Vallie

When I was about 12 or 13 I wanted a puppy.  My mom suggested I get involved with Canine Companions for Independence and raise puppies for them instead of getting a second family dog.  That decision changed my life and got me started training dogs.  My first dog was Jonas, a giant black lab with a heart of gold.  His bad hips forced CCI to drop him out and I gave him to the vet student that operated on him.  My next puppy was a Golden Retriever named Gerani.  She made it into advanced training but was dropped out because the kennel environment broke her down.  My third puppy was Vallie.

I first saw Vallie at the Oceanside Canine Companions facility.  We had just done the graduation ceremony with Gerani and a handler had just taken her away.  It was hard to give her back after being her constant companion for a year and a half.  There wasn't much of a chance to say goodbye and I was crying as Gerani pranced away.  My mom and I turned and walked away to wait because a puppy was going home with us.  As soon as I saw Vallie coming down the hallway I lost my heart.  She was this tiny puppy with long gangly legs and the sweetest face.  I dropped to my knees and she put her feet on my shoulders and licked the tears off of my face.  I have never been more in love.  On the drive back to the hotel, I tried to keep Vallie on the floorboards at my feet but she kept crawling into my lap.  Finally I gave up and held her.  She snuggled into my neck and fell asleep.

From the beginning, Vallie was special to me.  She was a wonderful puppy, even on the flight home from California.  But she'd come to us with giardia and was a pretty sick puppy.  To this day I blame that for my lack of a sense of smell.  It was worth it though.  I thought she was the cutest thing and had the warmest brown eyes that I have ever seen.  She learned fast and together we were the stars of the class.  We did everything together, which is normal for CCI puppies and their raisers, but it was a higher level of devotion.  Where I went, she went.  Even if it was just across the room.  If I stood still for a minute or so, the familiar weight of her leaning against me or sitting on my feet was comforting.

I loved all three of my puppies.  They each taught me something new and gave me a lot of self confidence.  A high school student that brings a dog to school almost every day attracts a lot of attention.  Not all of it was pleasant but I learned confidence with my dogs by my side.  Vallie was by far the best.  Everyone loved her.  Everyone was impressed with her.  As the date for her to go back to CCI loomed, my heart was breaking.  Gerani had come back to me and I couldn't help hoping Vallie would too, although it was selfish of me.  I never had to face that though.  Vallie, actually Jonas' half sister, had bad hips too.  Not bad enough that she would need treatment but not good enough to pass as a Canine Companions service dog.  I was head over heels though; it meant Vallie was mine.

The first year of college was hard.  Since Vallie was no longer a service dog, she wasn't allowed in the dorms.  I had to live a whole hard year without her.  My second year I moved into a house and immediately brought Vallie to live with me.  I credit her with saving my life during this time.  College was hard for me.  I worked two jobs and went to school full time.  I went to CU Boulder where partying was the main concern.  I wasn't a partier and that seemed to make me the outcast.  I couldn't relate to the rich kids that didn't have to work and had heads full of beer, booze or drugs.  If that wasn't enough, I couldn't relate to the crazy liberals or communists but I wasn't conservative enough to fit in with the College Republicans there.  It was a really hard and lonely time.  To make matters worse, I loathed my roommates.  Home has always been a big comfort for me.  I like to come home to my own space to relax and destress.  Living with my roommates meant I couldn't do that.  They were constantly throwing keggers and not telling me.  Or dealing weed.  Or in general being assholes.  The final line was when they took Vallie off leash for the afternoon without telling me.  Granted Vallie had more maturity and good sense in one paw than they did in their entire bodies so I shouldn't have worried so much but I exploded about that.

