Strange Things Happen While You're Sleeping...

It is Thursday (thank God!) and that means it is writers workshop day with Mama Kat! Today's topic is about sleep walking. Mine isn't about sleep walking, but close enough to count I think. So anyways....

One night, in the beginning of our living together stage of our relationship, I woke up to Michael leaning over, shaking me, calling my name.

Michael: "Laura! Laura! Wake up!"

Me: (obviously in a state of sleepy shock): "What?!? What's wrong???"

Him: (in all seriousness, eyes wide open): "The police are here."

Me: "What? Why? What happened?"

Him: "They're downstairs, we need to go let them in."

Me: "What are you talking about? Why are they here?"

At this point he started becoming confused and not making much sense. I started to realize that he must be asleep. He finally comes to and I tell him how scary he was. His eyes were open...how was I supposed to know if he was awake or not?? He was obviously embarrassed so I dropped it.

It continues on...we have some very interesting conversations while he is "sleeping". Nothing juicy yet though. I try to ask him questions, but he hasn't fallen for it yet. It still freaks me out that he has his eyes open though.

When we got Lola, we were having to take her out at crazy times and Michael was still working night shift. I would wake him up in the morning before I left so he could play with her for a little bit and take her out. One morning, he got out of bed and was walking around talking to me and I handed him our puppy, who was probably a mere 2-3 pounds at the time, and started to leave.

Michael: What do you want me to do with her?

Me: What do you mean? Take her out like normal.

Michael: But there aren't any pallets for her to build? (Which was his job at the time.)

Me: What?!?!?

Michael (scanning the room): There are no pallets for her to build. Everything is done. There isn't any work for her to do!

I frantically yanked the puppy out of his hands in fear of him dropping her and pushed him around to try to wake him up. It's so weird. He's convinced he's awake when he sleeps.

I'm demanding he goes to some kind of sleep study before we have children. Can you imagine him doing that with a baby? I'm going to be a nervous wreck.

Test Post...

Sorry. Having trouble getting things to load in Google reader. Trying to see if it is because I wrote my post elsewhere then copy and pasted....any help would be appreciated.

New post is below...if you can even see this one. What is going on?!?

Living in the Moment

I’m always looking for the next thing. I’m busy making plans and getting things in place to reach my next goal.

I’m a planner. I’m a perfectionist.

Sometimes I forget to enjoy where I am.

It’s not until the moment has passed that I realize how good things really were. I’m already in the next moment looking forward to the next thing and dealing with all the new issues that have arisen.

Looking back, things were always simpler than they are at present.

Looking forward, I think everything will be much better. A life more fulfilled. A life more comfortable. A life more enjoyable.

In the present, problems are abundant. Difficulties have arisen. The struggles are frustrating. Things are complicated.

In my next moment, I’ll be looking back and realizing how simple things really were. Wondering why I couldn’t wait to escape this moment.

Moments will be lost. Things will be different.

I can only move forward.

I can never go back.

But, I shouldn’t forget to live in the moment.

10 Things I'm Excited About!

Ok so yesterday's post was filled with complaints so in order to bring a little bit of sunshine to this blog I thought I would do a post exactly opposite today with 10 things I'm excited about.

1. A Long Weekend. YAY!!! There is nothing more than I need than a long break from work. It is going to be amazing.


2. A Ginormous Margarita. Make that a frozen strawberry margarita and get it here quick! Me and the hubby are going to eat Mexican tonight and I am looking forward to my happiness in a glass!


3. A New Cookbook. I had some reward points to use up from work and Barefoot Contessa's Back to Basics is what I got!


4. Great Weather. It is so pretty outside and in the 80's. Yay for summer!


5. All My Trips in June. Starting the month off with the No Doubt concert in Atlanta, then our anniversary trip to Jamaica, and ending with a wedding where I will get to see some friends I haven't seen since my own!


6. Getting to try out a new recipe. A co-worker requested White Chocolate Key Lime Pie for her 30th birthday. Sounds yummy...I think I will make it in mini tart shells.


7. An upcoming delivery of new makeup. Thanks to Aliya I found this website where almost everything is a $1. I'll let you guys know later on if it's crap or not. I thought it would be worth a try though at such a cheap price!


8. Clean carpets. I have some gift certificates saved up for a nice little steam cleaning vac. Can't wait!


9. Lola being able to sleep in the bed. She is finally old enough to make it through the night and trustworthy enough to let sleep in the bed. Unfortunately she's not a big cuddler.


10. My 100th Post. That's today by the way - I feel like it took me way too long to get here, but I'm here! Happy 100th post day to me!

Writers Workshop I'm back!!!

I use to love Thursdays because it was writers workshop day and I always new what I was going to write about that day. Unfortunately I have been a slacker and always feel like I think about blogging too late in the day to participate. Today I thought, what the hey I'm going to do it anyways.

