Upppppppdate!

So -- not much has been going on.

Holly went to a new home a few weeks ago. Totally spoiled rotten brat, haha. She has a male corgi to play with 24/7 - plus two other corgis at the owner's parents' house! Oh, and need I also mention the farm she gets to go run on? And...the owner is retired, so she's home all the time with the dogs. Holly is in doggy heaven, that's for sure!

Couldn't keep myself out of the animal shelter for long, though. I came home with an adorable little mixed breed. She came with the name Vienna - but we shorted it to Vivi, and have now just started calling her "V." lol -- V is sooo sweet. She's 5 years old and so silly. She is very calm, and we've only heard her yodel a little when she gets excited. Speaking of getting excited, she does the cutest little dance when you get home. She starts hopping up and down with her front paws and wiggling her butt and tail so fast...too cute. V stays with Skye. So she sleeps with us at night, and the girls roam half of the house during the day. I think Cloud and Lexi are jealous, but they're not quite old enough to have unsupervised house time!

Pumpkin came in heat sometime last week. Of course, I've had her an appointment to get spayed tomorrow set for over a month. Guess that has to be postponed now. I can say, I have never been around a cat in heat...and hope to never be again. She is SOOOO annoying with her constant yowls and meows. Not to mention she also tried to mark the shower the other day while Robby was standing right there. Crazy cat.

We leave Sunday for Houston, and I am so excited to get away for a week. Skye and Cloud are going to be boarded -- but Lexi and V will come with us to visit Drew and Trebor. We're still discussing the possibility of a Sea World trip while we're down there. I know if the weather is good, we'll defintely be going to the Houston zoo, though.

Work has been, well, not the greatest. Very annoying to say the least. So many changes and new programs being implemented. One of those is a very strict attendance guideline which I don't exactly agree with. In my position, I am hourly...not salary (which would be better for everyone involved) -- and, I am not part of a department. I am my department. I am not management, but not some measly little worker, either. I may arrive literally 1-3 minutes late everyday (or atleast until this stupid program started) -- but I also work 3-5 hours overtime during each week. So, they'll doc me for showing up 60 seconds late...even though I make it up ten times over. Go figure. This little program started last Wednesday. We are the ONLY store (out of 103 nationwide) who are doing this. We are the trial and error pilot version. Yea...lucky us... I got a call this morning from the LGM asking if I approved my time last week before I left (another thing we're supposed to do.) Uhm, no...forgot...let's see -- the program just started a few days ago...!! Got a note in my file because of it. Grrrr..... Then in a later meeting, I'm informed of several new processes that have already been started; told what positions we actually have open (last I checked, that's a very important part of my job description...to know what positions are open...and I'm just now finding out that there are 4 that I didn't know about!) Yea, total lack of communication...and the person who told me he would never micromanage me is now doing so. I love my job. I love my job. I love my job. I...nope. Not today. I hate my job. ;)

On a happier note, Wednesday is Robby's and my third anniversary -- yay! Seems like it's been longer, but we've also known each other for 14 years, now. haha --that's more like it!

Posts

There's a few new posts on the adoption blog if you haven't checked it out lately. =)

Announcement

Robby and I have a very exciting announcement to make. We've been trying to decide when would be a good time...I suppose now is as good as any.

No, I'm not pregnant.

But, we will be adopting instead. We will likely begin the process in 3-6 months after we make some adjustments around the house: downsizing on pets (...anyone want a cat?!), finish painting our bedroom, move a little furniture around, etc.

You can follow the process on the blog I set up specifically for our little journey. http://babyjakola.blogspot.com/ I'll try to make a little note on here each time it's updated, though.

In the mean time -- if anyone does come in contact with someone (at church, friends, etc) who is considering placing their infant for adoption...let us know. We will be adopting domestic (US born) - but have not settled on an agency, yet. Sometimes people end up signing with an agency and then come in contact with a birthmother through a relative or friend that ends up working out better.

The Walk, Sawyer Brown

Cause I took this walk you're walking now
Boy, I've been in your shoes
You can't hold back the hands of time
It's just something you've got to do
So dry your eyes I understand just what you're going through
Cause I took this same walk with my old man
Boy, I've been in your shoes

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7i3pqJ2jqLo

TSO, Snow, and more

TSO was totally amazing. Front row seats were AWESOME!!! Robby didn't like it because the lights were right in his eyes at times, but that didn't bother me! Al Pitrelli was right in front of us for most of the concert (yay!) It was so awesome, you get a lot more personal view of the concert from front row. At the beginning, Al looked down towards the first/second row and was warming his hands because "it's freezing!!" Angus was being his usual self and yelled "What's up?!" during a few of his center-stage moments. Just a totally awesome experience.
Work was really busy last week, trying to get ready for the 13th Month which started today (and I realized I forgot to pass on the information for lunch today...haha, oops! One of the sales managers called and asked me what was planned a little bit ago.)