Needless to say, I had a really hard time in college.  I sank in to depression and insomnia.  I didn't care about anything.  ...Except Vallie.  Vallie loved me unconditionally and she was there for me.  She kept me grounded.  When I realized Vallie was the only thing I enjoyed in life, I made changes.  I began working at a local vet's office in the kennel with the dogs.  I've always been able to relate better to dogs than most people and this gave me something to enjoy.  I took a medical leave of absence and worked until I had enough money to backpack Europe.  That trip regrounded me and got me back to who I was.  When I was gone, the thing I missed most was Vallie.  But she didn't forget me and she was waiting for me when I got back.

We moved back to the Springs and I continued to work with dogs as I finished school.  Gerani and Vallie were best friends and things were better.  Things were better until I took Vallie to the vet for a routine checkup.  I happened to mention that I'd noticed a lump on her lower stomach.  I didn't think it was anything serious because it didn't seem to bother her at all.  She was getting certified as a therapy dog and she was my happy go lucky girl.  My vet wasn't sure what the lump was but took some cells.

I was not in any way prepared for what it was.  I remember him saying cancer and then it gets a little fuzzy.  I was completely shocked.  My girl had cancer.  It just got worse from there.  The cancer was lymphoma and it would eventually kill her.  There were two types of lymphoma, Bcell and Tcell.  B Cell was somewhat treatable but would only give her 2 years at most.  T Cell basically meant make your dog as comfortable as possible because most dogs pass away in a month or two after diagnosis.  They gave me the choice of starting chemo while we waited for confirmation on the type of lymphoma.  I was so dazed.  I knew it was expensive and may not be worth the effort but I had to do something.  I remember starting down into her eyes, those incredible eyes, and knowing I couldn't just give up on her.  I had to fight for her life if there was any chance...  (okay I have to take a break.  Maybe I shouldn't be typing this at work because now I am crying too hard to continue.)

Whew.  Alright.  So we started chemo.  They told me chemo for dogs wasn't normally as physically devastating as it was for humans.  Every Thursday at 4 we drove to Denver so that she could be seen by a special doctor.  Vallie seemed to be handling it fine so I began to hope.  Surely cancer couldn't change anything.  I held on to that until I got the phone call from my vet.  I was in Denver, waiting for Vallie's chemo session to be done when he called.  He'd gotten the tests back and it was T Cell.  He explained that chemo would not do anything to prolong Vallie's life, that it might just stress her out more.  Given her health and how it manifested, he told me that she would live two more months and that I should focus on making her happy and comfortable.  (and I have to stop again.)

(This is harder than I thought it was going to be.  I always feel my eyes prickle when I think about her but thinking about this time never fails to make me cry.  I thought I could get through this without crying so much though.)

I made the decision to stop chemo.  That night Vallie and I snuggled up and I just cried into her neck.  Her fur always seemed to dry my tears faster than anything else.  I cried for a long time and she just lay with me, so warm and comfortable.  When I could stop, I told her that I would do anything for her.  The next couple of months would be all about her and what she needed.  And I promised her that when the time came, when she couldn't go on anymore, that it would be okay, that I would be there for her and I would be strong enough to let her go when she was ready.  That was the last thing I could do for her after everything she had given me.

And so I settled in to making Vallie happy and tried not to think about what would happen.  Two months came and went.  Vallie was going strong.  She was happy and seemed healthy enough, even though eventually the lymph nodes in her neck did begin to swell.  My vet was flabbergasted.  Her health continued to be stable and she showed no noticeable symptoms of being sick or in pain.  I knew she was so strong and so full of life and love but eventually I knew her body would get tired.  I knew we would have to say goodbye.  And I knew that it was going to be the darkest day of my life.  I didn't know how I was going to get through life without her but I knew that I would have to be the strong one.  Somehow, I would have to be strong.  I got a tattoo on my hip to remind myself of that.  It is a Celtic shield knot that symbolizes strength and protection.

