After a few especially stressful weeks, I finally finished my CLA exam. I have to wait six weeks to find out if I pass all of the sections.
I didn't feel very relieved right after I finished, but I did notice that I was a whole lot less angry the next day. I found myself only yelling at every third person on the road instead of every single person, and I realized that perhaps I was feeling less stressed.
On Sunday, I braved laying out at the pool despite it being 104 outside with my friend/co-worker Sarah who took the test with me (shout out to Sarah-she just discovered my blog today and is officially my 4th loyal reader woohhoo).
Since I love making lists so much, here's a list of all that I am accomplishing now that I don't have to study in all of my free time:
1- Exercise. Done and done. I joined a gym on Monday and I've gone for not one, but two days in a row now. That's right. I've totally lost 1/2 a lb. I can feel it.
2-De-Clutter my life: I've already collected two bags of clothes and accessories to give away-I don't have a ton of room in my apt and I'm trying to make things more zen and less "stuff everywhere"
3-Start another needlepoint project-I loved doing the last one for my brother, but now I need a new project/recipient....hmmmmm
4-READ (non legal material) I have a stack of 4-5 books that I have yet to read and I'm excited to finally get to them
5-Catch up on movies that have been released in the last three months
6-Look less like a vampire and get out in the sun more so it actually looks like I'm a resident of a place where its 100/sunny out every day
7-Finally hang out with friends
8-Keep up with my TV-ok so I didn't sacrifice too much on this one-no matter what I can't give up my "shows", but now I can watch them live more and have to DVR them less-woohoo!
9-Make more random trips to Target just to peruse
10-Do NOTHING
Oh, and blog more, duh.
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
3 days and counting...
this is why I have not had anything to blog about. I've just been studying this book. I will be back, however, after Saturday.
also, I haven't resorted to only phone blogging, I just have been trying to keep my distractions to a minimum while at home on my computer. obviously, I've completed that task with flying colors...riiigghhhttt
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Tuesday, July 13, 2010
laiiid back...
with my mind on some tum rubs and some tum rubs on my mind.
all she needs now is an eye mask for an excellent nights sleep.
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Traveling Milly
Apparently Milly is just bored to death at home, because I feel like she has had more exciting adventures in the last week than I have.
As stated below, Milly went for her day at daycare last Tuesday. I dropped her off for her boarding on Friday morning. We went to Smithfield, VA (where they slaughter the pigs for the ham) for my firm's "picnic"/"bbq"/"party" that they have once a year. Pig jokes aside, it's actually a really great little town on the Pagan River, and the house where the party took place had a beautiful, relaxing view of the water. It was a really fun time, and Mike enjoyed pointing out every single thing we passed throughout the town, and giving me a fact about it. He spent a lot of time there when he worked for E&Y, as Smithfield was one of their clients (I think he audited their books? I don't really know what his job was...). Ex: "Oh, I used to eat here every Tuesday." Ex 2: "In my EY days at this place I could have finished this meal, no problem" (speaking of his buffalo sauce chicken tenders big boy plate). Hilarrioussss...
We decided to leave on Saturday and not stay an extra night, so we picked Milly up that afternoon. She was once again playing in one of their playrooms and seemed to be having a good time.
When Milly came home, she smelled a little more pupperish than usual, so on Sunday night Mike wanted to give her a bath. He had never volunteered to give her a bath before, so I was excited to just watch and not participate.
Differences between Natalie's Milly Bathing and Mike's Milly Bathing:
Natalie-Turn on water. Stick Milly under faucet one half of her body at a time to drench her. Use whatever shampoo is in the shower. Make sure booty is adequately clean. Repeat with the faucet drenching. Complete.
Mike-Turn on water. Don't check the temperature. Luckily, Natalie does. Request a tupperware from cabinet to pour water on with. Spend 20 minutes getting her hair wet with said small pouring device. Insist on using Aveda shampoo to wash dog. Use at least 3 big pumps of it to cover 15 lb body of dog. Completely avoid booty area. Makes Natalie do it instead. Begin the arduous process of removing soap with small pourding device. Try to get kisses from Milly, which are promptly rejected.
...He will learn. I think it's actually a pretty funny example of how we are different, and I think it's pretty awesome that he wanted to help.
The one thing that is always the same is Milly going totally psycho afterwards. She has a circuit training system down of jumping on the couch and around the table several times, and then sprinting back and forth between the kitchen. It's a very intricately laid out system.