Today's topic.........10 Things I'm Sick and Tired of

1. Writing my blog half-ass. I'm guilty of blogging during my lunch break or quickly when I get home and my contribution to this blog has greatly suffered. I can't even follow others adequately enough to keep them following mine. I feel like some of you have left me.....COME BACK!!!
2. Eating fiber. I have a snack drawer at work and I am determined to have healthy items in it so I don't turn into a fat cow. Considering I refuse to give up candy or go work out healthy snacks are a must, but I swear all this fiber crap makes me feel like I'm choking to death. Gag.
3. Hearing how terrible everything is on the news. Can they focus on something positive please? I'm over it.
4. Being pale. I need sun asap or to at least get my lazy butt in the tanning bed. I pay for it every month you would think I'd go, but then again I also pay for the gym and I don't go there either. *Sigh*
5. American Idol. I know I'm going to offend some people hear, but I've never really liked the show and don't understand how it can almost last a full freaking year. I feel like it never ends. Maybe that's just me.
6. Finding new things to fix in the house. Isn't funny when you move you discover so many things to fix. Did we just get use to these things? How embarrassing. Ok so it's not that bad, but still.
7. Working too much. I need some time off immediately. Vacation cannot come soon enough. I'm seriously at my tipping point.
8. Hearing scandals about Jon and Kate. It's definitely going to make me want to watch the show again even though I swore last season I was over it.
9. Lola waking me up right before my alarm goes off. Seriously dog, you are killing me. There's nothing more frustrating. Ok, well there is, but you know what I mean.
10. Complaining. I swear I do try to share some happy things on this blog, but really it's more of a place for me to vent. I'm trying to be better at giving a new mix, but my blog is truly me and I'm not all rainbows and butterflies.

Can I Have A Do Over?

I don't know what it is about summer, but it really makes me want to be a kid again. I can't help but think sometimes that I'd like to be back in high school. Well minus the drama and knowing what I know now I'd like to be back in high school. Although that could possibly make it a much more boring experience than the first go around. Maybe if I just took things less seriously? Yeah, that's the way I'd like to do it over. Anyone have a time machine????

It was awesome - every day brought on something new. A new love interest, a new day of fun, a break up, an adventure. I worked during the summer then as well, but the days seemed shorter and the nights and weekends seemed longer. I feel like life was just a tad bit more interesting and a lot more carefree. Stupid adulthood.

There were dreams to be chased and a lot of uncertainties. I feel like everything is so planned out now. The fact that I actually just said that as a complaint is a major conundrum because I am most definitely a planner and hate suprises. I still like the idea of possibilities though.

I miss having a huge group of friends around at all times. I felt so protected, involved and cared for. I was never bored! I just don't have time for that anymore. I would simply be spread too thin. Strange how you spend your childhood wishing to grow up faster and you spend your adulthood wishing to be a child again. Life is funny that way, isn't it?

***Oh, and a quick question for you guys...I'd like to make a drop down menu for my labels. Does anyone know how to do that or what to search for under the blog gadgets?***

Randomness

Shopping

So that pretty bright yellow dress I ordered ended up not being so bright. In fact it was more of a mustardy, green yellow that made me look like death walking. It was shipped back immediately. On went the search. I was determined to not fall back on a black dress. I wanted something a little more fun for the wedding, but for some reason there seems to be a lot of dark colors this year. I hate the mall, but in desperation I ended up going yesterday and I'm glad I did because this is what I ended up with.

New Finds

Friday night, Michael and I had date night. Fortunately for us, we live in an area that is considered a test market so we usually have a lot of new things to try. There have been several new restaurants that have opened up lately so we decided to try a couple out.

For dinner we went to Brixx Pizza. It was amazing! It's more of a gourmet type pizza place so it was a nice change up. We thought there was going to be a long wait but luckily there were a lot of people who had kids there (who probably won't be back because I don't see kids liking this type of pizza) and we were able to walk right up to the bar and eat there. I had the Rustica with proscuitto, artichokes, mushrooms, kalamata olives, and roasted garlic. It was wonderful!

Next we went for dessert at Menchies. It's a self serve frozen yogurt place. I love being able to mix my own flavors and add in what I want. The other cool part is that you pay by the weight so you can get as much or as little as you want. I did a mix of pomegranate tart and classic tart with yogurt chips on top...yum!

Book Reviews

I have also finished a couple of books recently. The first was Hurry Down Sunshine by Michael Greenberg which was a memoir about his daughters breakdown. It included experiences from being in the mental hospital, to the difficulties of family, and the way his life changed.

I really thought I would relate to this book a little bit more since I have had these experiences myself. However since this particular girl was a minor I think his experiences with the hospital were a lot different. He was actually able to be there quite a bit, whereas with my experience you only have an hour or two 2 days a week. I could relate to the way he described the affects medicine had on his daughter and the feeling that his daughter was so unlike the rest of the people at the hospital. At the very end he quickly summarized the rest of her life to date. I think personally I would have been more interested in her side of the story, but it was nice to be able to have a chance to relate to my own experiences. Anyway, it was an interesting read so try it out if you are interested in that kind of thing.