The day after I got my tattoo, I came home from class and Vallie wasn't at the door waiting for me.  For the first time in her life, she wasn't there.  I walked downstairs and found her quietly laying on her favorite bed.  When I came in she looked up at me with her big brown soulful eyes.  Those eyes had always looked straight into me like she was a part of me.  We were a part of each other; we had one soul.  I knew now, looking into her eyes, that it was time to say goodbye.  After everyone had only given her two months to live, Vallie had stayed with me for 8 months.  She had given me tail wags, warm snuggles, wet kisses and so much love in those 8 months.  Now she was tired and she told me that it was time for me to keep my promise.

This is especially hard for me to talk about.  I won't get through this without bawling my heart out.

I made the appointment to take her to the vet that evening.  I remember how much that broke my heart that I had to make an appointment to end her life.  That almost broke me completely.  I lay with her on her bed until it was time.  ...I don't want to talk about the rest.  She was calm until the very end.  She lay in my lap and I told her it was okay.  I thanked her for being my guiding light in life and I promised her that we would see each other again.  Then I just told her over and over that it would be okay.  I held it together until I felt head go limp in my arms and then I lost it.  I was screaming and crying and begging her to come back.  Part of me knew she was out of pain and in a better place but I just couldn't comprehend not having her in my life.

...I stayed with her for a long time because I didn't want to leave her.  I don't really remember leaving.  I don't really remember much else from that day.  My parents took me home and I crawled into bed.  It was really hard for a while after that.  Gerani was there for me.  Although she'd never enjoyed snuggling, for that first month Gerani snuggled with me and let me cry into her neck.  We mourned together.

Slowly it got easier.  Slowly it didn't hurt to think of her and I could say her name without breaking down.  Slowly I learned that life goes on.  At first it's cruel that it does but then it eases.  I know Vallie is with me always.  She's in my heart every time I work with dogs.  She was the one that set me on this path to finding what I really love to do.  She literally molded me into the person I am.  Sometimes it is still incredibly hard to think about her.  I still feel like half my soul is gone and that's hard.  But I also remember her with such warmth and love that it makes me breathe again.  I wish everyone in my life now could have met her.  I hope those who did meet her saw at least a little of what I did.  A perfect angel.

Vallie
Beautiful Girl
8/1/02-9/3/09

Hard to do homework with that face begging for attention.

My girl.

Life is a playground bully

I kind of feel as though Life is a playground bully.  I'm getting really tired of having what I want dangled in front of me then getting it yanked away.  Especially when that leaves a whole lot up in the air and unsettled.  I'm a fairly easy going person but I like to have my space all settled.  When that is gone I get fairly stressed out.

So you can imagine I'm fairly stressed out at the moment.  My foundation of home is fractured at the moment.  I had to be out of the Manitou house at the end of August.  It was sad to go but even worse because I didn't have a place of my own TO go.  I'm not on the street or anything but I had hoped to have my own house lined up.  Life has been pretty cruel about that though.  I haven't built up enough house hunting karma apparently.

The end of August rolled around (which by the way did August go by SUPER fast or what?) and my life is in upheaval.  Most of my belongings are at my parents' house.  Some is with me at my brother's house.  My dogs are with me.  My cat is with my parents.  And my sanity is gone.  Ug.  Just being so spread out is stressful.  Again, I depend a lot on having my own space to come home to for sanity.  I've always been a little protective of my space and a things and I'm also a bit of a homebody.  I feel like I've been tossed into the ocean and only have what I was able to paddle to and grab.  It's really not that bad.  My things are all safe and I have a roof over my head.  My brother has been very gracious and my parents are spoiling Theo rotten so I don't really have a lot to complain about.  Still...  meh!

Here's what's going on with the house situation.  I put an offer in on the house downtown that I loved and it was accepted.  I did a little dance when I heard that you can imagine.  That was on a Friday.  However, for some reason the seller said that they couldn't sign until Monday.  That was a little sketchy but I was so excited I didn't think much about it.  Monday rolled around and we didn't hear anything from the seller or agent.  Waited... waited... waited...  Nothing.  Then I got worried.  I nagged the crap out of my own agent and we finally heard that the seller had spent the weekend looking at other offers even though they had already accepted mine.  Well they ended up counter offering one of those offers and went under contract there.  Assholes.