As I was supervising the bath, I gave Milly a hard time because she yelped when I tried to wash her foot. Being the drama queen that she is, I ignored her. When she yelped again when I was drying her, I investigated to make sure she didn't have a reason. There was a reason: her long toenail was at a 90 degree angle. It was sick. I refrained from taking a picture to display here.
On Monday morning, we got up early and dropped her off at the vet. She could walk on it fine, but would not even let me look at her foot. They doped her up on some pain meds and removed the entire nail, so it's down to the quick now. She seems totally fine and not phased at all by the whole ordeal.
Just another day and another adventure in the life of Milly.
PS-Before someone comments on the boarding place hurting her nail, we are pretty confident it happened on Sunday while we were at home. The vet thinks she just snagged it on a rug or something.
As stated below, Milly went for her day at daycare last Tuesday. I dropped her off for her boarding on Friday morning. We went to Smithfield, VA (where they slaughter the pigs for the ham) for my firm's "picnic"/"bbq"/"party" that they have once a year. Pig jokes aside, it's actually a really great little town on the Pagan River, and the house where the party took place had a beautiful, relaxing view of the water. It was a really fun time, and Mike enjoyed pointing out every single thing we passed throughout the town, and giving me a fact about it. He spent a lot of time there when he worked for E&Y, as Smithfield was one of their clients (I think he audited their books? I don't really know what his job was...). Ex: "Oh, I used to eat here every Tuesday." Ex 2: "In my EY days at this place I could have finished this meal, no problem" (speaking of his buffalo sauce chicken tenders big boy plate). Hilarrioussss...
We decided to leave on Saturday and not stay an extra night, so we picked Milly up that afternoon. She was once again playing in one of their playrooms and seemed to be having a good time.
When Milly came home, she smelled a little more pupperish than usual, so on Sunday night Mike wanted to give her a bath. He had never volunteered to give her a bath before, so I was excited to just watch and not participate.
Differences between Natalie's Milly Bathing and Mike's Milly Bathing:
Natalie-Turn on water. Stick Milly under faucet one half of her body at a time to drench her. Use whatever shampoo is in the shower. Make sure booty is adequately clean. Repeat with the faucet drenching. Complete.
Mike-Turn on water. Don't check the temperature. Luckily, Natalie does. Request a tupperware from cabinet to pour water on with. Spend 20 minutes getting her hair wet with said small pouring device. Insist on using Aveda shampoo to wash dog. Use at least 3 big pumps of it to cover 15 lb body of dog. Completely avoid booty area. Makes Natalie do it instead. Begin the arduous process of removing soap with small pourding device. Try to get kisses from Milly, which are promptly rejected.
...He will learn. I think it's actually a pretty funny example of how we are different, and I think it's pretty awesome that he wanted to help.
The one thing that is always the same is Milly going totally psycho afterwards. She has a circuit training system down of jumping on the couch and around the table several times, and then sprinting back and forth between the kitchen. It's a very intricately laid out system.
As I was supervising the bath, I gave Milly a hard time because she yelped when I tried to wash her foot. Being the drama queen that she is, I ignored her. When she yelped again when I was drying her, I investigated to make sure she didn't have a reason. There was a reason: her long toenail was at a 90 degree angle. It was sick. I refrained from taking a picture to display here.
On Monday morning, we got up early and dropped her off at the vet. She could walk on it fine, but would not even let me look at her foot. They doped her up on some pain meds and removed the entire nail, so it's down to the quick now. She seems totally fine and not phased at all by the whole ordeal.
Just another day and another adventure in the life of Milly.
PS-Before someone comments on the boarding place hurting her nail, we are pretty confident it happened on Sunday while we were at home. The vet thinks she just snagged it on a rug or something.
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Doggy Daycare
So I'm finally getting around to something I've been meaning to do for awhile, which is finding Milly a good kennel/boarders in Richmond. She often stays with Mike, my parents, or friends when I have to go away, but I wanted somewhere I could take her when all else fails, its simply easiest, or worst if there was ever an emergency and Mike and I both needed to go out of town quickly.
I looked around online and found a few cute looking places, but then realized they were located in some sketchy areas. I finally found a great place that was actually at Woofstock. They are called DogServices VA, and they actually have a separate facility for dogs under 30 lbs.
This morning, Milly went for her day of "orientation" where they make sure she fits in well with a play group and that she is well adjusted. This seems a little intense I know, but it actually is something I wanted to do anyways because I would be so worried her spoiled self wouldn't be able to handle the new environment.
The place has indoor and outdoor kennel "pens" (indoor for sleeping at night) and they have indoor and outdoor play areas. With today's high being 101, they were of course inside where I arrived. They group the dogs together by personality, and when I got there Milly was in a little play room.