The snow we have gotten is amazing. I really didn't expect anything like this, and compared to last year's Christmas Day record high of 76...! Yep, it's Oklahoma for sure. Most of the dogs are enjoying the weather, especially Cloud. Skye plays in it if she doesn't see you watching her. Lexi is just concerned where he ball is. There's been a few times it's gotten kicked into a drift and she's had to go digging for it. Holly isn't sure what to think, and has taken a couple nose-dives into the drifts!
Robby and I went out to rescue my aunt and finish getting her home Christmas Eve because of the weather. That was about a 2-hour trip to go a total of about 20 miles, there and back. When we pulled in the neighborhood there was an SUV stuck in the drifts, so Robby dropped me off and went back to help pull her out.
We spent yesterday shoveling a lot of the driveway, playing with the dogs, and watching movies. We both fell asleep on the couch while watching Hamlet...except I ended up watching the first half while Robby slept, and then I dozed off right as he was waking up and he watched the last half! Go figure.
The dogs enjoyed their Christmas gifts. Each one got a puppy-safe rawhide chewie, the big dogs each got a stuffed toy, and Holly got a rope toy with a teether bone on it. The cats each got a Christmas catnip toy. I don't think they've paid much attention to it, yet. Having fun playing with their other Christmas toys I scattered out a few weeks ago.
I had made plans to pick mom up and take her shopping with me today, but that got scrubbed because of the weather. I think Robby and I are going to Wal-Mart and PetSmart to do some shopping tonight, though. I need to get some stuff for the rabbit. I believe we're still going to go look at them tomorrow. We're getting a baby holland lop -- there are about three to choose from and the pictures are just adorable. Can't wait to see which one we end up with. The cage was supposed to be delivered on Thursday, but because of the weather, that was delayed to Monday. I'll just set up a temp cage in one of the extra dog crates for the night. Pumpkin has been laying on my lap while I've been typing this whole thing, just purring away. There's someone who wants Lizzie, so we're probably meeting them tomorrow. The cats don't like each other and we couldn't decide which one to part with, so I put them both up and decided we would keep whoever was left. Ends up that will probably be Pumpkin, which I'm happy with. She's such a good kitten and Holly just loves playing with her, still.

One month later...!

Ok - so it'd been busy!! I didn't realize I hadn't posted in over a month. Dogs are doing well -- Lexi and Cloud (especially) have taken to guarding Skye, now. We caught Cloud watching over Skye a few weeks ago -- too funny.
Holly is awesome. We've started her in puppy class with Lynne - she's doing well. Finally walking like a little trooper on the leash. But, she is still learning not to be a little pirannah puppy. Whenever I'm off and running errands, she gets to go with me. Typically that involves a trip to PetSmart and if we find something on sale, then miss priss gets a goody. Today we bought two stuffies and a bag of puppy-safe chewies. They had their Christmas stuff 50% off. Still trying to figure out an ILP name for her...we certainly have time, but I like planning early. Likely going with a TSO themed name.

Work is going well -- love my new boss. The store has definitely taken a positive turn since he's been here. We had our Holiday Party last Sunday and it was amazing. The committee really pulled together to have a great pary, we had pretty high attendance, and enough food (which I was really worried about!) I also won Store Champion at our last quarterly communications meeting. Really cool surprise and definitely a confidence booster in my position. I had kept hearing from various people that I was doing a good job, but now I know for sure I have been, lol. Speaking of work, I bought a new car there yesterday. Robby is taking my truck and we're selling his old Monte Carlo that we got as just a temporary car this summer. My new car is an 05 Mustang GT -- it's a blast to drive! And yea, it's red. I keep getting reminded of that! I couldn't resist the deal, though. Super associate discount, great options, crazy low miles for the model year, awesome sound system, sweeeeet sounding exhaust system, yep...it's FUN! I heard from at least three other associates that they were thinking of buying it themselves...but I beat them to it!
TSO concert is Sunday! I am super-excited, but certainly better watch my scream level this year! In anticipation of the event, I lost my voice Wednesday, haha. Still don't have it back, so I'm headed to the doctor in a bit to get some meds.

Welcome Miss Holly!

Robby and I added to our fur-family yesterday. We brought home a cute little pembroke welsh corgi. So far she's doing really well...the dogs don't mind her and Pumpkin thinks she's fun to pick on...but Holly got her back this evening. Now for the pics...!