exhausted.

Then back to their place for dessert and lots of chatting.

We have tentative plans to get out and about and see things when Lance gets back. I keep telling Lance we need to get out more. I am completely serious about it. Having interesting weekends is the only way my work week becomes in any way tolerable.

So now...settling in for the evening. I'll have a bowl of cereal, take a shower, and then read until it's time for bed.

I just had a half hour talk with Lance. He'll be at the casino tomorrow with his uncle - a long standing tradition whenever he's home. Let's just hope he wins a lot of money. He now has it in his head to get a private pilot's license, and perhaps he can actually afford to buy a small aircraft if he wins some money.