She apparently did great, was her normal loving self winning over all of the staff, and she even got this adorable report card.
Yes, they even took her picture! As you may have noticed, it immediately went up on the refrigerator.
We are going to try out boarding for the first time this weekend while Mike and I go out of town for my firm's annual "picnic" in Newport News area. I think that I will be way more nervous than Milly!
As a bonus, Milly has been chilling in her crate so Mike and I can both "study" aka I may be blogging as well...but the point is she has not made a peep. I may start taking her once a week or so just to tucker her out and socialize her. So far I am really impressed and I hope she continues to enjoy it.
If you happen to be in the Richmond area, I would highly recommend this place (they do big dogs too at a separate facility). They are very reasonably priced and seem to really treat your dogs like the faux-children that they are.
I looked around online and found a few cute looking places, but then realized they were located in some sketchy areas. I finally found a great place that was actually at Woofstock. They are called DogServices VA, and they actually have a separate facility for dogs under 30 lbs.
This morning, Milly went for her day of "orientation" where they make sure she fits in well with a play group and that she is well adjusted. This seems a little intense I know, but it actually is something I wanted to do anyways because I would be so worried her spoiled self wouldn't be able to handle the new environment.
The place has indoor and outdoor kennel "pens" (indoor for sleeping at night) and they have indoor and outdoor play areas. With today's high being 101, they were of course inside where I arrived. They group the dogs together by personality, and when I got there Milly was in a little play room.
She apparently did great, was her normal loving self winning over all of the staff, and she even got this adorable report card.
Yes, they even took her picture! As you may have noticed, it immediately went up on the refrigerator.
We are going to try out boarding for the first time this weekend while Mike and I go out of town for my firm's annual "picnic" in Newport News area. I think that I will be way more nervous than Milly!
As a bonus, Milly has been chilling in her crate so Mike and I can both "study" aka I may be blogging as well...but the point is she has not made a peep. I may start taking her once a week or so just to tucker her out and socialize her. So far I am really impressed and I hope she continues to enjoy it.
If you happen to be in the Richmond area, I would highly recommend this place (they do big dogs too at a separate facility). They are very reasonably priced and seem to really treat your dogs like the faux-children that they are.
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Fans of the Fan
This weekend marks a year since Milly and I have lived in Richmond in our apartment in the Fan. I had no idea what journey was in store for us, and there have certainly been lots of surprising twists and turns.
The most obvious change is how much we both have grown! Milly mainly physically, me mainly emotionally(living on my own and all), except for those 5 or so (and by so i mean closer to 10) lbs that have stuck with me ever since I started dating an Italian who likes to have man meals.
Here's a pic of us right after we moved into our apartment:
The most obvious change is how much we both have grown! Milly mainly physically, me mainly emotionally(living on my own and all), except for those 5 or so (and by so i mean closer to 10) lbs that have stuck with me ever since I started dating an Italian who likes to have man meals.
Here's a pic of us right after we moved into our apartment:
Also from that day. I may or may not have this pic on my credit card (lame I know) and people always ask me if it's my dog or if it's a stock photo. I should start telling them: "both. my dog is a credit card photo model. i told her she needed to start paying some bills. she does adult modeling on the side. she just shows you what's she's got if you tell her she'll get a tum-rub."
But I digress...
Here are some other things Milly (and I) have done since our move to Richmond...
Went to see Andrew at W&L for his birthday...
helped pass out candy for Halloween (about 20,000 pieces to be exact)
Rolled around in some paint from a sweet paint-by-numbers I was working on (yeah, just when you thought I couldn't get any cooler)
Learned how to pee in the snow....and make it through two HUGE snowstorms in the city
Celebrated her first birthday...
Did some people watching from Mr. Mike's porch...
and finally, visited her favoritest cousins in Delaware...
and SO much more in between! I hope our second year in Richmond is as productive as our first!
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
It's a Bird, It's a Plane, It's a...Flying Cattle Car?
So I feel as though an entire post needs to be dedicated to the indecency that has become air travel. I'm having a hard time coming up with another aspect of our modern life where we pay so much to get so little.
Sadly, I flew an exponentially greater amount when I was in middle school and high school than I do now. With a few scant exceptions, I have really only made trips to Texas, and even then I usually take "Connections" planes.
I suppose it was a bit of a shock to me at how poor flying had become when I experienced both a big plane and big airports for the first time in a while this past weekend.