That really upset me and we're going to put in a complaint with the ethical board because my agent was pretty sure that the listing agent was double dipping, getting one of his buyers under contract with his seller.  Just a real jerk thing to do.  It didn't help that the house stayed on the website my agent made for me that pulls all the houses currently listed for sale in the city.  At first I was pretty sure it was just tormenting me but it didn't change from "Active".  Finally I asked my agent to look into that and it turned out that they'd chased off the buyer they'd screwed me over for.  Not surprising because I already know they're jerks.  Being jerks, they got greedy and are now asking for an as is offer, meaning they are no longer going to fix the roof.  And they're not going any lower than the price they've listed.

As much as I don't like those people, I want that house.  I love that house.  So we just put in another offer on it.  The chance of getting it is small because they know we were mad after their previous treatment and I can't guarantee that those people are at all sane or honorable.  But, if we lose out this time I'll know I made every effort and hopefully can move on better.  I've been hung up on that house for a while and been uninterested in looking at anything else.  If I lose out I'll know I went as far as I was willing to go with that and hopefully something else will catch my eye eventually.

It's just... a headache.  Buying a house is a headache.  Moving is a headache.  It is all a headache.

I'm having a day

I'm having one of those days where I am alternately pissed off then content.  Then pissed off, then content...  So on and so forth.  I was driving to work and decided to treat myself to a Starbucks (I am weaning myself off of it because I need to save money but every so often I have a morning where I deserve a Starbucks.)  While pulling through the drive through I could hear this cricket chirping in the rocks and I just wanted to get out and stomp all over the place to squish that stupid cricket.  Why such rage at the cricket playing his pretty song you might ask.  One probably because crickets are icky creatures that hop around and possibly I had a bad experience with one as a child.  Two because it's not such a pretty chirping song when the damn cricket is in your room and chirping happily through the night and you can't find the blasted creature.  And three, I'm just pissed off, damnit.  I managed to calm myself with the thought of my morning coffee and the little thing survived.

Once the coffee started flowing I got happier and drifted my way into work.  Then the flip flop began and I've been back and forth on my mood.  Maybe it's because I don't feel that great still (fighting off a cold) and maybe it's just because sometimes people bug me.  I'm not a huge people person to begin with and some days I'd rather just go home and hang out with my dogs than deal with the whole social thing.

Grump.  Grump grump grump grump.

In other news, I'm seeing movement on the housing front again.  The sellers agreed to put a new roof on the house downtown so we're going to hammer out another offer and move forward.  I hope I get it because I'm really just kind of done with the whole house hunting thing.  Nightmare.  But if I can move into that house with a fancy new roof life would be good. 

That's probably the sole reason for some of my happy moments today.  Otherwise today is just a good day for everyone to leave me alone and I'll leave you alone and we'll both exist happily.

Shit I have so much packing to do.  Back to being crabby.

To offset the grumpiness I decided to add a picture from way back when enjoying a concert in Paris on Bastille Day.

Color Run

I haven't posted this sooner because my camera was at my parents' house and I kept putting off driving over there to get it.  And I needed to post with my photos.

Anyway, two Saturdays ago I participated in the Colorado Springs Color Run 2012.  What is a color run you might ask.  A color run is a run where you hate yourself a little less because they're throwing color on you and it's fun.  The hating yourself part is me.  I hate running.  I don't think my body produces endorphins because I never get that feeling where my body is happy and I feel like a job well done.  I just hate myself... the... whole... time...  It rather sucks.  Even when I did Cross Country in high school I hated every step.  The only reason I ran was because my dad loves to run and my marathon grandpa was dying.  I much prefer running and exercising while doing something else like playing soccer.  That way my mind is busy doing something and my body can't complain quite as loudly.  So I hate running but I did it.  And they did throw color on me.  And it did make it more fun.