The second book was Trail of Crumbs by Kim Sunee. I actually really enjoyed this book which was also a memoir and an easy read. Sunee was abandoned as a child in Korea and was adopted by a couple from New Orleans. She went on to travel extensively through Europe. The book details her journey to find out who she is, the food she experiences, and her love life. Overall the book made me hungry which is a strange thing to say about a book. It made me hungry to travel and hungry to try all the delicious food she talks about through the book. Thankfully she did included recipes at the end of each chapter, however I think most of the food is ....too exotic?...for me to try myself.

List Crazy

I have been in my "Get Shit Done Mode" this week. I love it when I am in this mode because I have goals and I get things accomplished and things are just better. It gives me the feeling of satisfaction like nothing else. It's awesome. My husband probably hates it because I am constantly on his back to be in the "Get Shit Done Mode" as well and for whatever reason he's not always on my same page.

I don't know about you guys, but I have lists.

Lot's of lists.

• "The List" - You know the one that has the 5 year plan (babies, cars, houses, jobs, trips) that kind of a thing.
• The "1 Year Plan" list - Major home improvement projects, potential move planning, trip planning
• "The House" list - including all the little things that need to be fixed before we sale and dates that they need to be done by.
• "The Weekly List" - including all the little things that need to happen to make the big plans work.
• And finally "The Daily" check list that is in my planner making sure all the other lists get done.

Wow, that exhausted me just writing that. No wonder Michael doesn't like it when I'm in this frame of mind.

I feel like if I didn't have lists my mind would just explode. I would constantly worry and not plan things as logically without being able to see the big picture and how to get there. It helps me lower my stress level by getting things on paper and on the calendar.

Anyone else list crazy out there?

Narrowing Down

Update on yesterday's boarding dilemma:

After hearing every one's wonderful advice and recommendations I called my dad to tell him the situation and he thankfully volunteered to keep Lola! Yay! Now I can go on my trip and not have to worry about her. Although he does have an older golden retriever (Maggie) who does not think she is so cute. Let's just say Lola thinks growling and teeth showing means that Maggie need more kisses. They'll definitely be kept separated. Socialization classes will also be added to the to do list!



Another goal of mine is to finally get our wedding album ordered before our one year anniversary. I have been feverishly going through pictures and I have found it almost impossible to narrow them down. I have about 2000 pictures from the wedding and have to get it narrowed down to 90! Agh! There is so much I have to cut that I feel like I’m not going to capture my full wedding experience or all the people who shared our day. We are just a month away from our anniversary and I thought I would share a few of my favorite pictures from the day.

I'm sure I will be sharing more photos on our anniversary! Stay tuned.

A Boarding Dilemma

My husband and I will be leaving for Jamaica in less than a month! Unfortunately I can't get too excited because I still don't know exactly what we are going to be doing with our little Lola. I have called a few boarding places and unless you want to pay $40 plus bucks a day it seems as if they just leave her locked up all day. I don't think I could enjoy my vacation knowing my puppy is in doggy jail. I found a place for $20 but they only let her out once in the morning to allow them to sanitize her crate. If I want her to be walked it's $8 for a 20 minute session. I love her to death but I really don't want to fork out $400.

We have had several people offer to take care of her for us. Because I mean seriously who could turn down this cute face?



I just don't feel like we have trained her well enough to do that yet. I would be mortified if she destroyed some one's furniture. Currently she has a bloody mouth because she is losing teeth, she's a biter, a chewer, a shoe stealer, a stinky poop maker, and pee puddle leaver.

Ugh, such a dilemma.


We did try to build our case for Michael's mom yesterday although she didn't take the bait. I think I would only feel comfortable leaving her with family because even if she tears something up they still have to love us. Although it would require a lot more driving to get her there, it would end up being cheaper and leave us with peace of mind. I just don't want to ask them because I feel like they would feel obligated. I'd rather them suggest it on their own.

Do any of you board your pets? Any tips I should know?

A Change of Pace

I finally got out of my funk and am ready to be back in action. I've been making a lot of plans and getting things marked off my to do list and it feels awesome! I started with little things...

Finished changing out the door knobs and painting the trim in the house.

Bought a bikini for Jamaica which is also inspiring me to use our gym membership. Notice I said "inspiring" I still have yet to go hehe.

Chopped off my hair for a fresh start. What do you think?

Before

After

Ordered a dress for an upcoming wedding. Is this color wedding appropriate or too loud?


Found an AWESOME sale at Macy's that allowed me to finish up my crystal and china collection. Buy 3 get 1 free. Can you believe it??? Love it!

Ahhh it feels great to get stuff done! I think I just felt trapped. 2009 is a very different year for me. It's the first year in a long time where absolutely nothing is happening. I am simply waiting and apparently I'm not a very patient person. I thought it would be a great experience to not have anything to get stressed out about, unfortunately it turned out that I have nothing to look forward to and nothing to do.

After I came to this realization, I figured I might as well get a head start on making plans and being better prepared for 2010. My husband and I are planning on moving next year to be closer to our family and begin thinking about one of our own. There are several things that we need to do to finish up this home and get it ready to sell so we sat down today and made a huge list and put everything on the calendar. It was a huge relief. Hopefully I will continue on this getting stuff done streak.