First, PROS:
1-Continental now offers DirecTV on their bigger planes. It is THE best $6 I've ever spent-hands down. Not only did it entertain me for the 3 plus hours I was on the plane, but on Thursday I got to watch two of my favorite shows: Real Housewives of New York and Bethenny Getting Married, as I was flying over the country. How cool is that??
CONS:
-Everything else
-Since I was flying with Lauren (who flies a TON) I got to reap the benefits of Elite Access with her. Unfortunately, this means almost nothing because people stampede towards the boarding line as soon as they call first class. Why are they so eager to get on a cramped airplane where they no longer get to breathe fresh air?
Probably because NO ONE checks their bags anymore (likely because of the ridiculous fees) so people have to fight for available overhead space.
After 9-11, I think most people went to checking bags to try to circumvent all of the new rules, but now that you have to pay, its back to images circa 1995 of women bringing a bulging carry-on, a vera bradley duffel and a tote bag purse onto the plane. Not cool...
-It has been quite awhile since I've had to fly alone on a plane other than the small ones where one side of the aisle is a single seat. The degree to which you had to be all up close and personal with weird people you don't know is borderline unacceptable. If they can't make the seats bigger, they should at least fashion bigger dividers so people aren't actually touching arms as much as the annoying couple that insists on holding hands at dinner.
-Also, where do these people come from that are flying? I'll throw it out there: my ticket was about $350 give or take and I really had to consider whether or not I wanted to spend that amount on a trip. Though I've obviously cut back a lot since living on my own, I'm still able to indulge myself in a decently luxurious lifestyle and I still had to consider it. As I looked around the airport, I had to ask myself how, probably 1 in every 5 people, ever had the cash to make it to the airport. This probably sounds bad to say, but hey it's my blog and I don't have to make it PC. Perhaps it's because I am older now and am capturing the full experience, but I used to think flying was normal yet still somewhat "exclusive" for lack of a better word. Now I literally feel like I may as well be at a bus station.
As you can tell, I was rather disillusioned by this weekend's travels, but it was all worth it for the visit itself. I hope that it gets bad enough in the near future so that they can finally regulate and keep the weirdos/rule breakers in check to make flying a little bit less tortuous.
Sadly, I flew an exponentially greater amount when I was in middle school and high school than I do now. With a few scant exceptions, I have really only made trips to Texas, and even then I usually take "Connections" planes.
I suppose it was a bit of a shock to me at how poor flying had become when I experienced both a big plane and big airports for the first time in a while this past weekend.
First, PROS:
1-Continental now offers DirecTV on their bigger planes. It is THE best $6 I've ever spent-hands down. Not only did it entertain me for the 3 plus hours I was on the plane, but on Thursday I got to watch two of my favorite shows: Real Housewives of New York and Bethenny Getting Married, as I was flying over the country. How cool is that??
CONS:
-Everything else
-Since I was flying with Lauren (who flies a TON) I got to reap the benefits of Elite Access with her. Unfortunately, this means almost nothing because people stampede towards the boarding line as soon as they call first class. Why are they so eager to get on a cramped airplane where they no longer get to breathe fresh air?
Probably because NO ONE checks their bags anymore (likely because of the ridiculous fees) so people have to fight for available overhead space.
After 9-11, I think most people went to checking bags to try to circumvent all of the new rules, but now that you have to pay, its back to images circa 1995 of women bringing a bulging carry-on, a vera bradley duffel and a tote bag purse onto the plane. Not cool...
-It has been quite awhile since I've had to fly alone on a plane other than the small ones where one side of the aisle is a single seat. The degree to which you had to be all up close and personal with weird people you don't know is borderline unacceptable. If they can't make the seats bigger, they should at least fashion bigger dividers so people aren't actually touching arms as much as the annoying couple that insists on holding hands at dinner.
-Also, where do these people come from that are flying? I'll throw it out there: my ticket was about $350 give or take and I really had to consider whether or not I wanted to spend that amount on a trip. Though I've obviously cut back a lot since living on my own, I'm still able to indulge myself in a decently luxurious lifestyle and I still had to consider it. As I looked around the airport, I had to ask myself how, probably 1 in every 5 people, ever had the cash to make it to the airport. This probably sounds bad to say, but hey it's my blog and I don't have to make it PC. Perhaps it's because I am older now and am capturing the full experience, but I used to think flying was normal yet still somewhat "exclusive" for lack of a better word. Now I literally feel like I may as well be at a bus station.
As you can tell, I was rather disillusioned by this weekend's travels, but it was all worth it for the visit itself. I hope that it gets bad enough in the near future so that they can finally regulate and keep the weirdos/rule breakers in check to make flying a little bit less tortuous.
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