I didn't necessarily think we would be RUNNING running so I didn't bother to train for it since I'm lazy.  So Saturday the 11th rolled around and I hadn't run even one kilometer since... forever.  And then we ran.  RAN ran.  Yeah I think if the color hadn't been so fun I would have probably died.

Every kilometer you hit a color station and these people throw clouds of color you.  The color isn't liquid; it's more this sticky powder stuff.  It sticks on you and it tastes mostly like chalk.  Some people did get it full in the face but I'm glad my face stayed mostly clear.  Spitting blue for an hour isn't exactly the fun part.

After the run you can get in the big mob in front of the DJ stand to dance and be silly.  We did a little of that but since my legs were physically rebelling against me, I mostly wanted to sit and cheer other runners in.  We did do the color cloud where everyone throws their packets of color up but only once.  My lungs didn't really need to be multicolored.  But we had to do it at least once.  It looks cooler from the outside anyway.

So yes, the Color Run was lots of fun.  I am actually going to train a bit for it next year so I can enjoy it more instead of crying about my poor poor body.  Oh and being horribly sore for days after was not as fun after the color washed out.

PICTURES!

Clean and pristine!

Still feeling good!

Dying... dying... dying...

DONE!  I look pretty steady!

Colorful ladies!

Color cloud!

Loads of fun!

Color Run Video

Where to live?

As many of you know, I have begun my search for a house to buy.  Yes buy.  As in own.  As in mine.  As in pay a whole lot of money for then freak out about.  Confession: it wasn't my idea.  If you had asked me 6 months ago about buying a house I would have laughed.  Me?  Buy a house?  Laughable.  Insane.  Crazy talk.  I would have told you that is just one of my mother's crazy projects she gets into.

And at first, that's all it was.  I begrudgingly gave in to go see a couple of houses with my mom.  "I'll just go look," I thought.  "There' no harm in that."  I should have remembered how I came to acquire Whitman.  There is no such thing as "just looking".  Gradually I began to see the possibility there.  I could own a house for less than I pay renting.  Why throw my money into someone else's pocket when I could be putting it toward my own house?  So when renting stopped making sense I found myself seriously looking for a house.

Well it has all snowballed into quite a project.  When my realtor, Javier, got involved the shit got real.  Let me tell you, he's a God-send.  I would have probably gone bat-shit crazy way before this if not for Javier.  He's really helped out.  I'm sure is thinking "Jesus woman just pick one!" in his head, but he's been very nice about it.  I figure if you're picky about one thing in life, it should be the house you buy.  I just hope I find one that fits me before Javier kills me in my sleep.

So what am I looking for?  I'm not sure.  Here are a few things I pulled out of the bag:

• Big backyard: A must have when you have two large dogs.
• Bedrooms bigger than a postage stamp: Part of being an adult in my head is that I don't have to sleep on a twin bed anymore.  Maybe having room to walk around on the floor around my bed would be nice too.
• Avoid suburbia: I hate the neighborhoods where your square house is just like your neighbor's house and your square yard is just like your neighbor's yard.  There is no soul in that kind of living.  So all neighborhoods like the ones out on Powers where it is "house house house househousehousehouse..." are out.
• It can't be way out in the boonies:  I'd like to be able to get to town/work with no longer than a 15 minute drive.  Fountain is out.
• West over East: I'm a westside girl.  What can I say?
• A house with a little character never hurt anyone:  I hate the houses that are just so boring you can barely walk through without going into a coma.  I want a house with a little heart and individuality.
• Not falling down: Sure that's always a good rule.  But what I mean is I don't want to buy a house that I am then going to have to strip down and redo everything.  Replacing things here and there, fine.  A complete rehaul?  Not really no.  I am just not that handy and not that into remodeling.
• Safe area: I shouldn't have to say I don't want to live in an area of town that I'd just scurry into my house,  throw the 12 deadbolts and never leave.  I want to be safe.

That being said, I've found three houses I could see myself in.  The first was a little house on Lark St.  I would have needed to do some work to it but it was cute, had a little character and had a great big yard for the dogs.  I made a low offer on it just to see and passed up on the counter offer.  Then there was the house on Polk St.  Across from a part and very cute.  The downstairs needed to be remodeled and the previous owners had dug a huge hole in the backyard because... well they wanted a giant sink back there.  That one would have been a lot of work but I was charmed by it.  We made an offer but they wanted us to come up more.  Then we were about to make a second offer when I got approved the the better loan but then it went under contract.  Someone is paying way too much for that house let me tell you.

Now we are in the negotiation stages of another house.  This one is closer to downtown, which I love.  It's the biggest that I've looked at and move in ready. 

The foundation was a little off but nothing you wouldn't expect with a 100 year old house.  We made an offer and they counter offered.  While I was deciding on that my dad had one of his friends inspect the roof and found out the roof was uninsurable.  So I was not going under contract with a roof that would cost me an arm and a leg to fix.  I counter offered their counter offer that they fix the roof.  I'm waiting to hear on that.  I really hope they go for it but something tells me they could find a buyer for that house that doesn't look at the roof first (don't know who would be that stupid but I guess those people are out there).  I'm having a hard time with that because the house is perfect.  As soon as I walked in I just fell in love with it and said, "Yes, make an offer."  It gave me that excited twitter.  I'll be really sad if it doesn't go through but I am trying to prepare myself for that.

*sigh*

The whole thing is getting old though.  I'm really just ready to find a house and be done with it.  My lease is up at the end of the month and I had hoped that we could either extend that or at least know what house I was going to before I was homeless.  Okay not homeless, I can move in with my parents, brother or sister.  Brother most likely.  Still, I'm used to having my own space now.  I so don't want to live with my parents.  And my sister, God love her, I don't think their house has enough room for me and my kiddos.  So brother it is.  This process has been taking up so much of my time and energy that I haven't been able to focus on much else.  It is one of those take-over-your-life-kind-of-projects.

I just want a house though!  Is that too much to ask!?  I don't like to have everything up in the air so much.  Still, it has to work itself out sometime.  I'll find a house somewhere.  I swear to gosh!

Get off your high horse and drop the chicken

Is anyone else sick of hearing about this stupid Chick-Fil-A crap?  Chick-Fil-A is a business built by a very religious family.  They close on Sundays which has to cut into their bottom line.  They do that because they choose to run their business with the values of their religion.  Do I necessarily think that's wise?  No.  But it is what it is.  People and businesses are entitled to their own opinions as long as it does not encroach on other people's rights.  Gay marriage is and will be battled out in the courts.  People can take sides and debate it as long as they can be smart and civil about it.  This whole hoopla about Chick-Fil-A not believing in gay marriage is a lot of drama over nothing.  Who the hell cares what they believe?  I certainly think they're wrong and bigoted for it but that is their right. 

The important thing is that whatever the owners of a fast food chain believe is not relevant to the issue if you ask me.  The only thing this controversy is doing is keeping the name Chick-Fil-A in the news and making them money.  Sure there will be people who avoid Chick-Fil-A because of those beliefs but there are probably just as many out there who will purposefully go to Chick-Fil-A to show their support.  Even bad press is press and honestly I think they're enjoying the attention.  Let it go and get on with your lives.  If this is an issue you feel strongly about then work to enact change, just don't get pissed off at some chicken place because they said they don't believe in gay marriage.

Here in the good ol' US of A people have the right to have differing beliefs.  I support that.  I believe that everyone should be allowed to marry regardless of their sexual orientation.  I am also well aware that a lot of people don't agree with me.  Fine.  If someone wants to have an intelligent debate about it that's great.  However intelligent debates in politics don't seem to happen often.  Especially when it's mostly a media stunt anyway.  The media is completely fueling this because, for some reason, people are getting outraged by this on both sides.  It's getting silly.

Everyone, let's drop it now.  Chick-Fil-A doesn't believe in gay marriage.  Whatever.  Unless the CEO of Chick-Fil-A is running for political office it doesn't matter what he believes in the grand scheme of things.  Stop hating on everyone and sit down to defend your viewpoints and have a real debate over the subject instead of mucking about like vindictive toddlers on the playground.  If you have a strong belief then defend it but recognize the fact that the other side has the right to defend their beliefs too.  Gay marriage is one of those things that will really polarize people and maybe people will never agree.  Beating a dead horse doesn't help anyone.  It doesn't enact change.


My thoughts.

 You're entitled to your beliefs.  What you do with them and how you conduct yourself is more important though.

Morning Thoughts

For the past two mornings I have been up by 6:15 am.  That doesn't necessary mean I'm awake though.  I feel like I only spent about 3 hours actually awake yesterday and the rest was zombie Allison doing an impersonation of me.  My sleep schedule has been a little out of wack and I'm feeling it.  And here's the torturous thing, I am the receptionist for a behavioral sleep medicine doctor and there is a sleep lab attached to that.  So when I'm stumbling around at the office in the morning I'm around these nice quiet sleep study rooms with fluffy bed and dim lights.  It is torture!  Half the time I just want to crawl into them and take a nap.  They look so inviting...  *sigh*  It's really just mean is what it is.  Course, they do provide nifty coffee machines which I worship at so I guess it's a double sided sword.

I'm trying to decide what to do with my living situation.  I'm waiting to qualify for another better loan to see if I can get this house I really want.  My lease is also up at the end of the month (Happy August!) so I need to decide what to do about that.  I'd love to stay there because I love the house.  If I could afford that house all problems would be solved and I'd be a happy camper.  Alas it is way out of my price range.  So we have to decide if we will sign another lease and then have one of my roommate's brothers take over for me when I'm ready to move into my own house or we find another place to crash for a while until I can figure out the whole buying a house thing.  I'll probably beg a room from my brother if he can stand to live with my dogs and cat.  As much as I love them, I don't want to live with my parents and my sister's house would feel a little too crowded.  I need to call my landlord today which means I need to talk to my roommate.  We haven't seen much of each other lately, which sucks.  We've been two ships passing in the night.  When I leave in the morning she's asleep and half the time when she get's home at night I'm asleep.  When we are home together at the same time often I am downstairs because it's too bloody hot upstairs.  I don't know how she lives up there without melting away.  Anyway, I hope we continue to live together because she's a rockin' roommate.  I'm sure I'm much harder to live with than she is haha!  Loves you Caitlin.

Everyone knows that I'd rather be cold than hot.  So it sucks that at home I'm always hot but then at work the AC blows right on me and I freeze to death.  There is no middle ground.  That's because summer sucks and I'm really just ready for Fall and Winter now.  They're the best months anyway.

Oh hey the Olympics are going on.  Yay Olympics.  Okay I have to admit I'm not all that excited.  I much prefer the Winter Olympics.  But still, I don't get all that excited either way.  Go them.  I'm sure it feels wonderful to go to the Olympics.  Hey when I was a kid all my Barbies were Olympians.  But it is hard to be excited when it is all they way in London.  I'm sure the people of London are very excited, which they should be.  I'd be excited if the Olympics were in Denver.  I do admit that I am keeping up with the Olympic news though but that might be because I'm a news junkie.  The Olympics can be counted on for something new every hour or two so I appreciate it.  Like did you see?  Those shocking badminton players throwing matches!  OMG!  Olympic drama.

Well I should probably stop sitting here nursing my coffee and actually get to work.  *Sigh*